After a surprise playoff berth in 2023, the Cleveland Browns crashed and burned to a 3-14 disaster in 2024. Now, finally armed with a full inventory of draft picks, the Browns have an opportunity to rebuild themselves into a contender at the 2025 NFL Draft. How did PFSN grade every draft pick the Browns made this year?
Looking for all 32 teams’ draft grades? Head to our 2025 NFL Draft Grades for All 32 Teams Tracker to see how we’ve graded other drafts.
Overall Browns Draft Grade: A-
What a rollercoaster ride this draft has been for the Cleveland Browns. General manager Andrew Berry hit big on his first two picks, significantly strengthening a defense that fell off as the season went on.
Mason Graham is one of the disruptive forces in this draft class, as he has the tools to immediately impact the game as a run-stopper and get after the quarterback. The Browns got a solid haul of draft capital by trading back to grab Graham. Passing on Travis Hunter could come back to bite them, but they filled a massive need.
Carson Schwesinger filled yet another need for Cleveland. He has the potential to become a high-level MIKE linebacker in the NFL and eventually take over for veteran Jordan Hicks, who will turn 33 years old before the 2025 season.
This is where things get interesting. It’s well-documented that the Browns’ most glaring need was at the quarterback position. After all of the Shedeur Sanders drama, which included Cleveland drafting Dillon Gabriel ahead of him, the Colorado product ended up with the Browns after all.
While it’s perplexing how they got there, Cleveland still landed a potential quarterback of the future. This team now has a whopping five quarterbacks on the roster, with Sanders and Gabriel joining Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, and Kenny Pickett.
Sanders has the most upside of any quarterback on the roster moving forward, and if he claims the starting job at some point, he will lead a Browns offense that has a much stronger complement of weapons than it ended the 2024 season with.
A backfield duo of Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson can replace an injury-prone Nick Chubb. Harold Fannin Jr. joined David Njoku in the TE room and brings some pass-catching juice to take pressure off Jerry Jeudy.
Sanders’ draft slide is arguably the most shocking we’ve ever seen, considering how he was viewed heading into the draft process. He could end up being the biggest steal of the draft, and his draft position makes this a low-risk, high-reward move for the Browns. All in all, Berry made moves to improve on both sides of the ball with this class.
Grades for Every Browns Draft Pick
- Round 1, Pick 5
Mason Graham, DT | Michigan
Grade: A-
This pick comes with the caveat that the Browns also added a second-round pick, a fourth-round pick, and a 2026 first-round pick in the process of moving back. That value is just icing on the cake for adding a player of Mason Graham‘s caliber.
Graham, a top-10 player in the class, has one of the most complete disruptive footprints in the 2025 DT group. His combination of hyper-dense mass, explosiveness, and natural leverage in the run game affords him elite penetration skills and one-gapping upside. As a pass-rusher, he can uncork violent torque and power to blast through blocks and impact the quarterback.
The Browns were never going to solve their QB woes with Ward off the board, so they had some wiggle room with how they addressed Round 1. Passing on a generational playmaker like Hunter could come back to bite them, but with the trade back for Graham, they addressed a significant need with a major contributor and scored a treasure trove of capital.
- Round 2, Pick 33
Carson Schwesinger, LB | UCLA
Grade: A-
This wasn’t the pick or the position many expected from the Browns to lead off Day 2, but linebacker was quietly a need for the Browns. Jordan Hicks is older and more replaceable, and Carson Schwesinger is a top-35 talent who has the potential to be a high-level MIKE LB in due time.
At around 6’2”, 240 pounds, Schwesinger has good size, near-elite sideline-to-sideline range, and gap instincts. He knifes downhill with rapid response in run defense, and he’s a fluid, instinctive cover man as well. Overall, he’s a complete three-down defender who could go on to greatly exceed his draft capital.
- Round 2, Pick 36
Quinshon Judkins, RB | Ohio State
Grade: C+
We knew the Browns were going to target a running back on Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft. But at No. 36 overall, there’s a strong argument to make that they took the lower-graded, less-versatile of the two Ohio State RBs with Quinshon Judkins.
TreVeyon Henderson’s medicals might’ve been a concern for Cleveland, but Judkins doesn’t have nearly as much passing-down utility, which the Browns will have to reconcile with the rest of their RB rotation.
Having said all this, Judkins has the ideal volume-back build; he’s incredibly physical and can function as an explosive carving knife with his speed, vision, and bend. He can be a good player, but better options might’ve been available.
- Round 3, Pick 67
Harold Fannin Jr., TE | Bowling Green
Grade: B
Whoever’s playing quarterback for the Browns next season will need more weapons to target. Wide receiver was perceived as a bigger need, but David Njoku is also entering the final year of his contract. In Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland is adding a tight end with a similar level of receiving ability.
Fannin led the FBS with 117 catches in 2024, racking up 1,555 yards and 10 touchdowns. While his productivity came against a lower level of competition, his catch-point skills and sure hands are translatable regardless of competition. Fannin could be eased into multi-tight end sets in 2025 before potentially serving as Njoku’s successor.
- Round 3, Pick 94
Dillon Gabriel, QB | Oregon
Grade: D-
The Cleveland Browns finally addressed the quarterback position in late Day 2, but it wasn’t the QB many expected. Instead of ending Shedeur Sanders’ slide, the Browns dropped jaws by selecting Dillon Gabriel as an alternative.
Gabriel was a record-setting collegiate quarterback, but he shouldn’t have been worth consideration so early in the draft, for a Browns team that could still stand to invest in WR, offensive line, or EDGE talent.
Gabriel is small, has a below-average arm, is volatile operationally, and likely profiles as a backup at best. Even if the Browns didn’t have Sanders on their board, Will Howard would’ve been a much better value pick here.
- Round 4, Pick 126
Dylan Sampson, RB, Tennessee
Grade: A
Nick Chubb is a free agent, and the Browns haven’t shown signs of potentially bringing him back. After grabbing Quinshon Judkins earlier in the draft, they landed a potential steal in Dylan Sampson, showing their willingness to revamp their RB room through the draft.
It was surprising to see Dylan Sampson last this long.
Sure, he’s undersized, but he’s a dynamic playmaker. He racked up nearly 1,500 yards on the ground in 2024, and a huge chunk of those yards came after contact. He possesses elite quickness and is a threat score whenever he touches the ball. If he can clean up the fumbles, he and Judkins could be a formidable backfield duo for years to come.
- Round 5, Pick 144
Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
Grade: A
After many speculated the Browns might take Shedeur Sanders second overall, the Colorado quarterback does end up in Cleveland after all…142 picks later. No matter what you think of Sanders’ personality or the potential off-field distraction he brings, this is an absurd value for a player who was a consensus Round 2 player at worst entering the draft.
Cleveland immediately becomes the most fascinating training camp QB competition. Sanders joins a fray that includes third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel and veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett. Who wins that is anyone’s guess, but Sanders should have every opportunity to play for last year’s 32nd-ranked offense by most metrics (including PFSN’s Offense+).
At this price point, Sanders comes with no risk. Since 2000, no QB drafted in the fifth round has started more than 18 games (A.J. Feeley and Sam Howell).
Howell or former Texans QB T.J. Yates was probably the most successful passer out of that group, and Howell has already been traded twice after getting dealt minutes before the Browns picked Sanders. Even if he never develops into an above-average regular, Sanders comes with more upside than almost any QB picked at this point in recent NFL history.
