With the NFL draft only days away, we take a look back at the five best selections the Cleveland Browns have made over the last five years.
Over the course of the last five seasons, the Cleveland Browns have made legitimate strides towards becoming a respectable franchise. The progression has not always been linear, and there have been some detours along the way, but the Browns are undoubtedly trending upward.
For the first time since the franchise returned to the NFL in 1999, the Browns have a capable front office in place and a solid foundation of talent to build upon.
The front office operates under a few select personnel philosophies that often get referred to as guardrails. It starts in the scouting department and carries a common thread through the front office. For the sake of this article, we will focus on three main bullet points.
First, they select young players at key positions. Then they identify the talent they wish to retain and build around. Finally, they pay them early so they can stay ahead of escalating contracts at premium positions.
While these are not revolutionary ideas and practices, they definitely can be filed under the easier said than done category. What has separated this current front office from the iterations that have come and gone in Berea? They finally began to hit on their early draft picks and were able to retain talented homegrown players to create a foundation.
Here are the five best Browns draft selections over the course of the past five years.
Cleveland Browns Draft Bullseye No. 5: JOK and Greg Newsome
I know, I know. Starting off the list with two players is kind of cheating, I get it. But these two young defensive studs are a package deal that will be intertwined throughout their time in Cleveland. Jeremiah Owusu Koramoah and Greg Newsome represent the next wave of cornerstones that the Browns will attempt to build around.
In the 1,000 plus simulated drafts that the Browns front office executed leading up to the drafts, zero had Newsome and Owusu Koramoah available at the slots they were taken (26, 52). Both graded out as high-end first-round selections, but the board fell in a way that ultimately led to the Browns bringing the future of their defense into the fold. The duo both proved their worth on the field and handled themselves like veterans over the course of their rookie seasons.
Newsome and Owusu-Koramoah were both named to multiple all-rookie teams, including the Pro Football Writers of America NFL all-rookie team. With the duo expected to take additional steps in their sophomore campaigns, both should be in the conversation for Pro Bowl nominations at season’s end.
Although they both have the capability to be elite at their respective positions, their journey will differ. Newsome has the luxury of growing into his role because he is starting opposite of Denzel Ward and has a safety net of the league’s deepest cornerback room.
Owusu Koramoah, on the other hand, is going to have a ton on his plate as the team’s primary dime linebacker with only average depth behind him. If he is able to stay healthy, JOK should be a lock to lead the team in tackles.
Cleveland Browns Draft Bullseye No. 4: Baker Mayfield
There might not be a more divisive player in the recent history of the Cleveland Browns than Baker Mayfield. While the marriage between Mayfield and the Browns didn’t have a storybook ending, unless we are talking about something penned by Stephen King, the quarterback’s time in Cleveland was definitely a net positive.
While the Browns turnaround as a franchise started just before Mayfield was drafted, it would be impossible to argue that the quarterback was not the straw that stirred the drink. He gave the turnaround a face and, for better or for worse, a voice. Mayfield provided hope to a fanbase that began to forget the meaning of the word.
It wasn’t all lollipops and rainbows though. During his four years in Cleveland, the Baker Mayfield experience rivaled any roller coaster 50 miles to the west of FirstEnergy Stadium at Cedar Point. 2018 gave the fans genuine optimism, and then 2019 humbled those same fans and brought everyone back to earth. The cycle repeated itself in 2020 and 2021, only the highs and lows were even more pronounced.
After a tumultuous beginning to the 2022 offseason, the Browns chose to go in a different direction at the most important position in all of professional sports. Even though Mayfield is still technically on the roster, the Texas-born gunslinger has taken his last snap as a member of the Browns. But that does not change the important role he played in helping the franchise pull itself from the abyss of NFL obscurity.
During his time in Cleveland, Mayfield started 59 games and posted a record of 29-30 as the team’s signal-caller. Mayfield threw for 14,125 yards and 92 touchdowns with a 61% completion percentage. Baker’s name is in the top five of every major career passing statistic in franchise history.
So, while it did not have a happy ending, or any ending as of right now, Baker’s time in Cleveland was an incredibly important chapter of the Browns return to relevance.
Cleveland Browns Draft Bullseye No. 3: Denzel Ward
There is no denying that cornerback is a premium position in the NFL. If you were to prioritize positional importance when building the core of a roster, cornerback would easily be considered a top-four necessity.
In 2018, the Browns had two selections in the top four picks of the NFL draft. Obviously, priority number one was finding a quarterback, but with their second selection there were several directions that they could have gone. The Browns made the decision to make Denzel Ward, not only the first cornerback selected but, the first defensive player to be selected in the draft.
Ward, who was also one of the youngest players in the draft, hit the ground running for the Browns and was a starter from day one. In fact, in his first game in the NFL, Ward picked off Ben Roethlisberger twice. There’s probably not a better way a player could ingratiate themselves to a fanbase. By season’s end, Ward was unequivocally the best player in the Browns secondary.
Since his rookie year Ward has proven to be worthy of the CB1 designation the franchise has bestowed on him. Through four seasons Ward has been named to the Pro Bowl twice and is widely considered a top five player at his position. Andrew Berry and the Browns rewarded ‘the Warden’ by making him the highest paid cornerback in the NFL last week.
In Denzel Ward, the Browns have a top-flight lockdown corner who is just entering the prime of his career. The recently signed contract extension puts Ward in Cleveland until the age of 30, thus ensuring the Browns have one of their defensive cornerstones locked down through the prime of their career.
Cleveland Browns Draft Bullseye No 2: Nick Chubb
If you were going to build the perfect running back, what traits would be the most important? You would probably want some elite combination of agility, burst, power, vision, and top end speed. You would want Nicholas J. Chubb.
The Cleveland Browns hit the jackpot when they selected Nick Chubb in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft. The kicker is, he wasn’t even their first selection of the second round. Two picks prior to picking Chubb they whiffed on an offensive lineman prospect (that went on to have success elsewhere). But the important thing to focus on is that they hit on Nick Chubb.
It was evident from the beginning of training camp that Chubb simply had a different gear than the running backs ahead of him on the depth chart. Both Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson were established backs, and Chubb was only going to get a handful of carries each game in order to spell Hyde occasionally.
Then the game in Oakland happened in Week 4. Now he still only got a handful of carries; three to be exact. But he rumbled for a staggering 105 yards and two touchdowns. There was no hiding Chubb after his performance that day.
Although, Hue Jackson tried to keep Chubb in a reserve role, his hand was forced when Dorsey traded Hyde away prior to Week 7. That transaction may have been the single largest addition by subtraction move in franchise history.
Through four seasons, Chubb has amassed 4,816 yards and scored 39 touchdowns. Chubb’s 5.3 yards per carry is the most by any active running back and only second all-time to Jamal Charles at 5.4. The trajectory that Chubb is currently on through four seasons puts him on the same path as some of the greatest players ever to run a football.
The stats and accolades can paint a picture of what Chubb is, but it can not define him. Chubb is a tireless worker who leads with his play on the field and only cares about winning. It’s easy for teammates to rally around someone like Chubb because he is truly selfless and is all about the team’s success. In short, Nick Chubb is the man, and the Browns are fortunate to have him.
Cleveland Browns Draft Bullseye No. 1: Myles Garrett
At some point the madness had to end, right? Eventually, the Cleveland Browns were going to hit on a first-round draft pick. Well, in the 2017 NFL draft, a six-year streak of habitually missing on their first pick came to a screeching halt when the Browns selected Myles Garrett as the first player off the board.
Defensive ends do not come more highly touted than Garrett. The 6-foot-4, 275lb edge defender looks like something out of a comic book. He is definitely the first player you would have get off of the bus at an opposing stadium. Garrett’s physical abilities put him in a category only reserved for the elite of the elite.
But as there always is, there were questions about how successful Garrett would be at the next level. Questions like, does he love football? Will he coast on his natural abilities? Garrett has put any concerns about his level of effort, both on and off the field, to bed over the first five years of his career.
Since entering the league, Garrett has been nothing short of dominant and there appears to be no end in sight. Garrett is coming off back-to-back first-team All-Pro seasons and is seemingly always on the precipice of Defensive Player of the Year discussions. He currently sits at 58.5 sacks, only four sacks away from the all-time franchise record. He should have that record secured by sometime in week three.
Garrett keeps offensive tackles up at night and is the first player any opposing quarterback has to account for. Number 95 has even entered into a Shaquille O’Neal category where he is officiated differently than other players just due to how dominant he is.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Myles Garrett is the best draft pick the Browns have made since reentering the league in 1999. And it is not even close.