The Browns' 2025 preseason got underway on Friday night with a solid 30-10 win over the Panthers. Even though Carolina played almost all of their starters and Cleveland played hardly any besides rookies, the Browns fared well against all of the Panthers' units with a few standout performers.
PFF released their initial grades for the preseason victory, and while these grades aren't perfect, they give a solid contextualization of how players performed. Here are three winners from the Browns' preseason victory with PFF performance grades in mind.
3 winners from Browns preseason victory over Panthers
LB Carson Schwesinger
Starting on the defensive side of the ball, the Browns' 33rd overall pick showed out during his first professional game. Carson Schwesinger got the start and wore the green-dot as the lead of the defense with the losses of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Jordan Hicks. The rookie posted the highest grade on the team in his 13 snaps, grading out at 91.4 thanks to his five tackles from sound technique and strong instincts.
Schwesinger will be tasked with a lot in his rookie campaign, but the early returns from camp and preseason have given fans plenty of reason to get excited about his arrival.
QB Shedeur Sanders
Shedeur Sanders, the biggest storyline of the night, played the part in his first-ever NFL showing. He completed 14 of 23 passes for two touchdowns and no interceptions, looking poised and in control for the majority of his outing after a slow start. Per PFF, he finished with a 79.8 grade over a solid sample size and only took two sacks despite zero offensive line starters getting a snap.
As he continues to learn the offense, more performances like this from Sanders during camp and preseason games will only make it tougher to keep him off the field when they are looking to make a change.
DE Cameron Thomas
Finally, defensive lineman Cameron Thomas might have been the biggest winner of the night because of how much a strong performance could mean for his chances to make the 53-man roster. The former third-round pick was claimed off waivers from the Chiefs at the end of last year and spent the final five games with Cleveland.
In his 32 snaps against the Panthers, Thomas ended with a 90.7 grade thanks to his three pressures. Defensive line is probably the strongest unit on the team, but Thomas is certainly a candidate to fill one of the final spots. Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com projected Thomas to make the 53-man roster, and more performances like that will make his case stronger.