The NFL has been rolling out its annual Top 100 Players list, and the Cleveland Browns just landed a pleasant surprise with second-year linebacker Carson Schwesinger debuting at No. 93. Schwesinger is the league’s reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year, but as an inside linebacker, it’s encouraging to see him get that kind of validation in a poll voted on exclusively by current NFL players.
Schwesinger will likely be joined by new teammate Jared Verse and potentially Denzel Ward on this year’s list. One longtime NFL voice, Pete Prisco, puts together his own top 100 for CBS Sports that always makes for good fan fodder. His list tends to shift drastically from one year to the next. This year, T.J. Watt plummeted from No. 11 to No. 88, and Matthew Stafford went from unranked to No. 2.
Prisco’s personal list did not include Schwesinger or Ward. It did feature new addition Jared Verse at No. 68 (and Myles Garrett at No. 1 overall in some funny-looking blue and yellow colors).
Again, we already know these top 100 lists will look completely different a year from now, and the Browns could realistically see two or three annual selections morph into five or six as their new wave of young talent continues to develop on the field.
The Browns have several obvious Top 100 candidates for 2027
Here are five Browns players (not named Schwesinger, Ward, or Verse) who could make Cleveland impossible to ignore for a change on the NFL’s Top 100 Players of ’27:
Harold Fannin Jr.
Fannin was tremendous as a third-round rookie last season, and it wasn’t just his eye-popping traditional box score numbers. His deeper analytical stats, like 22 forced missed tackles and 359 yards after the catch, prove just how difficult he was for opposing defenders to handle.
Enter one of the NFL’s best offensive play-callers in Todd Monken, a completely overhauled offensive line, and what should (hopefully) be a better quarterback situation? We may have only seen the tip of the iceberg from Fannin in Year 1.
KC Concepcion
In dire need for help at the skill positions, the Browns used the No. 24 overall pick on Concepcion, betting big on his dynamic playmaking abilities with the ball in his hands. NFL Network writer Bucky Brooks recently called Concepcion a sleeper candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
“With Concepcion also offering big-play ability as a punt returner, the Browns' plans to put the ball in his hands via traditional and unconventional methods (fly sweeps, reverses and gadgets) should give him plenty of chances to post numbers that put him in the conversation as a top OROY candidate,” Brooks wrote.
Denzel Boston
Adding to the intrigue in Berea this summer is that Concepcion hasn’t even gotten half of the hype of Boston, who has reportedly flashed dependable hands and silky-smooth route running for a 6-foot-3, 212-pound boundary receiver during spring workouts.
With Fannin and Concepcion keeping opposing defenses honest in the middle of the field, and the ascending Isaiah Bond also in the mix, Boston’s downfield prowess could be felt early and often in 2026.
Quinshon Judkins
The Browns have undergone so much change since the end of the 2025 season that it’s easy to forget that Judkins was once on pace for a 1,000-yard rushing season as a rookie. He didn’t get there, due in part to his season-ending leg injury against the Bills in Week 16, but he could be one of the bigger booms in the NFL if he can prove to be 100 percent healthy when the pads come on this summer.
Judkins figures to be the centerpiece of a Monken offense that ranked No. 1 in football in rushing play percentage from 2023-25 in Baltimore. Derrick Henry piled up 4,683 rushing yards and 44 touchdowns over that span, and Judkins could be poised for big things himself as Cleveland’s early-down workhorse behind a brand new offensive line.
Mason Graham
Graham was one of the NFL’s better-kept secrets last season. He very quietly started 17 games and played 765 total snaps for one of the most efficient defenses in football as a rookie. Per Pro Football Focus, he piled up 23 total QB pressures and 20 hurries from Week 10 on.
The gaudy box-score stats never really materialized, but in Graham’s defense, Myles Garrett had a ridiculous 23 sacks and 33 tackles for loss. Other players will need to step up now that Garrett is in Los Angeles, and Graham, albeit from the interior, could definitely be that guy.
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