The great Scott Van Pelt of ESPN said after Day 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft had wrapped up that grading draft picks before a single game has been played by any of them is probably the "lowest rung" of analysis you could do.
"Why do we do this? … Say anything. Just make up anything. Who gives — it doesn’t matter. And you don’t have a clue," said Van Pelt on his podcast, SVPod.
Well, Van Pelt, it's fun. Speculation is the key word when thinking of draft grades, as it's important to remind readers that these grades are simply being made on the basis of what kind of fit each player is for their respective teams, and how they're seen as potential pluses - or minuses - to those teams.
The Cleveland Browns ended up with many great draft picks thanks to their trade back with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round. Overall, they grade very highly after a draft weekend which saw them truly build out their trenches and their playmaking.
Grading Browns' 2025 NFL Draft, pick by pick
Graham is an absolute wrecking ball of a D-lineman. With Michigan he stood out as one of their best defenders on their 2023 championship squad, and he did the same in 2024 despite less wins and less talent around him. His wrestling background and size couple to make him an elite run stopping defensive tackle. If he develops a pass rushing game, it's quite over for teams facing the Browns.
While taking Graham was only possible after trading away the chance to take Travis Hunter, this move makes a ton of sense for Cleveland. They got some major draft compensation in that trade, and them landing at 5th overall ended up not being too far of a fall to land the top-ranked defensive tackle in the draft.
Bold prediction: Graham, despite only recording 3.5 sacks in 2024, will reach 6 sacks alongside Myles Garrett in his rookie season.
Defense wins championships, right? Well, scoring also helps on that front - it's what made the Philadelphia Eagles' dominant win over the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LIX so absurd. They had the high octane offense to back up their high octane defense. Perfect balance.
The Cleveland Browns do not have that. So, adding Schwesinger with their 33rd overall pick was a bit of a head scratcher, especially since it seems like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will be okay to begin 2025 after he reported to camp recently.
However, Schwesinger was rising up draft boards for a reason - he's a ball hawk, a speedy tackler, and adds a fun dimension to both the Browns' pass defense and their pass rush. If the Browns' free agency gamble on Joe Tryon-Shoyinka or Jerome Baker doesn't work out, perhaps he is the perfect insurance.
Bold prediction: Schwesinger will tally up 5 sacks in his rookie season
Cleveland absolutely had to come away with a running back in the 2nd round, and they really knocked it out the park by taking Judkins at 36th overall. The Ohio State University product might've been in competition with his fellow running back and teammate, TreVeyon Henderson, at this spot. But, it all came down to fit. Judkins is the strong, downhill, violent runner you want Cleveland taking to either pair with Nick Chubb or, possible, replacing him.
Judkins' three touchdown performance against Notre Dame to win OSU the national championship tipped the scales in his favor, surely, but the traits that made him a great back for them prior to the playoffs were already there.
Bold prediction: Judkins has a breakout rookie year, running for 800+ yards and taking a major load off of Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford in the backfield.
Cleveland, in addition to needing running back reinforcements, really needed pass catchers in this draft. Fannin was someone we had mocked to the Browns numerous times around this point in the draft - 67th overall - because he was so electric at tight end while with Bowling Green as a receiver.
He was their biggest target and he didn't disappoint, tallying up 1,555 receiving yards and making defenders miss tackles religiously.
He's slippery, he's athletic, and he's going to be an excellent TE2 next to David Njoku in the Browns' offense in 2025. He only gets a minus here because there's a chance he just needs more time to develop in his pass blocking. But, this was an aggressive and great pick for Cleveland's offense.
Bold prediction: Fannin has a slow start to the year, but heats up at the tail end and finishes up with 500 receiving yards.
Here's where Cleveland lost some folks initially after an excellent draft prior to this, their 94th pick. Gabriel, a quarterback out of Oregon, was apparently a big target on Cleveland's draft board headed into the 3rd round - who knew! He's got an accurate arm, quick processing skills, and is a very tough signal caller despite his size.
His size, though, is a big concern here. At just 5-11, he could easily be stopped and handled by NFL-level defenses if not protected properly.
The Browns are very obviously punting on finding a legitimate, long-term solution at franchise quarterback until 2026. Gabriel is ultimately a perfectly fine addition to the quarterback room this year, and he'll add some fun competition to the room.
Bold prediction: Gabriel will win a spot on the Browns' roster at QB, but will probably take QB3 role. Pickett is odd man out as a result.
Probably the most surprising pick of the draft, the Browns went for another top running back at their 126th pick. This is a great value in the 4th round, as Daniel Jeremiah from NFL Network had Sampson as his 68th best player on the board. He's going to need time to get used to playing against NFL defenses, which is the biggest grade-knockdown on Sampson.
Another knock here is that the Browns could've used this pick on a wide receiver, a hole they should've been trying to fill in support of their two quarterbacks taken in the draft. Fannin is a great pass catcher but an additional true receiver would have gone a long way. We wait to see what Cleveland does with the available pool of UDFA's.
Bold prediction: Sampson ends up becoming a special teams ace while also sharing snaps with Judkins to begin the season behind Jerome ford.
Here is where the Browns' draft ended. They traded up to select Sanders with 144th overall pick, a move general manager Andrew Berry said was done because they were focused on grabbing the best player available to them at that spot. They claim they were totally surprised that he had slipped that far to them.
Sanders gets a slightly better grade than Gabriel because of the fact that picking a quarterback like him, who was projected as the second-best in the class prior to the draft, at 144th overall is tremendous value. Cleveland gets the chance to add him into the mix for their impending quarterback position.
There are still some serious questions about his ability to get rid of his propensity to not step into the pocket, use his less than athletic build to escape sacks, or be able to use his legs to escape sacks. But, he's ridiculously accurate as a passer and has a reported ceiling of one quarterback Cleveland was actually trying to trade for this offseason: Kirk Cousins. Not terrible.