The 2024 NFL Draft class has not been a glowing endorsement of general manager Andrew Berry's eye for talent. In fact, if the 2025 class hadn't paid such quick dividends, it's a fair question to ask whether Berry would still be employed at all.
The latest disappointment comes from the release of 2024 fifth-round pick Jamari Thrash.
Thrash came to Cleveland with a golden opportunity. With a dearth of impactful pass catchers, Browns fans welcomed the selection as one of those sleeper moves that could become the next Jarvis Landry for a struggling offense. Unfortunately, Thrash's tenure was not remotely close to that and could fairly be categorized as yet another swing-and-a-miss by this Browns front office.
Thrash spent four years at Georgia State University before closing his career at the University of Louisville. He totaled 167 receptions, 2,610 yards, and 18 touchdowns in his NCAA career. This résumé, along with a solid NFL Combine performance, was enough to pique the Browns' interest.
He had a quiet rookie campaign, hauling in just three receptions for 22 yards. This season was expected to be a breakout for him and fellow former draft pick Cedric Tillman, but it simply never materialized. Through the first 10 weeks of the season, he accumulated 10 receptions for 107 yards as he routinely played between 18 and 40 percent of the offensive snaps.
A foot injury knocked him out of the Week 11 contest against the Baltimore Ravens, and despite an improved status on the injury report, he never suited up for the Browns again, winding up a healthy scratch for Weeks 12–14.
Jamari Thrash is the latest wide receiver pick that didn’t pan out
The writing had been on the wall for the second-year player, as the snap counts for undrafted rookie Gage Larvadain and former practice squad addition Malachi Corley continued to eat into his snaps until there were none left.
With mounting injuries on the offensive line with yet another 2024 draft pick (Zak Zinter) on the shelf, the Browns opted to promote Garrett Dellinger from the practice squad, and chose to hand Thrash his walking papers in a corresponding move. While it remains possible that he is re-signed to the practice squad, the position the Browns have on him couldn't be clearer as they subjected him to waivers from the league's 31 other teams.
In Berry's six drafts at the helm of the Browns' decision-making, he has yet to make an impactful selection at the wide receiver position (the mysterious case of Donovan Peoples-Jones, notwithstanding). The group includes: DPJ, Anthony Schwartz, David Bell, Michael Woods II, Cedric Tillman, and Thrash. That is certainly one of the lists of all-time, and the last man standing — Tillman — has yet to prove whether he'll ever reach the potential the Browns saw when they selected him.
Thank goodness the Browns selected Harold Fannin Jr. at tight end, though, because if not, Shedeur Sanders might have no other choice but to throw to himself over the last month of the season.