Ideally, there will soon be more for Cleveland Browns fans to discuss than the team's never-ending quarterback drama and all the post-Myles Garrett trade fallout. The Browns fan base deserves a true winner on the field, and they at least appear to be on the right track.
Independent of that, GM Andrew Berry and Cleveland look to have hit it out of the park in the 2025 NFL Draft with Mason Graham, Carson Schwesinger, Quinshon Judkins, and Harold Fannin Jr. Their latest 2026 class has a chance to be special, too, with Spencer Fano, KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston, and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren leading the way.
Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport highlighted Berry's recent hot streak with a 2025 re-draft that featured Graham, Schwesinger and Fannin as first-round picks.
In the re-draft, Davenport had Graham going No. 13, which was a drop from his original No. 5 overall selection. Schwesinger and Fannin were at No. 17 and No. 24, respectively, after both players were taken on Day 2 of the actual draft.
Schwesinger rightfully has received his share of praise for the work he's done early on as a young leader for Cleveland, and Davenport expressed how he could have made a world of difference for the Cincinnati Bengals, especially in run defense.
"The Browns' second pick of the draft, Schwesinger finished his first season with the sixth-most tackles in the league (156) on the way to taking home Defensive Rookie of the Year honors," Davenport wrote. "The Bengals invested all kinds of resources this offseason in making that porous defense better in 2026. If the team had Schwesinger in the middle of that defense, Cincy would be getting a lot more Super Bowl buzz this summer."
In this B/R hypothetical, there were no trades. It was strictly a re-draft of the first round for 2025. Cleveland ended up going with quarterback Jaxson Dart, who did show promise in his rookie campaign with the New York Giants.
While Dart — or even Tyler Shough of the New Orleans Saints — would be fair hindsight alternatives for the Browns, Berry and company do deserve their flowers for the aforementioned selections.
Mason Graham, Carson Schwesinger and Harold Fannin Jr. all received first-round grades in Bleacher Report's 2025 re-draft
Schwesinger and Fannin proved to be true difference-makers early on for Cleveland, and both should be franchise pillars moving forward. Schwesinger, who was the No. 33 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, posted 156 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two interceptions last season. He was the Defensive Rookie of the Year for his efforts for a stout Cleveland defense.
Fannin, who was a third-round selection last year, had 72 receptions and six receiving touchdowns in 2025. He broke the record for receptions by a Cleveland rookie, and quickly proved to be a big-time weapon for the Browns. The Bowling Green product should only get better from here, especially with better personnel around him.
In Graham's case, he was not a big player in the pass game as a rusher with only a half-sack, but he's hard to move in the run game for opponents. As he gains more experience, his pass-rush acumen should improve.
Regardless, Graham still posted 49 tackles, seven of which went for loss, in Year 1. That was impressive for an interior defensive lineman.
Now, this re-draft was based on one season by Davenport here, and one has to take it with a grain of salt. Cleveland is going to need all three of these players to keep building on their success and firmly establish themselves as top players from here on out.Â
Those things aside, Berry appears to have knocked it out of the park in the last two drafts. The future looks bright in Cleveland, and that’s saying something.
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