When the 2025 NFL draft ended, the Cleveland Browns seven-person draft class earned good grades from many, including ESPN’s Mel Kiper’s top grade and praise. Perhaps drafting two quarterbacks wasn’t the best use of resources, but the Browns draft class has already been better than historical odds for draft picks.
A quick look at Cleveland’s seven drafted players and the best, worst-case (not including injuries) scenarios given their rookie year production so far gives us a chance to evaluate where
this Browns 2025 draft class could sit historically:
Mason Graham
Best case: Elite, versatile defensive tackle versus the run and pass
Worst case: A solid rotational piece at a tough position to fill
Carson Schwesinger
Best case: Top 5 linebacker in the NFL for a decade
Worst case: Top 20(?!) linebacker
Quinshon Judkins
Best case: Top 10 running back in the NFL, one Cleveland’s offense can always rely on, for 6 to 10 years
Worst case: Solid starting running back on a rookie contract
Harold Fannin Jr.
Best case: Top 5 tight end in the NFL with the kind of receiver skills and versatility that make defenses helpless
Worst case: Solid rotational tight end that is a helpful part of an offense as the 4th or 5th weapon
Dillon Gabriel
Best case: Spot starter who knows his limitations and overcomes them
Worst case: Out of the league after rookie contract
Dylan Sampson
Best case: A true 1B back who can carry the load if needed, but provides electric big play ability alongside a workhorse
Worst case: A part-time player on passing downs
Shedeur Sanders
Best case: Browns QB of the Future, star
Worst case: Part-time starter or out of the league (with his popularity allowing for other opportunities)
If we are being realstic, that means this Cleveland draft could have the following, depending on which scenarios play out:
Best case: Star QB, top-level DT, LB, TE and RB, great change of pace back that can also start and a backup/spot starter QB
OR
Worst case: Starting level DT, LB, TE and RB, a backup RB, along with 2 backup QBs bouncing in and out of the NFL
How would that best-case scenario for the Browns 2025 NFL draft class compare to the best NFL draft class ever?
Sports Illustrated says that Cleveland’s best draft class came in 1957:
The legendary Jim Brown was drafted No. 6 that year. That should be enough said, but Cleveland also selected defensive tackle Henry Jordan and offensive guard Gene Hickerson. All three are in the Hall of Fame, with Brown and Hickerson helping Cleveland win the NFL championship in 1964.
For this class to beat that class, Sanders would likely have to be a star QB leading the team to at least the AFC Championship game (probably a Super Bowl appearance) with at least two of Graham, Schwesinger, Judkins and Fannin putting up Hall of Fame level numbers.
The NFL Network says that the 1996 Baltimore Ravens (a class that should have been in Cleveland) has the best draft class of the last 25 years:
Notable picks: OT Jonathan Ogden, LB Ray Lewis, DB DeRon Jenkins, WR Jermaine Lewis.
Ozzie Newsome’s first two picks as general manager of the newly minted Baltimore Ravens doubled as a pair of epic grand slams, with Ogden and Lewis finishing their storied careers as shoo-in Hall of Famers.
Ravens fans, by the way, can thank Bill Belichick and the Cleveland Browns for getting their hands on Lewis.
The Browns ‘57 class is significantly better than that Ravens group.
Others might point to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1974 with WR Lyann Swann, LB Jack Lambert, WR John Stallworth and OL Mike Webster, all Hall of Famers, as the best NFL draft class ever.
We are a long, long way away from knowing where Cleveland’s 2025 NFL draft class could sit in history, both the team’s as well as the NFL’s as a whole. Much of the legacy of this group will depend on Sanders (or potentially Gabriel) and their health. If one of the quarterbacks breaks out as the Browns long-term starter and the rest of the young group stays healthy and continues to develop, Cleveland could be looking at an all-time class this year.
Nothing is certain now, but it is nice to realistically have such high regard based on the early returns.
