A Gathering of Cleveland Browns Team Draft Grades

A bunch of different takes on the Cleveland Browns 2023 NFL Draft class.

Author:
Brandon Little
Updated:
May 3, 2023 10:44 AM EDT
Original:
May 1, 2023

In this story:

Cleveland Browns went out and made six picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, as well as sending their final pick off to a division rival. Draft grades may not mean a whole lot right away, we all know it takes a few years to get a firm feel of who a player will be. Nonetheless, we’re compiling draft grades from around the internet here for you.

The Browns came away with WR Cedric Tillman, DT Siaki Ika, OT Dawand Jones, DE Isaiah McGuire, QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, CB Cameron Mitchell, and C Luke Wypler.

Dane Brugler of The Atheltic has the Browns having the 10th best draft class. Cleveland selected three of Dane’s top-100 players despite not having a selection until the third round. His sleeper pick was DE Isaiah McGuire, who the Browns drafted in the fourth-round.

Brugler has this to say about the Browns top pick in the draft, Cedric Tillman:

“Despite not picking until No. 74, the Browns found tremendous value and landed five players in my top 100. After his breakthrough 2021 season, Tillman entered last season as a borderline first-round pick. He missed half the season with an ankle injury, though, which put a discount sticker on his draft tag — and gave Cleveland a steal. Tillman was one of the few true “X” receivers in this class and will make an impact as a rookie.”

Chad Reuter of the NFL site gave Cleveland a “B” grade for their draft efforts. He has this to say about the Browns selections:

“Trades to acquire Deshaun Watson and Elijah Moore cost the Browns their first- and second-round picks but they did well with their third-round selections of Tillman (the pick coming back from the Jets in the Moore trade), a strong outside presence at receiver, and Ika, the space-eater inside that they needed. Jones’ pure size makes him a promising swing tackle. McGuire provides some power as a backup defensive end. Thompson-Robinson played a lot of college football but still has upside to cultivate. Wypler’s value in the sixth round was too strong to pass on.”

A common theme in early draft grades for the Browns was the value they got late. Many folks pictured Dawand Jones and Luke Wypler as earlier round talents that slipped down the board.

Browns Digest’s very own Matthew Wilson graded each selection individually and you can check that out here.

The Ringer dropped a “C+” grade on the Browns for their 2023 class. Cleveland not having a first round pick and making just two picks through two days seemed to factor in there.

Pete Prisco of CBS gave cleveland a “B+” grade and was a big fan of Siaki Ika’s selections. He had this to say about Ika:

“I love third-round pick Siaki Ika from Baylor. He is a big, powerful man who will help their run defense in a big way. He is also better pushing the pocket than people think. He needs to keep his weight in check.”

Pro Football Focus believes that the Browns gave an “A-“ effort over the three days of the draft. Like Wypler was a PFF darling, listed at No. 54 on their big board.

Fox Sports gave the Browns a “B+” grade and was happy with how they drafted in the middle rounds of the draft.

“Thanks to trades for up and Elijah Moore they didn't pick until the third round (74), so they really had to hit in the mid-rounds for this draft to be worth anything. And it looks like they did. They could get a steal at 74 with WR Cedric Tillman, if only he could stay healthy. They got a good, huge, run-stuffing DT in Siaki Ika with their other third-round pick. And in the fourth they landed a massive (6-8, 374) right tackle in Dawand Jones. Sixth-round C Luke Wypler could be a steal, too. The Browns did very well with what they had. —Ralph Vacchiano.”

Ric Serritella, who came up with NFL Draft Bible (used by all 32 NFL teams), gave the Browns a B grade for their drafting. Serritella had both the Tillman and Jones picks as an “A” pick. He gave Cleveland a “D” for the selection of Cameron Mitchell.

SI ranked every AFC draft class and placed the Browns at spot No. 11, mainly due to their need to find value after not having picks in the first two rounds.

“The Browns didn’t have a pick until the third round but still found nice value immediately in Tennessee wide receiver Cedric Tillman. He’ll join a talented room of pass catchers, including Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones. Cleveland also took a local product in Ohio State’s Dawand Jones, a right tackle checking in at 375 pounds whom many believed could be a top-50 selection.”

Overall, it’s going to take some time to see how this Browns draft class pans out. On paper it’s a pretty nice class and virtually everyone can agree on that. When you factor in Deshaun Watson and Elijah Moore trades (you should), it becomes a bit better.

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