Cleveland Browns rated the best rookie class of 2018
By Erik Lambert
The Cleveland Browns still believe they have a shot at the playoffs this year. Mathematically they’re not wrong, but this feels like a team of the future.
That shouldn’t be a surprise. Cleveland has held a ridiculous number of draft picks over the past few years. The simple law of averages said they were going to start getting some good players eventually. It would appear that’s finally the case. Last season they secured top pass rusher Myles Garrett and playmaking tight end David Njoku. It was a step in the right direction if nothing else.
Some believe though that it will be the 2018 class that ends up becoming the foundation of a future winner this team has sought for over a decade. At least that’s what Pro Football Focus thinks. In collaboration with ESPN, the analytics website ranked all 32 draft classes this year from 1 to 32. Unsurprisingly the Browns came out on top, edging out the Detroit Lions and New York Giants for the honor.
Their reason? A three-headed monster in the making.
"“Mayfield is PFF’s 14th-highest-graded quarterback through the first 13 weeks of the season, and his 6.9 big-time throw percentage ranks fourth out of 36 quarterbacks who have attempted at least 100 passes this season. (A big-time throw is a downfield, tight-window pass with the right amount of touch, velocity, and ball placement.) Denzel Ward is the 11th-ranked cornerback this season in terms of PFF overall grade while running back Nick Chubb ranks first among his positional peers.”"
John Dorsey did exactly what he was hired to do for the Browns
There’s a reason Cleveland did so well too. They were wise to finally put an end to their prior experiments at GM and went with a guy with a boatload of experience in John Dorsey. They chose well too. The man had been the architect behind the Kansas City Chiefs team that is currently running roughshod over the AFC. Giving that man tons of cap space and a bounty of draft picks was going to produce good results.
Now Mayfield, Chubb, and Ward add three more supreme talents to their core that seems to be coming into place. Experience is what this team will need now. They’re gaining it each week and the odds say if they can continue to stack good drafts together this team can be a winner by 2019 and a contender by 2020. For the first time in ages, there is genuine hope for Browns football. All Jimmy Haslam has to do now is keep out of it and let it grow.