As a lead-up to the 2023 NFL draft, we’ve broken down the current depth chart of every NFL team and identified the biggest draft and team needs for the Cleveland Browns.

You can find additional team-by-team draft needs articles and other draft content on our 2023 NFL Draft hub.

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Who did the Browns pick in the NFL Draft?

The Cleveland Browns selected Cedric Tillman (WR, Tennessee) with the 74th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Browns added Siaki Ika (DL, Baylor) with the 98th pick.

Browns Draft Needs: Top Positions of Need in 2023

  1. Defensive Line
  2. EDGE
  3. Safety Depth

What Picks do the Cleveland Browns have in 2023?

The Cleveland Browns have eight picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, including:

  • Round 3 (74)
  • Round 3 (98)
  • Round 4 (111)
  • Round 4 (126)
  • Round 5 (140)
  • Round 5 (142)
  • Round 6 (190)
  • Round 7 (229)

Cleveland Browns Draft Capital Stats

Our Sharp Draft Value Rank is a valuation of draft capital based on a combination of average performance delivered and average dollars earned on second contracts.

This is based on two public models: performance delivered based on draft slot (the AV model created by Chase Stuart) and contractual earnings in non-rookie deals based upon draft slot (the OTC model created by Brad Spielberger and Jason Fitzgerald).

  • Browns Sharp Draft Value Rank: 27 of 32 teams
  • Browns AV Model Draft Value Rank: 27 of 32 teams
  • Browns OTC Model Draft Value Rank: 28 of 32 teams

Cleveland Browns Draft Value vs Other Teams:

The Browns’ draft value is 30% lower than the league average of all 32 teams. 26 other teams have higher draft value entering the 2023 NFL Draft.

Cleveland Browns Draft Prediction:

Mock draft expert Ryan McCrystal predicts the Browns could target a running back like Israel Abanikanda (RB, Pitt) with their top pick at No. 74 overall in the third round.

The Browns do not have a first-round selection.

Cleveland Browns Strength of Schedule, 2023

The Cleveland Browns have the 14th easiest NFL strength of schedule for the 2023 NFL season.

infographic showing NFL strength of schedule for every team for the 2023 season

Cleveland Browns Offense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs

Rich Hribar breaks down the offensive depth chart by position for the Cleveland Browns, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft.

2022 Cleveland Browns Offensive Rankings

Quarterback Depth Chart, Browns:

  1. Deshaun Watson
  2. Joshua Dobbs
  3. Kellen Mond

The Browns have the most future draft capital and current salary soaked into their starting quarterback position after trading for Deshaun Watson last offseason and subsequently giving him an unprecedented contract.

Watson is signed through 2026 with dead cap hits of $220 million, $200 million, $136.9 million, and $72.9 million over the next four seasons. He will still only be 31 years old after that deal is up as well.

Watson missed a year and a half of on-field playing the past two seasons, and it showed when he took the field a year ago.

Over his six starts to close the season, he completed a career-low 58.2% of his passes. He also would have had career-low marks in yards per pass attempt (6.5 Y/A), yards per completion (11.1), and touchdown rate (4.1%) while his 2.9% interception rate was the highest since his rookie season.

Over that span, Watson ranked 24th in the league in expected points added per play (-0.12) among quarterbacks, right below Desmond Ridder, Baker Mayfield, Mac Jones, and Tyler Huntley.

He was a touch better in success rate, checking in at 19th (39.4%).

Watson has a full offseason to recalibrate himself moving forward in this offense, but needless to say, the Browns will need a lot more given their investment in him.

Behind Watson, the team added Joshua Dobbs and Kellen Mond. Dobbs was with the Browns all of last season until he was released when Watson returned from suspension.

Running Back Depth Chart, Browns:

  1. Nick Chubb
  2. Jerome Ford
  3. John Kelly
  4. Nate McCrary

This backfield is still in good hands up top with Nick Chubb.

He was once again excellent in 2022. He posted career highs in carries (302), rushing yardage (1,525), yards from scrimmage (1,764), and total touchdowns (13).

From an efficiency stance, Chubb ranked fifth among all running backs with 100 or more carries in expected points added per rush (0.03) while averaging 5.0 yards per carry (fifth among the same group).

He has now averaged at least 5.0 yards per carry in all of his five seasons in the league. He is the only player in league history to average at least 5.0 yards per carry with 100 or more carries in each of their first five seasons in the league.

In fact, only one other running back (Marion Motley) has four such seasons over his first five years in the league.

Chubb is still signed for the next two years prior to turning 30 during the 2025 season.

Chubb handled 56.8% of the team’s rushing attempts in 2022, which was his highest rate since his second season in the league in 2019. He may be tasked to extend that workload further since the depth chart has been thinned out here with Kareem Hunt still available in free agency.

The Browns will add another back to this room whether it be through the tail end of free agency or on Day 3 of the draft.

Cleveland selected Jerome Ford in the fifth round last season, and he should have a larger role behind Chubb and compete to be the team’s RB2.

Ford did not log an offensive snap during the regular season, operating as the primary kickoff returner on the team.

He checked out physically at the combine as a rookie (5-foot-10 and 210 pounds) while registering a 74th percentile speed score (4.46 40 time).

Wide Receiver Depth Chart, Browns:

  1. Amari Cooper
  2. Donovan Peoples-Jones
  3. Elijah Moore
  4. Marquise Goodwin
  5. Jakeem Grant
  6. David Bell
  7. Anthony Schwartz
  8. Demetric Felton
  9. Jaelon Darden
  10. Marquez Stevenson
  11. Isaiah Weston
  12. Daylen Baldwin
  13. Mike Harley

Amari Cooper was one of the most underrated pickups of the 2022 offseason, especially considering the wave of wide receiver contracts doled out after his acquisition.

He caught 78 passes for 1,160 yards and a career-high nine touchdowns. He matched a career-high with 132 targets on the season while his 14.9 yards per reception were the second-best mark of his career.

Cooper accounted for 26.0% of the Cleveland targets (11th among wide receivers).

The Browns still have Cooper under contract for the next two seasons at palatable cap hits of $23.7 million each season. Like Chubb, Cooper is also signed right up until hitting age 30.

Donovan Peoples-Jones enters 2023 in the final season of his rookie contract.

He was pressed into becoming a full-time wide receiver last season and was a solid contributor. He ran a route on 92.5% of Cleveland dropbacks, which was 11th among all wide receivers in the NFL last season.

When the dust settled on the season, Peoples-Jones secured 61-of-96 targets for 839 yards and three touchdowns. He was targeted on 16.9% of his routes (81st among all wideouts with 100 or more routes run) while averaging 1.48 yards per route run (59th).

The Browns acquired Elijah Moore from the Jets this offseason, hoping to recapture the production Moore showcased during his rookie season and as a collegiate prospect.

Moore had a disastrous 2022 season with the Jets. The team moved him from the slot early in the season and deployed him as a vertical field stretcher.

From Weeks 1 to 6, Moore played 79.8% of his snaps out wide. He carried a depth of target of 15.0 yards downfield (seventh in the league over that span). 20.7% of his targets were deemed inaccurate per Pro Football Focus.

Moore voiced his displeasure about his role and target volume and was subsequently made inactive the following week. Working out of the doghouse, Moore only played 50% of the snaps in one of the following four weeks before the team was forced to move him back into the lineup regularly due to injuries.

By the time the season ended, Moore was targeted on 13.1% of his routes and averaged 0.90 yards per route run. Those marks checked in 123rd and 121st among 143 qualifying wideouts last season.

Even if Moore cannot rekindle the spark of his rookie campaign, his 2022 output is still an improvement over what Cleveland received from David Bell as a rookie.

Bell was ninth among all rookie wide receivers in routes run last season (303), but out of the 16 rookie wideouts to run 100 or more routes, Bell ranked 15th in yards per route run (0.71) and 15th in target rate per route (11.6%).

Bell was targeted on just 8.2% of his routes against man coverage while the next closest rookie was at 16.3%.

The Browns clearly want to use more wide receivers as well.

Cleveland used 11 personnel on 70.9% of their passing plays in 2022. That was 20th in the NFL but well up from the 53.4% (29th) and 45.4% (31st) rates the team deployed in Kevin Stefanski’s first two seasons.

That 11 personnel rate climbed up to 76.8% of the passing plays with Deshaun Watson under center compared to a 68.0% rate with Jacoby Brissett.

The rest of the depth chart here is littered with either inexperience or lack of production. Even the veterans that are on the depth chart in Marquise Goodwin and Jakeem Grant are players that have been built more on tangible speed than counting production in the NFL.

The Browns clearly do have a thing for raw speed (Goodwin, Schwartz, Grant, Weston) and hybrid players (Schwartz, Grant, Darden, and Felton) that may not be true receivers to begin with.

Cleveland has a crowded wide receiver roster right now based on body count but has a ton of room to still improve their competition for targets behind Amari Cooper.

Tight End Depth Chart, Browns:

  1. David Njoku
  2. Harrison Bryant
  3. Jordan Akins
  4. Zaire Mitchell-Paden

The Browns threw the ball to their tight ends 26.2% of the time in 2022, which was fourth in the league.

That was anchored by David Njoku, who the team signed to a four-year extension prior to last season.

Njoku averaged a career-high 44.9 yards per game (eighth among tight ends) while catching a career-high 72.5% of his targets. Njoku was 13th among tight ends in target rate per route run (20.0%) and 12th in yards per route run (1.57).

The team added veteran Jordan Akins to the room here on a two-year deal while they still have Harrison Bryant in the final season of his rookie contract.

Offensive Line Depth Chart, Browns:

LT: Jedrick Wills Jr./Joe Haeg
LG: Joel Bitonio/Wes Martin
C: Ethan Pocic/Nick Harris/Dawson Deaton
RG: Wyatt Teller/Drew Forbes
RT: Jack Conklin/James Hudson/Tyrone Wheatley Jr.

This is still one of the better top-down units in the league.

Cleveland ranked third in ESPN’s pass block win rate (68%) and 12th in their run block win rate metrics (72%) in 2022. At Pro Football Focus, they were seventh in collective pass blocking grade and eighth in
run blocking grade.

The Browns had to make a lot of adjustments in 2022 for injuries as well. They had just two linemen (Joel Bitonio and Jedrick Wills) appear in all 17 games.

Starters Jack Conklin, Wyatt Teller, and Ethan Pocic all missed multiple games.

By the end of the season, their most frequently used combination across the line was on the field for just 28.7% of their offensive snaps, which ranked 24th in the league.

Contractually, the Browns are in great shape here.

Projected starters Conklin, Teller, Bitonio, and Pocic are all under contract for at least the next three seasons. Depth players James Hudson, Joe Haeg, and Dawson Deaton are all signed for multiple seasons as well.

The only real decision will come in how to handle left tackle Wills, who is in the final season of his rookie contract. The team can pick up his fifth-year option for 2024 prior to May 1st still, which will be $14.175 million.

Wills has struggled to this point of his rookie contract, but it is likely the Browns will take that option and see if there is progression.

Wills allowed a 6.8% pressure rate in 2022, which was only better than James Hudson on the team and ranked 64th among qualifying tackles.

This Cleveland unit will also have to calibrate playing with Watson, who has historically invited pressure and taken a lot of sacks.

With Jacoby Brissett on the field, the team allowed a 33.3% pressure rate while Brissett was sacked on 6.1% of his dropbacks.

With Watson under center, that pressure rate climbed to 36.5% with a 10.5% sack rate.

The Browns had some injuries over that final six-week span, but this is something that has followed Watson for his career.

Since entering the league in 2017, Watson has been pressured on 40.4% of his dropbacks (third highest) while being sacked on 9.2% (also third highest).

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Cleveland Browns Defense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs

Dan Pizzuta breaks down the defensive depth chart by position for the Cleveland Browns, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft.

2022 Cleveland Browns Defensive Rankings

Interior Defensive Line Depth Chart, Browns:

  1. Dalvin Tomlinson
  2. Jordan Elliott
  3. Perrion Winfrey
  4. Trysten Hill
  5. Tommy Togiai
  6. Maurice Hurst
  7. Ben Stille
  8. Roderick Perry

The Browns needed some size along the defensive line. Much of the line was on the smaller side with a focus on rushing the passer.

That left the Browns susceptible to the run. Per TruMedia, Cleveland ranked 31st in EPA per rush and 26th in yards before contact per rush.

Dalvin Tomlinson was the big free agent add. On his own, Tomlinson is not flashy.

He did tie a career-high with 10 quarterback hits in just 13 games, but he’s not coming for his pass rush ability. 16.5% of his run defense snaps last season resulted in a tackle, which is a solid number but not among the highest at the position.

Jordan Elliott played 64% of the defensive snaps but had a pressure rate of just 6.3%. He recorded a tackle on only 9.4% of his run defense snaps.

Taven Bryan has also been more of a pass rusher than run defender in his career. Just 7.6% of his run defense snaps resulted in a tackle.

2022 third-round pick Perrion Winfrey had some production as a run defender but should be more of a rotation piece on the line. The other depth here comes with a little more focus on the pass rush.

EDGE Depth Chart, Browns:

  1. Myles Garrett
  2. Ogbo Okoronkwo
  3. Alex Wright
  4. Isaiah Thomas
  5. Sam Kamara

Myles Garrett was one of the best pass rushers in the league, but he did not get a lot of help. He had 26 quarterback hits in 2022. The next best Brown had six.

Garrett was second in ESPN’s pass rush win rate among edge rushers.

Ogbo Okoronkwo came over as a free agent signing after a one-year deal in Houston.

He put up 11 quarterback hits and nine tackles for loss last season while his pressure rate was above average. He’ll now get the benefit of rushing across from Garrett, which could allow more of those pressures to convert into hits and sacks.

While Okoronkwo should be a solid No. 2 option, the Browns could use more depth behind him.

Alex Wright played nearly half the defensive snaps as a third-round rookie and produced almost nothing as a pass rusher — 4.2% pressure rate and zero quarterback hits — but did have five batted passes at the line.

Off-ball Linebacker Depth Chart, Browns:

  1. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
  2. Anthony Walker
  3. Jacob Phillips
  4. Sione Takitaki
  5. Tony Fields II
  6. Storey Jackson
  7. Matthew Adams
  8. Jordan Kunaszyk

The Browns have a solid group of linebackers, though there it was a struggle to keep them all on the field.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah played half the defensive snap and 11 games. Anthony Walker appeared in just three games.

Yet despite those injuries, the Browns still played base at the third-highest rate in the league with three linebackers on the field for around a third of their defensive snaps.

That is likely to change under Jim Schwartz, who used nickel nearly three-quarters of the snaps during his last defensive coordinator stop with the Eagles in 2021.

When healthy, JOK and Walker will likely play most of the snaps, but Jacob Phillips and Sione Takitaki provide good depth at the position.

Cornerback Depth Chart, Browns:

  1. Denzel Ward
  2. Martin Emerson Jr.
  3. Greg Newsome
  4. Thomas Graham Jr.
  5. A.J. Green
  6. Mike Ford

Denzel Ward has shown the ability to be one of the league’s top corners but had an inconsistent season last year under Joe Woods.

Ward ranked 48th among outside cornerbacks in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap. He was 25th among all corners in 2021.

Martin Emerson was one of the most targeted cornerbacks on a per-snap basis. That volume made it tough on the third-round rookie, who ranked 67th among outside corners in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap.

However, there were flashes that could project to more development in Year 2.

Emerson and Ward each had 15 passes defensed.

Greg Newsome may or may not want a trade, but he was the team’s top slot corner.

He was 15th in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap among slot corners. He also did an excellent job of deterring targets from the slot — a reason Emerson was targeted so often outside.

Thomas Graham and A.J. Green provide solid depth and youth with the ability to fill in either on the outside or in the slot.

The main hope is the coverage will be more well-connected under Schwartz and there will be fewer broken plays than during the Joe Woods era.

Safety Depth Chart, Browns:

  1. Grant Delpit
  2. Juan Thornhill
  3. Bubba Bolden
  4. D’Anthony Bell

Grant Delpit finally had a healthy breakout season.

He played 99% of the defensive snaps, had 10 passes defensed, 10 run stuffs, and was third on the team in tackles that produced a positive play for the defense.

Since it took a while for Delpit to get going, 2023 will be the final year of his rookie contract.

The Browns signed Juan Thornhill in free agency as a rangy versatile safety to pair with Delpit. He had nine passes defensed for the Chiefs in 2022.

Delpit and Thornhill is a great starting pair, but there is nothing behind them.

Ronnie Harrison, who was replaced as a starter last season with just 24% of the defensive snaps played, still remains a free agent.

This is a place where the Browns could add some pieces on the second or third day of the draft.

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