Grading the 2020 Browns Draft Class Heading into Pivotal Third Year

As Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry heads into his third season, his first draft class enters will have added pressure to perform. How they grade out now and what's ahead of them for the 2022 season.

Andrew Berry has been involved in every Cleveland Browns draft since 2016, but has been the man in charge starting in 2020. His first draft class as general manager is entering its third season.

Heading into the 2022 season, all seven of the Browns 2020 selections are competing for meaningful roles on the team. There are multiple players that will be given opportunities to earn starting spots on the team, but the players have to capitalize and pay it off or the team could be in the market for upgrades next year.

In all, the Browns could end up with six starters from this class for the 2022 season, which could a major reason the Browns are able to contend, whether it's this season or next.

In addition to the grades, the original evaluations that were done are included.

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Jedrick Wills, Offensive Tackle

Selection: 1st round, 10th overall

Grade: B

Two issues are working against Wills that aren't his fault. The first is that he's not Tristan Wirfs. The second is not only did he suffer an injury that stuck with him the entire 2021 season, but the primary depth behind him was lost for the year in week 1.

Wirfs was selected 13th overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has an already been an All-Pro. The former Iowa Hawkeye tackle seemed like a perfect fit for what the Browns wanted to do offensively, but the Browns opted for Wills.

After his rookie season with a virtual offseason where he was switching from right to left tackle and turned in a solid rookie performance. Wills had some occasional lapses in focus and a couple performances where he struggled, but the combination of comfort and being able to practice suggested he could come back for a big season. 

In his sophomore season, Wills injured his ankle in the opening game of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs. Chris Hubbard, his backup who was critical in helping the Browns deal with offensive line injuries throughout the 2020 season, suffered a season-ending triceps injury.

This left the Browns with Blake Hance who is suited to play on the interior and rookie James Hudson III who was nowhere near ready. As a result, Wills was rushed back onto the field before his ankle had made any meaningful improvement. It was apparent how much he was struggling to plant with that ankle. 

Eventually, the Browns finally did shut him down for a few weeks, but the injury stuck with him the entire year. The Browns, like most teams, were simply not prepared to be on their third string left tackle for week two of the season and it put Wills in position to fail. The Browns do have better depth heading into 2022, but would prefer not to have to test it. Healthy, with plenty of experience, including playing through injury, Wills could be poised for a big year where he shows off the potential he had coming out of Alabama. 

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Grant Delpit, Safety

Selection: 2nd round, 44th overall

Grade: B

An Achilles' injury wiped out Delpit's rookie season and continued to have an impact in his second year. It impacted how the Browns went into the season at the safety position, playing him in a star or X type role. Not wanting to overload his recovering heel, they enabled him to gain confidence as the season progressed.

Between his own convalescence and struggles from Ronnie Harrison playing split-high safety, the two would eventually switch roles. Delpit could handle playing the entire game and he was improving almost by the week. That swap improved the play of the safeties as a group, including the play of John Johnson III.

There are three general categories to the safety position for Joe Woods. Deep zone, man to man and playing in the box. The goal for Woods is to be able to line up three safeties on the field and have them execute any of the three roles depending on the call. Delpit has experience doing all of them, but hasn't been unleashed in that capacity, which would allow Johnson to show off the versatility that made him such an attractive free agent.

So between Delpit's health and his confidence in the scheme, there is reason to believe that the third year safety could have a breakout year and the Browns could have one of the best safety duos in the NFL, still having Harrison who could be a valuable player if he returns to the form he showed in 2020.

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Jordan Elliott, Defensive Tackle

Selection: 3rd round, 88th overall

Grade: C-

The transition from college to the NFL at defensive tackle is as difficult as any position on the field. Elliott has been no exception and has struggled to look the part.

The Browns tried to make things easier on Elliott by signing Andrew Billings as a free agent for the 2020 season. He was coming off a great year with the Cincinnati Bengals and looked to be exactly what the Browns needed at nose. Billings opted out of the season over concerns with COVID-19 and his asthma, which limited what the Browns could do that year. Then in 2021, he came back and was completely unrecognizable from the player that was so impactful for the Bengals, which forced Elliott onto the field more than the Browns would have liked.

No position group was worse for the Browns in 2021 than defensive tackle and Elliott certainly did his part to help them achieve so little. He struggled both to anchor as a run defender and was non-existent as a pass rusher.

Nevertheless, the Browns seem intent on having him start the 2022 season and the team is saying that the light has come on for Elliott as he prepares for his third season, often the year when defensive tackles are able to acclimate to this level of competition.

To borrow a sentiment from Thomas Edison, Elliott has learned 10,000 ways how not to play defensive tackle. The Browns are counting on the fact that the only way left is the right way to do it. No player from this class and arguably the team as a whole has a better opportunity to change the fortunes of the team than Elliott.

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Jacob Phillips, Linebacker

Selection: 3rd round, 97th overall

Grade: C-

The Browns love what Phillips can be, but injuries have kept him off the field. He missed time in his rookie season due to knee injuries and then tore his bicep ahead of the 2021 season.

Without certainty that he was going to make it back, the Browns thought so highly of Phillips that they went through roster gymnastics to be able to get him on injured reserve with the possibility of designating him to return. Phillips was able to make it back and appeared in four games. The regular season finale against the backups for the Cincinnati Bengals, Phillips showed why the Browns excited about him.

Phillips processes information at a high rate. He plays faster than timed speed because he's able to diagnose so quickly and has shown the ability to beat the play to the spot, disrupting it before it has a chance to become a problem. In that game specifically, he was playing faster than anyone else.

Should the linebackers stay healthy, Phillips isn't likely to start. Both Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Anthony Walker have entrenched positions and Sione Takitaki is the SAM when they need one, but Phillips could see plenty of action as a sub package player, especially in passing situations. In a perfect world, Phillips eventually becomes the MIKE in this defense, but the earliest that would happen is 2023.

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Harrison Bryant, Tight End

Selection: 4th round, 115th overall

Grade: B+

Bryant has been a terrific pickup for the Browns. He's been able to contribute each of his first two seasons and is poised for a larger role in year three. His emergence as a player helped make the decision to release Austin Hooper that much easier.

As the 2021 season progressed, it became clear that Bryant was the better option in  the Browns offense between the two. Bryant wasn't the blocker Hooper was, but he was more fluid and natural as a pass catcher.

Despite only having a combined 45 receptions for 471 yards in 31 games, Bryant's impact seems more substantial. Part of that is the fact he has six receiving touchdowns in his career.

After rarely blocking at Florida Atlantic because he was the primary receiver in the offense, Bryant has improved. Should that continue, he could mitigate any drop-off from Hooper while giving the Browns a more dynamic receiving threat. Bryant's route tree has been better for the team's overall spacing and how they can deploy other receivers around him.

Along with David Njoku, who is likely to be the teams second receiver this year, Bryant has the capacity to be a mismatch in the passing game, which should not only allow him to get more production but make the Browns offense more threatening overall.

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Nick Harris, Center

Selection: 5th round, 160th overall

Grade: B+

Nick Harris has appeared in three games in his first two seasons as an injury replacement. Two out of place at right guard in his rookie year and then an impressive performance against the Green Bay Packers where he was able to hold his own against Kenny Clark.

Harris hasn't had to play because the Browns had J.C. Tretter at center, who only missed one game in his five-year career with the Browns. That was due to COVID-19. So Harris has largely been working anonymously behind the scenes.

The major benefit of playing behind Tretter for two seasons is that while he's been outstanding on the field, injuries to his knees rarely allow him to practice. As a result, Harris has been getting a ton of reps with the first team offense at center.

Money is obviously a factor in why the Browns released Tretter, but they could have kept him. The Browns feel good enough about Harris that they are going full speed ahead with him as the starting center this year.

One game doesn't accurately reflect the wear and tear of an NFL season, but playing as well as he did against Clark is an important achievement for Harris. Coming out of Washington, Harris struggled to deal with hulking defensive tackles. Clark is the best he's ever faced and he excelled, which suggests he's been able to transform his body, adapting to the NFL.

That will be critical as the Browns play a division that features multiple impact nose tackles. D.J. Reader of the Cincinnati Bengals and Michael Pierce of the Baltimore Ravens have the ability to dictate the line of scrimmage while the Pittsburgh Steelers have a variety of bodies they can throw at Harris including Tyson Alualu, Chris Wormley and former Brown Larry Ogunjobi.

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Donovan Peoples-Jones, Wide Receiver

Selection: 6th round, 187th overall

Grade: A

Entering the 2022 season, Donovan Peoples-Jones is the favorite to be the Browns second wide receiver behind Amari Cooper. In some ways, Jones is still more potential than proof, but he has tremendous ability.

He was able to step in and make contributions as a rookie, including a game-winning touchdown catch against the Cincinnati Bengals. In his second year, Jones got off to a slow start, catching just four passes for 57 yards. The next three weeks, he caught 11 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns.

For Jones, it's all about consistency. It did not help by injuries to Jarvis Landry and eventually the mid-season divorce with Odell Beckham Jr. because that forced Jones to go from the third receiver, where he should have been, to the Browns top wide receiver.

Facing J.C. Jackson of the New England Patriots and Marlon Humphrey of the Baltimore Ravens in back to back weeks was a rude awakening for Jones. The Browns are hoping that experience is only going to help Jones continue to grow at the position. Jones will continue to work in training camp against potentially one of the better secondaries in the NFL.

If Jones can step up and own the #2 receiver spot playing with Cooper, the Browns offense will be decidedly more of a problem for opposing defenses. Both offer a nice combination of size and speed.

Even if Jones is more suited to be a third receiver in this offense, that would still be a great pick for the Browns in the sixth round.