Four Browns should make All-Rookie team for the regular season

With one week to go in the NFL’s regular season, ESPN’s Ben Solak recently published his All-Rookie team for the year, with a few notable surprises.

One thing that isn’t surprising at all, is the presence of a few of Cleveland Browns breakout stars on the list.

Among those recognized was third-round tight end Harold Fannin Jr., who’s now the franchise record holder for most receptions by a rookie in team history, with 72, after obliterating the previous mark of 66 set by Kevin Johnson in 1999 with 66.

Wrote Solak on Fannin: “He has emerged as a unique threat as a movement piece (using pre-snap motion) in Cleveland's offense by creating huge hidden yardage with broken tackles on screens and jump balls over the middle of the field. Fannin is only the ninth tight end since the merger with 700-plus receiving yards in his rookie season.

“Fannin already has some of the best change-of-direction skills at the position, and his instincts as a tackle breaker are excellent. It's fair to expect him to become a Sam LaPorta-esque producer, and his ceiling is in the range of Trey McBride and prime Travis Kelce as team-leading target-getters who can be used at all three levels of the field.”

Those are pretty big names to be associated with, and Fannin has been truly deserving, too. Fannin currently leads the Browns in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, and his emergence could cause the Browns to let fan favorite David Njoku walk as a free agent in the upcoming weeks, as the ninth-year veteran has been dealing with unavailability issues.

Also included on Solak’s list was tackling phenom Carson Schwesinger, a second-rounder out of UCLA that has dominated to the tune of 156 combined tackles for the year, a number that has him tied for fifth in the league.

On Schwesinger, Solak had this to say:

“The easy pick for Defensive Rookie of the Year, Schwesinger is all that and a bag of chips. He is fast, physical, slippery, quick to see plays unfold, nimble, savvy before the snap, a great tackler on the move, improving as a zone dropper, productive around the football, aggressive in seeking splash plays and overall just really instinctive. He was dropped in an ideal run-and-chase system in Cleveland, but the alacrity with which he got up to NFL speed was something to see. Tackle stats are generally unreliable, but Schwesinger is one of five linebackers this century to post 150-plus tackles, 10-plus tackles for loss and 2-plus passes defensed in his rookie season. The other four are Kiko Alonso, Luke Kuechly, Shaquille Leonard and DeMeco Ryans. Good group.”

The prohibitive betting favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, Schwesinger was notoriously snubbed for the Bro Bowl Games, behind the Ravens’ Roquan Smith and the Texans Azeez Al-Shaair.

Cleveland’s outstanding rookie class didn’t stop there. Running back Quinshon Judkins was named by Solak as a second-teamer “because he ran tough and minimized negatives behind a floundering offensive line and without any supporting passing game to create space for him.” Meanwhile, Cleveland’s first-round selection, defensive tackle Mason Graham, also made the list as a second-teamer, as “he overcame the rookie hump in the second half of the season, collecting 19 pressures in eight games after the Browns' bye relative to 11 pressures in the eight games before it. Graham still needs to be better when engaged -- he struggles to shed blocks without giving up ground -- but he is creating more quick wins, which is what the Browns drafted him to do.”

Yes, the Browns’ season has been a profound disappointment, but many new faces on the team have been nothing short of spectacular.

While some of this has to do with a general lack of deep talent on the roster, forcing rookies into unexpectedly significant roles from early on, it also speaks volumes about the scouting department' s job this year, and the coaching staff’s work in developing these youngsters, getting them up to seed to answer the call for Cleveland.