The Browns' 2024 NFL Draft lacked firepower. Partly because the team had just two picks inside the top 150 (due, for one last time, because of the Deshaun Watson trade from 2022) and partly because the selections they did make won't really affect the roster this year.
Cleveland drafted six players this spring — Ohio State DT Michael Hall Jr., Michigan OG Zak Zinter, Louisville WR Jamari Thrash, Mississippi State LB Nathaniel Watson, South Dakota DB Myles Harden and Cincinnati DT Jowon Briggs. Of that group, Hall Jr. and Thrash are likely the only two who could contribute early this season.
This is why Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus called the Browns the least-improved team following the 2024 NFL Draft.
Browns named least improved team after 2024 NFL Draft
As previously mentioned, it's not hard to see why the Browns' 2024 draft class doesn't move the needle.
The team's first three picks have no clear path to the field in 2024. There are two defensive tackles ahead of Hall Jr. on the depth chart, Zinter is coming off a season-ending injury from November and Thrash will open training camp as — at best — the fifth wide receiver. The rest of the group will also be buried on the depth chart to open the year.
BROWNS 2024 NFL DRAFT: Expert grades | Superlatives
This isn't a knock on these players or the Browns' selections. It was always going to be hard for Cleveland to add immediate contributors on either side of the ball with limited draft capital. But the Browns didn't necessarily add talent that could mitigate the flaws of the team from the 2023 season.
For Wasserman, those issues were run defense and receiving.
"Ohio State defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. is almost certainly an NFL-caliber pass rusher and joins a team that already led the league in pass-rush grade in 2023. The problem is that it’s hard to find more than a situational pass-rush role right now for Hall in Cleveland’s defense," Wasserman wrote. "Hall certainly fits into the team's pass-rush plans, but it’s hard to see how he, along with late-round fliers like defensive tackle Jowon Briggs and linebacker Nathaniel Watson, will significantly improve a unit that ranked 26th in run-defense grade last season.
"... On offense, Louisville wide receiver Jamari Thrash was the only weapon the Browns selected in this year’s draft. Thrash is a solid player who is quietly good at forcing missed tackles, but it’s fair to wonder if they could’ve selected someone like Malachi Corley or Jalen McMillan earlier to push Elijah Moore for the starting slot job.
"Cleveland ranked 29th in the NFL last season in team receiving grade. The additions of Thrash and Jerry Jeudy help, but it’s a stretch to say those acquisitions move the needle for their passing game.
The Browns should enter 2024 with the top-ranked defense in the league. Cleveland also already has a top-10 receiver group with Amari Cooper, Moore and Jeudy.
The difference here, though, is that the picks Cleveland made didn't change either scenario for the Browns. That could change as the season progresses, but for now the Browns look like a team with almost the same core as they did in 2023.
But maybe that's the point. Cleveland endured injuries at every level of the roster up and down the depth chart. The team needed talent that can step up and fill in if the starters or backups aren't able to play. So while the Browns didn't improve — on paper — from the draft, their selections can still contribute or at least provide insurance for a team with postseason aspirations.
