The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Cleveland Browns entered the NFL Draft with obvious needs at offensive tackle and wide receiver.
Two days and five picks into general manager Andrew Berry’s seventh draft in charge, it’s clear that new coach Todd Monken watched the Browns’ 2025 offense and has a strong level of input in how Cleveland has attacked its selections.
What happened in the last two seasons wasn’t good enough. What the Browns had at key offensive positions wasn’t good enough. What happens at quarterback still is anyone’s guess, but the Browns have doubled up on offensive tackles and wide receivers.
After taking tackle Spencer Fano and wide receiver KC Concepcion in Thursday’s first round, the Browns started the second round by selecting wide receiver Denzel Boston and executing three trades — two down the board and one up — before selecting safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren and tackle Austin Barber.
Both in draft-board management and matching talent to need, Berry and the Browns have done well. The March priority was clearly the remake of the offensive line, and the Fano pick at No. 9 backed that up.
Concepcion, the speed-first receiver, came at No. 24. At No. 39, the Browns selected the true outside target in Boston as part of their shift toward badly needed pass-catching upgrades. McNeil-Warren was on the team’s short list at No. 39, so Berry basically said trading back into the second round at No. 58 was an easy call.
Then, after another trade got the Browns fourth-round picks in 2026 and 2027, Berry traded the 2026 fourth-rounder as part of getting back to No. 86 to select Barber, who can learn both tackle spots and potentially play inside at guard if needed.
Assuming health, development and proper evaluation, the Browns are restoring the depth chart one sensible pick at a time.
“It’s where we hoped we would head,” Monken said of the team’s roadmap through three rounds.
Though Monken was hesitant to outright say he pushed the front office to tackle the most obvious needs, he said he believes the Browns are on their way to matching each pick with an actual development plan and, eventually, to maximizing what’s on hand.
“Ultimately, whether we take them in the first round, second round, third round — whatever their (draft) grades are now — it’s up to us as a coaching staff to develop them,” Monken said. “And that’s why we’re hired. That’s why coaches are hired: to develop the players that show up in your locker room. And you’re always trying to maximize a player’s measurable skill set. And that’s what we’re going to fight like hell to do.”
The Browns beefed up the roster while temporarily burying the lede: the quarterback situation remains somewhere between uncertain and fully pointed toward next year’s draft. The just-completed three-day bonus minicamp for Monken, being a new hire, was only the start of what’s looking like a competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, who started the final seven games of 2025.
That the Browns didn’t draft a quarterback in the first three rounds can be taken as good news for Sanders’ chances of getting a shot to prove himself, though first he’ll have to win the job. Watson is back for the final year of his disastrous contract after missing all of 2025 with a twice-torn right Achilles tendon and is likely not in the team’s long-term plans, but he’ll get a chance to become the starter.
The Browns teaming Concepcion and Boston with dynamic second-year tight end Harold Fannin Jr. is good news for whoever wins the quarterback job. The line will have at least three veterans plus Fano, who will re-learn left tackle after playing his final two college seasons on the right side. Monken gets to build his scheme around the new guys and improved depth, with the overall thinking being that the Browns will go intentionally young and leave their quarterback options open.
Though Berry’s 2025 draft class looks strong and could eventually be viewed as outstanding, it included no receivers or offensive linemen. Browns wide receivers as a group had four touchdown receptions last season, so the Concepcion-Boston double-up really should surprise no one. Injuries and poor roster construction forced the Browns to start seven different players at left tackle over the last three seasons. The entire core of what was a good offensive line just a few years ago is now gone.
Berry added three veteran offensive linemen, brought back Teven Jenkins and now has added two rookies. The Browns are probably still looking for a fullback, a tight end and maybe another guard, but they’ve added speed to the pass-catching group. Fannin and running back Quinshon Judkins are viewed as core pieces, too.
McNeil-Warren might be a pick for the future, but the Browns think he’s versatile and rangy enough to make a good defense better immediately. Berry, though, has long known he’d have to focus on the offensive side this year. Though Berry said Jerry Jeudy is still “the bellcow” of the receiver room, the remake of that group is now officially underway.
“I think with receiver rooms, you can have maybe a ball-dominant player or you can essentially build a basketball team with different skill sets,” Berry said. “We prefer the second approach. Now, don’t get me wrong: I’ll take Calvin Johnson if he’s out there, but we feel like we have a nice, well-rounded room with speed, (run after catch), contested catch ability and separation. So we’re really pleased with the youth and talent in that group.”
To this point, Berry seems to have positioned Monken and the offense to show improvement in 2026. What the actual future is at quarterback and for exact roles among the playmakers remains unknown, but the Browns feel they’re on their way to building something.
And with another quarterback competition, the folks in charge feel there are fewer questions elsewhere than in previous years. That feels like progress, which should be the minimum ask for Monken’s first season.
If the Browns can add another strong draft class and get a true quarterback evaluation in the season ahead, things will be much clearer at this time next year.