Browns: Grading each rookie through the regular season
By Chad Porto
The Browns aren’t done playing yet, so with that let’s take one last look at the rookies from the team’s 2020 regular season.
This is the final regular-season evaluation of the Browns 2020 rookie class. This evaluation is from the entire season. Not the last three games, or sixteen plays from Week 5. The entire season.
These rookies aren’t children or students. They’re pros. They will be measured as pros. They have jobs to do. Their existence on the roster is predicated on the notion that they can do that job, whatever it is. They’re going to be measured against each other and other rookies.
Being a first-round, or a sixth-round pick doesn’t mean anything in their grading. The coaches don’t give fifth-round picks less guff and more handholding because they were taken later in the draft. They’re held to the same standards. So that’s exactly what is going to happen here.
Let’s give context to the grades, to avoid having to go over this time and time again.
“A” – All-Pro player.
“B” – Pro Bowl-caliber player.
“C” – Solid starter.
“D” – Acceptable backup, for now.
“F” – Needs to be replaced.
Pluses and minuses help dictate how close the player is to the next level.
First Round: Jedrick Wills
Grade: C
Jedrick Wills was not a top-10 draft pick this year. Maybe he played like a first-rounder, but there were at least four linemen who were drafted after him that played better than him. So it’s hard to say he played above average. He’s an absolute upgrade over Greg Robinson, absolutely but anyone who’s paying attention would admit that he played average football as a rookie. That doesn’t mean the Browns should replace him. That doesn’t mean he can’t get better. It just means that as a rookie, he did not play up to the expectations of a Top-10 NFL Draft pick. Something made even worse by how well Tristan Wirfs played in Tampa Bay.
All that criticism aside, he has shown to be capable in all the facets of the game, so he’s not a bust by any means. He just has to do better next year to really justify his draft stock. After all, Ezra Cleveland had a better season and he didn’t get drafted until the second round.
Second Round: Grant Delpit
Grade: Incomplete
No grade will be given for Grant Delpit until he can actually play.