Ranking and grading each Browns rookie from the 2021 NFL season
By Chad Porto
5. OT James Hudson – No. 66
- Drafted: Round 4, Pick 110
- PFF Score: 57.3
- Stats: Played in 12 games, started four
- Grade: D
Like with Tommy Togiai, James Hudson was viewed as a project. He was a fine player in college but he slipped to the fourth round for a reason. With the Cleveland Browns needing depth behind Chris Hubbard, Hudson was selected but he looked so poor early in the preseason, that the Browns converted Blake Hance from guard to tackle to help replace Jack Conklin.
That didn’t work out too well, Hance was just not cut out for the speed at the edge. Faster pass-rushers got around him and there was little he could do about it. Hance was a good run-blocker, however, and that kept him in the lineup for a time. Then Jedrick Wills got hurt and it was Hudson’s turn to step up.
He did not do well.
He wasn’t expected to, however, and that’s the ultimate difference between Hudson and many others. Hudson was a guy that wasn’t expected to play until 2022 or 2023, and to see him get thrown to the wolves and struggle wasn’t unexpected.
There should still be some hope for Hudson to improve, but we’re not grading just on optimism, but also about execution. Arizona, Baltimore, and Green Bay beat him up pretty good, and that has to be factored into his overall grade; even if he isn’t expected to be a bad player in a year or two.