A look back at how the Browns fared in the 2022 NFL Draft, evaluating each of GM Andrew Berry's selections.
get ready for the 2025 NFL Draft, which may be the most consequential of his tenure as Cleveland’s general manager, we’re looking back at each of his previous five drafts to see how he’s done. We’ll examine each of the picks Berry and the Browns made, pick a player or two who could have been better choices at those slots and who would also have been worse than the player they selected.
This was the first of three drafts that the Browns did not have a pick in the first round because of the Deshaun Watson trade. 2022 was also the first of two consecutive drafts that the Browns traded out of the second round to get extra picks.Here is our look back at how the Browns did in the 2022 NFL Draft.Cornerback Martin Emerson Jr.The Browns started their 2022 draft off with an eyebrow-raising pick, especially considering they had drafted Greg Newsome II in the first round a year earlier. But by his second season, Emerson became a starter opposite Denzel Ward and had a legitimate case to make the Pro Bowl in 2023. He has played 50 games in the NFL, starting 33, and he has 34 pass breakups and four interceptions. 2024 was not a good year for Emerson, like most players on the Browns, as he had just five pass breakupsThere weren’t many players taken between the first two picks for the Browns who were clearly better choices than Emerson. But it’s fair to point out that a handful of good starters went shortly after Emerson, including Seahawks tackle Abraham Lucas at 72, Texans linebacker Christian Harris at 75 and Colts tackle Bernhard Raimann at 77.2022 was a nightmare class for quarterbacks not named Brock Purdy, who was Mr. Irrelevant. The Falcons made Desmond Ridder the second quarterback taken in this draft by using the 74th pick on him. Ridder has thrown just 16 touchdowns to 14 interceptions and is now a backup quarterback.When weighing the grade for Emerson, I’m not necessarily going to weigh one bad season as being much worse than two good seasons, especially considering many Browns had a bad 2024 season. The key for Emerson will be that he needs to bounce back in 2025 to ensure he has a long-term home in Cleveland. That said, the Browns have to be pleased with what they’ve seen from Emerson in his three seasons. To get a corner early in the third round who probably should have been a Pro Bowler is pretty good work.The second of the Browns’ three third-round picks was used on Wright, who was considered a raw but very athletic prospect out of UAB. As expected, Wright had a quiet rookie season with no sacks. But he started to turn a corner in 2023, particularly in the second half of the season, as he finished with five sacks, six tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. He appeared to be on a similar track in 2024 with a crucial sack for a safety against the Jaguars in Week 2. But his season ended after four weeks due to a torn triceps that he suffered in Week 2.The Lions selected safety Kerby Joseph with the 97th pick, and he was a first team All-Pro in 2024. He has started 46 of 49 games in three seasons and has 31 pass breakups and 17 interceptions. Washington picked Alabama RB Brian Robinson Jr. at 98th, and he has become a very good running back with 2,329 yards and 15 touchdowns in three seasons. Also, Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard, the 89th pick, has become a key starter on their defense.Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral was the 94th pick to the Panthers. To this day, he has not played a single NFL snap in the regular season. The player taken after Wright was safety JT Woods, who went to the Chargers. He played in 13 games for Los Angeles, recording only seven tackles.Despite missing most of the 2024 season, Wright showed he has plenty of potential to be a starter at the NFL level. The injury does put a cloud over what his true ceiling is as he heads into the final season of his contract. But there is enough there to believe that Wright can be a solid edge rusher and possibly more as he continues to develop.Bell was the first offensive player the Browns drafted in 2022. Despite poor athletic testing numbers at the NFL combine, Bell was seen as a player who could create space in the open field and had great hands. Those skills have not translated as Bell has just 41 receptions for 408 yards and three touchdowns in 32 NFL games. The Browns waived Bell prior to the start of the 2024 season. They brought him back to the practice squad and he played in one game, catching three passes for 27 yards before suffering a season-ending hip injury.The Chiefs drafted Wisconsin linebacker Leo Chenal at pick 103 and he has become a key part of Kansas City’s defense. He started 32 games over his three seasons in K.C., recording 160 tackles, 15 for loss and five sacks. Tight end Cade Otton went to the Buccaneers at pick 106, the first of the fourth round, and he has grown into a solid starting tight end with 148 catches for 1,446 yards and 10 TDs.The next receiver off the board was SMU’s Danny Gray, who was selected by the 49ers at pick No. 105. He has played in only 13 games in the NFL, catching only one pass for 10 yards. He also has one carry for nine yards.Considering how Khalil Shakir and Romeo Doubs have performed in the NFL in their young careers, this feels like a big miss. The Browns have traded for a veteran receiver three years in a row, including in back-to-back years following this pick. This pick simply didn’t pan out, but Bell did have some notable moments including a fourth-down conversion in Week 5 vs. the 49ers in 2023. That said, when you’re a top-100 pick who gets cut after two seasons, it’s a miss.4th round, 108th overall pick: DT Perrion Winfrey Winfrey was considered a steal at the time he was drafted considering he could have been taken as early as the second round. He was incredibly excited to be draftedBut that exuberance flamed out very quickly. He was benched in just his second game for disciplinary reasons, and he missed a total of four games in 2022 due to a combination of healthy scratches, an illness that kept him out of midweek practices and a concussion that he suffered during a scooter accident., three months after being arrested for misdemeanor assault, after an Instagram video was posted by a woman saying that Winfrey threatened her with a gun. The assault charge against him was dropped.In total, Winfrey played just 14 games in the NFL, recording 25 total tackles, 1 TFL and just 0.5 sacks.The next defensive tackle off the board was Micheal Clemons, who went 117th to the Jets. He became a full-time starter in 2024 and started all 17 games for the Jets, recording 34 tackles, 4.5 sacks and four TFLs.Who could have been a worse choice? The only player between this selection and the Browns’ next pick to play fewer games than Winfrey was DE Eyioma Uqazurike, who played in only 12 games after being drafted 116th by the Broncos. The Panthers drafted Penn State linebacker Brandon Smith 120th overall, and he has just nine tackles in 14 career games.Winfrey was a distraction for the Browns very quickly in his rookie season. He also didn’t play well when he got his opportunity on the field.Kicker Cade York.The Browns needed a kicker and decided to grab the strong-legged LSU kicker. The pick looked great from the outset as he won his first game with a 58-yard field goal in the final seconds to beat the Panthers in Week 1 of 2022. The shine wore off quickly as he struggled through his rookie season, making just 75% of his field goals and missing two extra points. York had a nightmare of a preseason in 2023 as he missed numerous kicks over four games and was dealt to the Commanders for a seventh-round pick. He appeared in six games in 2024 and was 9-for-13 on field goals in stints with the Commanders and Bengals.A pair of Pro Bowlers were drafted in the picks following the selection of York. The Cowboys took tight end Jake Ferguson at pick 129 and he has been good in his three seasons with 149 receptions for 1,429 yards and seven touchdowns. Early in the fifth round, the Seahawks used the 153rd pick on cornerback Tariq Woolen, and he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. He has started 46 of 48 games played and has 11 interceptions and 41 pass breakups.Who could have been a worse choice? The next player taken after York was receiver Erik Ezukanma to the Dolphins, and he played in only five games in the NFL. He has just one catch for three yards. Interestingly, he has five carries for 22 yards. The Chiefs picked Kentucky tackle Darian Kinnard at pick 145, and he has played in only three NFL games. He was cut by the Chiefs after one season.York did win one game as a kicker, which you can argue is actually not terrible value for a late fourth-round pick. However, considering the Browns traded for his replacement a year later in Dustin Hopkins and plenty of players drafted after him have turned in successful careers, York’s drafting is a cautionary tale of drafting kickers.5th round, 156th overall pick: RB Jerome Ford The former Cincinnati Bearcat played a big role in helping his team become the first Group of 5 team to reach the College Football Playoff in 2021. The Browns drafted him in the fifth round in 2022 and he mostly redshirted as a rookie. Ford has been forced to step up as the top back for the better part of the last two seasons due to Nick Chubb suffering from numerous injuries, including a significant knee injury. Ford hasn’t been elite by any stretch, but he has been solid with 1,378 yards rushing and seven touchdowns on the ground in two seasons.Ford hasn’t been the best running back to come out of the fifth round. The Rams drafted Notre Dame’s Kyren Williams at pick 164, and he has had a great last two seasons with at least 1,100 yards and 12 TDs rushing in both 2023 and 2024. He made the Pro Bowl in 2023. At pick No. 167, the Cowboys drafted cornerback DaRon Bland, and he set an NFL record for the most pick-sixes in a season in 2023 when he had five. That earned him first team All-Pro honors.Two picks after Ford went off the board, the Seahawks drafted former Ohio State defensive end Tyreke Smith. He played in just three NFL games, all in 2023, and he has only one career tackle to his name.Ford has plenty of exciting tools, but he feels like a player that leaves you wanting more. He might never be a true No. 1 running back. But that said, he’s proven to at least be a solid No. 2 back and a good receiver out of the backfield. Maybe he could be something more with a better offensive line and quarterback.Wide receiver Michael Woods II.The Browns took another receiver in this draft by selecting the former Oklahoma and Arkansas product at pick 202. Woods has appeared in 15 games between 2022 and 2024, missing the entire 2023 season due to a torn Achilles.Who could have been a better choice? The last two rounds of any draft can be a crap shoot, but the 2022 NFL Draft took this to a different level. Easily the best players in the final two rounds were two taken towards the very end in Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy .Two players drafted after Woods never appeared in an NFL game. The Patriots drafted guard Chasen Hines 210th overall, and the Colts picked DT Curtis Brooks 216th overall.A common theme you’re going to see out of these final three picks is that there just wasn’t a whole lot to choose from in the final 50-plus picks in this draft outside of Isiah Pacheco and Brock Purdy. Woods hasn’t been anything special, but this grade is what it is because there just wasn’t much better out there to take at this point.7th round, 223rd overall pick: DE Isaiah ThomasHe only played one season with the Browns, playing 10 games in 2022 and having one sack and nine total tackles.Who could have been a better choice? In addition to Pacheco and Purdy, another solid player to play in last season’s Super Bowl came off the board in the seventh round. The Chiefs drafted cornerback Jaylen Watson 243rd overall, and he has 18 pass breakups and an interception in 38 games for Kansas City.Picks 241 and 242 were Steelers QB Chris Oladokun and Panthers CB Kalon Barnes. The two combined to play just three NFL games. Oladokun has just a five-yard run to his credit and Barnes does not have an NFL statistic.Given the weakness of this part of the draft, the fact that Thomas at least got a sack in the NFL makes this about an average grade.Deaton was the final pick for the Browns in this draft as they looked to add to their offensive line depth.Who could have been a better choice? There were plenty of players who didn’t get drafted who have been solid NFL players. Among the notable ones are Steelers RB Jaylen Warren, Saints WR Rashid Shaheed and Dolphins CB Kader Kohou.Two other players selected after Deaton also did not play a snap in the NFL. DE Andre Anthony was cut in training camp, and OL Marquis Hayes ended the season on the Packers practice squad.I can’t really give this a good grade since Deaton has yet to play a single snap, even though it was largely due to injury. The only reason this isn’t an F is again because so much of this part of the draft was weaker than usual and this was one of the last picks.Despite not having a pick in the first two rounds, the Browns were able to find a good starter in the third round in Martin Emerson Jr., who had a down season in 2024. But I’m far from writing him off considering there were a lot of Browns players who also did not play well last season which is why they went 3-14. I like Alex Wright’s development track, and Jerome Ford is at least a rotational running back, which isn’t terrible value for a fifth-round pick. However, they missed badly in the fourth round with both Perrion Winfrey and Cade York not making it to their second seasons in Cleveland, which negates a good chunk of the good they had with Emerson, Wright and Ford. That’s why the grade here is just a C.
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