Browns NFL Draft grades with Shedeur Sanders pick earn shocking Mel Kiper Jr. honor

The Cleveland Browns had an NFL Draft filled with redundancy.

They picked two running backs in the first 100 picks, then they one-upped that by picking two QBs in the first five rounds.

Dillon Gabriel went in the third, and Shedeur Sanders went in the fifth.

One viewing of this draft would suggest that Cleveland didn't have a great plan, but that's not how ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. sees it.

He gave the Browns an A+ draft grade, the only one he handed out among the NFL's 32 teams.

Kiper's logic centers around two things. First, he loved that they got the Jaguars' 2026 first-round pick in the Travis Hunter trade that also landed No. 5 overall pick Mason Graham and No. 36 pick Quinshon Judkins.

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And as anyone who watched the draft knows, Kiper loves Sanders.

"He was my No. 5 overall prospect in the class and clear QB1," Kiper writes. "He brings excellent accuracy, completing 74% of his throws last season. He brings toughness in the pocket. I think he will be an outstanding pro QB, and I believe we will look back on this pick in a few years and question what the rest of the NFL was doing."

Kiper also praised the Browns' selections of LB Carson Schwesinger, both RBs Judkins and Dylan Sampson, tight end Harold Fannin Jr. and even the other QB pick, Gabriel.

"Pairing Sanders and Gabriel gives the Browns options as they try to sort through the post-Watson era," Kiper writes. "Gabriel throws with terrific ball placement and makes quick, smart decisions with the football."

Browns fans are sure hoping Kiper was right about all this. And if he is, it'd be a pleasant Cleveland sports surprise, a time the Browns actually earned top marks on their decisions.

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