The Opening Drive 7/8: Browns Individual Talent Appearing Across Top NFL Rankings

While team respect lacks across the national landscape, recent rankings show the Browns have promising pieces.

Jul 08, 2026

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BEREA, OHIO - JUNE 10: Quinshon Judkins #10 of the Cleveland Browns runs a drill during the Cleveland Browns Mandatory Minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus on June 10, 2026 in Berea, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler has been releasing his annual survey of the NFL’s best over the last week. He polls league executives, coaches, and scouts to rank the top 10 at various positions and the Browns are popping up across several rankings lists. Quinshon Judkins didn’t crack that list, but he wasn’t far off it either. Judkins landed in the honorable-mention tier alongside Kyren Williams and Josh Jacobs, with one AFC executive offering a simple but telling scouting note: he runs incredibly hard, and he’s faster in the open field than you’d think.

This isn’t a fan vote or a media exercise in nostalgia. It’s a panel of the people who actually evaluate this position for a living, and they’re ranking Judkins above several backs who received votes but missed the honorable-mention cut entirely, including Chase Brown, Ashton Jeanty, and fellow Ohio State 2025 draft-product TreVeyon Henderson. For a rookie who dealt with a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula down the stretch, on a Browns offense that ranked among the least productive through the air in football, that’s a real signal of where the league sees him.

Judkins finished his rookie year with 827 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 230 carries, good for 998 all-purpose yards across 14 games. Tied Harold Fannin Jr. for the team lead in touchdowns, and he did all of it in an offense that gave defenses no reason to respect the pass, which meant stacked boxes and predictable situations for most of the season. The receiving production was thin, just 26 catches for 171 yards, and that’s the clearest gap between where Judkins sits now and where the top 10 lives. The names above him tell that story: Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, De’Von Achane. These are backs who tilt games as receivers as much as rushers. That’s the swing skill Judkins will need to add if he wants to close the distance. Even if he doesn’t get there as a dual-threat, he will always have a baseline as a strong between the tackles running back and that is what the Browns need from him most.

A full offseason, a healthy start, balanced play-caller, and revamped offensive line point toward more room and better efficiency. If the receiving numbers tick up even modestly, and if he pushes past 1,000 yards rushing with double-digit touchdowns, the honorable-mention tag becomes a floor rather than a ceiling.

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