The Cleveland Browns are on their bye week this weekend, so this is a good time to re-evaluate the roster and take a look back at the season. We start that process today by seeing how the 2022 NFL Draft class has fared thus far through their rookie seasons.
Some have started the majority of games, some have hardly played at all, and some are just now ramping up their snap counts as they have been eased into their transition. How have these rookies handled their transition from the college game to the NFL level? We take a look here with this Browns’ rookie stock watch.
CB Martin Emerson: Stock up
The Browns could not have dreamt about this amount of production out of their third round rookie at this point through his first season. Emerson saw starting snaps when the Browns came out in nickel from day-one due to the injury to Greedy Williams and has been nothing but a solid performer.
He is a stiffer cornerback who can get routed up a bit by more agile, and sharp route runners, but Emerson has proven to be strong at the catch point and a solid open-field tackler. He was glued to Tee Higgins all game on Monday Night Football and came downhill to stick ball carriers in space with frequency.
With the injury to Denzel Ward, Emerson has had a lot on his plate early in his career, and he is handling it like a seasoned veteran.
M.J. Emerson 🔒 pic.twitter.com/DOkmeB9D0Y
— Cory (@realcorykinnan) November 2, 2022
DE Alex Wright: Stock Neutral
It has been difficult to get a full grip on Alex Wright’s situation in 2022. A young player out of a Group of Five school at UAB was drafted for the length and tools he possesses. The expectation was that it may take him some time to ramp up to the speed of the NFL game.
However, with the injury to Jadeveon Clowney in Week 2 that has hampered him all season, Wright was thrust into the starting role very early in his career with the Browns. And he has expectedly taken his lumps along the way. He has. however, gotten better every game through the first eight games of his rookie season.
Wright has been a strong run defender who has yet to get home as a pass rusher. The expectation is that he will still take over as the starter across from Myles Garrett after Clowney’s contract expires this year. It is important to stress, however, that a player of Wright’s age, and with the tools of Wright, is drafted with their ceiling in mind.
And he has yet to get close to that ceiling.
I'll continue to remain high on Alex Wright (and not just because I've been stanning since December). Not many late day-two picks are thrown into a massive role the way he has been this year. Gets better every game.
Excellent job squeezing the hip of the puller, stay parallel. pic.twitter.com/cjaNtc8zLg— Cory (@realcorykinnan) October 29, 2022
WR David Bell: Stock Neutral
The Browns have eased Bell into action, but he has recently been getting the third-most snaps of any wide receiver on the roster. And judging his body of work today, Bell has been about exactly what was anticipated when he was drafted.
He is not an athletic specimen, but he is going to be dependable when called upon. Bell has caught everything thrown his way, even if his targets have been sparing. He may see more targets when the Browns spread the ball out a bit more heavily in three weeks, but for now, he has been what was imagined coming into the season.
Predominantly a slot who will motion in-line to give faux tight end looks, the majority of Bell’s targets have been over the middle of the field. This will continue to be the case throughout his career.
Bell has met the status quo. He has not done anything to blow the doors off of FirstEnergy Stadium, but he has not done anything to indicate the game is too big for him.
DT Perrion Winfrey: Stock Down
Perrion Winfrey cannot find the field with frequency despite being a member of the league’s worst defensive tackle room. He has been in the doghouse on multiple occasions already as a rookie, and when he is on the field it is easy to spot blunders on his tape.
For someone as built and explosive as Winfrey, the hopes were high. He fell to the fourth round for a reason, but there were reasons to hope he may turn his mindset around once he got into an NFL building. Yet he is getting out-snapped by Tommy Togiai and even his teammate at Oklahoma Isaiah Thomas in recent weeks.
The Browns opted for a three-man rotation in their defensive tackle unit against the Cincinnati Bengals, and it may have been for the better. It, however, is not a great sign that Winfrey is inactive eight weeks into the season in this room.
K Cade York: Stock Down
When a team drafts a kicker, even in the seventh round, he better live up to that hype from day-one. York was drafted in the fourth round.
While York has had a good deal of highs, including a game-winner in Week 1 and a long shot to end the half this past Monday night, it has been tough sledding for the fourth round pick. While he has had two long attempts blocked, York’s performance was a critical factor in a Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Kicking in Cleveland is no joke, and the draft capital the Browns used on York will give him the luxury of an extended leash. At this point, however, York is showing why it is quite a bad practice to draft special teamers.
RB Jerome Ford: Stock Neutral
Like other rookies on this team, the sample size for Ford is not substantial enough to change any prior opinions made on the running back. His selection was for well after 2022 as both Kareem Hunt and D’Ernest Johnson are likely heading out the door in free agency.
But today, there is no body of work to judge.
WR Michael Woods II: Stock Neutral
Michael Woods II missed all of training camp but dodged going on Injured Reserve. He has been inactive for most of the season but has recently seen the field over the past three weeks.
His sample size, however, is not big enough to make a judgment call on. As a sixth round pick, this is a good thing for the Browns that they have not been forced to thrust rookies on the field well before they are ready offensively.
For now, we hold at neutral.
DE Isaiah Thomas: Stock up
This past draft cycle, I graded Isaiah Thomas as an early day-three candidate. He fell into the Browns’ lap in the seventh round and has already exceeded his draft slot. His snaps are ramping up, and he is earning and deserving every single snap he sees on gamedays.
This week he even came away with his first career sack as he beat Bengals’ left tackle, Jonah Williams, with a nasty chop/rip. He deserves the snaps he is seeing over Winfrey and veteran Isaac Rochell and deserves to keep those snaps even when Chase Winovich returns from Injured Reserve.
A run defender who is willing to do the dirty work, and a pass rusher with length and savvy, the Browns have a solid rotational piece in Thomas.
Stock all the way up on Thomas.
Isaiah Thomas is this team's 4th best DE. Rotation is set in my mind for the rest of the season. pic.twitter.com/QWMSOLjabR
— Cory (@realcorykinnan) November 2, 2022
OL Dawson Deaton: Stock Neutral
Deaton suffered a season-ending injury in training camp and has not played in 2022.
