After the first four weeks of the NFL season, most teams are starting to get a pretty good feel for how much their rookie draft class is capable of doing for the rest of the year. The draftees likely have their feet wet and are settling into being professional players.
The Cleveland Browns, alas, are not most NFL teams.
Cleveland has yet to see its entire rookie class register a single statistic through the first four games. Only two of the Browns 2024 NFL Draft class have even played in the regular season so far.
Third-round offensive lineman Zak Zinter has seen the most action. The No. 85 overall pick has started two games — and done so at different positions for the injury-ravaged Cleveland line. Zinter played left tackle in Week 2 and moved to his more natural right guard spot for the start in Week 4. He’s played 109 snaps in the first four games.
Nathaniel Watson, a sixth-round linebacker from Mississippi State, is the only other rookie who has seen the field. Watson has played 33 total reps, all on special teams. He’s yet to record a tackle.
The Browns didn’t have a first-round pick, dealt away as part of the Deshaun Watson trade. That trade also included Cleveland’s fourth-rounder in 2024 (among others). Their top pick, second-round DT Michael Hall from Ohio State, has been sidelined on the exempt list for a domestic assault situation over the offseason.
Cleveland’s other picks include WR Jamari Thrash (5th round) and seventh-round defenders Jowon Briggs and Myles Harden.