Corey Barnes

Since Phil Dawson hung up the spikes, the Browns have struggled through a seemingly endless run of placekickers. Even when the club thinks they have found the kicker of the future — such as Dustin Hopkins in 2023 — we have seen how quickly one’s star could fade. The Browns cut Hopkins before this season began, and he did not put toe to leather anywhere in the NFL all season.

A Major League Baseball team that loses ten straight games during the season shouldn’t be in the playoff hunt. And yet… A team that trades its ace at the deadline shouldn’t be in the playoff hunt. And yet… A team that loses a starting pitcher and its all-world closer to a league-mandated suspension shouldn’t be in the playoff hunt. And yet, and yet, and yet. The Cleveland Guardians are having a strange season, but since July that strangeness is finally pointing in their direction.

It’s easy to Monday Morning Quarterback yesterday’s game. It’s even easier, with the benefit of time, to re-evaluate an NFL Draft from five years ago. Those prospects that start as tantalizing promises of future glories have either panned out at this point, suffered injuries, or flamed out completely. With the Browns’ present and future appearing dark and foreboding, it may be helpful to see how they got here, beginning with the 2020 NFL Draft.