The Browns are about to hit the midpoint of the 2026 regular season on a high, and their trip to Pittsburgh on Sunday gives them a chance to keep the best run in the NFL rolling. Cleveland enters Week 8 at 5-2, and with the calendar turning to Nov. 1, it’s a fitting moment to take stock of the players driving this season.
The big picture is simple: the Browns have been the league’s best story. They’re also staring at a 22-game road drought against the Steelers that dates back to 2003. If Cleveland is going to snap that streak, this feels like the kind of year it can happen.
So with seven games in the books, here are Dawg Pound Daily’s midseason honors for a team that has spent the first half of the year collecting wins and turning heads.
Spencer Fano gets the nod as Offensive Rookie of the Year after a first stretch that has only validated why Cleveland took him ninth overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Browns wanted a franchise left tackle, and Fano has looked the part immediately. According to Pro Football Focus, he has allowed 14 total pressures and one sack across his first 280 pass-blocking snaps, and the arrow is still pointing up.
On defense, Emmanuel McNeil-Warren earns Rookie of the Year consideration. He hasn’t made the same kind of week-to-week impact as Fano, but the second-round safety has carved out a meaningful role when injuries have pushed him into more action.
He’s also contributed on special teams, and his instincts have already shown why Cleveland targeted him as a Day 2 pick. The Browns only drafted two defensive players - McNeil-Warren and linebacker Justin Jefferson - so the path to this award was clear, but the Toledo product has done enough to get recognized.
Deshaun Watson takes Comeback Player of the Year at the midpoint after a stunning turnaround. In August, he was booed off the field during a home preseason game.
Seven weeks later, he has already piled up five game-winning drives in the fourth quarter. That return has come after a twice-torn Achilles tendon and virtually no real football since midway through the 2024 season.
Running back Quinshon Judkins was supposed to be the center of the offense, in the Derrick Henry role from Todd Monken’s days with the Ravens. Instead, Watson has been the one carrying the unit, avoiding turnovers at a rate of 0.5 per game while delivering in the biggest moments.
He’s also brought more to the ground game, with 215 rushing yards and a touchdown on 48 carries. The passing attack still hasn’t been consistent enough, but Cleveland wouldn’t be sitting at 5-2 without him.
At wide receiver, KC Concepcion edges Denzel Boston for Offensive Player of the Year. It’s a close call between the Browns’ pair of rookie pass-catchers, but Concepcion gets the slight nod at the halfway point.
He leads the team in targets with 45, yards after the catch with 170, and big plays with six. That’s even with him missing most of the Week 5 loss to the Jets because of a concussion.
The No. 24 overall pick has lived up to the billing and still has plenty of room to grow in Monken’s offense. He’s also coming off a game in which he turned 11 total touches into 152 scrimmage yards. Boston, meanwhile, has cooled off lately, with just 88 total receiving yards over Cleveland’s last three games.
Denzel Ward gets Defensive Player of the Year after opening the season in full shutdown mode. He’s only being targeted around four times per game, which says plenty about the respect he’s drawing.
Even so, he’s still swinging games. His interceptions against the Steelers and Titans both helped push Cleveland toward victories.
Opposing quarterbacks have posted a 53.8 passer rating when throwing at Ward, according to Pro Football Focus. At 29, he’s off to one of the strongest starts of his career, and the Browns look wise for getting his latest extension done before the season.
The top honor goes to Carson Schwesinger. The Browns have already been battered by injuries, but one constant has been their middle linebacker, who has been on the field for 100 percent of the snaps through seven games. That durability matters, because Cleveland would look very different without him.
Schwesinger leads the team with 64 tackles and has added three tackles for loss, one sack and two forced fumbles. He sprained his ankle against the Jets, then kept playing against the Ravens and Titans. The reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year has quickly become the heart and soul of the locker room.
In Other News...
Browns Suddenly Face A Jared Verse Decision They Never Expected
The Browns trade for Jared Verse was supposed to give them a cornerstone pass rusher after moving on from Myles Garrett, but the long view is getting a little more complicated. Verse remains a two-time Pro Bowler, yet the front office is already staring at the kind of contract checkpoint that can reshape a roster, with his fifth-year option looming and the financial stakes set to rise quickly.
Jack Duffin, the teams salary cap analyst, has raised the possibility that Cleveland could actually pass on that option if Verses play does not rebound. If that happens, the Browns would be looking at a very different kind of offseason planning, with defensive end potentially climbing toward the top of the 2027 draft board and a move that once looked simple suddenly becoming one of the more important decisions on the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Browns May Face A Tough Shedeur Sanders Decision Before The Deadline
The quarterback market around the league is starting to shift, and Cleveland could soon have a decision to make on one of its more intriguing young pieces. With Deshaun Watson still atop the Browns depth chart, backup Shedeur Sanders has been viewed internally as a developmental player, the kind of quarterback a team likes to keep around while it sorts out the future.
Indianapolis has suddenly become a team to watch after moving Quentin Nelson and DeForest Buckner and entering what looks like a full sell-off following the termination of general manager Chris Ballard. That has led to speculation the Colts could explore a deal for Sanders before the deadline, but nothing has been announced, and the Browns may not be eager to part with a quarterback they have been trying to develop rather than shop. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Fans Are Split On One Risky Answer To Their QB Future
The Browns strong start under Todd Monken has changed the feel around the quarterback conversation in Cleveland, but it has not settled it. At 5-2 and sitting atop the AFC North, the team has given fans a reason to think bigger about the future, even as Deshaun Watsons uneven play keeps the position under a microscope and his looming free agency adds another layer to the debate.
That is why the idea of a swing for Justin Herbert has gained traction in some corners of the fan base, even with his rough statistical season in Los Angeles. The problem is that the fit is far from simple, with Herbert holding a no-trade clause and the Browns current position making any real pursuit feel more like a 2027 conversation than a move that happens anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]