The Cleveland Browns took a calculated swing this offseason, moving down three spots and still landing the tackle they wanted. Six weeks into Spencer Fano’s first NFL season, that bet looks smart.
Fano was the first offensive lineman taken in the draft, and the rookie from Utah has handled the jump to the left side without much fuss. After a bumpy debut against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he has been on a tear over his last five starts and keeps showing up as one of the Browns’ most dependable pieces.
According to Pro Football Focus, Fano owns a 69.3 overall grade, which puts him 24th among 74 eligible players. But the raw production tells a stronger story. Through six weeks, the No. 9 overall pick has given up 12 pressures total, including 11 hurries and one sack.
That works out to just two pressures per game, a strong number for any rookie left tackle. Even better for Cleveland, half of those pressures came in one outing, the Week 3 game against Carolina. Outside of that, Fano has also posted two games without allowing a pressure at all, and he has been charged with more than two pressures only twice in his first six games.
He has taken on some difficult matchups along the way and has held up more often than not. Penalties have not been a major issue either, with Fano flagged just twice, and one of those calls was declined.
The job has been made more demanding by Deshaun Watson’s style. Watson has never been known for lightning-fast decisions, and he also tends to take around eight steps on each dropback, which puts extra strain on the guys protecting him. Still, Fano has repeatedly cleared the lane and kept Watson’s blindside protected.
Watson is averaging 3.1 seconds to throw, a mark that is tied for the third-slowest in the NFL. That number says plenty about what Cleveland’s offensive line has been able to withstand.
Fano is still a rookie, so there have been the expected growing pains. But with a third of his first season already gone, he looks better than advertised - and like the kind of long-term left tackle the Browns hoped they were getting.
In Other News...
Browns Enter A Stretch That Could Define Their Playoff Push
The Browns are heading into a demanding part of the schedule with a trip to Tennessee that opens three straight road games, a stretch that will say plenty about how real their playoff push is. Cleveland has already stumbled away from home this season, going 1-2 on the road, so this run will test whether the team can clean up those issues fast enough to stay in the thick of the postseason race.
Beyond the immediate task of surviving the road swing, there is also a longer view creeping into the picture. Cleveland will soon have to make quarterback roster decisions for the 2026 season, adding another layer to a stretch that already feels consequential. For a team trying to keep its present season on track while planning for what comes next, the next few weeks may carry more weight than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Rookie Carson Schwesinger Is Entering A Much Bigger Conversation
Carson Schwesinger keeps stacking up the kind of games that make a rookie look less like a newcomer and more like a centerpiece. Even while dealing with an ankle sprain against Baltimore, the Browns Defensive Rookie of the Year put together 13 tackles and forced a fumble, adding to a stretch that already included a strip-sack in Week 5 and a season total of 56 tackles through six games.
For Cleveland, the bigger picture is becoming hard to ignore. Schwesingers steady impact has pushed him into a conversation that usually belongs to the leagues most disruptive defenders, and the way he has produced so far has prompted comparisons to past Defensive Player of the Year winners. The question now is less about whether he has been one of the Browns best defensive players and more about how far that level of play can take him over the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Jaleel McLaughlin Is Making The Browns Rethink Their Backfield
The Browns running game has spent much of the season fighting uphill, with injuries and offensive line issues making it hard to find any rhythm. In that kind of environment, Jaleel McLaughlin has started to stand out, and not just as a change-of-pace option. Among Clevelands backs, he has been the most efficient runner so far, which has made the staff take a harder look at how the rotation should be structured going forward.
Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson are still part of the mix, but McLaughlins production is giving the Browns a reason to consider expanding his role. For a team trying to stabilize its ground attack, the question is no longer just who gets carries, but how to best divide them in a backfield that has yet to settle into a clear order. [Read more 🡒]