As the Cleveland Browns prepare, by taking a few days off, for Week 1 and the Kansas City Chiefs, general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski prepare to see the fruits of their two years of labor together.
While the focus of all NFL draft classes is on the general manager, the collaboration between those picking the players and those using the players on the field is vital. It is why Cleveland’s brass used the word “alignment” throughout the process that led to Stefanski then Berry being hired in the winter of 2020.
Berry has to understand what Stefanski and the coaching staff are looking for while Stefanski needs to use the players to the best of their abilities.
That being said, Berry gets final credit and blame for those players he has added to the roster. That is especially true when it come to the NFL draft. With the 2021 season about to kick off, it is a good time to take a quick view of where Berry’s first two draft classes stand as of now.
The final evaluations of any draft class are best done three to four years following that draft but that doesn’t mean we can’t compile information early to track the progress.
