Browns defense receives a very early Christmas gift in the latest 2025 NFL mock draft

The Cleveland Browns are 3-8 on the season following an impressive win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night. Still, the reality is that the Browns are a poor team this season and they are going to miss the playoffs with a losing record.

Every win and loss is going to matter for the Browns in terms of their draft spot in the upcoming NFL draft. Cleveland is currently set to pick at No. 8 following their third win of the season. The Browns finally have a first-round pick again this season after sending the last three to the Houston Texans in the Deshaun Watson trade.

Quarterbacks have been mocked to the Browns heavily over the past couple of months. In A to Z Sports’ latest mock draft, the Browns go in a different direction.

Cleveland Browns select Michigan DT Mason Graham at No. 8 overall

“Cleveland has other needs, no doubt, especially at quarterback. However, they have always been a team that prefers taking the best player available no matter what, and in this scenario, that's 110% Mason Graham. He is as disruptive a defensive tackle as we have seen enter the draft in recent memory and has a serious case as the best player in this class. Graham is a three-down caliber defensive tackle who has the tools and technique to be a game-wrecker virtually right away.” - AJ Schulte

The Browns have questions past Dalvin Tomlinson in terms of their future defensive line interior. Maurice Hurst and Shelby Harris have both given them good reps, but both are aging veterans who can’t be in the long-term picture. Rookie defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. has shown promising potential but has struggled to stay on the field between a suspension and now injury that has him on the injured reserve.

Adding Graham would give the Browns the best defensive lineman in the draft potentially and surely the best interior player. Graham has been very productive over his three seasons at Michigan. Graham has 101 tackles, 18 tackles for a loss, and nine sacks in 38 career games.

If the Browns fall out of the top five or six picks; they very well could be going best player available. It would be hard to argue that Graham is not that at this point in the draft.