Dawgs By Nature
OTAs are underway with ESPN’s analytics giving the Browns the best chance at the worst record
For most teams, OTAs have just started with mandatory minicamp a week or two away. That includes the Cleveland Browns, who are a couple of months away from training camp but have a number of interesting storylines brewing.
For the Browns, the quarterback competition will be watched like a hawk, with every decision made by HC Kevin Stefanski analyzed from the sideline, no matter what Cleveland’s head coach says. By the time we get to training camp, the mostly meaningless absence of DE Myles Garrett from OTAs will be an afterthought while fans and media focus on what might be for the 2025 NFL season.
ESPN’s analytics group didn’t need to see any of that to roll out their first Football Power Index rankings, which see the Browns with the best chance for the top pick in 2026:
The Browns are the most likely team to end the season holding the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft, with a 13% shot. Much of that is due to a quarterback room comprising Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders and a harder-than-average schedule.
Not surprisingly, teams at the top of the 2025 NFL draft are also predicted to be bad this season, with the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets all with a 10% chance or higher of garnering the first pick.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, whose first-round pick goes to Cleveland next year, are tied for the eighth-best odds to draft at the top, which, if ESPN’s predictions occur, would give the Browns two picks in the top 10 next year.
We are so far away from the 2025 NFL season. Do these types of predictions matter at all to you? Is there enough information about NFL teams to know which ones will get better, worse or stay the same from last year or is everyone just predicting teams will mostly repeat last season’s results?
Share your thoughts on these too early predictions in our comment section below. You can always sign up for a free account to join the conversation and become a member of our DBN community
