Analysts differ on Browns passing on Travis Hunter, trading down to draft Mason Graham

The Cleveland Browns could've made Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter the second pick of the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday but instead traded that selection along with fourth-round (No. 104) and sixth-round picks (No. 200) to the Jacksonville Jaguars for the No. 5 overall choice, a second-round pick (No. 36), a fourth-round selection (No. 126) and a 2026 first-round pick.

While Jacksonville happily grabbed Hunter at No. 2, the Browns selected Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham with the fifth pick. For a piece posted early Friday morning, ESPN's Matt Miller suggested Cleveland should've held onto the second pick and drafted Penn State pass-rusher Abdul Carter. 

"I like Graham," Miller wrote, "but if Cleveland wanted to boost its defensive line, why not remain at No. 2 and select Abdul Carter to play opposite Myles Garrett? Graham is a good player — I had him ranked No. 4 overall — but the Browns need blue-chip players. Graham projects as a solid starter but not to have an All-Pro-level impact like Hunter or Carter."

Some Browns reporters previously said the team could trade down and still end up with Graham, in part because having a one-time Defensive Player of the Year (Garrett) on the edge could allow the club to pass on the highly rated Carter. The New York Giants chose Carter at pick No. 3 even though they entered the draft with pass-rushers Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns on the roster. Giants general manager Joe Schoen later revealed the team will exercise the fifth-year option attached to Thibodeaux's rookie contract.

Meanwhile, ESPN's Field Yates thinks the Browns' moving down the draft order was the best trade made on Thursday night. 

"This take represents my fundamental belief in the value of draft capital," Yates explained. "The Browns are now well-positioned to stockpile talent in this year's draft and are armed with two first-round picks next year, when there will be a deeper group of quarterbacks."

Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr agrees with Yates, mainly because a Browns team coming off a 3-14 season is in the middle of a rebuild as it moves on from its disastrous Deshaun Watson era. 

"Using the No. 5 pick on Michigan’s Mason Graham, an artful, penetrating defensive tackle who is a few more developed moves away from being a top pass-rushing menace himself, is a return to sensibility," Orr said about the Browns. 

That may be true, but Browns insider Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand noted that Cleveland general manager Andrew Berry held the second overall pick of the draft but didn't walk away with one of its advertised top three players — Hunter, Carter or Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty. 

NFL Media's Lance Zierlein had Jeanty ranked as the draft's highest-graded overall prospect, and the ball-carrier was on the board when Cleveland took Graham.