Todd McShay at The Ringer:<\/a><\/p>\nWashington is an ascending back with a rare blend of size, burst, and speed, and he\u2019s coming off a breakout season at Arkansas. He posted the fastest 40 and 10-yard split times among running backs at the combine, and while he doesn\u2019t always look like he has 4.3-second 40 speed on tape, he averaged 6.4 yards per carry in 2025 and is a threat to go whenever he gets a seam. He\u2019s a patient runner who hugs blocks and makes late cuts, and he has an outstanding start-stop ability, especially for a back of his size. He freezes defenders with hesitation moves and accelerates once they are caught flat-footed. He quickly reaches the edge on outside zone runs.<\/p>\n
He runs with a narrow base but can break tackles with good contact balance. He\u2019s strong enough to lower his shoulder, run over defenders in space, and push the pile when he doesn\u2019t get a seam. He is a high-cut runner with some tightness in his hips, and he tries to make too much happen on occasion. He\u2019s fumbled seven times in the past two seasons, though he\u2019s lost only two of them, according to PFF.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to find a good comparison for Washington\u2019s size and speed. His game has shades of Kenneth Walker III; they are both powerful runners with great speed, and there were also concerns about Walker\u2019s pass blocking coming out of college.<\/p>\n
Fit with the Browns<\/p>\n
Cleveland has numerous roster holes to fill, so it feels unlikely that Berry will select a running back. And it is almost certain that he won\u2019t pick one in the first round, no matter how appealing Jeremiyah Love might be.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
But depending on how things shake out in the second round, he could be tempted by Washington, who is starting to gain traction as the draft draws closer. He may not be a No. 1 running back, but the Browns already have Judkins for that role. However, like Judkins, Washington is weak in pass protection, and teams can\u2019t afford to have too many of those players in the backfield.<\/p>\n
If Washington continues to trend upward as a potential second-round selection, then the Browns are likely out. But if he is still there in the third round, Berry may take a hard look at improving the quality of the running back group.<\/p>\n
Browns Player Drafting Could Impact<\/p>\n
Quinshon Judkins is the No. 1 running back as long as he does not have any complications from his leg injury in 2025. Everyone else? Take your pick from Ahmani Marshall, Dylan Sampson, or Raheim Sanders.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Priority: Medium Low<\/p>\n
What are your thoughts on Mike Washington Jr.? Do the Browns need another running back over other positions? Let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry has a self-imposed mandate to make a \u201cheavy investment\u201d into the offensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[2007,1001,7208,86,85,54,2337,282,29599,7,9295,109560,7209,6,586,3819,26723,2830,6746,582,3018,855],"class_list":{"0":"post-853397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-andrew-berry","9":"tag-arkansas","10":"tag-arkansas-razorbacks","11":"tag-browns","12":"tag-cleveland","13":"tag-cleveland-browns","14":"tag-clevelandbrowns","15":"tag-dylan-sampson","16":"tag-fayetteville","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-kenneth-walker-iii","19":"tag-mike-washington-jr","20":"tag-mississippi-state-bulldogs","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-quinshon-judkins","23":"tag-raheim-sanders","24":"tag-receptions","25":"tag-running-backs","26":"tag-rushing-yards","27":"tag-the-browns","28":"tag-touchdowns","29":"tag-washington"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}