Connect with us

Cleveland, OH

Cleveland’s First Round woes must end with the 2026 class

Published

on

Cleveland’s First Round woes must end with the 2026 class


Two of the keys for Cleveland’s near and long-term future are how both of their first-round picks perform in their rookie seasons. Both Spencer Fano and KC Concepcion are under a lot of pressure to show that they have what it takes to be long-term pieces in this league.

It is going to be a challenge for both of them, as the Browns offense is very young throughout and will also have a major question mark at the quarterback position. With all of the aside, the Browns have had a very rough go at it with their first-round picks in the last 20 years.

We are examining the careers of the last 10 to see which ones were worth the selection and which ones were a bust. Spoiler alert, it’s heavily weighted to the latter.

Cleveland’s last eleven first-round picks are a roller coaster of results, which is the reason they have been perpetually stuck in a rebuild.

2015 Round 1 Pick 12: DT Danny Shelton

Cleveland went with the defensive line to start the 2015 draft and took one of the biggest busts of that first round. Shelton had potential but never grew into it. It is always a risk going DL in the first round because if the result isn’t a home run, it is likely a failure.

Advertisement

2015 Round 1 Pick 19: OT Cameron Erving

DL and OL were within just a few picks away from each other with the intent of bolstering their lines of scrimmage, it didn’t work. Erving spent only two seasons in Cleveland before being traded to Kansas City in 2017.

2016 Round 1 Pick 15: WR Corey Coleman

This was one pick that I personally got excited about when it happened, and then that was the best part of the Corey Coleman tenure. He never materialized as a player in the NFL and was one of the biggest busts from the 2016 draft.

2017 Round 1 Pick 1: DE Myles Garrett

The moment that Myles Garrett hits five years after retirement, he will walk right through the doors in Canton, Ohio. The only hope is that his career comes back to Cleveland before it ends.

2017 Round 1 Pick 25: S Jabrill Peppers

Peppers brought an attitude and a swagger to the back end of the Browns’ defense. He ended up being an average Cleveland Brown because, in my opinion, he was massively misused in his time in Cleveland.

Advertisement

2017 Round 1 Pick 29: TE David Njoku

Many Browns fans were hoping Njoku would retire as a Cleveland Brown, but it wasn’t in the cards. It was nine seasons of good to very good for Njoku. He, like many, suffered from horrible QB play throughout his career, and it cost him the prime of his career.

2018 Round 1 Pick 1: QB Baker Mayfield

It was always so close with Baker. He had the right attitude to turn the Cleveland franchise around, but he could never get out of his own way. Turnovers, immaturity, and a string of bad coaching cost him what could have been an incredibly special career.

2018 Round 1 Pick 4: CD Denzel Ward

Ward has been a slam dunk pick from his literal first game. In that opening game, Ward intercepted Ben Roethlisberger twice and began what has been an amazing career in Cleveland. His time here is coming to a close, but he was everything and more than what the Browns could have asked for.

2019 Round 1 Pick 17: Traded to New York for Odell Beckham Jr.

2020 Round 1 Pick 10: OT Jedrick Wills Jr.

This one hurts because Andrew Berry selected Wills three spots ahead of Tristan Wirfs, who is on his way to what could be a Hall-of-Fame career.

2021 Round 1 Pick 26: CB Greg Newsome III

Newsome loved playing for the Cleveland Browns more than anything. His game never matched his infinite love for the city, as he just lacked some of the required skills to be a lockdown DB. No one will ever forget his pick six against Baltimore to come back on the Ravens.

Advertisement

2022 Round 1 Pick 13: Traded to Houston for Deshaun Watson

2023 Round 1 Pick 12: Traded to Houston for Deshaun Watson

2024 Round 1 Pick 23: Traded to Houston for Deshaun Watson

2025 Round 1 Pick 5: DT Mason Graham

Graham played very well in his first year in Cleveland, but again, it is a major risk to take a DT in the first round, let alone the top 5. He has to be a home run hit, or else there will be a lot of questions.

The first round has been quite the roller coaster for the Browns over the past 15 years. It is no surprise to Browns fans, but reliving the ups and downs is always a good thought experiment about what could have been if Cleveland had made the right picks consistently.

The hope now is that their most recent picks, Fano and Concepcion, prove that they fall into that category and will be in Cleveland for a very long time.



Source link

Advertisement

Cleveland, OH

In Loving Memory of Melissa Christine Clotman

Published

on

In Loving Memory of Melissa Christine Clotman


December 18, 1970 — July 30, 2026



Source link

Continue Reading

Cleveland, OH

News by ACCESS Newswire on TradingView, 2026-08-11

Published

on

News by ACCESS Newswire on TradingView, 2026-08-11


Funding expands educational and recreational opportunities in affordable housing communities across the city

CLEVELAND, OH / ACCESS Newswire / August 11, 2026 / KeyBank announced a commitment of $105,000 to support four summer enrichment programs serving children and families living in affordable housing communities throughout Cleveland. Administered through a partnership with OCCH and their philanthropic arm, OCIC, the funding will help provide safe, engaging, and educational summer experiences for an estimated 1,375 individuals.

The investment will support programs operated by affordable housing partners including Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, Pennrose, and The Community Builders, benefiting residents at Riverside Park, Carver Park, Heritage View, Sankofa Village, Cedar Redevelopment and Woodhill Homes communities.

“Summer programs provide much more than recreation. They create opportunities for learning, personal growth, and community connection,” said Celia Smoot, Head of Equity Originations, KeyBank CDLI. “At KeyBank, we believe every child deserves access to enriching experiences that help them build confidence, develop skills and reach their full potential. We are proud to partner with OCCH and these outstanding organizations to support youth and families across Cleveland.”

Advertisement

The four funded programs include:

  • Unlock the Magic of Healthy Living NOW at Riverside Park.

  • Little Hands Big Dreams Summer Camp at Carver Park and Heritage View.

  • Sankofa Summer Youth Enrichment Program at Sankofa Village and Cedar Redevelopment communities.

  • Woodhill Homes Summer Enrichment Camp at Woodhill Station West and Woodhill Center East.

Collectively, the camps will offer multiple weeks of structured programming focused on academic enrichment, healthy lifestyles, leadership development, social-emotional learning, arts, recreation, and youth engagement.

“Access to quality summer programming is an important component of strong communities and positive youth development,” said Tiffany Patterson, Vice President of Grants & Programs, OCIC. “We appreciate KeyBank’s continued commitment to the residents of affordable housing communities and its investment in opportunities that help children learn, grow and thrive.”

The funding reflects KeyBank’s ongoing commitment to strengthening neighborhoods and expanding opportunities for low- and moderate-income individuals and families through strategic community investments. By supporting programs that serve children where they live, KeyBank and OCCH are helping ensure that youth have access to safe, supportive environments during the summer months.

About KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment

Advertisement

KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI) finances projects that stabilize and revitalize communities across all 50 states. As one of the top affordable housing capital providers in the country, KeyBank’s platform brings together construction, acquisition, bridge-to-re-syndication, and preservation loans, as well as lines of credit, Agency and HUD permanent mortgage executions, and equity investments for low-income housing projects, especially Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) financing. KeyBank has earned 11 consecutive “Outstanding” ratings on the Community Reinvestment Act exam, from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, making it the first U.S. national bank among the 25 largest to do so since the Act’s passage in 1977.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp’s roots trace back 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $191 billion at June 30, 2026.

Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,200 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications, and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

About OCCH

Advertisement

OCCH is a nonprofit low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) syndicator. For 37 years, OCCH has leveraged investor capital to enable affordable housing developments across multiple states, supporting the creation and preservation of affordable homes and strengthening communities through housing and partnerships. OCCH supports developments and partners throughout the investment lifetime through its expertise and affiliate organizations, including Community Properties of Ohio (CPO), OCFC, OCIC, and the Affordable Housing Training Academy (AHTA). For more information, visit https://www.occh.org.

CONTACT:

Laura Mimura

216-471-2883

Laura_J_Mimura@KeyBank.com

Advertisement

KEY MEDIA NEWSROOM:

Key.com/newsroom

###

Find more stories and multimedia from KeyBank at 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Advertisement

Spokesperson: KeyBank

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/keybank

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: KeyBank

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Cleveland, OH

19 Newsmakers: Episode 11: Western Reserve Land Conservancy on preserving land and revitalizing communities across Ohio

Published

on

19 Newsmakers: Episode 11: Western Reserve Land Conservancy on preserving land and revitalizing communities across Ohio


CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Every Monday, 19 News anchor Brian Duffy interviews the people who are shaping the present and future of Northeast Ohio.

This week’s edition of 19 Newsmakers features Isaac Robb, chief urban program officer from the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, discussing the organization’s land preservation, property acquisitions, and urban and rural revitalization and conservation work across northern Ohio.

19 Newsmakers streams Mondays at 6:30 p.m.

Conserve. Connect. Sustain.

Robb said the conservancy’s work is guided by three core tenets: conserve, connect, and sustain. Those principles apply across the organization’s projects, which include large tracts of land in rural counties as well as smaller urban projects in local cities.

Advertisement

The conservancy is funded through private donations, community supporters, grants, and local, state, and federal government funding.

More than $900 million raised

Robb said the conservancy has raised more than $900 million in the last decade to address urban blight. That work includes a partnership with the Cuyahoga County Land Bank to improve housing in the city of Cleveland.

“I think we’ve seen the real estate market evolve especially over the last twenty years from where it went from a lot of owner occupants to now post-foreclosure crisis a lot of private equity, a lot of out-of-state investors coming in, and they might not have the same interests and alignments as the local residents,” Robb said. “So this is a way again to bring in that local control working parcel by parcel, street by street to improve those environmental conditions for those residents who have lived there for a very long time.”

Learn more about Brian Duffy and this week’s guest.

New episodes of “19 Newsmakers” are available weekly wherever you find podcasts. Streaming every Monday at 6:30 p.m. on 19 News platforms.

Advertisement

Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending