By Daniel 
Cleveland Browns Stick to Their Draft “Guardrails” for 2025
If you’re trying to guess who the Browns might pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, looking at their “age and RAS guardrails” is a good place to start. These are basically patterns GM Andrew Berry has followed when drafting players in the past focusing on younger and more athletic guys.
What Are the Guardrails?
The age guardrails help predict who the Browns might pick based on how old players are on draft day. Berry tends to lean toward younger players, especially in early rounds. It’s not a hard rule, but history shows he rarely picks older or less athletic players.
Just to be clear, these guardrails don’t apply to quarterbacks or special teams guys. That’s a whole different evaluation process, and if you’re curious, it’s based on something called QBASE, developed by one of the Browns’ execs, Andrew Healy.
Do They Work?
Turns out, yeah they kind of do. The Browns have built a pretty solid roster, and part of that comes from picking younger players who can stick around longer. Since they don’t need every draft pick to start right away (thanks to solid free agency moves), they’re focused on what a player can do over the long haul, not just in year one.
Age and RAS Breakdown
Here’s a quick look at how Berry tends to draft based on age and athleticism (RAS = Relative Athletic Score, a way to measure how athletic a player is):
Rounds 1-2
– Age: Ideally 21.5 or younger
– RAS: Ideally 8.0 or more
Rounds 3-4
– Age: 22.0 or younger
– RAS: 6.0 or more
Rounds 5-7
– Age: 22.5 or younger
– RAS: 6.0 or more
Players older than that or with lower athletic scores are less likely to get picked at least based on past trends.
The Draft Board
The draft board lists prospects by round with their age and RAS score next to them. Green means they fit the usual age range, yellow is borderline, and red means they’re outside the range Berry usually drafts from.
If a player’s age isn’t listed, it just means they couldn’t find it yet. Also, some players only did Pro Day workouts, so their RAS info might still be coming in.
Final Thoughts
This system isn’t perfect, but it’s a helpful tool to get an idea of who the Browns might be eyeing. Berry’s got a type young and athletic and he tends to stick with it. If you’re trying to mock the Browns’ picks, using these “guardrails” gives you a pretty solid head start.