Cleveland Browns Select a 21-Year-Old Former Utah Ute with the Ninth Pick in the 2026 NFL Draft
After trading with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cleveland Browns selected former Utah offensive lineman Spencer Fano with the ninth pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Browns sent over the sixth pick in exchange for Kansas City’s first-round selection, and the 74th and 148th picks in the draft, and general manager Andrew Berry still found a much-needed offensive lineman. After adding talent across the line in free agency, the Browns will now add a consensus All-American in Fano, who will be expected to start from day one. With an extra pick in the first round in the 24th selection, all eyes will be on Berry to take a much-needed receiver or other offensive weapon to give the Browns a much-needed boost.
Fano’s professional comparison is former Minnesota Vikings Pro-Bowl lineman Brian O’Neil, and it was quite the journey to get there. The 21-year-old came onto the scene in the 2023-2024 season, starting 12 of 13 games en route to being selected to the Freshman All-American team. In 2024, Fano continued his dominance and was named a second-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12. The obvious trend of Fano’s collegiate career was his availability, as he played in 37 games across three seasons. The highlight of his collegiate career came this previous campaign, as he was named a first-team All-American and was the recipient of the Outland Trophy, which recognizes the Big-12’s best offensive lineman.
As for his strengths, Fano is a strong run-blocker with the bulk of his tape coming from a Utah scheme that loved to run the ball. This likely played a huge part in why Berry selected Fano, as new head coach Todd Monken will be looking to bring a tremendous run game to Cleveland, as he did as the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. He’s also very quick for a man of his position and size, as he ran a time of 4.91 in the 40-yard dash, and his footwork and acceleration were lauded during the pre-draft process. The Utah-native will need to put on more muscle and pass protection moves, but the Browns just might have found the key to their run-heavy offense in Fano.
