Liam Murphy identified Jerome Ford as a timely swing in the double-digit rounds, saying it is "totally possible he just opens the year starting" for the Browns while Nick Chubb rehabs. Even if Chubb makes it back, Murphy expects Ford to at least hold the RB2 role over fourth-round rookie Trevor Samson, giving him weekly flex utility and contingent bell-cow upside in a Kevin Stefanski offense that ranked top-10 in red-zone rush rate. The cost is negligible compared to the payoff if Chubb suffers a setback, making Ford a classic asymmetric bet for tournament finals.

Erik Beimfohr warned drafters to stop treating Jerome Ford as a safe floor play now that Cleveland spent a second-round pick on Quinshon Judkins and a mid-round pick on Dylan Samson. Beimfohr believes the organization just showed its hand: Ford is insurance, not the future. He expects Judkins to seize early-down work immediately and thinks Samson could leapfrog Ford by camp, leaving Ford as a P. Ryan-style passing-down specialist at best. The veteran averaged only 3.8 YPC on 214 carries last year, so there is no production-based argument to keep him on the field. Beimfohr is drafting as if Ford will open 2025 as the Browns’ clear RB3, making him a near auto-fade in Best Ball unless late-summer depth charts flip the narrative.