With training camp rapidly approaching, it’s time for the annual rite of passage: the 53-man roster prediction.
This forecast covers the offense and the specialists. The defense will come tomorrow.
Some positions are obvious. Others require some serious sorting out. Here’s how I think they will play out before we see the players take the training camp and preseason field.
Quarterback
Starter: Baker Mayfield
Reserves: Drew Stanton, Garrett Gilbert
Practice squad: David Blough
Not much drama here, for once! Mayfield will start, while Stanton will be the primary backup and mentor for him. The battle here is for the No. 3 spot between AAF standout Gilbert and undrafted rookie Blough. I do expect the Browns to keep three QBs, which is not typical in today’s NFL.
Running back
Starter: Nick Chubb
Reserves: Dontrell Hilliard, Duke Johnson, Kareem Hunt*
Practice squad: none
Hunt gets an asterisk for his suspended status for the first eight games. That leaves a temporary spot open for Johnson and Hilliard to both make it. It says here one of them will be gone when Hunt comes back, but this is just a prediction for the initial 53-man roster, not the Week 10 Browns.
D’Ernest Johnson and Trayone Gray will need to prove themselves worthy of keeping around on the practice squad. Keeping three QBs limits the chances of keeping more RB depth around.
Wide receiver
Starters: Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins
Reserves: Antonio Callaway, Damion Ratley
Practice squad: Damon Sheehy-Guiseppe, Blake Jackson, Ishmael Hyman
Yes, there are three starters here. Will the Browns start every game in 11 (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) personnel? No, but they’ll align in it more than they won’t. It’s refreshing for the Browns to have three wideouts worthy of starting. Beckham and Landry could be amazing together again, while Higgins has steadily progressed and quickly developed great chemistry with Mayfield.
Callaway is safely on as long as he doesn’t do anything to ruin that status. He proved a very effective speed weapon.
The fifth spot and beyond is completely up for grabs. I went with Ratley because of his size/speed combination, but it could easily go to Jackson or Hyman or even Jaelen Strong. Sheehy-Guiseppe is a real wild card because of his potential to win the return specialist gig. I left off Derrick Willies, but he can certainly merit a practice squad spot too.
Tight ends
Starter: David Njoku
Reserves: Demetrius Harris, Seth DeValve, Orson Charles
Practice squad: Stephen Carlson
Njoku could emerge as a big star in his third season. He has set the bar high for himself.
The Browns opened the checkbook for Harris as the primary inline TE, a role he’s played for a John Dorsey team in Kansas City before. There will be games where he starts, I suspect.
DeValve is in a make-or-break season, but if he can stay healthy through camp he’s got a chance to prove he can be a real asset. I don’t believe the team will have much patience if DeValve spends yet another training camp and preseason riding the exercise bike instead of on the field, however.
Charles sneaks into the final roster spot in my calculation for his versatility. He can play fullback, H-back or tight end and has some special teams value, too. The veteran is far from a lock.
Offensive line
Starters (L-R): Greg Robinson, Joel Bitonio, JC Tretter, Kyle Kalis, Chris Hubbard
Reserves: Austin Corbett (G-C), Eric Kush (G-C), Kendall Lamm (T), Bryan Witzmann (G-T), Drew Forbes (G)
Practice squad: Brian Fineanganofo
The only real drama is who replaces Kevin Zeitler at right guard in the starting lineup. Kalis got the majority of reps there in OTAs and minicamp and the coaches seem to like him, so he gets the nod.
That bumps Corbett to being a reserve again. It’s disappointing, but if the second-year lineman emerges as a strong utility lineman as he’s groomed to take over for Tretter, so be it. Kush brings experience and positional versatility.
Witzmann and Lamm offer little more than experience as the backup tackles, and neither should feel safe. I kept Forbes on because he’s the kind of athletic project another team would claim if the Browns waived him. I do think they will keep Forbes over either Witzmann or Kush if they opt to stick with just nine.
Specialists
Kicker: Austin Seibert
Punter: Britton Colquitt
Long snapper: Charley Hughlett
Practice squad: Jamie Gillan
Seibert wins the kicking job over Greg Joseph on the merit of being drafted and having a bigger leg on kickoffs. Colquitt maintains his punting job, but that won’t mean the end of Gillan; the “Scottish Hammer” is capable of both punting and kicking and has quickly endeared himself to teammates, which makes him valuable enough to keep around on the practice squad. Hughlett gets a free pass with no roster competition once again.
