Browns lose Grant Delpit

A team that didn't need more bad news received just that as second-round draft pick Grant Delpit suffered an Achilles injury in warmups and will miss the upcoming season.

Delpit won the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back in the nation for LSU and was considered by most, myself included, as a steal in round two with the playmaking potential to be the type of ball-hawking safety that Cleveland had not seen in years.


Delpit had not been named the starter at free safety, but was expected to see plenty of playing time and was expected to have taken control at the position by the end of the season.
Browns fans, let's hope we see this player next season!


Cleveland signed former Viking Andrew Sendejo as the veteran mentor/possible early-season starter in the off-season and returned second-year man Sheldrick Redwine at the position, but I'm not thrilled with either as the starter for the season.
Andrew Berry does have some interesting veteran options to consider at the position and though it would be against the usual Browns manner to sign a veteran name in these cases, there are some to choose from.

Earl Thomas has been one of the better safeties in the game, is similar to Delpit in his style of play, and played well for Baltimore last season although he did show some signs of decline when he was beaten deep on occasion.
Thomas did have an off the field incident in the off-season and the Ravens just waived him after a practice fight with teammate Chuck Clark.
Thomas could be a troubled player right now and the Browns may pass on Thomas for that reason alone.

Eric Reid has played well for Carolina in his two seasons after leaving San Francisco and I'm a big fan of his game.
However, he's more of a tackler (97 solos last year) than a playmaker ( four interceptions in his last five seasons) and  I think the Browns are hoping for more of the latter in what they are looking for.

Tony Jefferson is a player that the Browns front office in the Sashi Brown era with Andrew Berry in tow, went after very aggressively in 2017 but lost to Baltimore.
The Ravens used him more as a strong safety, but he can play free safety as well.
Jefferson is coming off a torn ACL and between that and his salary caused Baltimore to let him go.

Kurt Coleman is more of a strong safety at this point in his career but has played free safety.
Coleman isn't what he once was, but he can still hit, would be good in the locker room, and the former Buckeye in the worst case, won't be worse than what they have.

Eric Berry didn't play in 2019 and I'm not sure if he wants to play in 2020, but he's never announced his retirement and the time off (he only played seven games including playoffs in 2018) might have helped his body heal a bit.
Berry might be a risk at his age and status, but in his seven games in 2018, Berry showed he can still play at a high level.
The questions are will he hold up long enough over the course of a season and does he want to play and if so, where?

One final possibility for the spot is from in-house.
Tampa Bay released M.J. Stewart because they thought he was a step slow and short for a cornerback (Why they did not figure this out before drafting him in 2018 is another question).
However, they had considered trying him at safety where his size wouldn't be such a detriment and his football smarts would be an advantage.
Perhaps the answer to this problem could be giving Stewart, who has impressed observers in camp, a shot at the position?

Brownie Berea Bits

There are always questions and news nuggets of note in every team's training camp. but usually, there aren't enough for a post by themselves.

The biggest news from Berea is the potential loss of starting linebacker Mack Wilson to a knee injury.
The Browns linebacking crew was looked at as one of the weaker units on the team and Wilson was the top linebacker of the bunch, so the knee injury that will at minimum cost Wilson a chunk of the season and possibly end his year entirely is a huge loss to the Browns.
Mack Wilson's loss will force the Browns to make a move of some type to add a veteran linebacker and there are a few available that I'd be interested in.
All of them have flaws, but if they were perfect they wouldn't be available in training camp, would they?

Former Ram and Giants Alec Ogletree is a strong tackler, but not great in pass coverage, Mark Barron spent last season in Pittsburgh but was solid with the Rams after moving from safety to linebacker and he plays Wilson's position on the weakside as does well-traveled veteran Malcolm Smith, who was the MVP in Seattle's Super Bowl win in 2014.
Clay Matthews is a popular choice because of his dad's time in Cleveland, but he's a pass rusher off the edge and isn't really a fit for what Wilson's responsibilities are.
I'd like to see former Buckeye Darron Lee get a shot, Lee's got more than enough speed and it would be interesting to see what he could do with the new defensive coordinator Joe Woods.

Kevin Johnson had been impressive in camp, according to observers, but Johnson is going to miss time with a lacerated liver and I'm sure that is as painful as it sounds, so Johnson's time out of the lineup could be substantial.
The loss of Johnson could be offset by an interesting waiver claim just before camp started when Cleveland claimed cornerback M.J. Stewart off waivers from Tampa Bay.
Stewart was the second-round pick by Tampa in 2018 out of North Carolina and turns 25 in September.
It seems a bit early to give up on a second-rounder, but Tampa Bay likely needs to keep some cap space open after signing, so that could have been a factor.
Stewart started five games in his two seasons with the Buccaneers and can play some slot corner, so it was a small risk to take and the Jets are reported to have made a claim for Stewart, so other teams were thinking the same about Stewart.

One final note on the concussion suffered by Nick Chubb from a horsecollar tackle from Mack Wilson on the day before Wilson's knee injury.
Kevin Stefanski wasn't happy, and he shouldn't have been, but before the next day's practice, Stefanski announced that Wilson had been demoted to the second team behind Tay Davis.
While this may have been a good thing for the "culture change" that every coach seems to talk about these days, it could have cost them Mack Wilson for the season.
How?
I'm not quite sure about this, but Wilson was now playing with the second-team defense and theoretically had Stefanski not demoted Wilson, he wouldn't have been on the field when he was injured.
That's a stretch to a degree because when a ligament is ready to give, it's going to give eventually, but if Wilson's injury occurred with a cleat sticking or another player rolling into him (and I haven't seen the play, so I don't know that), Stefanski's demotion didn't cause the injury, but it did place him on the field in order for it to happen...

Back later with the Cavaliers in the lottery and the return to the ring of Sergio Martinez.