BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – As the 2022 season kicks off, the Browns boast one of the youngest rosters in the NFL.
Yet being projected to have the second-youngest roster in the league and with Deshaun Watson suspended for the first 11 games, big things are expected in Cleveland this year.
The roster reduction to 53 and few moves that followed this week have fans and media curious if they can win with so much inexperience at key positions.
“I think that is just a pat of building teams,” assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel Glenn Cook said Thursday. “There is turnover every year. Oftentimes, the people you are replacing them with are younger individuals. That is just part of it. There will be uncertainty. That is why we have to trust the process. We are not focused on Week 1; we want to make sure that we are hitting our stride midseason and towards the end so we feel good about where we are.”
With the hot summer sun beating down, Cook found himself getting grilled by reporters over the young guys, especially receivers.
“I think all of those guys will be ready to contribute if we need them to,” Cook said confidently.
Behind four-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz are the only other players in the room with any experience.
Third-round pick David Bell and sixth rounder Michael Woods II are rookies. Peoples-Jones’ and Schwartz’s career numbers combined – 58 catches, 1,036 yards and five touchdowns between them – nearly equal what Cooper averages for his career per year.
“We are young, and they are improving, but that is a part of it,” Cook said. “We are trusting our process and what we saw in their abilities for each player when they came out. We are going to give them their opportunities to grow. These guys come along at different points of the season and different points of their careers. Whoever steps up and is ready to go, I think we have faith in them. We will be good there.”
Receiver isn’t the only spot to worry.
The middle of the defensive line also boasts little experience – or depth.
Jordan Elliott, a 2020 third round pick, has seen minimal defensive snaps in his first two seasons while Taven Bryan, a 2018 first round pick of Jacksonville, has at least started 17 games where he’s registered 5.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss a pass break up and a forced fumble.
Behind them is Tommy Togiai, who appeared in six games last season where he barely made an appearance in the box score and Perrion Winfrey is a raw rookie.
Cook contends they’ll be fine.
“Jordan [Elliott] had a great offseason,” Cook said. “I think Myles [Garrett] said it. Really excited about where he is. What I spoke about earlier just in terms of hitting the stride in your third and fourth year, hopefully, he kind of makes that true for us because he has done a really good job of getting ready to play a lot of ball this season. Like I said, the rest of the group, they will come along. We feel good about where they are.”
When hired as head coach in January of 2020, Keven Stefanski spoke of his affinity for using fullbacks and tight ends within his offense. This year there is no fullback and only two active tight ends.
Cook explained that there hasn’t been a shift in philosophy within the organization. It’s just simply how the 53 shook out.
But the best job security in town seems to be anyone drafted by Andrew Berry.
Berry has made 24 draft picks in three years and 22 are on the active roster with 2020 fifth rounder Nick Harris and 2022 seventh round pick Dawson Deaton on injured reserve.
“We all face bias. I think that is just a part of being human,” Cook said. “For us, it is really trusting what we see every day but also giving them opportunity to develop. That is what we believe in here – give our guys time to develop, to hit their maturity and then see who they are. I would say that is the reason we kept every single player. They perform, and we think they earned it, also. You do want to give your players an opportunity to grow in your system, understand what you do and go out and perform.”