BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Safety Grant Delpit is looking like the impact player the Browns thought they got when they picked him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Delpit made the play of the day in a 7-on-7 red zone drill that saw him fly out of nowhere to steal a touchdown away from receiver Amari Cooper on a throw to the corner of the end zone by quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Cooper reached out both hands as if to haul in the football, but Delpit had already snatched it out of the air and began returning it up the near sideline before the four-time Pro Bowler realized what happened.
“Grant has been really good,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said.
Delpit, who was robbed of his rookie season after he suffered a torn ACL during training camp in 2020, played 15 games last season, starting seven where he recorded an interception, broke up three passes, forced a fumble and had a sack and three tackles for loss.
The hope and expectation are that Delpit will be even better in his second full season, and it appears he’s off to a good start this offseason.
“I think he has a really good understanding of what we are trying to do, which is half of the battle,” Stefanski said. “You can play fast when you know what you are doing. He looks really smooth in and out of his transitions. You saw him make a play on the ball [for an interception] so he is doing a really nice job.”
Highlight reel – Donovan Peoples-Jones made an incredible adjustment on a ball thrown behind him during individual drills where he stopped, turned around and laid out mid-air to haul in the pass from Watson.
Cornerback Denzel Ward made a great defensive play locking up Cooper in the red zone.
Safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. broke up a pass to tight end Harrison Bryant during another 7-on-7 snap.
Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah would’ve had a nice tackle of Peoples-Jones at the 5 on another red zone snap, but Peoples-Jones walked into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown because the drill wasn’t live, and contact is prohibited.
After going through progressions, Watson stepped up and threaded the needle to Demetric Felton in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
Chemistry is key – Owusu-Koramoah was outspoken in his exit interview with reporters in January about the lack of team chemistry and camaraderie that may have contributed to a disappointing 8-9 finish.
Teambuilding has been a focus for Stefanski and the players this offseason.
“We are just really trying to build that camaraderie between the two,” Owusu-Koramoah said Tuesday.
The sophomore linebacker believes he is already seeing the benefits of off-the-field get togethers, including Watson taking the offense to the Bahamas and Myles Garrett taking most of the defense to Miami.
“When we talk about the understanding of communicating with each other and team chemistry, it is very little things that matter,” Owusu-Koramoah said. “Many documentaries have come out for different teams and how they operate off the field and how it has translated on the field. It is nothing new to sports. It nothing new to us. That is just something we have been looking forward to implementing, and it has been working well.”
Some perspective – It is mid-June and Day 1 of minicamp, which means it’s too premature to get overly excited about plays in practice where there is no contact.
“There are no pads on. There is no contact,” Stefanski said.
“The rules are not written to have a ton of runs in your program because you just can’t have contact. It is harder to evaluate the offensive and the defensive lines certainly in a program like this. Having said that, I think they are getting a ton of great work in their individual periods and then you can evaluate their alignment, assignment and those type of things.
“For us really in total, when you are out there and you are practicing, the defense does a really nice job of taking care of the offense when the ball is in the air. We do not want any collisions so you will see a defensive back make a break on a ball and pull up knowing that he does not want even a pass breakup – we do not want that because we do not want contact. In this day and age and where we are as a football team and where we are here in June, we want to make sure that we practice really hard and practice really smart.”
York-town – There is no such thing as too many Cade York updates.
The fourth-round pick out of LSU got another round of 11-on-11 team field goal work Tuesday. York made seven of his eight tries.
His only miss came on his final kick – from 52 yards – that saw him push it past the upright wide left.
Deadline set – The Browns have until November 1 at 4 p.m. to trade quarterback Baker Mayfield. The NFL announced their key dates for the year and that is the trade deadline for the upcoming season.
Roll call – QB Baker Mayfield (excused) and OT Jack Conklin (surgery rehab) were the only players not seen on the practice field Tuesday. WR Jakeem Grant and cornerback Greedy Williams both worked on the side.
Up next – The Browns will travel to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in canton, Ohio for a brief workout, luncheon and tour of the hall Wednesday.
“It is equal parts a team building opportunity. We will still practice down there – it will be short,” Stefanski said. “I think we will get a lot done. Just the bus ride down, there are some things that we can do together, which it is nice to be able to ride buses without masks. I just think it is a great opportunity to be around the team, be around each other and then learn – learn about the guys who have come before us, which I think is just so important.”