Browns: 5 best offensive players halfway through the season
By Chad Porto
#2 – OL J.C. Tretter
Props are due to J.C. Tretter. Not only has he continued to play as well as he has, but he’s also done it without having much of an offseason to work with. Tretter had a knee scope that essentially caused him to miss most of the preseason and yet he hopped right into the zone blocking scheme with ease. That’s partly because zone blocking is a really easy blocking system to pick up, but also because Tretter is one of the NFL’s smartest centers.
You don’t graduate from Cornell if you’re a dummy.
Tretter has had to deal with the fact that he’s one of only two returning linemen from the 2019 season who played every game (Joel Bitnio being the other). He also had the dubious nature of lining up next to Wyatt Teller for those last eight games last year, when Teller was struggling to make an impact.
It’s fair to say that Tretter was part of the reason why Teller started out so hot before his injury. With two new tackles in Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills joining the team, everyone not only played well but played lights out the first few games. Save for Baltimore. Then Teller got hurt. Even then though, while the line wasn’t as efficient, it was still far better than 2019 even with Chris Hubbard returning to the starting lineup. Part of that reason is Tretter’s ability to read a defense and pass out assignments.