Browns: 5 practice squad players who will play big minutes this year

The Browns will likely call upon the practice squad at some point this season

The Browns are a pretty loaded team. Admittedly, they have some questions and concerns littered throughout their roster, but that doesn’t take away from the fact they’re one of the better and well-constructed teams in the league. That doesn’t mean the dreaded injury bug won’t come a-knocking at some point.

Injuries aren’t the only concern but the team is relying on a lot of rookie and second-year players. It’s unlikely many players will fail to produce, but some will. Those players and the injuries that are sure to affect the Browns (because it affects all 32 teams) will eventually force the Browns to call up someone(s) from the practice squad.

That’s why these five players are the most likely to be called up.

DT Sheldon Day

It was a shock to see the Browns not take on Sheldon Day for the 53 man roster. He was seen as a first-team guy early in camp and was specifically paired up with the other two starters, Malick Jackson and Andrew Billings. He was eventually beaten out by Jordan Elliot and Malick McDowell, and for better or worse, Day was a last-round cut from the team. Most teams tend to stick pretty close to their own after cuts in order to fill out the practice squad and that’s what happened with Day. He got signed up and placed on the roster, always one call from seeing the main roster.

The Browns are not confident with their defensive tackles, or at least they shouldn’t be. Jackson hasn’t played well in his last few years and McDowell has had all sorts of issues that kept him out of football for four years. Billings was the third tackle in a bad rotation in Cinncinnati and Elliot struggled mightily as a rookie.

All four men could be gone by Week 10, all four men could be studs fighting for a Pro Bowl spot, we have no idea. It’s likely that someone, anyone, will get hurt eventually or fail to impress with his play, making Day a likely call-up.

TE Jordan Franks

I’m going to say something about the Browns‘ tight ends that I think most people will take a second, think about and then eventually agree with. They will never be a bad trio of guys, but they have already hit their ceiling in potential.

Thankfully, their ceiling is actually high enough to help the team, even if it isn’t high enough to utterly control and dominate opposing offenses. Austin Hooper is a tight end who’s good at everything but not great at anything. David Njoku has improved his run blocking just enough that he’s no longer a liability but not so much that he’s truly impressive. Harrison Bryant might be the best all-around athlete at the position but he’s not a great blocker and has not shown to be that dynamic of a playmaker.

And all three have had injury issues before; minor or otherwise.

So just by the sheer laws of average, Jordan Franks will eventually get a call to come play with the main roster. It probably won’t be a huge impact for the team but anything Franks can do in that situation will be a mighty help, especially if Franks can play well in the absence of a potentially injured starter at the position.

WR JoJo Natson

The Browns have a receiving corp that is teetering on a tight rope. If everything goes their way, they’ll have two Pro Bowls, a Rookie of the Year contender, and four potential guys of 500 yards or more.

If things don’t go right, three of their four best players spend at least a quarter of the season on the injury list and JoJo Natson is lining up across from Rashard Higgins and Donovan Peoples-Jones. Either way should be interesting.

That’s the problem that plagues the Browns‘ receiving corp, Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr., and Anthony Schwartz have all been dealing with injuries or rehabbing from injuries that affected their abilities at some point over the last year. If you were a betting man, which I wouldn’t recommend, and you were given the option to put money down at the position most likely to see injuries pile up; even I’d recommend picking the receiving corp.

They’re a group of potentially talented, but potentially wounded guys. They could be game-breakers or be broken by game time.

It’s not only the injuries but performance issues with the return teams could see Natson be brought back as well, and used similarly to his role last season.

DE Porter Gustin

Arguably the biggest surprise of all the cuts was Porter Gustin. He was seen by many as being a lock for the team, especially with the state of the Browns defensive line, but the team opted to cut him. After being released, Gustin was brought back as a member of the practice squad.

The team had only retained three defensive ends by the end of the preseason, but have since brought back Joe Jackson, who had a good preseason, as did Gustin.

Ahead of them, there are some concerns. Myles Garrett is an elite-level pass rusher but has had a history of missing games. They’re all for different reasons it seems, but of the possible 64 regular-season games, Garrett has only played 51. A few of those were due to COVID, then there was his suspension and various minor injuries around, so not one underlying issue. That said, there is a universal pattern going on here. Whether it’s the Football Gods, just bad luck, or maybe Courtney Browns is deliberately trying to ruin Garrett’s career, who can say; all we know is that Garrett is almost guaranteed to miss a game or two.

Then you have Jadeveon Clowney, who has only played a full season once in his career and has had a history of nagging injuries. It’s entirely possible that the league has already seen the best Jadeveon Clowney there is. Who knows what we’re going to be getting from him in 2021.

Then you have Takkarist McKinley, who missed just about all of the preseason and really didn’t do anything worth making the team. McKinley is another player almost guaranteed to miss time, as he’s missed 15 games over the last three years, 12 last year.

Now, all three men may do very well with the Browns, this isn’t to imply otherwise. This is merely to state that there could be anywhere from three to eight games this year where a fourth defensive end may be needed, and that’s assuming Jackson can stay healthy and keep his spot. Gustin is very likely to play this year.

Utility Johnny Stanton

The logic for Johnny Stanton being called up from the practice roster is the logic that we had for why he’d make the team. He can play running back, fullback, tight end, linebacker, and even special teams. That wasn’t enough for him to make the team, however, but we’re going to double down on the same logic this time around. With the team being only able to carry 48 players per game, the team may find a guy like Stanton to be a luxury item they can’t afford not to have.

While the NFL allows teams to carry 53 for the season, they can only dress 48 per game.

With Stanton’s versatility, he could fill in at running back, tight end, or fullback at any given time. Considering the Browns are already down Stephen Carlson, and the high usage of the Browns running backs, it’s very likely, if not a full-blown guarantee that the team will eventually see someone at one of those positions miss a stretch of time.

Carrying Stanton allows you to have a fourth running back, a fourth tight end, a seventh linebacker, and even a second fullback. His versatility is his strength and if the Browns find themselves with mounting injuries, Stanton is the guy to call, a call he will likely get at least once this year.