Every camp battle the Cleveland Browns need to determine
By Chad Porto
The second safety
The second safety should have been M.J. Stewart, but the Cleveland Browns apparently didn’t want one of the best performing players at the position in 2021, so they let him walk. Maybe they offered him a deal and he turned it down, maybe they really thought that someone like Grant Delpit or Ronnie Harrison was just going to be that much better.
I don’t agree, but he’s gone and the position is up in the air. Harrison started last year, but he floundered at times and was benched for Stewart. Then you have Delpit, who made his pro debut in 2021, despite being drafted in 2020. An Achilles injury sidelined him for the whole year and it’s very possible that even if Delpit can stay healthy for a whole year, and start for the team, that he’ll never be what he could’ve been.
Right now it’s between Harrison and Delpit to start opposite John Johnson III, but Richard LeCounte is a darkhorse candidate as well. Like Delpit, LeCounte had a bad lower-leg injury that hindered him in his last year of college and at times as a pro. He didn’t look very good when he did get on the field and there’s no guarantee he can get better.
Admittedly, the safety spot may be the second weakest on the team. Aside from…