3 Most Important Browns Training Camp Battles to Watch

3. TE2: Harrison Bryant, Jordan Akins

The Chief is locked in as our top tight end. Despite some silly speculation around the status of his roster spot this offseason, David Njoku is the guy. He set a career-high in receptions last season, and Kevin Stefanski was full of praise for him during media availability on the first day of training camp.

But what about the TE2 spot?

Harrison Bryant played the biggest role of his career last season, but still only turned 42 targets into 31 receptions, 239 yards and 1 touchdown. The details of his contract restructure mean he's probably at no risk of being cut (the Browns would take on almost $2 million in dead money), but what he's fighting for here is depth chart placement with some new competition.

Jordan Akins was added in free agency, getting $1.73 million guaranteed, which also means being all but guaranteed a roster spot in Spetember as well.

Playing in a usually-bad Houston Texans offense for his first five NFL seasons Akins never really got to make a splash, but he did have a career year with Davis Mills under center in 2022. His 37 receptions, 495 yards and 5 touchdowns were all career highs, as were his 9.2 yards per target and 13.4 yards per reception.

PFF also gives a big edge to Akins here, having graded him out at 72.4 in 2022 compared to Bryant's 59.3. That marks the second time during Bryant's three-year career that they've given Akins a significantly higher grade.

The surplus of wide receiver talent in this offense means it's also likely to lean less heavily on tight ends than in past seasons, which is going to put even more importance on the way these two end up landing on the depth chart.

My money is on Akins winning the TE2 job, but this is one that may not be set in stone until the very final training camp whistle.