6 Browns Playing for Their Jobs in Training Camp

Training camp and preseason games are huge opportunities for players to rewrite narratives and win jobs across the league. For a team as loaded on both sides of the ball as the Cleveland Browns, training camp and preseason games will be an opportunity to best discern the top 53 guys on the roster and there are a wide variety of players fighting for jobs right now.

Over the course of the next month, the Browns are going to get some important answers for battles happening all over the roster. Which players are fighting for their jobs once training camp opens up?

1. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, quarterback

Thrust into a starting role for three games last season, Dorian Thompson-Robinson had a lot more pressure on him than your run-of-the-mill rookie fifth-round pick. Especially at the quarterback position. Thompson-Robinson was a really exciting player at UCLA and someone who seemingly projected well to the NFL, but over time. The Browns were forced to throw him into the lion's den for three starts last season, and they went 1-2 in those starts.

He probably played the best we saw in a loss against the Denver Broncos last season, but the biggest reason why Thompson-Robinson is fighting for his job right now is that he's coming off of a hip injury. The Browns also brought in competition for the QB3 job in the form of veteran Tyler Huntley.

Thompson-Robinson's best-case scenario this year seems to be QB3 of the Browns, assuming he stays in Cleveland. The Browns brought in Jameis Winston to back up Deshaun Watson. DTR needs to have a big rest of the offseason in order to stick around and be worth taking up a 53-man roster spot.

2. D'Onta Foreman, running back

Cracking the Cleveland Browns' roster at the running back is not going to be easy, even with Nick Chubb coming off of a major injury.

Oh, and by the way, this is what Nick Chubb coming off of a major injury looks like:

Chubb is obviously going to be extremely motivated to come back stronger than ever before this season, especially with the Browns being as good or better than they have been since he's been with the franchise. There's no way he wants to miss out on this competitive window after carrying the team for the last few years.

But behind Chubb, there are a lot of players vying for snaps and roster spots. Jerome Ford racked up over 1,000 yards from scrimmage last season and doesn't figure to be going anywhere this offseason. The Browns also have 2023 trade acquisition Pierre Strong Jr., who could be another player fighting for his job this offseason with multiple other guys.

One of those "other guys" is D'Onta Foreman, a free agent pickup who has been a very solid role player the last three years as a member of the Titans, Panthers, and Bears. Foreman has been averaging over 1,000 yards from scrimmage per 17 games over the last three seasons (he's played 35 games total) and his signing felt like Nick Chubb insurance.

If Chubb is healthy, you could see the Browns keep both Nyheim Hines and Pierre Strong Jr. who both offer more in the passing game than Foreman and also can be factors in the kick return game.

3. David Bell/Jaelon Darden/James Proche, wide receiver

We've written about jobs being on the line at wide receiver a ton this offseason for the Cleveland Browns, but we've typically been singling out David Bell as a player to watch on the roster bubble. It's really important to note that Bell is not alone in that category, especially when you look at some of the other names on the Cleveland Browns' depth chart at receiver.

Even if you exclude unknown, unproven rookies, the Browns have a trio of players with talent who could contribute on other teams in the NFL that will be fighting for maybe one roster spot in Cleveland this offseason.

Bell is the obvious first candidate. The former third-round pick out of Purdue has simply been buried on the depth chart behind more recent acquisitions the Browns have made over the last two years, including Elijah Moore, Cedric Tillman, and 2024 trade acquisition Jerry Jeudy. It really feels like his preseason is going to be an audition for every other NFL team in a trade.

Jaelon Darden is an intriguing name to watch because of his return skills and speed, and the same could be said of James Proche as it pertains to the return game.

With the NFL's new kickoff return format, players like Darden and Proche certainly get a boost in terms of their overall roster chances, but they're going to have to make plays in the preseason to prove they deserve to stick around.

4. Jedrick Wills/Jack Conklin, offensive tackle

There are a couple of things to note about the Cleveland Browns at the offensive tackle position this offseason.

First, and probably most importantly, the Browns really don't seem to be as down on Jedrick Wills as the fan base and other outsiders. The Browns have been extremely patient (maybe maddeningly so) with Jedrick Wills since he was drafted in the 1st round back in 2020, but he's obviously talented. NFL teams don't give up on talent like this very easily.

Second, injuries are the primary reason for any concern here. The Browns' top three guys are returning from injury this year and that has made an otherwise very clear position group a little bit of a question mark going into training camp. Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal put it well:

"This position group is both among the most understood and the most mysterious on the Browns. It's understood because there are, when healthy, a clear top three with Wills, Conklin and second-year pro Dawand Jones, who is also a right tackle. It's mysterious because of the injury history/concerns all three of those players are battling, with injuries ending all of their seasons at various points last year. Wills will be playing on his fifth-year option and, when he's eventually cleared to resume on-field drills, will re-take his spot at left tackle."

Chris Easterling

What could get interesting pretty quickly with the Browns at offensive tackle is if, say, Wills and Jones are healthy and Conklin isn't. Could that cost Conklin his starting job even when he's ready to be back on the field?

What if the Browns find the combination of Jones and Conklin -- on on the left and one on the right -- works really well at some point? Could that cost Wills his job?

Ultimately, the odds favor a starting duo of Wills and Conklin, but don't be surprised if one of them has their job taken by Dawand Jones with Conklin as the more likely between the two.

5. Siaki Ika, defensive line

As much as we've written this offseason about Siaki Ika likely not being part of the Browns' 53-man roster this season, he's going to have a shot to go out there and prove himself during camp. You never know what could happen when the pads come on.

Ika was a third-round pick last year for the Browns out of Baylor and barely played as a rookie. He logged 100 defensive snaps and didn't do much with them at all, which is a main reason why people believe he's on the outside looking in of this incredibly deep Browns defensive front.

The Browns have Dalvin Tomlinson and Shelby Harris atop the depth chart at defensive tackle, but they are also going to be getting 2024 second-round pick Mike Hall Jr. very involved this season, as well as veteran Maurice Hurst, who was re-signed in free agency.

The one other veteran that seems to be keeping Ika from a potential job in Cleveland right now is Quinton Jefferson, but Ika is also going to have to fend off hungry seventh-round rookie Jowon Briggs.

The one area where Siaki Ika really differentiates himself is in the size department. At 335 pounds, he's second on the entire Cleveland Browns roster in terms of weight behind only offensive tackle Dawand Jones. Out of all the guys currently projected to make the 53-man roster, only Dalvin Tomlinson is listed at over 300 pounds on the defensive line.

The Browns may feel like having Ika's size in case anything happens to Tomlinson is essential, even though they've made a concerted effort to add lighter players who can move around to a variety of different techniques as defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz cooks up his crazy looks up front.

Even though he's a recent third-round pick, Ika is going to have to fight like he is an undrafted rookie trying to make this roster.

6. Cade York, kicker

Well, to say kicker Cade York is playing for his job might be an understatement now. As this post was being put together, the Cleveland Browns signed Dustin Hopkins to an extension through the 2027 season which makes him one of the highest-paid kickers in the NFL.

So now, the 2022 fourth-round pick is not exactly fighting for his job in Cleveland, but across the rest of the NFL. He's fighting for any available kicking job across the league.

Luckily for York, this isn't the end of the line by any means. We see kickers getting traded more and more every year, so much so that it's almost shocking teams aren't carrying a pair of kickers on their 90-man rosters while they can, and seeing if they can't parlay a contrived kicking competition into some late-round NFL Draft value. Even just a pick swap.

Given the fact that York was so highly thought of coming out of the 2022 NFL Draft by teams, it's highly likely he still carries a lot of value to some other teams in the league. If the Browns decide to keep him around for camp and the preseason -- which they should -- there will almost undoubtedly be a team or two willing to send them a late-round pick to acquire him if he kicks well.

Signing Dustin Hopkins to a big-money deal means York is definitely done in Cleveland, but it could end up being a win for everyone involved. Now, the pressure is on him to put good stuff on tape for other teams, and the Browns have the luxury of having their kicker position solved as well as potentially getting some extra draft capital coming up soon.

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