Leftover takeaways from Browns OTAs …
You’d never know it lately, but the Browns have a storied history of great punt returners.
Start in the 1950s and ‘60s with Hall of Famers Bobby Mitchell (three career return TDs) and Leroy Kelly (three TDs).
The ‘70s belonged to Greg “Do It” Pruitt (11.8 career average).
The ‘80s saw Gerald “Ice Cube” McNeil (one TD) and Eric Metcalf (five TDs) propel five consecutive playoff seasons.
In the expansion era, there was Dennis Northcutt (three TDs), the incomparable Josh Cribbs (three TDs) and the under-rated Travis “Rabbit” Benjamin (three TDs and franchise-best 12.6 career average).
There has been a severe drought since. The last Browns punt return touchdown was scored by Donovan Peoples-Jones in 2022.
Enter KC Concepcion – lauded by GM Andrew Berry as the best punt returner in the 2026 draft. His last season at Texas A&M, Concepcion averaged 18.2 yards per return, including TDs of 79 and 80 yards.
“I agree with AB 100 percent that he was the best punt returner in this year’s draft class,” said first-year Browns special teams coordinator Byron Storer. “What I see from KC is an ultimate competitor. He’s tough, he’s strong, he makes good decisions. I trust him back there catching it clean … [he’s a] very natural ball catcher. And I’m really excited to see him go out there and play real football.
“I think he’s got an elite acceleration. I think the one special thing about him is that he returns the ball with supreme effort and strain. You don’t see that a lot. Like, there’s some guys [who] are finesse. He gets straight up the field and he runs extremely hard. So … everything that he does kind of fits what I see our punt returner doing.”
Storer is not ready to hand the job to Concepcion, however. He showed respect toward incumbent Gage Larvadain, calling him 1A and Concepcion 1B on his punt return depth chart.
Larvadain took on the job in the middle of his rookie season without having much training in training camp. Larvadain averaged 7.0 yards on 24 returns, including a long of 44 yards.
“Now he has a full season under his belt,” Storer said.
The Browns ranked 26th in punt return average last year. They averaged 7.25 yards a return. The Patriots led the NFL with an average of 17.3.
Given the fact the Browns’ defense forced 32 punt returns last year – third-most in the league – this is an area that can inject life into the offense.
Which makes the punt returner competition something to watch in Todd Monken’s first training camp.
“In my mind, it’s Gage and KC competing for that job,” Storer said.
‘Cel-e-brate good times, come on’
Former Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz always encouraged his players to celebrate big plays – sacks, interceptions, fumbles, and, of course, touchdowns.
The celebrations could become elaborate and involve the entire position group responsible for a turnover. On occasions with the Browns hopelessly behind on the scoreboard, such celebrations seemed trite at best and tone deaf at worst.
Don’t look for the celebrations to cease under new coordinator Mike Rutenberg.
“This is the greatest team sport in the world,” Rutenberg explained. “We get this opportunity for 11 of us on a defense, a team, and a coaching staff to work together and to do some really hard stuff. So when we do some really hard stuff and it works out in our favor, let’s celebrate and have a blast. Let’s show how much we love each other by how much we celebrate.
“That’s just going to build our camaraderie and we’re going to have a great time doing it, because adversity is promised. So when good things happen, let’s celebrate it.”
With six interceptions in the OTA2 and OTA5 sessions open to media over the last two weeks, the defense has done a lot of celebrating.
Brownie bits
Offensive coordinator Travis Switzer is following the lead of Monken and avoiding naming a leader in the quarterback competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. “I think that both of those guys and really all of our guys are progressing very well,” Switzer said. “Very pleased in what we’ve seen in the growth. Like I said, a lot of is the familiarity with the system – getting a little more comfortable as we move on. But their progression, just in the short time that we’ve been so far is very encouraging, and we’re excited about that.” …
Switzer said he’s excited by the early showing of rookie Denzel Boston. “First off, just being able to come out here and line up and know the playbook and then he’s showing up. I mean, it seems like every day he’s showing up, making a play, which is really great to see,” Switzer said …
Switzer on Sanders’ development: “His progress has been impressive. Just his ability to move through progressions. His feet are getting more urgent, and he’s ready to throw when he needs to more consistently. We can continue to grow there, but his progress has been impressive.” …
For most of OTAs, the Browns’ defense has been without some key starters, such as: defensive ends Myles Garrett, defensive tackle Maliek Collins, cornerback Denzel Ward and safety Grant Delpit. Also, defensive end Alex Wright and defensive tackle Mason Graham have missed time with undisclosed minor injuries. Rutenberg said he’s “super excited” to get his whole first-team unit on the field together, perhaps at the mandatory minicamp June 9-11 for the first time. “he more that we’re all together, the better we’re going to be in the long run,” he said.