Ronnie Harrison was ranked the second safety next to Derwin James in the 2018 draft by at least one draft expert. (Getty Images)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Browns trade and interviews …
Odds are whomever trades with the Jacksonville Jaguars is receiving a good player. That’s because the Jags apparently don’t want to keep their good players. They’re stripping their roster down to the studs to secure the No. 1 pick and loading up on extras in the 2021 draft.
That’s one reason to like GM Andrew Berry’s trade of a fifth-round pick for Jaguars third-year safety Ronnie Harrison.
But there are more reasons to give Berry a thumbs-up for this trade.
1.Harrison is a young, physical, big safety (6-2 and 214 pounds) who was schooled by Nick Saban at Alabama. He was a freshman on the Tide’s 2015 national championship team and a starter on the 2017 title team.
Jim Nagy, executive director of Reese’s Senior Bowl, tweeted the Browns “just traded for an incredibly smart player. Due to his position flex, most assumed Minkah Fitzpatrick was the brains of Alabama secondary in ‘17 but Harrison was the main communicator and teammates said Nick Saban spoke to Harrison on different level than anyone else.”
Dane Brugler of The Athletic rated Harrison as the No. 2 safety in the 2018 draft behind Florida State’s Derwin James.
Harrison was drafted in the third round by Jacksonville. In eight starts as a rookie, he had one interception, one sack, three passes defensed and 32 tackles. In 14 starts in 2019, Harrison had two interceptions, two sacks, one fumble recovery, nine passes defensed and 71 tackles.
2.Harrison has played free safety, but he is more of a violent hitter closer to the line of scrimmage than a rangy deep safety. In that regard, his strengths appear opposite of those of injured rookie Grant Delpit.
The experience of lining up deep, however, may enable coordinator Joe Woods to pursue his original plan to use a big dime look with a 4-2-5 alignment utilizing three safeties. That’s why Delpit was going to be so valuable – able to line up in different spots.
As the chess piece, Harrison would allow Woods to station Andrew Sendejo as the deep safety and Karl Joseph as the strong safety. Or, Sendejo could be the swing man. In either case, finding a safety with versatility was imperative and Berry came down with one for a cheap price.
After failing to sign veteran Logan Ryan, this was a nice rebound for Berry. Harrison, 23, is under contract for two more years.
3.The Browns still own the Rams’ pick in the fifth round (for Austin Corbett).
They also own the Saints’ pick in the third round (from a second-round trade-down in 2020) and the Eagles’ pick in the fourth round (for Genard Avery) in addition to their own picks in those rounds.
They own the Bills’ pick in the seventh round (in Wyatt Teller trade) but shipped their own to the Broncos (for Andy Janovich).
Dress rehearsal
When coach Kevin Stefanski referred to Friday’s practice in FirstEnergy Stadium as a dress rehearsal, he added the word “literally.”
“I mean that literally in terms of they are going to be in their uniforms, the coaches are going to be dressed in their game attire, we are going put headsets on and the coaches will be up in the booth,” he said.
“It is going to be a crisp, quick practice. It is not going to be a scrimmage. It is not going to be something where we are going to play the young guys for an hour to see what we have because the truth is, this whole camp has been an evaluation of those young guys. They get evaluated in their individual period and they get evaluated in the classroom so it is way more of a dress rehearsal. The guys need to go through what pregame warmup looks like. Things like that are how we are viewing tomorrow’s practice.”
In other words, nobody is going to win or lose a roster spot based on Friday’s practice. The roster cuts due by 4 p.m. Saturday pretty much have been decided.
The Browns made four on Friday, waiving safety J.T. Hassell, cornerback Donnie Lewis Jr., wide receiver J’Mon Moore and defensive tackle Ricky Walker.
Be like Chubb
Recent contracts given to running backs Christian McCaffery (four years/$64 million), Derrick Henry (four years/$50 million) and Joe Mixon (four years/$48 million), and another coming soon for Alvin Kamara, have too many people fretting about what the Browns will do for Nick Chubb.
Fans and media should follow the lead of Chubb and just chill out.
Chubb is entering his third season. He is not eligible for a new contract until after this year. His rookie deal runs through 2021. Because he was a second-round pick, his deal did not include a fifth-year club option.
Don’t worry about Chubb getting paid. He’s not.
“I see it. I know it is happening,” Chubb said of the recent signings of running backs. “I am aware of it, but I am just focusing on this team right now. I am a big believer in everything happens for a reason. Whatever happens for me, it will be for the best, I believe, so I am just trying to get better every day here and not worry about the future.”
Amen.