Second-year receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones has been front and center with the Browns' No. 1 offense through seven practices at training camp. (Cleveland Browns)
Donovan Peoples-Jones is no talker, just the talk of Browns camp
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
There’s a little bit of a letdown to fans attending Browns camp when Odell Beckham Jr. is held out of team drills -- every day so far through seven practices. Everyone wants to see the flamboyant receiver running under passes from Baker Mayfield and polishing his one-handed catch repertoire.
But as Beckham’s carefully managed comeback from ACL surgery proceeds, the consolation prize has been the emergence of quiet, understated, but immensely talented second-year receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones.
You won’t see Peoples-Jones practicing catches with one hand or celebrating after he bursts past cornerbacks down the sidelines and receives Mayfield’s bombs in Beckham’s place. And you certainly won’t hear him making boastful proclamations about his greatness.
What you see is a humble and unusually cerebral receiver coming into his own, day by day, whose No. 1 goal is “to be the best version of myself.”
“He’s a hard worker and he’s a special player,” observed running back Kareem Hunt. “He’s a bigger receiver, he can block, he can catch, and he’s fast. That’s what I’ve learned about him. Definitely a good football player.”
An unlikely underdog
Peoples-Jones was drafted in the sixth round in 2020. Even after contributing big plays in two key Browns victories last year, he arrived at his second training camp as the fifth receiver in the minds of many. This after Mayfield said at the June minicamp, “Donovan looks incredible right now.”
Of course, there was the flashy Beckham, the headstrong leader Jarvis Landry, the lovable Mayfield go-to guy Rashard Higgins, and even special teams ace and valuable blocker KhaDarel Hodge ahead of Peoples-Jones.
This certainly has been a reversal of roles for Peoples-Jones because he had always been highly regarded prior to coming to the Browns.
He was a five-star recruit out of Detroit’s Cass Technical High School and recruited by every major school. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer offered him a full-ride scholarship in his freshman year.
“I wasn’t ready to make a decision that early, so I just waited until I was ready,” Peoples-Jones said.
He left high school with a 3.9 grade-point average and a 1200 SAT score and ultimately chose Michigan, the alma mater of his dad, over Ohio State.
“There were a few different reasons. The balance between the athletics and academics were the major facets of my decision,” Peoples-Jones said.
Meyer famously trudged through a snowstorm to Michigan to make a final pitch to Peoples-Jones and his family.
“When we left his house, we thought we had him,” Meyer has said. “When he said he went up there, that broke my heart. I still have great respect for him.”
Peoples-Jones’ career at Michigan may have been less than what many expected – 103 catches and 14 touchdowns in three years. Some attributed it to Michigan’s lack of a quality quarterback. Some thought Peoples-Jones’ fervent commitment to his academic load as a pre-med major prevented him from realizing his full football potential.
Peoples-Jones' take: "I think I learned a lot of good lessons, lessons that will stick with me forever."
Nevertheless, prior to the 2020 draft, Meyer said, “I still think that guy should be a top 10 draft pick. He’s that good. Donovan Peoples-Jones in high school was one of the best receivers I’ve ever seen.”
Yet he lasted until the 187th overall pick in the sixth round. He was the 28th receiver taken. It is loosely familiar to another famous Michigan draft snub – Tom Brady, the 199th pick of the 2000 draft.
On a conference call with Browns media when he was drafted so low, Peoples-Jones said, “I think the rankings will reveal themselves in a couple years.”
Browns scout Colton Chapple said, “You do see sometimes guys that are disappointed in where they get drafted or let down. If anything, I do see it kind of lights a fire for a lot of these college prospects. I don’t want to say it’s a good thing he was drafted in the 6th round, but we see it as a good value pick that his best football is ahead of him based on the traits we see.”
Given the chance to expound on the motivation of being drafted so low, Peoples-Jones said, “There are a lot of things that motivate me. The list would be long. I wouldn’t want to say.”
Does he enjoy the role of underdog for perhaps the first time in his athletic career?
“I’m just coming out here every day, having fun, being happy and focusing on what I have to do,” he said.
Doctoring priorities
Peoples-Jones aspired to follow in the footsteps of his father, an orthopedic surgeon. As a 10-year-old, he’d observe his dad performing surgeries from an observation deck. When Michigan and Ohio State recruited him, they arranged for him to shadow surgeons at their university hospitals.
“The human body is an amazing sculpture,” Peoples-Jones said. “Everything inside is just as big as everything outside. Inside is what matters and doctors fix that, so that always fascinated me.”
He left Michigan early for football without his college degree. His medical career is on hold.
“It always has been on my mind, but I’m not sure at this moment,” he said of his aspirations as a surgeon.
Clearly, football is Peoples-Jones’ No. 1 priority for the foreseeable future. And it’s looking more and more like all that talent and all that work is going to pay off, after all.
