Marcus Santos-Silva looks the part of an NFL tight end despite not playing football since his freshman year in high school. Yes, he made this catch at Browns rookie minicamp. (TheLandOnDemand)
NFL did not want Deshaun Watson’s return to Houston on Week 1 schedule
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Browns rookie minicamp and season schedule …
NFL schedule-makers insist the Browns’ 2022 schedule is no tip-off to potential league discipline of quarterback Deshaun Watson.
But they do admit they did not want to schedule the Browns’ game in Houston in 2022 – Watson’s first visit to his former team -- in the season’s opening weekend.
In an appearance with Adam Schein on Sirius XM Mad Dog Radio on Friday, Mike North, NFL VP of broadcast scheduling, explained the league purposely refrained from scheduling the Browns at Houston in Week 1.
“We knew that Houston and Cleveland were obviously gonna play each other this year, and Cleveland at Houston is gonna mean something,” North said. “I’ll be honest with you, we did see a schedule somewhere along the hundreds of thousands that we looked at this year where that game was in Week Number One. And I’m just not sure that would have been the right place for it, right? That’s maybe not the right, you know, game that we want all eyes on, attention on, you know, taking attention away from some of these other big tentpoles . . . in Week One.
“So other than maybe really just thinking about that, where that actual Cleveland at Houston game fell, there really wasn’t a lot of attention paid because, honestly, none of us knows what’s gonna happen [to Watson, as far as an NFL suspension].”
The league ultimately scheduled Watson’s first visit to his former team for Week 13 on Dec. 4.
North said a potential Watson suspension did not factor into any other facet of the Browns’ schedule.
“The honest answer to you … is no,” North said. “None of us know. None of us knows if he’s gonna be [playing] all year, if he’s not gonna be here at all. None of us knows what is gonna happen at all, and it might not happen this year. I don’t know enough about the legal system, but we could be a year or two away from all of these things finally settling.”
One theory before the schedule release was the NFL would reserve Browns’ prime-time appearances until at least the seventh week because of a possible six-game suspension of Watson for violations of the league personal conduct policy.
But the Browns received a Thursday night prime-time game at home against the Steelers in Week 3. They also received a Monday night prime-time game – also at home – against the Bengals in Week 8 on Halloween night.
The Browns also could be flexed to a prime-time game in Week 15 against the Ravens – also at home.
“So there’s a game in the first third [of the season], a game in the middle, a game in the last third,” the NFL schedule poo-bah said. “No idea what’s gonna happen. I don’t know anything more than you do at this point. So the honest answer to your question is we really didn’t think about it.”
So, as Watson continues to give depositions in the 22 civil lawsuits against him for charges of sexual misconduct during massage sessions in 2020 and 2021, the outlook for Watson being available for the start of the season seems to be getting better. If nothing else, nobody can accuse the NFL of imposing hardships on the Browns in their schedule.
The Browns have received every possible break imaginable.
Dream on
The story of Marcus Santos-Silva is a good one – a college basketball power forward with little football experience converting to NFL tight end.
You want it to turn out like Antonio Gates or Tony Gonzalez or Jimmy Graham.
But maybe a more appropriate comp is Mo Alie-Cox of the Colts.
Like Santos-Silva, Alie-Cox played football only his freshman year at high school. He was also a power forward at Virginia Commonwealth University and actually hosted Santos-Silva on a recruiting visit.
Santos-Silva played three years at VCU and one at Texas Tech and then answered the siren call to try out for the NFL. Santos-Silva canceled tryouts with the Ravens and Colts after the Browns signed him and brought him to rookie minicamp.
Alie-Cox tried out for the Colts in 2017, was signed to their practice squad after the final roster cut, and improved enough to earn regular roster spots.
In four seasons now with the Colts, Alie-Cox has 70 receptions in 57 games for 936 yards and eight touchdowns. Not hall of fame numbers, but this year he signed a three-year contract extension for $18 million.
“I’m the type of person if you tell me I can’t do something, I’m going to do everything I can to show I can do it,” Santos-Silva said. “I feel if I keep at it, I can be special.”
Santos-Silva has the ideal tight end build -- 6-6 and weighs 261 pounds – but wouldn’t divulge the two 40 times he posted in his Browns workout.
“Once I did my broad jump and ran the routes, the 40 just went out [the window],” he said. “They were like ‘forget the 40.’”
Stefanski is looking for a third tight end behind David Njoku and Harrison Bryant, though he is leaning toward more three-receiver sets with Watson at quarterback.
“With the tight end position – we have all seen it – the guys who have transitioned from basketball into the pros, the body type first of all, you look at the frame and the ability to put weight on,” he said. “Oftentimes, those undersized No. 4s who are in the 6-4 range and have a frame and/or are already in the 250s, they typically have great ball skills as basketball players. You are thinking about them in and around the hoop … and the ability to snatch the ball. Then it is their ability to use their length.
“Some of the guys – you can think about Tony Gonzalez – using their length and body position. When they enter the ball into the post, similar to a stick route, hey, you can stick your hands out and go grab it. A lot of those things apply from basketball to the tight end position. We are always looking for guys who can maybe do that when given the chance.”
Despite his lack of experience, Santos-Silva did not look like a fish out of water in the Friday minicamp practice open to media. He made a number of good catches, in fact.
The question about former basketball players is whether they can tolerate the collisions inherent in the position of tight end. It may be the most brutal position in the NFL.
“I’ll get used to it,” Santos-Silva contended. “I know there will be times I’ll get cracked and knock my wind out. I‘m ready for all that stuff. It’s part of the game. If I go and play timid, that’s how you get hurt more. I’m just going to have an aggressive mentality.”
Brownie bit
The Browns have severely upgraded their size and athleticism at quarterback with a revamped roster of Deshaun Watson, Jacoby Brissett and Josh Dobbs. Nevertheless, they were impressed enough with rookie camp tryout Felix Harper, of Alcorn State, to sign him to a contract for a longer look. Harper, a left-hander, is 5-10 and 180 pounds.
