Joel Bitonio has moved from his All-Pro position at left guard before. Could he do it again? (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Twenty days before the Browns’ season-opener against the Dallas Cowboys, the situation at left tackle, the most important position on the offensive line, is dire.
* Four-year starter Jedrick Wills has not been cleared to practice and remains on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
Wills suffered an injury to his right MCL on November 5. At the time, the Browns said it would not be season-ending. It was. He had arthroscopic surgery on December 12. Wills has not been able to practice through OTAs, minicamp and training camp.
“He will not be practicing this week but continues to work very hard,” coach Kevin Stefanski said Sunday.
* James Hudson, the team’s top choice to fill in for Wills, has a left ankle injury and won’t practice this week or play in the final preseason game in Seattle, per Stefanski. “But he will be back soon,” the coach added.
Hudson, who never played left tackle in three seasons under former line coach Bill Callahan, was tabbed by new line coaches Andy Dickerson and Roy Istvan to move from right tackle as Wills’ top replacement. He has struggled in that role and was recently losing reps to other candidates.
* Hakeem Adeniji, one of the candidates recently getting reps at left tackle, has a right knee injury and will be “out for a little bit,” Stefanski said.
Adeniji was injured at the end of a 91-yard interception return by Minnesota cornerback Dwight McGlothern when his knee made contact with quarterback Tyler Huntley forcing McGlothern out of bounds. Adeniji was chasing McGlothern for the bulk of his return.
“I’m disappointed for him,” Stefanski said. “You know, I will highlight his effort on that play was unbelievable. Running down – and those are types of things I thought you can really, you can teach off of those moments with your players. So, his effort was unbelievable.”
* Germain Ifedi, another candidate getting reps at left tackle, suffered a hand injury on the same play, but “he’s good to go,” per Stefanski.
Ifedi, 30, is an eight-year veteran who’s made 83 starts mostly at right tackle with Seattle and Chicago and ended the 2023 season on the Buffalo Bills practice squad. He was signed by the Browns on April 18.
As things stand, Ifedi will be the starting left tackle when Deshaun Watson makes his preseason debut Saturday night in Seattle.
Stefanski reiterated that the plan remains for Watson to play.
“I always take in information, so I’m going to make sure I talk to him and work through that this week,” Stefanski said. “I’m not going to get into who plays and how much just yet, but going to certainly work through that in the next couple of days.
“Everything’s on the table. But like I mentioned last night, I think what we have to do is … we have a plan, look at it, see what’s available, do we want to alter anything? So we’ll work through that in the next couple days.”
What are the other options?
GM Andrew Berry has to add a veteran with experience at left tackle. Few teams have the surplus at the position to trade one, however.
The best available unsigned left tackle may be Donovan Smith, 31, who has 136 career starts at the position with Tampa Bay and Kansas City, earning a Super Bowl ring with each team.
Smith missed the final five regular-season games last year with a neck injury, but returned to play in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run. Smith, however, is a penalty machine. His 29 penalties over the past four seasons tie him for third-most in the NFL.
Other veteran tackles unsigned include D.J. Humphries, 31; Jason Peters, 42; Billy Turner, 32; and Duane Brown, 38, who was a teammate of Watson in Houston in 2017 and played for Dickerson at Seattle in 2021.
Another option would be to move left guard Joel Bitonio to left tackle until Wills is able to return.
Bitonio made an emergency start at left tackle in 2021 when Wills and Hudson were stricken with COVID. The Browns lost the game, 16-14, to the Oakland Raiders with Nick Mullens making an emergency start at quarterback. Bitonio didn’t allow a sack.
The only other time Bitonio played left tackle was in the 2018 preseason when injuries decimated the position the first year after Joe Thomas retired. Line coach Bob Wylie had said moving Bitonio to left tackle was Plan Z, but coach Hue Jackson over-ruled him. The move was averted by Game 1 of the regular season.
When I asked Bitonio last week if there were conversation of him possibly moving to left tackle again, he laughed.
“Not to my ears,” he said. “But I’ve said that before. Way before Covid, I told you I was never going to play left tackle. And then I was. I think it’s Plan ZZ [now]. But you never know.”