If Dawand Jones can stay healthy -- a real big IF for a real big guy -- he probably would be the Browns' starting left tackle heading into 2025.
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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.
Takeaways from Browns and NFL news …
Before the Browns lost their last six games and bottomed out at 3-14 to earn the No. 2 overall pick, some way-too-early mock drafts had them taking an offensive tackle with their first pick.
You can scratch that idea. Save it for another year.
Even if the Browns did the unpopular thing and passed on a quarterback, and passed on receiver/cornerback sensation Travis Hunter, and traded down, offensive tackle isn’t in the cards this year.
The top of this draft doesn’t have the high-end, franchise-type tackle to select in the top five.
Draft analyst Dane Brugler of The Athletic doesn’t have an offensive tackle ranked in the top 10 in his most recent Top 50 Big Board.
Brugler’s highest-ranked tackles are Will Campbell of LSU at No. 11, Kelvin Banks of Texas at No. 18, Cameron Williams of Texas at No. 27, and Josh Simmons of Ohio State at No. 29. Only two other offensive tackles appear in Brugler’s Top 50.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has Banks ranked No. 9, Campbell No. 11, Simmons No. 16 and Aireontae Ersery of Minnesota No. 25.
Which leaves you wondering what the Browns intend to do at left tackle in 2025.
Jedrick Wills, GM Andrew Berry’s first-ever Browns draft pick (No. 10 overall in 2020) is unsigned and headed to free agency after a miserable fifth season with the team.
Heir-apparent Dawand Jones finished the year on crutches for the second year in a row, this time with a fractured left fibula. He suffered a knee injury the year before and needed surgery in December.
Veteran Germain Ifedi started the last seven games at left tackle, a position he had never played in seven previous NFL seasons.
With Jack Conklin back from multiple injuries and playing some of his best right tackle over the final eight games, it would appear that Jones would have the inside track to at least begin the OTA and minicamp season as the presumed starter at left tackle.
“With Dawand, we did feel like he was actually hitting his stride before he got injured in the middle of the year,” Berry said this week, adding that it was coach Kevin Stefanski’s idea to move Jones from right tackle midway through the 2024 season.
“I think Dawand deserves credit because it’s really like the first time in his career that he’s played at the spot with probably minimal preparation, and he acclimated pretty quickly,” Berry said. “How that spot looks going into 2025, it’s probably too early to tell, but we did feel like it was good to get him some game experience at that position.”
Jones made a renewed commitment to lower his weight and improve his study and practice habits after he was benched for two games in October.
It was about that time when coaching consultant Mike Vrabel moved from tight ends to offensive line in meetings and at practice. Vrabel received some credit for motivating Jones back into shape.
Jones’ first season in 2023 was shaped by a nose-to-nose skirmish with former offensive line coach Bill Callahan in rookie minicamp. Jones emerged as a much better player from Callahan’s old-school, hard coaching approach.
Jones has displayed a lot of talent in his injury-plagued two seasons. But his behemoth size and weight battles will always be a concern, especially after two lower-body injuries.
So it seems that the selection of the next Browns’ offensive line coach assumes an important role in furthering the development of Jones at left tackle.
It’s possible the Browns will replace fired line coach Andy Dickerson with assistant Roy Istvan, who left the Eagles after five years under legendary O-line coach Jeff Stoutland to join the Browns last year.
Out in the cold
Aside from offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and Dickerson, who lost their jobs, two people who suffered most from the Browns’ 3-14 debacle of a season might be Berry’s assistant general managers – Glen Cook and Catherine Hickman.
Taking a tip from his mentor, Eagles GM Howie Roseman, Berry has been methodical in grooming his top aides, empowering them internally and pushing their professional growth.
Both Cook and Hickman participated four consecutive years in the NFL front office and general manager accelerator program, which was designed to promote minorities and women for GM and other executive-level positions.
The previous two years, Cook interviewed for GM positions with Minnesota, Chicago, Tennessee and Washington. Hickman, who previously worked under Roseman in Philadelphia and in the Canadian Football League, often is cited as one of the leading candidates to be the first female NFL GM.
A second consecutive post-season appearance probably would have opened more doors for Cook and Hickman. But they were slammed shut by the 3-14 Browns season. Alas, neither has received a call for a GM interview so far this hiring cycle.
To incentivize the training and promotion of minorities for front-office positions, the NFL awards a team compensatory draft picks following the third round in two successive seasons if a minority receives a GM job elsewhere.
Tidbits
Mike Vrabel already has interviewed with the Jets and Bears. He is expected to draw interest from the Saints and Jaguars, too. And now that Las Vegas has fired Antonio Pierce, Raiders minority owner Tom Brady could soon be calling on Vrabel. But the owner one step ahead of them all is New England’s Robert Kraft, whose first two coach interviews after firing Jerod Mayo were with minority candidates Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton to comply with the Rooney Rule. Kraft is expected to make his next move on Vrabel …
Berry’s answer about why the Browns moved on from Baker Mayfield was interesting. Berry lauded Mayfield for doing “a terrific job” in Tampa and for creating “a lot of great memories for us here.” Then he said, “A big part of quarterback success or failure — it can be environment. And I think the environment that these guys come into can play a huge part in terms of their development. Baker’s obviously a really talented quarterback, and I think part of what we go through in terms of our ups and downs, whether it’s personal or professional, there also is individual growth. But he’s doing a great job in Tampa. I think he’s grown as a player. He’s grown as a person, and obviously, they’re in a good place there.”