Cleveland Browns: Final 53-man roster prediction

With the final preseason game here, it’s time to project the final roster for the Cleveland Browns for the 2017 season. It’s gonna be weird.

The preseason is set to wrap up for the Cleveland Browns after they take on the Chicago Bears on Thursday, so teams will be setting their final rosters. Because of the change in rules that enabled teams to keep 90 players on rosters for the entire preseason, teams will be accounting for 37 players of their own while watching everyone else do the same to see if there’s anyone they want to grab.

It’s gonna happen fast and it’s going to be a circus with so many players moving all at once. And like last year, the Browns front office is likely to be opportunistic looking for help, so the 53-man roster will come in two waves. First, initial cuts and then in responding to waiver claims. So let’s get to it.

QB (2) – DeShone Kizer, Cody Kessler

Frankly, they could have any of these quarterbacks backup Kizer and the impact is likely the same. Kessler gets the nod simply because he was a draft pick and maybe he develops.

More importantly, there isn’t a single compelling reason to keep three quarterbacks. If Kizer goes down, the Browns can sign a quarterback off the street that will give them as much as they’ve gotten from Kessler, Kevin Hogan or Brock Osweiler to this point. Hogan, they can put on the practice squad again if no one claims him.

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RB (3) – Isaiah Crowell, Duke Johnson, Matt Dayes

The top three have been pretty clear for a while. They should be on the lookout for someone else who fight for tough yards inside in case Crowell were to go down, similar to Terrence Magee, but more talented.

FB (0)

The details on Dan Vitale’s ankle injury are vague, but it sounds like he might go on PUP initially. J.P. Holtz played that spot after Vitale went down, but he doesn’t appear to be suited to do the job. Seth DeValve can kind of fulfill that role as an H-Back, even if it’s not ideal.

WR (5) – Corey Coleman, Kenny Britt, Ricardo Louis, Rashard Higgins, Rannell Hall

It really seems as though the final receiver spot is between Hall and Jordan Leslie. Leslie is a little bigger, more physically gifted, but Hall is a little more polished, plays more physical with the ball in his hands and as a blocker. Jordan Payton is probably someone they’d like to get to the practice squad. Hall and Leslie are still eligible for the practice squad, but both might have shown enough to be picked up elsewhere.

TE (3) – Seth DeValve, Randall Telfer, David Njoku

The Browns love their tight end group. Given how much they use them, the fact they’ve used all of them in formations, they might look to add a fourth. Taylor McNamara is someone that could use a year on the practice squad.

OL (11) – Joe Thomas, Joel Bitonio, J.C. Tretter, Kevin Zeitler, Shon Coleman, John Greco, Austin Reiter, Marcus Martin, Anthony Fabiano, *Zach Sterup, *Rod Johnson

The Browns initially keep a bunch of offensive linemen. Greco doesn’t look quite like himself, but he is the veteran who’s been getting first team reps in Bitonio’s place with the injury. After that, Austin Reiter appears to be firmly in place as the backup center while Fabiano can play center but also repped at guard.

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens at backup tackle. Rod Johnson isn’t ready to play on Sundays, but he is only 21 years old, so the Browns may want to keep him, hoping he can develop. They might just hold onto him or try to put him on the practice squad and while Sterup isn’t terribly good either, he’s a massive body when he gets in the way of defenders.

This number seems like it should ultimately settle at nine and the Browns may be on the lookout for another tackle on waivers. Someone will grab Spencer Drango and put him on their active roster.

DL (11) – Myles Garrett, Danny Shelton, Emmanuel Ogbah, Trevon Coley, Jamie Meder, Carl Nassib, Larry Ogunjobi, Tyrone Holmes, Xavier Cooper, *Nate Orchard, *Caleb Brantley

This is where things start to get weird. Partly because the Browns have more defensive line talent than anywhere else on the roster and partly calling teams on their bluffs, the Browns keep 11 defensive linemen initially.