Cleveland Browns: 5 UDFAs with the best chance to make the team

Undrafted rookies always seem to make an impact in the NFL, so here are the five with the best chance to make the Cleveland Browns.

As the Cleveland Browns prepare to head to training camp and figure out their roster for the 2018 season with a roster full of free agent signings and draft picks, they also have undrafted free agents that don’t get nearly the attention as the others. An avenue that has been good to the Browns in recent years with the likes of Isaiah Crowell, Tashaun Gipson and Jamie Meder. This year, the Browns have another crop with a chance to make the final 53-man roster.

Given the improvement of the overall roster, there’s a chance for the first time in a while that the Browns will not have a single one make the team, but the history of the NFL is that even good teams find guys that can surprise in camp or make the team by virtue of injuries. Combine that with John Dorsey, who hasn’t been afraid to cut his own draft picks for the sake of the oveall roster including Kevin Hogan, who he picked in the fifth round pick round in 2016, which is how he ended up on the Browns. Dorsey was so excited to see Hogan again that he traded him this past April.

There are no guarantees here, but the Browns do have some guys that can be pretty interesting in training camp on top of all of the other additions they’ve made to try to improve the roster. So with that, let’s do this.

5. Christian DiLauro, Offensive Tackle

A lot of people believe in Desmond Harrison, a fellow offensive tackle that started his career at Texas before ending up at West Georgia. He’s got a little more buzz entering camp and had far more attention in the draft process which started when he was invited to participate in the Senior Bowl. He did attend, but was unable to participate.

I think DiLauro is the more likely bet to make the team and there are a few reasons. He’s bigger and more athletic, he’s younger and his experience at Illinois is pretty key here. Harrison has been a left tackle throughout his collegiate career.

Meanwhile, DiLauro played in an offensive system for the Illini which actually flopped their tackles. Pretty rare anymore at the college level, DiLauro would be at left tackle on one play and right tackle the next. In fact, looking at DiLauro playing against Ohio State, he’d be taking on Tyquan Lewis on one play, then flip to the other side and take on Sam Hubbard the next and look good doing it.

Harrison is currently listed at 295 pounds, which is pretty dubious since he was 277 at the Senior Bowl. And I’m willing to believe he just had the flu and that had an impact. He got up to 292 for the combine and ran a great 40, but was pretty mediocre at everything else, which might suggest some of that weight wasn’t great in an attempt to alleviate concerns over it. And in the event he makes the Browns or another team, much of his rookie year will be focused on transforming his body into an NFL one, putting on better weight. DiLauro is already there and it’s just a matter of improving it.

Both players seem like long shots to make the roster given the the sheer numbers here as the Browns have three offensive tackles that are pretty safe to make the team. Harrison and DiLauro are trying to make a case they need to make a fourth. The ‘winner’ could get released with the Browns hoping they can get them to the practice squad. It’s possible they could actually sign both to the practice squad.

4. Marcell Frazier, Defensive End

The Browns have two incredibly talented ends in Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah on the front line. After that, it gets questionable in a hurry. The next best player is Carl Nassib, who just needs to find a way to finish more plays if he’s going to have a lasting career in Cleveland. Chad Thomas was a third round pick in the draft, though he has suffered a sports hernia and it’s not clear when he will return. Nate Orchard is in the final year of his contract, but after being an unwarranted second round pick even at the time, he has done next to nothing since his rookie year when he was a linebacker.

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The Browns desperately need someone else who can come off the edge and get to the quarterback. While Frazier is older than ideal for a rookie at 24, everything else about him checks the boxes that suggest he can be a solid NFL player. He tested well athletically and has the size to be an edge rusher in Gregg Williams’ scheme with pretty good production.

Nassib and Orchard combined for just five sacks in 2017. They have to find a way to get more production and while they could hold tight and hope those players simply perform better, it certainly opens the door for someone like Frazier to take a roster spot if he can consistently generate a pass rush.

Frazier being a rookie buys him little in this case because of his age since Orchard and Nassib are both 25. It’s slightly advantageous to keep Frazier over them because they’d get him on a three year deal for nothing while Orchard for example will be a free agent after this year. It becomes a battle worth keeping an eye on and Frazier may be worth keeping over Orchard on his potential alone.

3. Julian Allen, Tight End

I knew little about Allen when the Browns signed him. He’s a tremendous athlete, but for whatever reason, he never saw the ball when he was at Southern Miss, which caused some outlets to call him a fullback.

Having seen him in person at minicamp, he was impressive running 1-on-1s. All of this is without pads and should be taken with a grain of salt, but it was enough to draw notice. He’s an athletic player who looked good running routes and catching the football.

The Browns have three tight ends that look safe to make the roster in David Njoku, Seth DeValve and Darren Fells. Todd Haley really likes to utilize the tight end position, so he may want to keep a fourth. Allen is the only other viable candidate to make the roster currently along with Devon Cajuste, another athletic space player. Allen is a rookie, but is already 24 years old while Cajuste is still just 25, so it’s a matchup that could be pretty good.

2. Elijah Campbell, Safety

It’s still a mystery why the Browns released Kai Nacua out of nowhere earlier this summer, but it could have something to do with Elijah Campbell. The rookie out of Northern Iowa by way of Northern Illinois has good athleticism and while his tackle production wasn’t ideal, he did make a lot of plays on the football.

For my money, he’s not as good of a prospect as Nacua, but Campbell is someone to keep an eye on when camp gets going. It’s not clear if they want to keep a fifth safety on the roster, but if they do, Campbell appears to be the front runner.

Special teams will be critical for Campbell to make the roster and he does have experience in that area, but he also has experience at corner and this coaching staff seems to really like versatile defenders.

1. Trenton Thompson, Defensive Tackle

Thompson had draftable talent coming out of Georgia and was productive for the Bulldogs when healthy. He also tested well athletically. His talent on tape is pretty obvious.

So much of Thompson’s possibility to make the roster comes down to what the Browns don’t have at the 3-technique defensive tackle. A group that includes Trevon Coley and Caleb Brantley, they don’t have anyone who stands out as an obvious starter or impact player. It’s what amounts to be role players and in the case of Brantley, Thompson has more talent based on production and athleticism and is only 21 years old.

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The issues for Thompson that may have resulted in him going undrafted were the off field and then injuries. Thompson missed time and had a relatively down year in his final year at Georgia before declaring for the draft. Off field concerns put him in the same camp as Brantley, who came out of Florida with a poor reputation himself. The two also play eerily similar styles of defensive tackles, trying to shoot gaps and get into the backfield as quickly as possible to disrupt plays.

Ultimately, Thompson is likely battling against Brantley, Coley and players the Browns are monitoring that could hit the waiver wire when teams start cutting down rosters. If he can stay out of trouble and on the field, he may be too good to get rid of which is why he’s this high, but the guy who could beat him out may not currently be wearing a Browns uniform.

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