Browns Roster Spots Surprisingly Limited
The Cleveland Browns roster has had a bit of a makeover this off-season. That is pretty normal for any NFL club but far too normal for fans in Cleveland. This season’s turnover at least didn’t have anything to do with a change in those in charge of the Browns. Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine remain firmly in charge of the team, at least for one more season. Kyle Shanahan’s departure hasn’t seemed to make a huge impact as his replacement, John DeFilippo, plans to run a similar Zone Blocking Scheme with West Coast passing concepts behind that.
The Browns roster, while in need of some influx of talent at a few positions, is surprisingly short on open spots for players going into next season. While the 2014 season saw undrafted players K’Waun Williams, Taylor Gabriel and Isaiah Crowell not only make the roster but an impact, the Browns may not have a ton of room for those type of gems this season. That is a good sign for the Browns roster that the talent level is rising.
First lets take a look at the roster composition for the Browns 1st 53 man roster to get an idea of how Farmer and Pettine like to put together the team:
1st – QB (3), RB (3), FB (1), WR (5), TE (3), OL (8), DL (7), LB (8), DB (12) and Specialists (3)
Those numbers may not mean anything now, and changed in a lot of ways as the season went on, but they give us a template for what the 1st 53 man roster of the 2015 season might look like. Now we will look at all of those positions and group players currently on the Browns roster into one of three categories: In or Likely. (We won’t predict any trades or injuries in this process.) That will give us a good idea of how many spots are actually available on the Browns roster:
In
QB – Josh McCown (1)
RB – Terrance West, Isaiah Crowell (2)
WR – Dwayne Bowe, Brian Hartline, Andrew Hawkins, Taylor Gabriel (4)
TE – Jim Dray (1)
OL – Joe Thomas, Joel Bitonio, Alex Mack, John Greco, Mitchell Schwartz, Michael Bowie (6)
DL – Desmond Bryant, Armonty Bryant, Randy Starks, John Hughes, Billy Winn (5)
LB – Paul Kruger, Karlos Dansby, Craig Robertson, Christian Kirksey, Barkevious Mingo (5)
DB – Joe Haden, Donte Whitner, Tashaun Gipson, Tramon Williams, Justin Gilbert, Pierre Desir, K’Waun Williams (7)
Specialists – Spencer Lanning, Christian Yount (2)
Total Estimated IN = 33
Likely
QB – Johnny Manziel (1)
RB – Shaun Draughn, Glenn Winston (2)
WR – Marlon Moore (Gunner/Returner) (1)
TE – Gary Barnidge (1)
OL – Ryan Seymour (1)
DL – Phil Taylor, Ishmaa’ily Kitchen (2)
LB – (0)
DB – Robert Nelson, Jordan Poyer, Johnson Bademosi (Gunner) (3)
Specialists – (0)
Total Estimated LIKELY = 11
Total Estimated either IN or LIKELY = 44
Positional Totals from the IN and LIKELY Group
QB (2), RB (4), FB (0), WR (5), TE (2), OL (7), DL (7), LB (5), DB (10) and Specialists (2)
So using our estimates, the Browns have room for 10 players next year. There are a number of linebackers and defensive linemen that will fight for roster spots that are not listed here. Compared to last year’s opening day roster the Browns could be looking to add 1 QB, 1 FB, 1 TE, 1 OL, 3 LB, 2 DBs and a kicker.
Obviously last years’ starting roster is not definitive of what this years will look like. The Browns quickly cut Rex Grossman last year and carried 2 QBs for most of the season. The rest of the roster numbers fluctuated due to injuries, performance and needs.
The Browns are likely to bring in another couple of free agents, especially a tight end, even if they wouldn’t fall into either the IN or LIKELY categories. Those players, the players currently on the roster but not listed above, the Browns draft picks, currently they have 10, and any undrafted free agents will all compete for those coveted spots. That is a lot of players for not a lot of positions.
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This is a good problem for the Browns to have. The players listed as IN or LIKELY all have some level of talent and upside that makes them important parts of the Browns team. You likely disagree with a couple of the players, you could be right, but the numbers don’t lie. The Browns do not have a lot of roster spots to fill next year and competition will be fierce.
What do you think about our look at the Browns roster and available spots?