Cleveland Browns: 3 position battles to watch vs. Tampa Bay
By Thomas Moore
Demario Davis and Christian Kirksey have been penciled in as the starters since the opening of training camp, and while they haven’t exactly stood out so far, nothing seems to have changed.
The backup slots are a different story, however.
The unofficial depth chart shows Justin Tuggle and Tank Carder as the backups, and while Carder has been noticeable in the preseason — especially when it comes to delivering blocks on opposing punters — the same cannot be said of Tuggle.
The Browns signed Tuggle as a free agent after he spent three mostly forgettable seasons with the Houston Texans. So far though training camp and two preseason games, Tuggle has filled the same role with the Browns – you know he played because his name is in the box score, but you can’t remember anything he did on the field.
A player who has been getting noticed is inside linebacker Dominique Alexander, who signed with the Browns as an undrafted free agent this spring. When he’s been on the field, the 6-foot and 235-pound Alexander has been hard to miss.
“He’s a hitter and he makes sure that he lets people know that in practice and coming up and making big plays and making noise,” cornerback Joe Haden said. “That’s one thing that you need as a linebacker is he’s not afraid of that at all.”
Carder may have an edge as he is a known quantity, especially to special teams coordinator Chris Tabor, but the more Alexander is on the field the more difficult he makes it for the coaches to ignore him.
Next: Cornerback