Cleveland Browns demote Austin Corbett to second-string

The Cleveland Browns depth chart now shows second-year player Austin Corbett demoted to the second string center, a major disappointment.

The Cleveland Browns depth chart for the upcoming game Saturday, August 17 versus Indianapolis has a few surprises, but none more surprising than Austin Corbett listed as the second-string center. He apparently is no longer on the depth chart as a guard at all. This is a tremendous disappointment, considering Corbett was taken as the first pick of the second round, or 33rd overall. A player taken that high normally starts his first year.

In college, he played both left and right tackle for the Nevada Wolfpack, though the scouting buzz was that he might be more suitable as a guard at the NFL level. One reason was that he highly mobile, and able to “pull” behind the line to block for running plays on the other side of the line. Although tackles can occasionally pull, that is a staple for a guard, especially if your team has a runner like Nick Chubb on it. Being able to get an extra blocker on the play is an enormous asset.

Corbett was given a shot at being a replacement for Joe Thomas at left tackle, but wound up as a backup guard last year, getting only a few snaps on eligible-lineman plays when the team went with sex offensive linemen. This year, the Browns traded highly respected right guard Kevin Zeitler to the Giants, based on the notion that the Browns had Corbett waiting in the wings to replace him.

But now, Corbett is apparently out of the guard picture entirely. He’s gone from a competitor for the first string being totally removed from the guard depth chart, not even third string.

Corbett is in line for the Cameron Erving Memorial Award given to the offensive lineman who fails at the most offensive line positions. He has flopped at tackle and guard, and now fighting for a position to back up J. C. Tretter. Tretter had some significant injuries earlier in his career, but with the Browns, he has gone two straight years with zero missed snaps. In other words, it might be a while before the backup center gets into a game.

Is it possible that this is just mind games from the coaching staff to inspire a sense of urgency in Corbett? That is probably not the modus operandi for coach Freddie Kitchens, who seems to be a straight-up kind of guy.  Former coach Hue Jackson was fond of that sort of thing, famously giving extra game reps to Antonio Callaway as punishment, while rewarding the other receivers who earned them, by taking them away.  But no, in the Kitchens era, if your name is not on the depth chart at guard, you are probably in trouble.

Thus, Corbett’s Browns career may be coming to a close before it even starts. Because NFL draftees get guarantees, it will cost the Browns $2.6 million if they decide to cut Corbett outright.  If they can trade him, they will still be charged for his signing bonus, but his salary will transfer to the new team.

It’s very rare for a second-year player to be traded, but this case may be an exception. Trading an underachieving — and thus overpaid — second-year player might be difficult but not impossible if the Browns can find a trading partner with plenty of cap space and a shortage of offensive linemen.

Eric Kush ascends to the top of the depth chart at right guard. He has 12 starts in his five-year NFL career, which is not very impressive. Willie Wright, an undrafted rookie from Tulsa is listed second.

Neither one looks like a world-beater right now, but apparently, they are good enough to push Austin Corbett all the way off the depth chart at that position. The Browns have other experienced linemen on the team, so it would not come as a shock to see one of them switch to right guard.