Cleveland Browns: 4 Undrafted free agents from 2019 that can be starters
Tight End Stephen Carlson
Stephen Carlson is a rarity, an Ivy League player in the NFL. By a weird coincidence, he is a tight end from Princeton University who followed another tight end from Princeton in Seth DeValve. The Browns must figure that Princeton is a hotbed for tight ends.
Carlson saw action in nine games after being promoted from the Practice Squad and made five starts. On the season he was involved in 19.5 percent of offensive snaps and 22.5 percent of special teams snaps in 2019.
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Weirdly, the Browns have five tight ends on the roster, including pass-catcher Ricky Seals-Jones, blocking tight end Pharaoh Brown, veteran Demetrius Harris and last but not least fifth string David Njoku who was at least a mile deep in Freddie Kitchens’ dog house. Something has got to give.
Pro Football Focus graded Carlson higher than the other four, and he finally may be the replacement for Orson Charles, the tough-guy tight end who moved to fullback for Hue Jackson and then Gregg Williams. They did not throw to Carlson very often, however, so he will likely share the job with Seals-Jones and perhaps Njoku, assuming he is granted a second chance to establish himself.
Carlson is probably now the front runner at tight end, and it is incumbent upon Brown and Harris to justify their roster spots in view of cap-friendly Carlson and Seals-Jones.