Way too early prediction of the Cleveland Browns 53 man roster
By Mitch Zoloty
Cornerbacks
Absolute Lock:
Denzel Ward
Greedy Williams
Kevin Johnson
Tavierre Thomas
More Than Likely In:
Terrance Mitchell
50/50 Chance They’re In:
A.J. Green
Possibly Practice Squad:
The Cleveland Browns cornerback room is severely underrated. Denzel Ward is going to be a pro-bowl caliber player again in 2020. Greedy Williams had some ups and downs in his rookie season but should be better in 2020. Cornerback Kevin Johnson and Terrance Mitchell are quality backups and provide great depth to the Browns cornerback room.
Some of you may be scratching your head at who Tavierre Thomas is. He is the Browns best special teams player that isn’t a specialist. He can do it all. He played 361 special teams snaps for the Browns in 2019, which was 83% of the snaps. That’s probably every special teams play except for field goal. Dude is an elite gunner, a great block corner, he is a true special teams player. It was a tragedy that he didn’t make the Pro Bowl last season.
Coach Mike Priefer will be pounding the table to keep Tavierre Thomas in 2020. When looking at backups, you’re evaluating how they will play special teams as much as they will play their positions. It doesn’t get much better than Tavierre Thomas for your special teams. For the last cornerback spot, I’m going with undrafted free agent A.J. Green. He was a shock to fall out of the draft, and the Browns invested a surprising amount of money into the undrafted free agent through guarantees.
The Browns roster is incredibly young already, and the team will look to stay young and hungry in their cornerback room. Talents like A.J. Green aren’t found in undrafted free agency often, so they’re going to hold on to that one.
I’m picking the Browns to keep six cornerbacks in 2020, those being Denzel Ward, Greedy Williams, Kevin Johnson, Terrance Mitchell, Tavierre Thomas, and A.J. Green.