Cleveland Browns: Hinckley buzzards spotted in Berea circling J.C. Tretter’s knee

 Buzzards were spotted circling the Cleveland Browns complex in Berea

Cleveland Browns center J.C. Tretter is expected to recover from arthroscopic knee surgery in time to face the Baltimore Ravens, as reported by Mary Kay Cabot in Cleveland.com. Hence the buzzards will have to fly back to Hinckley disappointed, as the big guy is not quite ready to become their lunch yet, despite some of the pessimistic rumors from the first day of training camp.

There’s no such thing as minor knee surgery, unless it is performed on someone from another team. Every operation is different, and your humble correspond is far from an expert in medical matters. Nevertheless, based on past experience in other cases, recovery time from other arthroscopic knee surgeries has sometimes been very short.

Tretter has four weeks to recover for the Ravens in September, so he has a chance to be ready to go for the opener.  However, if for some reason it doesn’t happen, there’s no reason to criticize a player who has shown Cleveland fans what he is made of already.

In the meantime, this presents the Browns brain trust with a decision to make as well as an opportunity to get some snaps with the first-string unit for some of their younger players. The Browns have more than one good center on the team, and in fact, if you look at the talent on the offensive line this year, it is actually a little mind-blowing.

They drafted Nick Harris to be the center of the future but can head coach Kevin Stefanski, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, and offensive line coach Bill Callahan get him ready in time to beat the Ravens? Harris was drafted out of the University of Washington in the fifth round and is known as a hard worker and a guy with speed and quickness for an offensive lineman who is a good match to the wide zone-blocking scheme that the Browns want to run in 2020.

Interestingly, there is another Dawg Pound, the UW Dawg Pound, and a writer nicknamed Coach_B_808 had this to say after watching Harris play his entire career:

"“Harris was a technician, bringing quick feet, sound technique, and a high football IQ to the center position. His athleticism and footwork earned him recognition as an excellent zone-blocking center (the key OL position in an outside zone scheme) and as a good pass protector, but he was limited by his size and strength. The center position is typically overlooked when assessing rosters, but his steady hand and elite skill set will be missed.”"

If Harris isn’t ready to go in time for the opener, Willie Wright is a guy who intrigued last season’s Browns coaching staff with his potential as a center after playing tackle in Tulsa. The Browns just didn’t see him as a tackle at the professional level.

Pete Smith of Sports Illustrated was very high on Wright’s potential as an undrafted free agent last season, feeling that the position switch might help him quite a bit. Or rather, he might help a pro team quite a bit more at center than at his college position. The kid has an entire season under his belt as a center now, so perhaps it may be time to see how this project has turned out.

Cleveland also has Evan Brown, who has NFL experience with the Giants and Dolphins and graded out rather well with Pro Football Focus, but in just 38 NFL game snaps. Brown went undrafted from Southern Methodist University in 2018, but he put up some mind-blowing numbers at his Pro Day. Start with 36 reps on the bench press, which is three more than Myles Freaking Garrett.

His vertical of 36 inches is very good for a guy who weighed in at 302 pounds, and in fact, he beat Joe Schobert on both vertical and broad jump. That’s hard to believe that a center would beat a linebacker in those areas.  His 40 time of 4.97 is also very fast for a fat kid.

In short, somebody has to explain what the screw is wrong with Evan Brown for him to not make the Cleveland Browns football team because the numbers say he has ability.

Because of the abbreviated nature of summer camp this season, a veteran like Brown or Wright might have a better case than a rookie for getting the start. For Cleveland Browns teams of the recent past, Brown or Wright would be talked about as possible starters.

J. C. Tretter is very likely going to be there against the Ravens. But even if he is not, the Browns have three players that they should be able to go to war with if necessary.