3 Most pleasant surprises at Cleveland Browns camp
By Randy Gurzi
3. Harrison Bryant bursting on the scene
There have been few players stand out as much as rookie tight end Harrison Bryant in the Browns training camp. The fourth-round pick from Florida Atlantic has been impressive in his abilities as a route runner — and with his soft hands that can double as a Rainbow Vacuum.
Bryant has made one standout play followed by another for Cleveland and that’s led to some speculation that he could surpass David Njoku as the second tight end opposite Austin Hooper. That theory has even been suggested recently by Anthony Lima of 92.3 The Fan.
Sounding like Njoku is third TE on the depth chart.
— Anthony Lima (@SportsBoyTony) September 3, 2020
And you wonder why he wanted out.
Njoku, a first-round pick in 2017, hasn’t had as solid of an offseason. He was apparently frustrated by the team’s addition of both Hooper and Bryant in the offseason and requested a trade — after firing his agent and signing with Drew Rosenhaus.
A meeting with head coach Kevin Stefanski was held and the tight end was assured there would be a plan for him in 2020. Njoku was happy enough with that conversation to rescind his trade request and claim he was all-in.
From there, he had an up and down camp but has improved near the end. Njoku was especially impressive in the live scrimmage but the work by Bryant might have been enough to steal some of his snaps. Either way, the Browns are loaded at tight end thanks to the emergence of Bryant.