Cleveland Browns: Aggressively early look at 53-man 2021 roster

With free agency, the draft, and undrafted free agents starting to wrap up, the next big thing coming for the Cleveland Browns will be finalizing the 53-man roster before the start of the season. In years past the team has been lacking talent and there weren’t many surprises.

Now with a loaded roster and an extremely young team, there will likely be more than one surprise as general manager Andrew Berry must cut down the roster after training camp.

Although a million things can happen between now and August, let’s take an early peek at what the final roster may look like for week one.

Running Back

This one is pretty set at the top, there is zero doubt that Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt will be on the opening day roster. These two will form one of the most dynamic backfields in the NFL, and both could start for most teams in the NFL.

I have four active running backs to start the season because of the need for a fullback as well. Andy Janovich held down that position last season, and I don’t see any reason for that to change heading into 2021.

The biggest question mark will be who locks down the third running back position. The Browns picked up Tre Harbison (undrafted free agent) and Demetric Felton in the draft, but they also have D’Ernest Johnson who has proved to be effective.

While Johnson held the role the last two years, don’t be surprised to see a change in 2021. I think Felton could easily be the fourth running back active on gameday this year. His ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and even fill in at wide receiver in an emergency will likely give him the leg up.