Cleveland Browns: 5 Players who increased their stock in Preseason Week 1 victory

4. OL Drew Forbes

It was a bit surprising to see Forbes listed as the third-string left guard on the team’s initial depth chart, but Forbes did run with the third team on Saturday. Granted, he was playing against the end of the Jacksonville roster, but Forbes was perhaps the Browns best offensive lineman that night.

Forbes hasn’t played in a game since the 2019 preseason, when he was a rookie and the game was clearly moving too fast. Even then, his elite physical traits were evident, and after spending his rookie year on injured reserve, he was expected to compete for the starting right guard spot in 2020, but opted out of the season.

He was knocking off some rust against the Jags, and his run blocking was inconsistent, but he held up very well in pass protection.

The task will be tougher next week against the New York Giants, but Forbes should be up to the challenge. It would be nice to see him get reps with the second unit, playing in between James Hudson and either Nick Harris or Michael Dunn, in order to see how he fares against slightly better competition.

Forbes is fighting for a job, and he did well in his first shot. He’ll look to keep it going over the next two games and prove he can be reliable depth for this team.