The glue of Cleveland Browns O-Line is a guy named Blake Hance

Cleveland Browns OL Blake Hance has had the difficult task of stepping in for Pro Bowl right tackle Jack Conklin, after subbing for left tackle Jedrick Wills earlier this season.

The “glue guy” for the Cleveland Browns offensive line, or the player who is holding the line together, is a guy named Blake. Hance, that is.

Hance burst onto the national scene during the playoff game versus Pittsburgh last season and was introduced to Baker Mayfield right before the game. Hance came into the game after an injury to Michael Dunn, with Jack Conklin, Jedrick Wills, Chris Hubbard, Kendall Lamm and Nick Harris all unavailable.

In the post-game interview a euphoric Mayfield was gushing about Hance’s performance but could not remember his last name, referring to him as “a guy named Blake.” A legend was born, and we in the press kind of liked the nickname and it stuck, even though it is not totally flattering.

After all, the guy does have a last name.

Perhaps we should call him “the glue named Blake,” because that is what he has become. For the past few years, Chris Hubbard has been that player. Hubbard could play all five offensive line positions.

It’s not easy to play different positions, and in particular switching from the left side to the right side is a vastly under-appreciated skill. It might be compared to switch-hitting in baseball, because all the moves are reversed. Not everyone can do it.

Hubbard was a quick learner and was able to instantly go in the game at any position and know all of his assignments. Injuries caught up with him this season, however, and he is out for the year with a triceps injury. Since his contract expires at the end of the year, it’s not clear whether Hubbard will continue to play or whether the time has come to hang up his cleats. Everyone who knows him believes he will go into coaching when his playing career comes to an end.

At least for now, Hance has taken over Hubbard’s role with the Browns, which is totally amazing for a player with so little NFL experience. However, Hance is no dummy, spending four years at Northwestern University, where he was a four-year starter who made Academic All-American.

According to the Northwestern University Wildcats website, even at Jacksonville (Illinois) High School, Hance showed signs of amazing versatility. He was a pitcher for his high school baseball team, and also starred at basketball.

In football, not only was he a star left tackle, but he also played defensive end, tight end and long snapper. Hey reader, are you thinking what I’m thinking? Sometimes when the Browns put in an extra lineman for blocking, they send in an extra guard, and Hance can become the eligible receiver.

Not only can he catch a pass as a tight end, but if they want to get really tricky, I’m betting that a former baseball pitcher can actually throw a forward pass — well, let’s not get too crazy. The Mike Vrabel pass reception play is good enough.

Hance was also in National Honor Society. Face it, he could not possibly have had time to become a juvenile delinquent, so there was no doubt he was going to grow up to be an outstanding individual. That’s the kind of player the Cleveland Browns need to be able to find.

Whoever scouted this kid should get a bonus. Hello, Andrew Berry, are you listening?

Of course, playing for Northwestern is great if you want to be known as a brain surgeon, but if you want to make a living on Sundays in the NFL, Northwestern might stigmatize you to a degree.

What happens to linemen like him is, even if they are 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds and turns in decent Combine scores, they may well go undrafted, then get signed by the 2019 Buffalo Bills (who were not nearly as strong as the team they are today), and get cut two weeks later; then get signed by the Washington team, and get cut at the end of summer camp; then sign on with the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad and get cut the next season, then sign with the New York Jets practice squad.

The Browns, bless their little hearts, poached him from the Jets practice squad on January 2, 2021, in time for the playoffs versus Pittsburgh. That playoff game was Hance’s first NFL game. Joel Bitonio was on the Covid list, and Dunn got injured, so Hance went in at left guard. Both Dunn and Hance had very good games. It’s hard to say who was the biggest hero: Dunn, Hance, the Browns scouting department or offensive line coach Bill Callahan?

The next week, versus Kansas City, the Browns definitely should have won that game. Let’s not go into detail and bring up too many unhappy memories, other than to point out that Hance played left tackle when Jed Wills went out and Lamm got hurt.

Hance was less successful in this gig than against Pittsburgh, but he plugged the hole there. The next step would have been to play a tight end at tackle. Either that, or some of the staff at Dawg Pound Daily played offensive line in college. Perhaps we could have allowed them to take temporary leave?

But what about the future for the guy named Blake? This week the Browns locked up Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller to well-deserved multiyear contracts. There is no future for Hance at the guard positions. Jed Wills cannot be dislodged from left tackle for the next four years.

Hance could potentially be groomed as a replacement for Jack Conklin in 2023 or J.C. Tretter, whose contract is running out at the end of this season.

Of course, the Browns also have Nick Harris, who was drafted to play center. The Browns seem to like him if he can stay healthy. Michael Dunn has taken snaps at center in the pre-season and like Hance has played both guard and tackle.