Cleveland Browns: 12 best UDFAs since 1999

Cleveland Browns UDFA No. 7: Tashaun Gipson, strong safety Class of 2012

Strong safety Tashaun Gipson attended the University of Wyoming, partly to be on the same team as his brother. By now you are getting the idea that smaller schools are often a place where outstanding players, in particular safeties, wide receivers, and an occasional All-Pro quarterback (namely, Josh Allen) hide out.

The stopwatch and measuring tape usually identify the cornerbacks, monster tackles, and defensive ends early on and send them to the Power Five, but the Browns did a great job scouting Gipson and were able to sign him directly out of Wyoming as a UDFA in 2012.

Making a long story short, despite a productive college career, Gipson made the Cleveland team out of training camp as an UDFA and immediately received playing time. He played in 10 games as a rookie and started three, and then became a full-time starter in 2013.

In 2014, he had a monster year, leading the NFL in interception yards that season for coach Mike Pettine, and was selected for the Pro Bowl in 2014. He had a knee injury that kept him out of the actual game, however, injury issues May have limited his effectiveness later on in his career. He has been a very good player over the years, but in 2014 he was monstrously good.

People forget how good that 2014 team was, despite the distraction of having upper management order Pettine to start Johnny Manziel in the last two games of the season, which they lost to finish 7-9. They could have just as easily gone 9-7 with Brian Hoyer as the quarterback, but they “had to get their draft priorities set” by viewing Johnny Manziel screw up in live game action. Oh.

Gipson had another good — but not as great — season in 2015 while Manziel distracted the team into disaster, and that was it for our Pro Bowl strong safety. Does anyone blame him for taking the money and becoming a free agent? Sashi Brown was more interested in accumulating cap dollars and draft picks, anyway.

The Browns were awarded a fourth-round compensatory pick for Gipson and he was rewarded with a five-year deal worth $36 million dollars. It worked out for both sides.

Gipson went on to play with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2016-2018), Houston Texans (2019), and Chicago Bears (2020-2021).