Browns uncover 3 surprise O-Line prospects early in preseason

No. 1: A Drew Forbes sighting was reported in Jacksonville

Drew Forbes, a former highly touted John Dorsey era offensive line prospect for Cleveland, was sighted in a Browns uniform, and he played. In fact, he played a lot, and he played very well.

He played 28 offensive snaps (51 percent of the offensive total) at left guard, Bitonio’s spot, and darn if he didn’t look like old Bitonio. If you believe Pro Football Focus, he had a dominant performance as a pass blocker, was fairly effective at run blocking but also committed a penalty which brought his overall grade down.

Forbes was the Browns’ sixth selection (189) in the 2019 draft following LSU corner Greedy Williams, BYU linebacker Sione Takitaki, Miami safety Sheldrick Redwine, Alabama linebacker Mack Wilson, and Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert. The first-round pick had been traded for Odell Beckham, Jr. Other than that, it was not a bad haul.

Supposedly, the Browns compiled a very extensive scouting report on Forbes, or at least that’s what they claimed on draft days.

Forbes, a Missouri native, was a three-year starter at left tackle for the Redhawks, earning first-team Ohio Valley Conference honors as a senior.

The consensus view was that Forbes needed to be a guard on the NFL level. Nevertheless, since Joe Thomas had just retired, the Browns had a wishful fantasy that Forbes might be a wonderful tackle in the NFL rather than a guard. After being disappointed by this move, they somehow concluded he should be a backup center.

Browns, this man is a guard. Please try him at guard.

He had two knee injuries that landed him on IR in 2019 and again in 2021. In between, he opted out due to Covid in 2020. We simply cannot judge a person’s reasons for opting out due to Covid; however, it did not exactly advance his football career.

The total list of injuries in his NFL career is not huge. It’s actually only two of major consequence; three, if you want to count Covid as an injury.

At any rate, here we are in 2022 and Forbes is still a Brown. He is healthy, and if he can prove that he is not prone to injury, the Browns may yet have a starting caliber guard.