After the NFL Draft, the last thing that many fans want to inundate themselves with is rookie content that has nothing to do with their play in training camp or preseason games. It's time to prove why they were selected by going up against fellow rookies in mini camp, then full blown training camp.
While you may be tired of thinking of Cleveland Browns rookies Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel, though, you may be a little more interested in hearing about the UDFA's the team signed to deals after the draft was wrapped up - specifically, the one UDFA that could actually compete for a spot on the roster.
Safety Donovan McMillon out of Pitt was signed by the Browns once the draft was done, adding another defensive back to a room that seems to have some mystery to it. Grant Delpit remains the teams' best safety, while Ronnie Hickman will likely get a shot to compete again to start in their secondary at safety in 2025.
But, the addition of McMillon to that competition makes Hickman's status as a starter more up in the air than fans could've anticipated after a draft which saw the team take no safeties at all. That's how good McMillon was with Pitt.
Signing of safety puts Hickman's job at risk
McMillon has major potential to be a diamond in the rough from this year's pool of UDFA's. According to RAS, which measures players' size, speed, strength, and overall combine performance against a historical pool of other players at their position, McMillon ranked 100th out of a whopping 1,236 safeties graded since 1987.
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He racked up 55 solo tackles, 60 assisted tackles, and eight passes defended in his final year with Pitt. In highlight reels of McMillon's defense from this past season, you can see why he could be a sleeper signing for Cleveland - he's got some lightning quick hands, a great read on passes, and has the ability to break things up in the middle of the field.
Cleveland was definitely missing some of that lockdown defensive presence last season, so this signing makes sense as either a way to add more depth to the position alongisde Delpit and Hickman or as a means of replacing some of Hickman's snaps if he seems to still be in his 2024 slump to begin 2025. Low risk and high reward - the Browns' draft strategy translated well into their UDFA signings, and especially with McMillon.