Final Cleveland Browns 53-man roster sees fan favorite released
• Browns WR depth is legit this year
• The cutdown at CB will be tough
By Randy Gurzi
A loss to the Kansas City Chiefs closed out the preseason for the Cleveland Browns. Now, they get to work trying to figure out what to do as they trim their roster from 90 players down to 53.
There's a lot of talent, which means there will be some tough decisions to make. Here, we do our best to predict how the roster will look when all is said and done.
Quarterback (3):
Deshaun Watson
Dorian Thompson-Robinson
Kellen Mond
The Browns have typically carried three quarterbacks into the regular season and it seemed as though it was easy to see who that would be this year. That was until they surprisingly decided to trade Josh Dobbs to the Cardinals, making Dorian Thompson-Robinson the No. 2 quarterback as a rookie.
He's been sensational in the preseason and also runs an offense very similar to Deshaun Watson. We saw in 2022 how hard it can be to shift philosophies when a new quarterback takes over — as Watson was quite different than Jacoby Brissett.
Last on the depth chart is Kellen Mond. He was never a lock to make the team and the Browns nearly cut him before moving on from Dobbs.
Still, he's an underrated player who was taken in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Cleveland could do a lot worse than Mond when it comes to an emergency quarterback.
Running Back (3):
Nick Chubb
Jerome Ford
Demetric Felton
At running back, the Browns will only go with three players — unless they believe Jerome Ford's hamstring injury will linger into the regular season.
Right now, they have Nick Chubb as their primary back and he continues to be one of the best in the business. The goal in 2023 is to run fewer times in order to keep him fresh but he will still have well over 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns provided he stays healthy.
Ford is going to be their RB2 once healthy. Behind him will be Demetric Felton, who has done enough in the preseason to earn the team's trust. He also has the ability to return kicks, which will be needed with Jakeem Grant out.