The Browns are heading into training camp with a rookie class that could shape a lot more than just the back end of the roster. With rookies already in camp this past week and the official summer schedule now set, Cleveland is about to find out which first-year players can handle the heat.
What makes this group stand out is how many of them have a real path to playing time. In some cases, that means a chance to start.
In others, it means winning a role before the roster gets trimmed down to 53. Either way, the pressure is on.
One of the most intriguing names is Concepcion, who has to prove his size and speed can translate in this Browns offense. Head coach Todd Monken has already spoken highly of him and appears to have a plan for him as both a receiver and a return man. But there’s a bigger hurdle here, too: first-round wide receivers have not exactly been a reliable win for Cleveland, and Concepcion needs to change that story by becoming a real centerpiece.
The Browns also added Denzel Boston at receiver, and his game looks different from Concepcion’s. Both are expected to get regular snaps this season, but Concepcion still has to show he can be every bit as dangerous as Boston.
At center, Brailsford enters a wide-open competition. Cleveland let free agent center Ethan Pocic walk after his season ending injury, and that left the job up for grabs. The Browns then brought in Brailsford to push Luke Wypler, and he has a legitimate shot to win the job and start week one.
Brailsford’s profile fits what the Browns want. He’s known for strong pass protection and for putting defenders on their backs, which is exactly the kind of tone Cleveland likes up front.
Still, talent alone won’t be enough. He needs a strong camp to separate himself from Wypler and to make it clear the Browns do not need to move center/guard Elgton Jenkins to the middle of the line.
Tight end is another spot where the rookie picture gets interesting. Harold Fannin Jr. is the obvious first-year standout, but the real question is who claims the backup job behind him. Royer, one of two tight ends the Browns drafted this year, looks like the most promising option outside of Fannin.
The veterans in the room will make that battle real, even if neither is seen as a major threat. Royer’s path is straightforward: show he can connect with one of the quarterbacks, flash as a pass catcher, and hold his own as a blocker. If he does that, he should land the second tight end role.
Then there’s Green, the Browns’ sixth-round quarterback pick. Cleveland already took two quarterbacks in last year’s draft, and Green now joins a room where the starting battle is between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. Green’s fight is for the third quarterback spot, and that means going up against Dillon Gabriel, the Browns’ third-round pick from last year who started multiple games last season.
Green is still a raw prospect, but he brings size and speed that give him dual-threat upside. The challenge is simple: he has to show more upside than Gabriel. That’s the kind of competition that should make this one of the more interesting battles in camp.
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Browns Camp Opens With Rising Hope And Real Pressure For Familiar Names
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The pressure is just as real elsewhere on the depth chart, where Cedric Tillman, Dawand Jones and Maliek Collins are all dealing with different kinds of uncertainty. Tillman has to fight for space in a crowded receiver group, Jones is trying to hold his ground along the offensive line, and Collins opens camp on the active/PUP list while still working back from the quad issue that ended his 2025 season. The Browns have options, but camp will decide which of these names stay in the conversation and which ones start slipping behind. [Read more 🡒]
Browns May Still Have One Strength After Andrew Berrys Biggest Gamble
Even after Andrew Berrys biggest swing of the offseason, the Browns still have a case to make that their defensive front can carry real weight into 2026. Losing Myles Garrett changes the ceiling of the unit, but the line is still built around young talent and a front office that has spent heavily to keep that part of the roster from falling apart. Mason Graham and Alex Wright give Cleveland a foundation to work with, and the teams ability to keep adding to that group has become one of the few clear reasons for optimism on that side of the ball.
The concern, as always, is what happens once the top names come off the field. Cleveland does not have much margin for error in the rotation, and the Browns may need a relatively untested option to hold up as the next edge presence behind the main group. The good news for Berry is that the long view is still intact, with extra draft capital in 2027 giving the Browns a chance to patch holes if this version of the defensive line proves good but not deep enough. [Read more 🡒]