Browns flashback: Storylines from 1 year ago reveal a very different team
With the calendar turning to September and the Browns idle yesterday, I decided to take a look back at where we were with the team one year ago. My how the times have changed!
There were the top five most-read stories on Browns Wire one year ago today, on Sept. 1st, 2019:
Browns release starting left tackle Greg Robinson
This was one of those, “huh?” moments. Yes, the Browns did indeed cut their starting left tackle after the final roster cutdowns. It was a designed maneuver to allow rookie Drew Forbes to sneak through to I.R. rather than expose him to waivers. Robinson quickly re-signed with the team. Now Forbes is on the opt-out list and Robinson is facing up to 20 years in prison.
Taywan Taylor: What the Browns are getting in their new WR
Oh the excitement there was over acquiring Taywan Taylor! Here was a recent third-round pick set free by a numbers game in Tennessee. John Dorsey (remember him?) pounced on Taylor, picked up via trade for just a 7th-round pick. Another Dorsey masterstroke!
Welp. Taylor, who caught 37 passes in 2018 for the Titans, did not catch a single pass in his first year in Cleveland. He seems unlikely to get a second season to redeem himself.
Cleveland Browns roster cuts: Here’s who has been released
Roster cutdown day was Aug. 31st, so the first day of September was full of getting caught up on who was still in the brown and orange and who got sent packing.
In looking at this list, a few of the players here came back in one form or another: Stephen Carlson, Willie Harvey, J.T. Hassell, Robert Jackson, Donnie Lewis. All remain with the Browns today. Only punter Britton Colquitt went on to do anything notable anywhere else, and the Browns were right to take the risk and go with rookie Jamie Gillan over the reliable veteran.
Eric Kush named Browns starting RG “as we speak” by Freddie Kitchens
Insert GIF of Nancy Kerrigan screaming a tearful “why!?” here. The only upshot is the mention of newcomer Wyatt Teller getting a chance to usurp Kush, now struggling to make the Raiders as their final reserve OL. Teller is the starting right guard for 2020 — as we speak, anyway…
2020 NFL Draft Prospect preview: Oklahoma Sooners
Remember college football? Yeah, me too. Sigh. Props to Josh Keatley for trumpeting CeeDee Lamb, recently rated the best WR in Dallas Cowboys camp, as an attractive target for the Browns.
