Four former Ohio State Buckeyes gear up for critical week as Cleveland Browns rookies

BEREA — They started their journey together not in Cleveland, but Columbus. However, fate brought four former Ohio State Buckeyes a couple of hours north on I-71 to start their quest to reach the NFL together with the Browns.

Offensive linemen Dawand Jones and Luke Wypler arrived to the Browns as third-day draft picks, while safeties Ronnie Hickman and Tanner McCalister arrived as undrafted free agents. All of them, however, arrived in Berea with the same pro aspirations.

"I think me and Dawand, like the minute I got picked, we texted each other," Wypler, the sixth-round center, said at rookie minicamp in May. "We're like, 'All right, now we're in it even longer together,' and it's just exciting. Rocket (Hickman) and Tanner McCalister, too, just having them there, there's not a lot of unfamiliar faces coming in day one, so it was pretty cool.”

Three-and-a-half months since that first day of rookie minicamp, the four former Buckeyes find themselves in the midst of a critical week for their immediate NFL futures. The Browns will have their final three training camp days the next three days, followed by a trip to Kansas City for Saturday's preseason finale against the Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

After that, the waiting begins. The Browns have until next 4 p.m. next Tuesday to cut their roster down from the current camp-maximum of 90 to the initial 53-man roster.

The four former Buckeyes all find themselves in various positions across the spectrum of virtual locks to a potential cutdown casualty. Each, though, has also had his moments during the preseason.

Let's take a look at the four players, how their preseason has gone and what their chances are to make the initial 53.

Dawand Jones, offensive tackle

This is the easiest call of them all. The fourth-round pick (No. 111th overall) has drawn massive attention, and not just because of his massive 6-foot-8, 374-pound frame.

If you want to see proof of concept when it comes to a player's maturation and growth from rookie minicamp to the final week of training camp, Jones is exhibit A. His first rookie minicamp practice was, well, not so good, with the big tackle barely being able to finish the practice and spending ample time with the trainers.

It seemed like Jones was going to do one of two things for offensive line coach Bill Callahan. Either it was going to be the one to send him into retirement, or it was going to go down as one of his best jobs in terms of getting a player to buy into everything.

"He's progressed," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Sunday. "I mean, obviously, he's like a lot of our players. He's making mistakes. He's also doing a nice job. He's just got to continue on an upward trajectory, knowing that all of our rookies are works in progress."

Jones has bought in, to the point where he's No. 2 behind James Hudson III in terms of backup tackle pecking order. He's also been a phenomenal performer in his three preseason game appearances, being credited by Pro Football Focus with just two quarterback hurries and two pressures allowed over 111 passing snaps.

In the Browns' last game, against the Philadelphia Eagles, Jones earned his highest overall (76.3 out of 100) and run-blocking (72.6) grades from PFF of the preseason. He also had his third consecutive plus-78 grade in pass blocking at 78.2.

"I feel like I'm really settling in," Jones said after the game in Philadelphia. "… Today, I feel like I had to feel it out like normal, always, and then after that I feel like I picked up. Honestly, just practice this week, going against the (Eagles') vets. We had a guy (Jack Conklin) go down and I took a couple ones reps and two reps, so it really helped a lot, honestly."

Luke Wypler, interior offensive lineman

Wypler's challenge coming into training camp was positional. The sixth-round pick (No. 192) just had no place to go as strictly a player who had played center in college.

The Browns had veteran Ethan Pocic, who they re-signed on the first day of free agency, as well as 2020 draft pick Nick Harris coming back off a knee injury that actually cost him the starting center job. So that left Wypler potentially without a true landing spot if he didn't develop some versatility.

That's starting to come around for the 6-foot-3, 300-pound Wypler over the last couple of weeks. He's spent the last two preseason games playing a combined 23 snaps at left guard, actually seeing his number of snaps at the spot go up from nine against Washington on Aug. 11 to 14 against the Eagles.

"He's been very open to it," Stefanski said Sunday. "Like you mentioned, it's not something he's done before. So, all of it's a learning experience. There's a learning curve to all of that. Obviously, when you're moving a guy to a position that's new to what he's done — and I know it sounds easy to slide over 18 inches — but it's not simple. And I think he's done a nice job with it, and will continue to grow there."

Wypler's primary position remains center, where he's played 133 offensive snap at over three preseason games. However, with Pocic and Harris in front of him, his only pathway to staying on the active roster is by developing that positional versatility.

There are two guards with NFL experience who could block Wypler from grabbing that spot: Wes Martin and Colby Gossett. However, if he doesn't make it through cutdown day, but does make it through waivers, it's obvious the Browns see him as at worst a potential practice squad candidate to continue to develop.

Ronnie Hickman, safety

Austin Watkins Jr. has been the Browns' breakout training camp star at receiver. If there's someone who may be pushing him, though, it's Hickman.

The undrafted free agent was a player who many speculated, before the Browns signed veteran safety Rodney McLeod, could find his way onto the roster depending on how things shook out. Even with McLeod giving them three locks at the safety spot alongside Grant Delpit and Juan Thornhill, Hickman's making a very strong case to be the fourth safety in a battle with D'Anthony Bell.

It starts with Hickman's play-making ability. In the last two preseason games, he came up with three very athletic plays to get interceptions, all of which occurred on the Browns' side of the field.

"Yeah, because one thing I learned is just trying to maximize any opportunity to get on the field," Hickman said after his two-interception game against the Commanders. "So anytime I’m on that field I try to make the most of it."

Hickman almost literally knocked himself out of the running in the Philadelphia. Shortly after his third interception of the preseason, he went into the tent to be evaluated for a concussion. He cleared that test, allowing him to be on the practice field Sunday.

That concussion scare has been about the only thing to slow down Hickman so far. He's played 80 defensive snaps in three games, and has moved around the formation: 44 at free safety, 18 in the slot, 16 in the box and one each on the line of scrimmage and another as safety/corner position.

"We're playing them everywhere," safeties coach Ephraim Banda said Sunday. "Strong and free is not really a strong and free. ... The biggest thing he's done is he's done exactly what's asked from me and (defensive coordinator Jim) Schwartz in terms of the technique, and he's come away with the ball, which is nice."

Tanner McCalister, safety

This one is, unfortunately, likely to come down to a number's game. McCalister is running sixth among the safeties behind Thornhill, Delpit, McLeod, Hickman and Bell.

The question is more about whether the Browns will keep four or five safeties. If it's four, that would leave McCalister as the odd man out as Hickman and Bell are the prime contenders, although there's certainly a path back on the practice squad.

"That's out of my ballpark," Banda said. "My job is to just get them to play as good as possible to compete. And at the end of the day, make it hard on personnel. … So it's a good problem to have, and we're looking forward to see what this week brings and to help (general manager Andrew Berry) and his staff make the best decision possible."

McCalister did not play in the Washington game due to injury. However, he's coming off arguably the best of his two preseason appearances.

Against the Eagles, McAlister had five solo and six combined tackles, both of which were second on the team. He also dropped Eagles quarterback Marcus Mariota for a sack, had a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and a pass defensed.

"What's great to see is T-Mac answering the bell," Banda said. "People forget about how well T-Mac played last week. I mean, he had seven tackles, he had a PBU, he had a sack, coming off an injury with no practice. … I know their coaches at Ohio State, they were coached well coming in. They're eager, they're super urgent. They're tough. They're exactly what you want in a free agent."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Four Ohio State Buckeyes face critical week as Browns rookies