On December 12, 2023, Cleveland Browns OT Jedrick Wills had arthroscopic knee surgery. This was as a result of an MCL injury that the Browns left tackle sustained in Cleveland’s win over the Arizona Cardinals five weeks earlier. Arthroscopic knee surgery and MCL injuries generally heal in a few weeks to a couple of months. This is why Cleveland announced that Wills would be available to start the 2024 season.
But that didn’t happen. Now, the Browns are in trouble, and no help is on the horizon.
The Cleveland Browns Don’t Have a Left Tackle on their Roster
Jed Wills was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2020 with the expectation of being the team’s long-term replacement for Hall of Fame OT Joe Thomas. Though Wills looked like a mauler at Alabama, he had two big knocks. First, he was primarily a right tackle in college and, as such, was seen as a better run blocker than a pass protector. Second was a knock on his effort. Wills’ effort sometimes diminished, especially when things seemed to go badly.
However, Wills looked like a solid choice in his rookie year. He graded out with the top tackles in the league and looked to have room to improve. Instead, he got worse with each passing year. 2023 was the worst year of his career. He looked slow and unmotivated from the get-go, and the journeymen tackles that replaced him after his injury barely rated an ounce of dropoff.
General Manager Andrew Berry clearly expected Wills to return to the starting lineup. Especially because it at one point expected him back in December 2023. As such, the Cleveland Browns didn’t use a draft pick on an offensive tackle. They did sign two new journeymen backup, but neither had extensive experience on the blindside. Wills, however, did not meet expectations and remains out nearly ten months after an injury which usually takes half the time to return from.
It’s time for the Cleveland Browns to move on from Wills.
Who Can Replace Wills
The problem with ditching Wills is the Cleveland Browns don’t have another left tackle on the roster. Though, to be fair, Cleveland doesn’t have a left tackle on the roster when including Wills, either.
The name mentioned most so far has been Jack Conklin. Problem is, Conklin’s been rehabbing a knee injury of his own, one that was much more significant than Wills’. In Cleveland’s first game of 2023, Conklin tore his ACL, MCL, PCL, and meniscus after a bad collision with Cincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson. Yet, despite the extent of his injury and being five years older, Conklin is closer to returning to the field than Wills.
However, like Wills, Conklin is a natural right tackle. The former Spatain has played most of his career on that side and hasn’t played on the left since college. Given that it’s been nearly two years since Conklin finished a game and he missed the team’s whole offseason program, it doesn’t seem like the best time for a position switch. Especially one that generally requires more athleticism.
The Rookie Sensation
The Cleveland Browns have another starting-caliber tackle on their roster: Dawand Jones. Jones was taken in the fourth round in 2023 as a prospect from Ohio State. Even for an offensive lineman, his six-foot-eight-inch, 374-pound frame is considered massive. He was expected to need some time to refine his athleticism and pass-blocking skills, and Cleveland expected to keep him on the bench for a year or two.
Conklin’s injury derailed those plans. Pressed into service as Cleveland’s right tackle just minutes into the 2023 season, Jones rose to the occasion. He was named to the PFWA’s All-Rookie team for his efforts, even though he, too, was lost to a knee injury before the season ended. He was placed on injured reserve the same week Wills had his knee surgery.
Though healthy, Jones still looks better on the right side than on the left. The former Buckeye doesn’t have the elite feet and range of motion needed to protect his quarterback’s blindside from the top NFL pass rushers.
The Two-Time All-Pro
The Cleveland Browns have a two-time first-team All-Pro on their roster with experience at left tackle. The catch? That player is Joel Bitonio, and his many accolades have come at left guard, not tackle. Bitonio has filled in on the blindside before. Wills had multiple other Browns had COVID in 2021, forcing Bitonio to shift to the outside. Bitonio graded out just as well on the outside as he did on the inside, notching a 91.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in his first game and a still-excellent 82.6 in his second.
Though this is a small sample size, it’s clear that Bitonio is the best – and only – left tackle on the Cleveland Browns roster right now. Even though that creates a Bitonio-sized hole at left guard, Cleveland is better equipped to fill that one. They re-acquired versatile interior offensive lineman Nick Harris toward the end of training camp. They also used their third-round pick on Michigan’s Zak Zinter. A 2023 unanimous All-American, Zinter would’ve been drafted higher if not for a broken leg.
The move would stabilize the line for now and allow Conklin to work his way back into the lineup slowly, even taking reps on both the left and right sides. Veteran backup guard Michael Dunn is expected back in two weeks from the reserve/non-football illness as well.
Cleveland considers itself a Super Bowl contender. If they truly expect to get there, they need to fix things up front and fast.
Main Image: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
