Before the team’s minicamp, the Cleveland Browns announced the signing of free agency guard Wyatt Davis. To avoid exceeding the roster limit, they waived defensive tackle Jordan Peevy.
Davis was selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. They decided to release him on cut-down day in the 2022 season. Davis most recently played for the New York Giants. Davis suffered an ankle injury in a preseason game and was placed on injured reserve. The two sides would reach an injury settlement. Davis has played 30 regular-season reps over the course of three seasons.
Davis played for Ohio State in college. He started for two seasons as right guard. He had a successful 2019 season but missed significant time in 2020 due to a knee injury. He was unable to take part in athletic testing. The Vikings were impressed enough with him to take him with the 86th overall in that draft class.
Davis’ appeal stems from his power and aggressiveness in the running game. Davis was a mauler for the Buckeyes, which matches the strategy the Browns are implementing. The Browns have Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller as starting guards, but they want to bolster the roster’s depth. They’ve re-signed Michael Dunn, who can play both guard positions and snap in a pinch. The Browns also selected Zak Zinter in the third round of the 2024 draft.
Davis, like undrafted rookie Javion Cohen, is aiming to impress the Browns enough to make the roster. Joining the squad ahead of minicamp will allow Davis to begin learning the offense. If he can impress the Browns enough to be kept in training camp, he will be able to hit the ground running when the team arrives at the Greenbrier in July.
Especially during training camp, the Browns are unlikely to run Bitonio or Teller into the ground. They should have plenty of opportunity to give players like Zinter, Cohen, and Davis reps. However, in order for Cohen or Davis to secure a roster place, they will most likely have to beat out Dunn.
Meanwhile, Peevy was part of an already crowded defensive tackle depth chart. With Dalvin Tomlinson, Shelby Harris, Quinton Jefferson, Maurice Hurst, Siaki Ika, and the two players they drafted, Mike Hall Jr. and Jowon Briggs, there would be few reps available and almost no chance of making the roster. Peevy will now have a chance to break in with a squad that has greater chances for him to make the roster.
The Cleveland Browns sign Mike Hall Jr., completing their rookie class.
Mike Hall Jr., a defensive tackle from Ohio State, has signed with the Cleveland Browns as their #1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Cleveland Browns have finished signing their 2024 draft class, including their first pick, Mike Hall Jr., a defensive tackle from Ohio State. Hall, the 54th choice in the second round, has been described as the quintessential three-technique in Jim Schwartz’s defensive scheme. Hall’s elite speed and twitch allow him to defeat blocks and get into the backfield, putting pressure on the quarterback.
The Browns’ defensive line is already proficient, thus Hall’s performance as a rookie is unnecessary for the unit to be effective. Instead, they challenge him to compete for a slot in the rotation. If he can get off to a good start, even as a situational pass rusher, he has a chance to make an early impact as an inside pass rusher.
Hall follows in the footsteps of cornerback Denzel Ward. Ward attended Nordonia High School and Ohio State before being picked by the Browns. His entire football career has covered only 150 miles. Hall was born in Garfield Heights, graduated from Streetsboro High School, attended Ohio State, and was drafted by the Browns. If Hall can attain the level of success that Ward has had in his career, it will make for an exciting story and allow the state of Ohio to demonstrate its ability to foster talent.
There is some pressure that comes with it, but Hall has always been a guy and player who excels in public. After redshirting as a freshman, Hall’s first true opportunity to display his talent came in the 2022 season opener against Notre Dame. Against one of the strongest offensive lines in college football, Hall was Ohio State’s top defensive player. Hall was consistently wrecking havoc and generating pressure throughout the game, but his greatest play came at the end. With 4:40 left in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame needed to convert on third down to keep their chances alive. Hall fired off the ball on the left side, splitting the guard and tackle before sacking Tyler Buchner, ultimately ending the game.
The Browns believe their defensive scheme is a perfect fit for Hall and will help him advance in the NFL. The Browns hope Hall, along with Myles Garrett and the rest of the defensive line, will help usher in a younger generation of defensive linemen. Hall, who was only 20 years old when drafted, is one of the league’s youngest defensive linemen, and the Browns believe they got him at a discount because he left so early.
The Browns made only six picks in the 2024 draft. They will have the usual number of picks moving into 2025, including a first-round pick. Hall is the team’s earliest selection since 2021.
NC State Football’s June Official Visit Tracker for the 2025 Class is up to date and includes a list of all expected visitors.
Raleigh, North Carolina — Prepare yourselves, June is approaching.
Sure, it’s not as dramatic as Game of Thrones — and it’s summer, not winter — but June will be a wild month for NC State in terms of recruiting. Up to 30 official visitors are set to arrive in Raleigh over the course of 17 days, with Wolfpack coaches, recruiting staff, and commits all working hard to land key prospects in the 2025 class.
More than 20 of the recruits are rated as three-star (87) or above, with some being four-star talents. While the Wolfpack is definitely seeking to bring in the top talent according to the 247Sports rankings, the coaches are also very focused on bringing in players who suit the Pack’s system and culture, regardless of the number next to their name.
Official visits will begin in just over a week on June 7 as the Wolfpack welcomes many commits and top prospects to campus. Here’s a rundown of every official visit scheduled for June. These identities and dates are susceptible to change, and we will attempt to keep them updated in this narrative over the next few weeks.
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Cleveland Browns Duce Staley, the Cleveland Browns running backs coach, discusses Nick Chubb, the new offense, and more during OTAs. Duce Staley discusses Nick Chubb, the new offense, and more at OTAs. Brad Stainbrook has the latest.
BEREA– Duce Staley, the new Cleveland Browns running backs coach, is seeing his new position group in action for the first time at OTAs in Berea before they begin mandatory minicamp next week.
After firing Stump Mitchell following the 2023 season, the team swiftly hired Staley as his replacement. Staley is in his 15th season as an NFL coach, but he previously spent ten years playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers.
The current running backs are Nick Chubb, Jerome Ford, D’Onta Foreman, Nyheim Hines, John Kelly Jr., Aidan Robbins, and Pierre Strong Jr. The team added Foreman, Hines, and Robbins this offseason.
“I see a good group,” Staley explained. “Jerome (Ford) and Pierre (Strong Jr.), of course.D Fo (D’onta Foreman) is just coming here. Those guys are working their buttocks off, and they enjoy being here. You know, they might be anywhere at this moment. At the beach, on vacation – no, they come through those doors every day to work, and that’s what we want.”
While Chubb is still recovering from his injuries and has no schedule for his return, he is still a leader in the classroom off the field.
“Yeah, it’s awesome, starts in the classroom because he is a leader,” Staley replied. “I know he’s a man of little words, but when you get in that classroom and get out on the field, he’s having fun, and that’s what we want.”
In addition to Staley, offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey joined the coaching team in 2024, and the new offense has been developed together.
“Yeah, it starts with Kevin (Stefanski),” Staley explained. “It all started with Kevin, and he got everyone interested. You know, when you look across the league over the years, you see the coordinator and the head coach, and that’s where it starts and ends. But Kevin is giving us all a taste of the coordinator side. Ken is the guy, of course, and he runs his offense, but we’re all involved in the plays. We are all participating in game planning. So I salute Kevin.”
A large part of the conjecture leading into the season is that the offense will be in a shotgun configuration this year, which will be a departure for everyone in Cleveland, particularly the running back room.
“Well, man, it’s been around for a while now,” Staley explained. “Of course, when I was playing, a lot of stuff were under center, and you couldn’t execute RPOs even if you wanted to. When the RPOs entered the game, there was a lot of shotgun. So you must be able to run your offense regardless of whether it is trap, zone, or whatever it is. You must be able to perform everything from the gun, just as you do the majority of it from beneath center. So, since shotguns have been a part of the game for a long time, we’re just going to utilize them ourselves.”
Did the Cleveland Browns Find a Key Contributor in a Former Top-Ten Pick?
BEREA, OH — The Cleveland Browns made a low-risk, high-reward decision by signing linebacker Devin Bush as an unrestricted free agent. The Steelers selected Bush as the tenth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, trading up ten spots with the Broncos to do so.
Bush finished third in defensive rookie of the year voting after recording 109 tackles, nine tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, and a sack. Bush also recovered four fumbles and made two interceptions in 15 starts as a rookie.
However, in his second season, Bush tore his ACL, and his season ended abruptly in the fifth game. Bush has yet to regain the form he showed in his debut season.
The Steelers declined to take up his fifth-year option, thus he left as a free agency following the 2022 season and signed with the Seahawks. Bush appeared in 13 games for the Seahawks, starting three of them. He concluded the season with 37 tackles, including five for loss.
The Browns signed Bush to a one-year contract worth up to $1.5 million.
Bush, 25, believes he has a lot of football ahead of him, despite the fact that an injury has delayed his progress so far.
“I think it was a growth and development thing for me,” Bush said after practice on Wednesday. “I mean, that was just the path my career was destined to go. I’ve learned a lot about myself. I worked on myself a lot, and my mindset has definitely changed. I had the opportunity to gain fresh insights by not being able to play the game at one point, and I believe it is still a work in progress, since nothing is ever set in stone, you know, until the day I retire. So, I still have a lot of football left in me. I am still 25, so we will see.”
Bush (5-11, 235) wants to make the most of his opportunity.
“I think any opportunity is opportunity, just being on this team and to be able to come out of practice, you know, I have the opportunity to play,” he stated. “So, I mean, I just go out every day and just cherish that and just go out there and just go as hard as I can and just learn as fast as I can.”
The Browns lost starters Anthony Walker and Sione Takitaki at linebacker, but added Jordan Hicks and Bush. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Tony Fields, Mohamoud Diabate, and Charlie Thomas return from last season’s squad, while Nathaniel Watson was selected in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft and Winston Reid was signed as an undrafted free agent. Caleb Johnson is also a first-year player.
Bush is thrilled with the team’s current linebacker corps.
“We got a crazy room,” he explained. “I mean, we’re still learning one other. It’s still early, but we haven’t spent much time together. But as of now, we have a lot of characters and a terrific room, with a good mix of experienced and young guys. So there will be a lot of learning and teaching in that space.
Jim Schwartz, the defensive coordinator, refers to the defensive line as the engine of the defense. With that categorization, Bush was asked what the linebackers provide to the defense.
“Man, we’re the brain, we have to communicate to everybody,” he stated. “We need to be able to talk to the front while also looking behind us and communicating with the back end. And we’re in the middle of everything, so whatever play we’re involved in, we run our pass. So basically, we’re involved in everything. Communication must be effective, and we must simply be able to observe.”
Bush is delighted to play with the Browns’ powerful defense, which is led by the defensive line, secondary, and the entire unit.
“I mean it allows us to play fast, you know, because I mean we have to keep a strong D-line in (Schwartz’s) system,” he stated. “So we’re playing behind a lot of good defensive linemen. We have a lot of solid databases. So, it essentially allows you to soar about and create plays. Honestly.”
Bush, who spent his first four seasons with the Steelers, is pleased to be back in the AFC North.
“For sure,” he said. “I believe it has always been the most competitive division. I enjoy the division because you know they run the ball and are traditional. So, you never know what you will get. You know, when you play Baltimore, the (Bengals), and the Steelers, you’re going to get the ball thrown at you a couple of times, if not more than a couple of times, compared to the other conferences. I enjoy spreading the ball around and setting up five-wide matchups and the like. So I’m thrilled to be back and to be in the AFC North.”
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