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<\/p>\nBEREA, Ohio \u2014 All eyes have rightfully been on the Browns\u2019 quarterback battle through the offseason program, and the same remained true on Thursday, the final day of mandatory minicamp.<\/p>\n
But with the NFL\u2019s summer break quickly approaching, there was a different position group I aimed to watch in this final practice: The defensive line.<\/p>\n
While QB and the offense have a lot of question marks, the line is the \u201cengine\u201d of the defense, as coordinator Jim Schwartz likes to say. <\/p>\n
And while Myles Garrett is the star, the Browns leave the offseason program with questions at about every other spot. <\/p>\n
The other starting edge rusher job should be an open competition between Alex Wright, Isaiah McGuire, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Ogbo Okoronkwo. On the interior, No. 5 overall pick Mason Graham has been getting first-team reps, but Mike Hall Jr. is still recovering from knee surgery and hasn\u2019t been available. Will both be up to speed to start by the time the season begins? <\/p>\n
But while there are questions, at least early on, it also looks like there\u2019s depth.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s what it was like spending the last day of the offseason program with the D-line.<\/p>\n
Early individual work and Mason Graham<\/p>\n
After a brief early special teams period, it was time for some early individual work.<\/p>\n
Their first drill featured to linemen running at position coach Jacques Cesaire, with Cesaire pointing what direction they should go and the players having to make a quick decision and turn.<\/p>\n
Graham was up first, in drill that showed off his speed. <\/p>\n
Cesaire said on Thursday that he\u2019s continued to be impressed by Graham, a player he was well aware of two seasons ago during Michigan\u2019s national title run. <\/p>\n
“I remember telling our guys, there\u2019s a kid at Michigan right now that that guy can move and he has a lot of rush moves and he has strong hands and we got to take a look at him,” Cesaire said. \u201cAnd our guys were already on it. They\u2019re like, yeah, we know. And as you start watching tape, watching tape, watching tape, you just start really liking a guy more and more and more and more and just start fitting the pieces together.\u201d <\/p>\n
Throughout rookie minicamp, mandatory minicamp and the voluntary portion of the offseason program, the Browns haven\u2019t been shy throwing Graham in early for team reps. There\u2019s been some growing pains as he goes from a read to an attack scheme, but the tools are there. <\/p>\n
In drills with Cesaire, he\u2019s looked incredibly coachable, taking on-field advice during bag, agility and sled drills, and implementing it in real time.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also shown no quit \u2014 and yes, that also includes the second day of rookie minicamp when he vomited after a drill. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing I love about Mason, right, I think everybody heard he ate a little bit too much and he threw up that first day,\u201d Cesaire said. \u201cBut what a lot of people are not talking about is that the kid finished, OK. He went back out there, puke and all, and finished the rep. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut here\u2019s a kid that every day he got better. Every day he came out here, he\u2019s running to the ball as fast as he could. You see his rush game developing, you see him launching with hands. It\u2019s going to be hard obviously coming from a read scheme, going to an attack scheme. But he\u2019s done a really good job and he\u2019s great in the room, extremely smart individual, hardworking. So I can\u2019t wait to see him come out and play.\u201d <\/p>\n
11-on-11 as Alex Wright shines<\/p>\n
After some bag drills that mostly featured Collins and Tryon-Shoyinka, as well as backups like Sam Kamara and Cameron Thomas, the Browns went to a quick defense only period before red zone 11-on-11.<\/p>\n
The first team quarterback was Joe Flacco, and the line he went against featured Garrett (at Flacco\u2019s right), Graham, Collins, and Wright on the other side. <\/p>\n
In two plays that period, Wright broke through. While there\u2019s no pads or real hitting, it was two excellent plays of Wright showing the disruption the Browns need opposite of Garrett. <\/p>\n
Throughout these practice sessions, Wright\u2019s length has been one of the things that has jumped out. At the 2022 combine, Wright had a 82 7\/8-inch wingspan. As a rookie, he proved he could excel batting down passes at the line of scrimmage with five. <\/p>\n
This offseason, he\u2019s also worked at changing his body composition after missing most of 2024 due to a torn tricep, and seems to be off to a great start. <\/p>\n
The second string D-line group was mixed up throughout team periods.<\/p>\n
During red zone, it was (left to right, from the back of the defense) Thomas, Kamara, Briggs and Tryon-Shoyinka. <\/p>\n
During the final 11-on-11 period of the day, the second group was Tryon-Shoyinka, Kamara, Thomas on the inside, and Okonokwo. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/46<\/p>\n
Cleveland Browns veterans minicamp in Berea, June 12, 2025Myles Garrett the mentor<\/p>\n
As is typical with Garrett, the 2023 NFL defensive player of the year, he didn\u2019t take many individual reps in these practices.<\/p>\n
Truthfully, he doesn\u2019t need them. But his value isn\u2019t in the reps: It\u2019s in working with younger guys. <\/p>\n
While third-year edge rusher Isaiah McGuire started the day on the bikes, he came over during some individual drills and was working on hand placement off to the side with Garrett.<\/p>\n
This is something we\u2019ve seen Garrett do time and time again during his tenure, and especially during training camp practices, in order to help younger edge rushers. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s also just another example of his messy winter trade request being behind him and the team. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even remember that,\u201d Cesaire said. \u201cThat\u2019s the first thing. The second thing, every player is entitled to their own opinion. If that\u2019s how he felt at the time, that\u2019s how he felt. People can change their minds. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd obviously he\u2019s here now, he\u2019s happy, he\u2019s engaged with the guys. He was working his butt off yesterday, so Myles is here. He\u2019s all the way bought in. He loves what we\u2019ve done with the defensive line and I know he can\u2019t wait to get the season started.\u201d <\/p>\n