The Cleveland Browns have invested heavily in their offensive line over the years. At one point, Joe Thomas, Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz anchored the line along with a variety of guards like John Greco and Eric Steinbach, just to name a few.
Over the last couple of seasons, GM Andrew Berry has invested his first first-round pick in Jedrick Wills and signed Jack Conkin to a big free-agent deal at the start of the 2020 offseason. Until being released this offseason, J.C. Tretter was the team’s highly-paid center with Nick Harris, who slipped to the fifth round, expected to take over for him.
It is the team’s two guards that really guide the way for the line. Joel Bitonio played with Thomas and now gets a chance to guide the young Wills at left tackle. Wyatt Teller was brought in by then-GM John Dorsey and quickly became a road grading monster.
Last year, Berry extended both of his guards with top-of-the-market deals. The two continue to be great players at their positions and both found themselves on ESPN’s list of top 10 interior players.
ESPN’s lists are made from a survey of “50 league executives, coaches, scouts and players.”
Looking at all of the guards and centers in the league (subscriber, $), of which there would be 96 starters, Cleveland’s pair both made the list with Bitonio at #5 and Teller at #9.
Notes on Bitonio are quite impressive:
He posted a 95.9% pass rush win rate and a 93.6 Pro Football Focus rating last year, but his career numbers are also quite impressive. Bitonio has five straight seasons with at least a 94% pass block win rate.
Said of Teller:
“I love the attitude and physicality he plays with — not a refined player,” an AFC personnel evaluator said. “Will make some mistakes while going for the big play. But you can live with that because he’s a tone-setter.”
With a great running game and a revamped passing attack, the Browns are able to rely heavily on their top-notch offensive line including two of the best guards in the game.