Dunn played under Browns OL coach Bill Callahan in Washington
Casey Dunn’s audition for the Cleveland Browns on Saturday turned into a job for the center on Sunday. Just before the start of Sunday morning’s practice session, the Browns signed the free agent center to a contract.
To make room for Dunn, the team waived guard Jovahn Fair. His tenure with the Browns lasted less than a week.
Dunn is a familiar face for Browns offensive line coach Bill Callahan. He began his career in Washington in 2018 while Callahan was the interim head coach of the Football Team, playing in two games. He spent most of the 2019 season on the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad.
Two recently released Chiefs have found new teams.
A pair of players who were previously on the Kansas City Chiefs’ offseason roster have signed with new teams.
The New York Giants have added WR Cody White, while OG Jovahn Fair has signed with the Cleveland Browns. Both White and Fair were among the 18 undrafted free agents that Kansas City signed after the 2020 NFL Draft. Fair was waived by the Chiefs in late July, along with five other players in an effort to trim the roster down to 80 players, which is the new offseason limit agreed upon by the NFL and NFLPA. White was waived with a non-football injury designation along with Javaris Davis, who briefly caught on with the Dolphins but was waived with the same designation.
White was atypical compared to the receivers that the Chiefs usually have on the team. He’s long and tall but doesn’t create much separation with his speed and route-running. That made him expendable in Kansas City when the changes to the offseason roster were first announced.
Fair also wasn’t the average offensive lineman that you see in Kansas City. While he started all four years at guard at Temple, at 6-2 and 310 pounds, he’s a bit undersized for what the Chiefs usually like at the position. That too made him expendable in the offseason altered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The players are both late additions for their respective teams, so that means they’ll have be fighting an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster. It’s possible that both are in line to earn a practice squad spot for the 2020 season.
Fair is an undrafted rookie from Temple and an Akron native
The Cleveland Browns continue to try and build offensive line depth. A day after signing veteran free agent Michael Dunn, the team announced it has inked another free agent lineman to a contract.
Jovahn Fair, an undrafted rookie guard from Temple, is the newest member of the Browns offensive line. Fair joins the team after initially signing as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this offseason.
He was a four-year starter at Temple at guard. Fair is a Northeast Ohio native, a graduate of Akron Firestone High School.
In order to make room for Fair on the 80-man roster, the Browns released CB Jameson Houston.
How does Temple OG Jovahn Fair fit with the Kansas City Chiefs?
A two-way player in high school, Fair played on both the offensive and defensive lines at Firestone High in Akron, Ohio. A three-star prospect, Fair received offers from Ohio and Temple, choosing to join the Owls and play offensive line.
Fair took a redshirt year in his first season at Temple. During spring camp ahead of his redshirt freshman season, Fair entrenched himself as a starter along the offensive line at the left guard spot. He’d be a starter at left guard for four-straight seasons. He eventually earned the highest honor a player can receive at Temple, being awarded a single-digit jersey number in 2019. That signifies that he’s one of the toughest players on the team and someone who leads by example.
Fair had interest from nearly a dozen teams after the draft. The Super Bowl champions were appealing because of the winning culture and how they stayed in touch with him throughout the process. The Chiefs first took interest in him during the course of his career at Temple. That interest intensified after the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, where Fair had a standout performance against some top competition.
As a left guard, Fair has plus movement skills, he has strong hands and he’s physical at the point of attack. One thing that coaches will like about him is that he always keeps his head on a swivel and is looking for work. That type of mentality will take him far in the NFL.
You can never have enough depth along the offensive line if you’re the Kansas City Chiefs. While Fair has a ton of experience playing the left guard position, I think he might be a hair too small to play there in the NFL. He’d be a better fit at the center position in the Chiefs’ system. The team has told him that they’re interested in trying him at all three of the interior positions and they’ll just figure out which one is his best spot during the course of training camp.
