Dawgs By Nature
One thing the Cleveland Browns have attempted to solve over the last few years is to get an exceptional kick returner on the roster. It’s not like Browns GM Andrew Berry hasn’t tried to solve this spot. He really has.
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Since Berry took over the job in 2020 of formulating the roster, he has signed JoJo Natson (2020), Jaelen Darden and Chester Rogers (2022), and James Proche (2023-2024). The coaching staff has also assigned Donovan Peoples-Jones and Demetric Felton to return punts, while Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong were picked for kickoff return. In addition, Jakeem Grant was signed but, in two seasons, never played.
Natson was signed away from the Los Angeles Rams, but only returned kicks in three games for Cleveland in 2020 after suffering a torn ACL in Week 3, which landed him on IR for the remainder of the season.
Grant was an electric returner from the Chicago Bears, and Berry snatched him up and inked him to a three-year deal for 2022 when it was clear that Natson was having health issues. Before the first game, Grant injured his Achilles tendon in a practice session and was gone for the year. In the following training camp, he ruptured his patellar tendon and was then placed on season-ending IR and lost for another season. He never played a down for the Browns.
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For 2024, Berry signed Nyheim Hines away from the Buffalo Bills, knowing full well that Hines was recovering from a jet ski accident. The result was that he, too, never played a down for Cleveland.
What is surprising is how the Browns are jinxed with their returners. The elite ones, anyway. The franchise has had great returners in the past, such as Josh Cribbs, who holds the record for most career kickoff returns for touchdowns in the NFL with eight. Bobby Mitchell was a teammate of Jim Brown and was an excellent returner.
What about Eric Metcalf and Travis Benjamin? Gerald McNeil ring a bell? Dino Hall or Flea Roberts?
Which brings us to this year’s attempt at solving the returner position. Hopefully, this one will stick: DeAndre Carter.
As a Browns fan, do we know anything about this new guy? Maybe we should.
Carter (5-8”, 190 pounds) has the size for a returner. He also has the speed, being timed at 4.4 in the 40 prior to the 2015 NFL draft. He grew up in Fremont, California, located about halfway between Oakland and San Jose. He attended Washington High School.
Living so close to Oakland and San Francisco, people in the area were either Oakland Raiders fans or followers of the San Francisco 49ers. Carter grew up the lone 49ers fan in a staunch Raiders household, as his father was a Raiders season ticket holder.
At Washington High School, he played receiver and was the kickoff and punt returner. In his senior year, he caught...
