Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns last year had 12 undrafted players who dotted their roster. And several either started or were inserted into a starting role after a starter became injured, such as Mohamoud Diabate and Ronnie Hickman. After two preseason games for the Browns this season, two more undrafted rookies are balling out. Could they both make the final 53-man roster?
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The two are LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold out of USC and S Donovan McMillan from Pitt. Both players compete at a position of need and are showing they belong on an NFL field.
The safety position was a solid group going into 2024. But Grant Delpit became injured with a concussion against the Denver Broncos, coach-on-the-field Rodney McLeod retired, Juan Thornhill was singled out for lackluster effort, and D’Anthony Bell signed with the Seattle Seahawks during the free agency period.
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That is four safeties gone from Cleveland’s roster in a single swing. Two seasoned veterans were signed late in free agency, with Damontae Kazee and Rayshawn Jenkins, to fill some of the void. Both are having a decent camp so far, as their experience is showing.
McMillon (6’-2”, 203 pounds) had a fifth-round draft grade on him, but after Day 3, he remained without a team. Cleveland GM Andrew Berry reached out and signed McMillon to a deal, harping that the Browns are in need of good depth at the safety position, and that the young man would have every opportunity to compete not only for a roster spot but could eventually get meaningful defensive reps.
Coming out of high school as a four-star prospect, McMillon had 49 college offers or inquiries from all the major programs, such as Michigan, Notre Dame, Miami, Oklahoma, LSU, Georgia, and Penn State, to name a few. At Florida, he contributed in 25 games, entered the portal, and began the next portion of his college career down the street from his hometown with Pitt.
In his first season, he played in all 12 games with 105 total tackles, one forced fumble, one batted pass, and one tackle for loss. He improved in his senior year. He totaled 13 games with 115 tackles with one tackle for loss, one forced fumble, eight batted passes, and a single interception. That’s 220 total tackles in his final two seasons.
Since coming to the Browns, in training camp, he has shown he is a downhill defender who is both physical and aggressive, and a player who can deliver the big hit. McMillon is a sure tackler. In coverage, he shows good instincts when sitting back in zone, with click-and-close ability and good ball tracking.
And so far, he has shown consistency. Against the Carolina Panthers in the first preseason game, McMillon had three tackles with one batted pass in just 27 snaps. In the Philadelphia Eagles contest, his stats improved with five total tackles, which was the second most on the defense. Four of these were solo tackles, which means...
