News and notes from Browns rookie minicamp

Each of the three days, the Browns began with morning meetings and then strolled out to the practice field for a walkthrough before the session evolved into the live practice.

Although every player gets a look and is involved, the rookie minicamp is essentially about the recent draft class. Despite not being signed, WR KC Concepcion and S Emmanual McNeil-Warren still showed up and participated.

The entire minicamp is supposed to become an orientation for what’s to come in training camp. These new guys are introduced to what an NFL team does, and bring a new level to the game of football.

The rookies who have already inked their deals will begin offseason conditioning beginning next week and then on May 19, be involved in the first organized team activity practice.

In 11-on-11 drills, OT Spencer Fano was lined up at left tackle while third-rounder Austin Barber was installed at right tackle. Parker Brailsford took the center snaps. Both Concepcion and Denzel Boston were lined up as outside receivers with Taylen Green and tryout player Bryson Barnes (Utah State) at the quarterback position. The majority of the slot receiver reps were either Aaron Anderson (5’-8”, 198 pounds) or Jaelon Reagor (5’-10”, 203 pounds). Both are tryout guys.

Both Joe Royer and Carsen Ryan saw significant snaps at tight end, along with tryout player Jyrin Johnson from Bowling Green.

During training camp, Cleveland will have four quarterbacks and will need a bunch of receivers. At least 15 to service all four signal-callers. Along with the two drafted receivers, the team signed one undrafted rookie free agent in Kole Wilson (5’-7”, 177 pounds) out of Baylor and three tryout receivers. Tylan Wallace was signed in free agency, and despite being viewed more as a return guy, will go into the receiver room until camp breaks. There are eight more receivers currently under contract.

Analysis

Green was drafted as an excellent runner, a head-turning athlete with poor accuracy. But in minicamp, he was hitting small windows in the 11-on-11s. He also showed some high-level processing and the ability to go through with more than one progression. Yes, he ran quite a bit and showcased those skills, especially on a good run on a keeper. He did have some issues with check-downs and will need to tighten the speed of his release.

Concepcion and Boston are different style receivers, but they look really good. They will instantly improve the Browns’ passing game. Another receiver who showed out was the tryout guy, Anderson. He has clean routes with elite footwork.

Fano, Brailsford, and Barber all showed promise, but they also got some indoctrination of the speed of the game at this level. Their true test will come once the veterans show up, who all have another gear.

RB Davon Booth, an undrafted rookie free agent, showed good moves and caught several short passes out of the backfield. He caught a really nice ball from Green running full speed down the sideline. The Browns brought back Ahmani Marshall, and he played quite a bit, showing the ability to find gaps. He seems to be able to process this new offense better than most that were inserted.

S McNeil-Warren and drafted LB Justin Jefferson should provide good depth in their first year, with plenty of defensive snaps once live games begin. For now, they were active in all drills and showed good athletic ability. Both seem to want to be pushed. McNeil-Warren is a beast. Another safety that looked good and had a couple of batted balls was Zion Washington (6’-1”, 208 pounds) from Boise State.

Keep in mind, it’s just May. Nobody is hitting each other, and it’s going to be an eye-opener for players such as these newly drafted offensive linemen who haven’t tried to block Myles Garrett yet.

The weekend rookie minicamp was to give these younger players an introduction to not only the league, but to the Browns’ way of doing things.

The 2026 NFL schedule release is set for May 14. The formal offseason program wraps up with a mandatory minicamp from June 9 through 11.