Heavy on Browns The Browns have officially benched former first-round pick Jedrick Wills Jr.
The Cleveland Browns will continue to roll with Dawand Jones at left tackle, which is bad news for Jedrick Wills Jr. moving forward.
The former first-round pick has faced challenges this season, including injuries. Now fully healthy, the Browns have opted to start Jones at left tackle over Wills, marking the first time Wills has not started a game when available.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed that Jones will continue to start at left tackle moving forward, relegating Wills — a first-round pick in 2020 — to a backup role. Stefanski tried to downplay the decision while speaking to the media.
“No, I’m not trying to say anything about him,” Stefanski said on Monday. “I’m just trying to put Dawand out there and let him get better. Jed’s still a player that we believe in and right now he’s got to be ready to go.”
Jedrick Wills Could be Moved at Trade Deadline
Wills is in a tough spot moving forward. He’s in the fifth and final year of his rookie deal, which will pay him $14.175 million. But instead of cashing in on a big second contract, Wills may be looking for another team next season.
“It’s all part of football,” Stefanski said. “You get injured sometimes, and sometimes you go in as a backup, sometimes you’re a starter. That’s just how this game goes. He’s somebody that has played a lot of football for us. We’ve played and won with him. We have confidence in him. But in this case, he’s the swing tackle and he has to be ready to go in at a moment’s notice, and he will be.”
There’s a chance another team could be willing to take a shot on Wills at the trade deadline on November 5. The Browns may be able to recoup some value and a team in need of a tackle would get a motivated player with 57 career starts.
Browns OT Dawand Jones Draws Positive Review After Start
Jones is a massive man, at 6 feet 8 inches and 375 pounds. He was likely even heavier at the start of the year, but Jones has impressed his teammates with his focus on improving.
“I’ve seen him put in a lot of work, like extra cardio, extra conditioning, and I would say it’s just always the same amount, a hundred percent,” center Ethan Pocic said. “So it’s good to see that and I think he’s getting in more of a groove on the left side.”
Jones also got an endorsement from Browns’ elder statesman Joel Bitonio, who started next to him at guard.
“I thought he was pretty good,” Bitonio said. “He got nicked up there for a second, came out for a couple plays, but fought back and came back in. We had a couple good double teams in the run game, so there were some definitely positive signs.”
The Browns enter their bye Week at 2-7, so it’s time to start thinking about the future. If Cleveland evaluates Jones as a viable option at left tackle, the fourth-round pick — under contract through 2026 on his $4.6 million rookie deal — would be an affordable option moving forward.
J.R. DeGroote covers the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com. He graduated from Arizona State and has decades of experience in digital media with previous stops at SBNation and Bleacher Report. He has won multiple state, regional and national honors for sports reporting and photography. More about J.R. DeGroote
