Roster Musings: #PickettPropaganda Worked and Zero-RB IRL
The roster cutdown is upon us, all hail roster cutdown day. Much bellyaching and bemoaning will and already has transpired based off the initial 53-man roster and this will likely add to it. But we need to remember this: while the 53-man roster is a living document that moves and shakes as the year goes on, we have this moment in time to take a look at who Cleveland is breaking camp with and what it all means. So let’s dive in:
#PickettPropaganda
The Kenny Pickett “era” in Cleveland has come to a close and it was all worked masterfully by the front office. I coined the phrase “#PickettPropaganda” in our Discord a couple weeks ago and it stuck as we went through training camp. What it basically boils down to is a PR campaign that took place under our very noses. Pickett was acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles as a more sturdy plan of action going into 2025. Did he ever really have a chance to make the team or even be the Week 1 starter? Probably. Was it more likely that he was acquired to be a solid footing if the rookie(s) quarterbacks they took in the draft fell apart? Yes. But because of the solid work by the team and vocal Twitter/X user Adam Schefter, they campaigned well enough to make Pickett sought after when an injury cropped up.
Reports out of OTAs and practices were good, that he took to the offense well and that, between him and rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel, the coaching staff ran much of the install through them. But when a hamstring injury cropped up early in camp, Pickett was put on ice, literally and figuratively. The length with which it took Pickett to come back from the injury was concerning one of two ways: either his muscle was severely damaged or the team didn’t want him out there, possibly hurting his trade stock and limiting the return. Regardless, the injury gave Gabriel and fellow rookie QB Shedeur Sanders the opportunity to step up in practices and start some preseason games. He eventually was dealt to the Las Vegas Raiders ((Still weird to say Las Vegas.)) for a fifth-round pick on Monday, the same round pick given away to acquire him. I don’t know if this was the plan all along for Pickett, if they wanted to get him in the Stefanski lab and see what he could spin out, or if he really was just a “break glass in case of emergency” plan if something happened to Flacco or the rookies. But Cleveland worked it out to where they only had to give up Dorian Thompson-Robinson, a QB who hasn’t worked out for them and was cut by Philly this week, to swap a 2025 fifth for a 2026 fifth.
Zero-RB IRL
I play a lot of fantasy football. Entirely too much fantasy football. But there is a strategy called “Zero RB”, which basically spits in the face of the past where running backs were sought after early and often in draft rooms around the fantasy community. The idea is you wait and wait and then wait some more on running backs, loading up on wide receiver and tight end and even a quarterback or two before taking the middle glut of RBs, and then go nuts on mid-round fliers. The Browns are trying their hand at it in real life though, whichhhh could be an issue.
On the Browns initial 53-man roster, the only running backs on the roster were supposed starter Jerome Ford and 6th-round rookie Dylan Sampson. Most teams carry three running backs at minimum and more usually four to help with special teams and such, so you understand the consternation about only two. The elephant in the room is Quinshon Judkins, of course, the 2nd-round running back that was taken ahead of training camp darling and fellow former Buckeye TreVeyon Henderson. Judkins is unsigned at the moment despite being cleared of criminal charges in a domestic violence incident in Florida and will likely face some sort of suspension from the NFL as they do their investigation. The NFL doesn’t have to prove someone was guilty like the law does; if they think you’ve disgraced The Shield, they will hit you cough cough Deshaun Watson. Could Judkins sign over the weekend and force a change to the depth chart? Will the Browns use their No. 2 waiver claim to snap up a running back on the market, someone like Audric Estime from Denver who was coached by new Browns OC Tommy Rees when Rees was at Notre Dame? The second seems more likely, but the Judkins decision is really confusing right now. I would be very surprised if the Browns actually go into Week 1 with only two RBs suited up.
