This Cleveland Browns Rookie Showed Big Potential In Preseason Opener

Cleveland Browns rookie wide receiver Jamari Thrash certainly showed some flashes in the team's first preseason game.

Browns wide receiver Jamari Thrash eyes a pass in a drill during minicamp, Thursday, June 13, 2024, in Berea. / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Cleveland Browns fell to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 23-10 in what was a rather boring preseason affair on Saturday.

It was largely what you would expect from a preseason game: the Browns starters didn't play, and Cleveland's offense consisted of some very vanilla play-calling.

However, there were a few players that did stand out for the Browns in the affair, and one of them was rookie wide receiver Jamari Thrash.

Cleveland selected Thrash in the fifth round of the NFL Draft back in April. It certainly wasn't going to be an easy road for Thrash, as he is behind numerous wide receivers on the Browns' depth chart. Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman are all clearly ahead of him, leaving him to battle it out with David Bell for the No. 5 receiver role.

Well, Thrash certainly came to play against the Packers, catching three passes for 43 yards. That featured a 22-yard laser from Dorian Thompson-Robinson, where Thrash was able to use his speed to get open for an easy grab.

"Coming in, first game as a rookie, you have the jitters, you're starting all over again," Thrash said, via Patrick Warren of the Browns' official team website. "So I got my first catch and I started to get my feet wet a little bit and sort of calmed down and just played my game and realize, you know, I'm playing football, and football is football."

Thrash likely projects to be a slot receiver on the NFL level, and that is something Cleveland actually needs. The speedster hauled in 63 receptions for 858 yards and six touchdowns at Louisville last season. Prior to playing for the Cardinals, Thrash spent the first four years of his collegiate career at Georgia State. His best campaign came in 2022, when he caught 61 passes for 1,122 yards and seven scores.

The 23-year-old is still facing an uphill battle, but if Thrash keeps displaying these types of flashes for the remainder of the preseason, he may end up carving out a role in the Browns' offense this year.