No Elevations From Practice Squad for the Browns on Sunday?
The Cleveland Browns were among the few teams who declined to elevate any players from the practice squad for their game on Sunday. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't mean too much but it does leave some clues about the roster overall.
In a rule that has carried over since the 2020 Covid season, NFL teams are permitted to elevate two players from the practice squad for game day which would give each team a pool of 55 players to operate from on game day. The designation must be made by a 4 p.m. deadline of the day prior to the game.
That deadline passed today with the Browns declining to call up any players from the practice squad. Let's take a look at what it means and delve a little deeper into the Browns thought process.
The first aspect we should cover in regard to game day roster management is that despite carrying 53 players on your active roster, you are only permitted to "dress" 48 of them in uniform and make them eligible to play in the game. The players who are not going to play make up the team's inactive report that is announced 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
Often times injuries will dictate this list, especially later in the season as they pile up. Players who are not listed on the team's official injury report but are made inactive for the game are often referred to as a "healthy scratch." For example, this week we might expect Juan Thornhill to be listed as inactive if his calf injury prevents him from playing.
Rookie draft picks will often fall into this category when the team isn't confident enough in their ability yet but also don't want to subject them to a waiver claim. They will sign veterans to the practice squad to call up for game action and make the rookie a healthy scratch as an inactive. A good example here would be if the Browns would have called up Michael Dunn from the practice squad, Luke Wypler would almost certainly be listed as an inactive. (He still may be in a scenario I will talk about later.)
Another consideration is that players can only be called up to the active roster no more than three times during the season. Players elevated from the practice squad automatically revert back to the practice squad after the game unless it has happened more than three times, at which point the player becomes active to the roster and a corresponding move to keep the team at 53 players would need to be made.
Finally, players from your practice squad can be signed to another team's active 53-man roster at any time. That player would automatically take a roster spot for a minimum of three weeks. This prevents a team from signing away players for a short term situation. If you are still with me, (I know it's a lot) let's examine what this tells us about tomorrow and the future.
First of all, by not elevating Dunn, I think the Browns may have tipped their hand to what it would do in a possible injury at one of the guard spots. The team chose to carry only 9 offensive lineman overall on the 53-man roster and instead of carrying an established veteran backup at guard, chose rather to keep three centers. They did give rookie Luke Wypler preseason snaps at guard and perhaps that would be their plan. I believe that in the event of injury to a starter at guard, the team would bring Nick Harris in to play center and move Ethan Pocic out to play guard. This scenario would give them their five best offensive lineman.
Next, the fact that they didn't elevate another player who could see edge snaps,(thinking about Sam Kamara here) means that they are confident in Alex Wright being ready to go after his knee surgery. Also if Wright is made inactive for this game, they believe in rookie Isaiah McGuire to see some meaningful snaps as part of the rotation at edge.
Finally, the team didn't feel the need to call up cornerback A.J. Green which tells me they like what they have seen so far out of the new addition he was cut to acquire. Kahlef Hailassie was claimed at cutdowns from the Chiefs and could be the first up off the bench see snaps on the boundary.
With all of this laid out in front of us, here is the inactive list that I would expect to see tomorrow prior to kickoff. Keep in mind that just because a guy is listed as an inactive doesn't mean the player may not see snaps in the coming weeks. One huge factor is the opponent you are facing and the game-plan the team puts together. Most importantly is injury status, in the case of Wright he may be made inactive because he just practiced at full-go for the first time on Friday.
Projected week-one inactives
S- Juan Thornhill
CB- Cameron Mitchell
DT- Siaki Ika
OG- Luke Wypler
DE- Alex Wright
We will see how it plays out tomorrow and if the team sees it differently then I do. Stay tuned here for the official inactive list tomorrow.
