The Cleveland Browns made 10 draft picks last month in a class that was widely hailed as one of the best in the league–if not the best. The 10th of those picks, in the seventh round was Carsen Ryan, the tight end from BYU, who had bounced from UCLA to Utah before that. Ryan was not a blue-chip prospect–he caught 45 passes for 620 yards and three touchdowns last season–but there may have been some deeper reasons for the Browns turning to him.
New coach Todd Monken is in the process of revamping the offense, and one area he has found lacking on the roster is fullback. Most NFL teams don’t use fullbacks much these days, but Monken likes to do so, and did when he was the offensive coordinator with the Ravens–in fact, the Browns tried to sign his old fullback, Patrick Ricard, before he signed with Giants.
It’s a long way from actually having a role on the team–seventh-rounders rarely get that far–but after the first rookie minicamp practice on Friday, Ryan said the Browns are already molding him into a potential fullback’s role.
Carsen Ryan Working as Fullback in 1st Browns Practice
After practice on Friday, Browns reporters asked Ryan about where he might fit with the team and how he could be used. He was not a fullback at BYU.
“Definitely just trying to learn everything, do some Y-tight end as well. Just really trying to find my spot on the field through that and through special teams as well,” Ryan said.
He was then asked about whether he had experience in the fullback spot. “A little bit, yes, when I was with Chip Kelly at UCLA, I did a lot of H-back, a lot of moving, a lot of fullback, in the backfield stuff in there, so I have a lot of experience with that,” he said.
Carsen Ryan Did Not Know Browns Were Interested
Heading into the draft, Ryan was mostly overlooked–he did not get a spot in the NFL’s draft combine in Indianapolis, or in the two major postseason All-Star games. He said he did not have any interactions with the Browns, and was surprised when his name was called by Cleveland.
That’s been a bit of extra motivation for him lately.
Said Ryan: “I feel like I deserved to be there, and I feel like the season I put out this last year was definitely worthy of that. I kind of felt like I was overlooked a little bit for this kind of postseason pre-draft stuff and this feels good. It added more fuel to my pro day prep and the bowl games I didn’t get invited to, I just have got to take advantage of what I get. I had a former coach who would tell us, don’t count the reps, make the reps count.
“That goes for everything, the invites and stuff. What you get, you’ve got to make it count.”
‘A Combination Tight End’
Before the draft, Ryan was projected to go as high as the sixth round. If the Browns can turn him into a useful fullback–34-year-old Michael Burton, who missed last season due to injury, is the main competition–he could be a steal.
Here’s how NFL.com’s scouting report sized him up: “Ryan profiles as a combination tight end with good size, adequate strength and plenty of aggression. He centers his blocks and works with inside hands, although he’s substantially more effective versus LBs/DBs in space than he is at duking it out in-line. He could use more polish as a route-runner to help create cleaner throwing windows, but he has the foot quickness to improve in that area. …
“His willingness as a blocker and ability to handle special-teams duties earn him a late-round projection.”
‘Overlooked’ Browns Rookie Could Land Key Role in Offense