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BEREA — George Warhop provided instant feedback after nearly every repetition of Browns offensive line individual drills.
Strike technique. Hand placement. Footwork. No detail was too small for Warhop, drenched in sweat and sporting a brace on his right knee, evidence of his days in the trenches. Warhop discussed it all with his linemen during training camp on Thursday, Aug. 6, at Browns headquarters.
With Warhop back in Northeast Ohio, the Browns have one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL. But Warhop also has a daunting task on his hands. Two things can be true at the same time, and those two things are true.
Chemistry is vital to an offensive line, and it's often achieved through familiarity. A rule of thumb is the longer O-linemen play together, the better they are at executing double-teams and the more knowledgeable they are about each other's movements. Communication often improves with time, too.
The Browns will either have an entirely new starting offensive line when they open the 2026 regular season Sept. 13 at the Jacksonville Jaguars or four of the five spots on the O-line will likely be occupied by players who were not on Cleveland's roster in 2025.
Cleveland Browns column: Todd Monken doesn't fit every old-school stereotype | Opinion
Warhop, whose previous tour with the Browns spanned 2009-13, faces obvious challenges while guiding men who are in the infancy of their development as a group.
"The biggest obstacle is understanding what we want to do first," Warhop said. "The comfort and the communication comes. Right now, we all communicate the same. So, we're communicating at the line of scrimmage. Everybody's talking the same language. We haven't gotten to the point where my right guard and right tackle have words they say to each other that have a meaning.
"That comes in time. But sometimes that doesn't come until your second or third year playing together. So, right now, that's a non-issue. We need to figure out who's going to be our starting five, and we need to play like we want to play, play like a Brown, be physical, be tough, make [opponents] deal with us."
The Browns ended the eighth full-squad practice of camp with a live drill pitting a full pass-rushing defensive line against a full pass-protecting O-line. The D-line claimed a decisive victory, prompting its position coach, Jacques Cesaire, to leap with joy as he celebrated with players.
A former University of Cincinnati center who's in his 30th year of coaching in the NFL, Warhop knows his stuff.
Browns Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas has repeatedly sung his old position coach's praises accordingly. Yet, the 64-year-old Warhop won't be on the field to block.
Instead, it'll likely be rookie left tackle Spencer Fano, left guard Zion Johnson, center Elgton Jenkins, right guard Teven Jenkins and right tackle Tytus Howard forming the starting O-line. There's also a chance Dawand Jones will open the season as the starting left tackle instead of Fano and a more remote possibility rookie Parker Brailsford will start at center, causing Elgton Jenkins to slide over to right guard and shifting Teven Jenkins to a backup role.
Cleveland Browns news: 4 takeaways from Day 8 of raining camp, including Quinshon Judkins
On Aug. 6, the first-team O-line looked like this: Fano at LT, Johnson at LG, Luke Wypler at C, KT Leveston at RG and Howard at RT. And the second-team O-line was as follows: Jones at LT, Zak Zinter at LG, Kingsley Eguakun at C, Tyre Phillips at RG and rookie Austin Barber at RT. Meanwhile, Elgton Jenkins, Teven Jenkins and Brailsford sat out with injuries, and Zinter was carted off the field during practice.
In Week 1 of last season, Jones started at LT, Joel Bitonio at LG, Ethan Pocic at C, Wyatt Teller at RG and Jack Conklin at RT. Age and price led to massive O-line changes. Of the candidates to start the 2026 opener, only Jones and Teven Jenkins were with the Browns last season. Jones started three games. Teven Jenkins started four.
This offseason, general manager Andrew Berry signed Johnson and Elgton Jenkins in free agency and traded for Howard. Berry drafted Fano in the first round (No. 9 overall) and Brailsford in the fifth round (No. 146 overall). Succession planning in previous years under Berry didn't bear enough O-line fruit (and was sometimes flat out neglected), resulting in an overhaul this year.
Last season, the Chicago Bears had one O-line starter return from the 2024 season, right tackle Darnell Wright. The Bears improved from 5-12 in 2024 to 11-6 in 2025, so overcoming a lack of consistency on the O-line is doable. However, Chicago has former No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams at quarterback, not Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders.
A notable aspect of the Watson and Sanders experiences as it relates to the O-line is both QBs have a history of holding the ball for too long rather than consistently playing on time. Warhop, Todd Monken and anyone else who watched Watson and Sanders play in a Browns uniform are well aware.
After the Browns hired Monken as their head coach in January, he placed a high priority on bringing Warhop and other Baltimore Ravens assistants to Cleveland. Monken spent the past three seasons as Ravens offensive coordinator. Warhop was with the Ravens for two of those seasons (2024-25). He and Monken also overlapped for three seasons (2016-18) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"We've been through a lot together," Monken said. "We kind of were able to play off each other a little bit. He believes in the same things I do in terms of making people deal with us running off the football [and playing a] physical style of football. So, it was critical [to hire him]. I mean, you can't do it by yourself."
Warhop is an excellent teacher who gives the Browns a fighting chance amid their O-line transition.
A coach can only do so much, though, and whether Cleveland's offensive front will become a cohesive unit in 2026 is the team's most glaring question mark aside from quarterback.
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at [email protected]. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns have elite offensive line coach but daunting task, too. Opinion
Continue reading...
Strike technique. Hand placement. Footwork. No detail was too small for Warhop, drenched in sweat and sporting a brace on his right knee, evidence of his days in the trenches. Warhop discussed it all with his linemen during training camp on Thursday, Aug. 6, at Browns headquarters.
With Warhop back in Northeast Ohio, the Browns have one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL. But Warhop also has a daunting task on his hands. Two things can be true at the same time, and those two things are true.
Chemistry is vital to an offensive line, and it's often achieved through familiarity. A rule of thumb is the longer O-linemen play together, the better they are at executing double-teams and the more knowledgeable they are about each other's movements. Communication often improves with time, too.
The Browns will either have an entirely new starting offensive line when they open the 2026 regular season Sept. 13 at the Jacksonville Jaguars or four of the five spots on the O-line will likely be occupied by players who were not on Cleveland's roster in 2025.
Cleveland Browns column: Todd Monken doesn't fit every old-school stereotype | Opinion
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Warhop, whose previous tour with the Browns spanned 2009-13, faces obvious challenges while guiding men who are in the infancy of their development as a group.
"The biggest obstacle is understanding what we want to do first," Warhop said. "The comfort and the communication comes. Right now, we all communicate the same. So, we're communicating at the line of scrimmage. Everybody's talking the same language. We haven't gotten to the point where my right guard and right tackle have words they say to each other that have a meaning.
"That comes in time. But sometimes that doesn't come until your second or third year playing together. So, right now, that's a non-issue. We need to figure out who's going to be our starting five, and we need to play like we want to play, play like a Brown, be physical, be tough, make [opponents] deal with us."
The Browns ended the eighth full-squad practice of camp with a live drill pitting a full pass-rushing defensive line against a full pass-protecting O-line. The D-line claimed a decisive victory, prompting its position coach, Jacques Cesaire, to leap with joy as he celebrated with players.
You must be registered for see images attach
A former University of Cincinnati center who's in his 30th year of coaching in the NFL, Warhop knows his stuff.
Browns Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas has repeatedly sung his old position coach's praises accordingly. Yet, the 64-year-old Warhop won't be on the field to block.
Instead, it'll likely be rookie left tackle Spencer Fano, left guard Zion Johnson, center Elgton Jenkins, right guard Teven Jenkins and right tackle Tytus Howard forming the starting O-line. There's also a chance Dawand Jones will open the season as the starting left tackle instead of Fano and a more remote possibility rookie Parker Brailsford will start at center, causing Elgton Jenkins to slide over to right guard and shifting Teven Jenkins to a backup role.
Cleveland Browns news: 4 takeaways from Day 8 of raining camp, including Quinshon Judkins
On Aug. 6, the first-team O-line looked like this: Fano at LT, Johnson at LG, Luke Wypler at C, KT Leveston at RG and Howard at RT. And the second-team O-line was as follows: Jones at LT, Zak Zinter at LG, Kingsley Eguakun at C, Tyre Phillips at RG and rookie Austin Barber at RT. Meanwhile, Elgton Jenkins, Teven Jenkins and Brailsford sat out with injuries, and Zinter was carted off the field during practice.
In Week 1 of last season, Jones started at LT, Joel Bitonio at LG, Ethan Pocic at C, Wyatt Teller at RG and Jack Conklin at RT. Age and price led to massive O-line changes. Of the candidates to start the 2026 opener, only Jones and Teven Jenkins were with the Browns last season. Jones started three games. Teven Jenkins started four.
This offseason, general manager Andrew Berry signed Johnson and Elgton Jenkins in free agency and traded for Howard. Berry drafted Fano in the first round (No. 9 overall) and Brailsford in the fifth round (No. 146 overall). Succession planning in previous years under Berry didn't bear enough O-line fruit (and was sometimes flat out neglected), resulting in an overhaul this year.
You must be registered for see images attach
Last season, the Chicago Bears had one O-line starter return from the 2024 season, right tackle Darnell Wright. The Bears improved from 5-12 in 2024 to 11-6 in 2025, so overcoming a lack of consistency on the O-line is doable. However, Chicago has former No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams at quarterback, not Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders.
A notable aspect of the Watson and Sanders experiences as it relates to the O-line is both QBs have a history of holding the ball for too long rather than consistently playing on time. Warhop, Todd Monken and anyone else who watched Watson and Sanders play in a Browns uniform are well aware.
After the Browns hired Monken as their head coach in January, he placed a high priority on bringing Warhop and other Baltimore Ravens assistants to Cleveland. Monken spent the past three seasons as Ravens offensive coordinator. Warhop was with the Ravens for two of those seasons (2024-25). He and Monken also overlapped for three seasons (2016-18) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"We've been through a lot together," Monken said. "We kind of were able to play off each other a little bit. He believes in the same things I do in terms of making people deal with us running off the football [and playing a] physical style of football. So, it was critical [to hire him]. I mean, you can't do it by yourself."
Warhop is an excellent teacher who gives the Browns a fighting chance amid their O-line transition.
A coach can only do so much, though, and whether Cleveland's offensive front will become a cohesive unit in 2026 is the team's most glaring question mark aside from quarterback.
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at [email protected]. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns have elite offensive line coach but daunting task, too. Opinion
Continue reading...
