Why the Browns’ Center Competition Matters More Than Anyone Thinks

Cleveland still hasn't figured out who will play where on all five offensive line positions.

Browns center Parker Brailsford blocks as quarterback Deshaun Watson runs on the first day of minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus of the Cleveland Browns in Berea, Ohio on June 9, 2026. | Mike Cardew / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Cleveland Browns will arrive in late July to their training camp still looking for answers regarding their most pressing offseason questions.

One has to do with the quarterback position, which is getting most of the attention. The other has to do with its offensive line, a group that will have five new starters from last year’s unit, something practically unheard of in the NFL.

Head coach Todd Monken stated that the “In a perfect world, ... you'd love to have your o-line set; I'm just not sure we'll be there,” back in early June, and ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi reported that “he believes the team has 4 of its 5 starting offensive linemen figured out: Tytus Howard, Zion Johnson, Elgton Jenkins and Spencer Fano.”

However, the battle for the starting job at center has a direct impact on how the offensive line comes together. Why? Because it will likely also end up determining who will be the pair of guards flanking said center.

Why the Browns’ competition at the center position is crucial for the rest of the offensive line

So far, the Browns are banking on Tytus Howard as the right tackle, Zion Johnson as the left guard, and rookie Spencer Fano taking over left tackle duties after playing the right side for the Utah Utes over the last two seasons. 

Elgton Jenkins is the other offensive lineman who seems to have a guaranteed spot on opening day. The problem is Cleveland doesn’t know where that spot is. 

Fourth-year veteran Luke Wypler, who’s coming off an injury suffered in the final quarter of play last season, might have been expected to take over for departing free agent Ethan Pocic at the start of the offseason, but that was before the team added Jenkins in March, and then added Parker Brailsford in the fifth-round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Jenkins has been notoriously effective at center and left tackle during his seven seasons in the NFL, but left guard is his best position. Coach Monken has said at least twice that the team would prefer to keep him at guard, too. 

Nonetheless, the team has pretty good depth at guard, behind Johnson and Jenkins. The team re-signed Teven Jenings in the offseason, and has considered giving former starting tackles Dawand Jones and KT Leveston the chance to compete inside at guard. Zak Zinter, a third-rounder in 2024, is also available at the position. 

This has led to the belief that Elgton Jenkins will end up playing center, alongside Johnson and Teven Jenkins as the interior trio, joined by Howard and Fano on the outside. But it would mean lining Elgton Jenkins out of his best position. 

That’s why the Wypler-Brailsford battle is so important. If any one of those youngsters can hold down the center position, it would automatically allow Elgton Jenkins to line up at guard, where the team would prefer him in the first place, and keep Teven Jenkins as the main backup for both guard positions and, possibly, even tackle, along with Jones.

In Monken’s “perfect world,” you’d have your five best players on the field, each of them lined up at their best position.

Moving Elgton Jenkins to center and inserting Teven Jenkins at guard might be the best five-man combination, but one of those five would be playing out of his ideal spot. Keeping Elgton Jenkins at guard and having Wypler or Brailsford at center might not be the best five-man combination, but all five starters would be playing their preferred spot. 

This is the conundrum that Monken and offensive line coach George Warhop are currently facing. Yet, if Wypler or Brailsford actually step up and play to the level of the rest of the O-Linemen, then the Browns are set for the 2026 season. 

That’s one big if.