A dozen (mostly) quick takes from Browns mandatory minicamp, where Baker Mayfield is falling into like behind Tyrod Taylor, Matthew Dayes is trying to beat the odds, and Denzel Ward isn't always hanging with Josh Gordon.
1, "Freak of nature" Shon Coleman is intent on fighting off a challenge from prized rookie Austin Corbett in the battle to replace left tackle Joe Thomas.
Coleman's ascent as a left tackle at Auburn was slowed by a bout with leukemia. He was an older rookie when the Browns drafted him in the third round in 2016, and he will turn 27 in November.
Guard Kevin Zeitler said the 6-foot-7, 315-pound Coleman is doing well in his transition from 16 starts at right tackle last year to being the frontrunner at Thomas' old spot.
"Shon is a freak of nature," Zeitler said. "He's so strong. He can take a man and lift him and throw him 10 yards."
As a left tackle, Coleman's main task would be to keep pass rushers from throwing Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield into the hospital.
Coleman has plenty of experience at left tackle, where he was an Auburn starter in 2014 and '15.
2, Coleman hasn't won anything yet. Offensive line candidates are being tried at assorted positions during the three-day minicamp that opened Tuesday.
Corbett, a rookie No. 32 overall pick able to play any line position, will go to training camp as a left tackle candidate. He saw some action Tuesday at right tackle and left guard. Chris Hubbard, the ex-Steeler likely to start at right tackle when the season arrives, got some snaps at left tackle.
"It's harder to try things like that when you get to training camp," said head coach Hue Jackson.
Jackson continues to say "the five best players" will occupy the five starting roles on Sept. 9 against Pittburgh.
3, It seemed the Browns had a surplus of offensive linemen after they signed seventh-year pro Donald Stephenson in March. Someone will be an odd man out.
Perhaps that began to bother him.
Stephenson has been absent from OTAs and did not show up for Tuesday's "mandatory" minicamp practice. Jackson mentioned a possible fine, but indications are he will not be part of the 2018 Browns.
Stephenson, a former Oklahoma Sooner, started 23 games for the Chiefs and Broncos across the last three seasons.
Young blockers Spencer Drango and Rod Johnson, drafted before Dorsey took over as GM, still hope to make a mark. Drango (Round 5, 2016) started nine games at left tackle last year after Thomas got hurt.
Johnson (Round 5, 2017) spent his rookie year on injured reserve. He was a two-time ACC Offensive Lineman of the Year while at Florida State.
4, Jarvis Landry can't think of a single receiver who reminds him of Josh Gordon.
"He's in a league of his own," Landry said. "The way he can run routes separates him. I've never seen a guy his size who can get in and out of cuts like a small guy."
5, Coaches have made sure all spring that Gordon is matched against rookie No. 4 overall pick Derek Ward during team drills.
Ward's speed is plain to see. He seems to glide in coverage. One time Tuesday, though, Gordon beat Ward badly on a quick slant and was open by 3 yards when Tyrod Taylor delivered the ball.
6, Landry adjusted to three offensive coordinators in his four seasons with the Dolphins, Bill Lazor, Zac Taylor and Clyde Christensen.
His first impressions of Browns "OC" Todd Haley?
"Todd does a great job of getting playmakers the ball in space," Landry said. "He'll put in a gadget here, a gadget there. Generally, he's going to spread the ball around."
7, Tyrod Taylor entered spring practice ahead of Baker Mayfield, and there seems little question he will be the clear No. 1 going into training camp.
"Players follow Tyrod," Hue Jackson said. "To a man, they look to him. He's displaying what a pro starting quarterback should look like in practice."
Mayfield seems to be carrying himself patiently, with a sense that his time will come.
Jackson said Mayfield is wise to absorb "how Tyrod is carrying himself every day in the building."
8, Lazor was in his first "OC" job when Landry worked with him in 2015. Lazor got fired in November of 2015 and landed in Cincinnati as quarterbacks coach. Early last season, the Bengals fired Ken Zampese as offensive coordinator and replaced him with Lazor.
Zampese now is Cleveland's quarterbacks coach.
9, Running back Matthew Dayes showed live legs while zig-zagging through the defense after catching a short pass from Drew Stanton Tuesday.
It is hard to see Dayes, making the team, given the presence of one back who started throughout the 49ers' five-game win streak to end the 2017 season (Carlos Hyde), another back whom John Dorsey liked well enough to burn a No. 35 overall pick (Nick Chubb), and Duke Johnson.
10, Jackson said there will be meaty roles for Hyde, Chubb and Johnson. It's just hard to envision what that will look like.
The team views Chubb as a starter sooner rather than later across the next four years.
Meanwhile, Hyde and Johnson are working under practically the same contract.
Hyde signed in March for three years and $15.3 million, with $8 million guaranteed. Johnson signed an extension last week, three years, $15.7 million, with $7.7 guaranteed.
Jackson was all smiles over keeping Johnson, who could have been a free agent after the season.
"We can put Duke in a lot of different places all over the field," Jackson said. "I think he likes that."
11, Derrick Kindred, a fourth-round pick in 2016, started 10 games at safety in 2017, but he is in a two-man race for the strong safety job in 2018, and Jabrill Peppers is likely to win the job.
"Jabrill is going to have a sensational season," Jackson said of the 2018 first-round pick. "I really believe that. But Kindred is not just going give it away."
12, Rookie wideout Antonio Callaway and veteran linebacker Jamie Collins, men of intrigue on offense and defense, will be taking it easy throughout the three-day minicamp. Both are expected to be fully healthy for the start of training camp.
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