The Cleveland Browns are in the unique position of being able to rest their starters in Week 18 against the Cincinnati Bengals. We already know they are resting QB Joe Flacco and starting a guy who they just signed this week. But can they do that across all the positions and truly rest their entire starting lineup? Not quite.
This isn’t like the preseason when 90 players were in camp and you have enough bodies to play second- and third-stringers at every position. With only 53 players to work with, some key contributors will still have to play based on the numbers game. If the Browns are trying to maximize rest for as many starters or veterans as possible, though, here’s how the starting lineup might look on Sunday:
What do you think, Browns fans? It’s crazy how you go from starting everyone each week, no hesitation, and now I’m here paranoid about a guy like Teller or Emerson having to play a few snaps in a pinch.
Linebacker is the position where the Browns are stacked with the most depth, so to speak — I think it makes sense for Jim Schwartz to play more linebackers this week, just for reps sake, and then you can have Tony Fields II, Jordan Kunaszyk, Matthew Adams, and Mohamoud Diabate eat up reps.
