BEREA ― Jared Verse had spent the better part of nearly two hours making life miserable for Browns rookie left tackle Spencer Fano during training camp practice. The 15 or 20 minutes after practice, the Pro Bowl defensive end was going to do his part to help his teammate.
So there on the hot practice field, as others headed toward the cool of the locker room, was Verse working one-on-one with Fano. With each move he showed the young tackle, he explained some of the secrets to counter what he was doing.
“That’s really cool,” Browns coach Todd Monken said the next day. “I walked up to Jared and said, ‘man, we’re so lucky you’re a Brown. I mean holy s*** how cool is this?’ Because he’s not only a great leader, but he also works his rear end off every day, and after practice he’s trying to get Spencer better. I stood right behind him listening to what he was talking about, and it was bang, bang, bang, five reps in a row of his footwork, then talking through what he was going to do, how he could redirect, how he could use his hands and punch. It was within five reps I saw Spencer get better.”
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That hasn’t been the first time Fano has gotten pointers from Verse. It’s just one of the most recent examples.
Fano has spent training camp alternating with Dawand Jones at left tackle with the No. 1, with the rookie getting the even-numbered days while Jones gets the odd-numbered ones. Day 8 of training camp on Aug. 6 marked his fourth chance to get those reps.
Those days have meant a steady diet of Verse in any of the team drills. Fano, though, has welcomed all of it, from the individual losses during various reps to the moments when Verse turns those losses into wins by turning them into teaching points to the rookie.
“He’s so good, man,” Fano said earlier in training camp. “I mean, he’s just really good at helping coach me up. There’d be a lot of reps, because we didn’t have anything full speed before, so there’d be a lot of reps where I might have overset, he would let me know, and then kind of help me correct mistakes I made.”
Fano’s dealt with plenty of mistakes, and it’s not just because of Verse. While he was seen as one of the top tackles in this year’s draft class when the Browns selected him at No. 9 overall, he was also coming into the league was a large portion of his football career having been spent playing right tackle.
The Browns made it clear on draft night their intentions were to flip Fano to the left side, where he had only played for 12 games as a freshman at Utah. The move wasn’t met with any resistance from him, nor any trepidation.
Instead, it was met with confidence.
“I think the biggest adjustments is changing sides,” Fano said. “It’s kind of just learning how to get off again on that side. I think when you run off to one way so many times, it’s a little harder to change back to the other side, if that makes sense.”
It also makes sense that there’s a chance, as Fano continues to go through that adjustment, that Jones starts the season at left tackle. The 2023 fourth-round pick out of Ohio State isn’t exactly full of left tackle experience himself, although the Browns had begun the transition with him all the way back in 2024 before two season-ending injuries derailed that experiment.
Monken admitted this week that it’s absolutely a possibility that Jones could be the starting left tackle Sept. 13 when the Browns open the season in Jacksonville. Offensive line coach George Warhop sees no harm in the battle between the two go on for a while because of how it could make both players better.
“I mean, I think it’s to our benefit to let those guys compete to see who’s going to be the left tackle. Because there’s no greater way to increase the player’s production than when he’s in competition. So we need Spencer to get used to playing on the left side and develop him. We need Dewan to be the best version of himself. If he happens to be our starting left tackle, we need him to be that. We don’t need him to be on the second team or the third team. We need him fighting for the first team job. So I think it’s beneficial for the players in the long run. It’s beneficial for us in the long run. They’re both improving. They’re both going to be good players because of it.”
Fano has cited Warhop for why he’s so confident the transition to the left side will ultimately be a successful one. The veteran offensive line coach comes back to the Browns with a litany of recommendations from some pretty big names, most notably Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas.
The pointers don’t just come from coaches like Warhop or practice opponents like Verse, even if those are great resources to have. Some of the best have come from Zion Johnson, the veteran who will be lining up next to Fano at left guard.
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The importance of connection across all five line spots can’t be overstated. The specific connection between Fano and Johnson is even more important, which is why Johnson has made a point to make himself available to his rookie teammate as much as possible.
“I’m always here as a resource for him,” Johnson said this week. “I think one of the things I like to talk to not just him, but all the rookies about is just the mental side of the game. … I just told him, attack every single day, work to get better every single day and the rest will take care of itself. Really smart kids like him and other guys that I’ve played with get a little down on themselves because you have high expectations for yourself. But Spencer’s done a great job of attacking every single day with fury.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How Spencer Fano is leaning on Browns teammates to make switch to left tackle
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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By Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
