If I had to use one word to describe the 2006 Cleveland Browns preseason, I’d use “chaotic.” It started on the first day of camp, with LeCharles Bentley’s ill-fated patella tear, and continued through the eight centers we were either associated with briefly (Bob Hallen? Alonzo Ephraim? Ross Tucker? Rob Smith? Todd Washington?) or who were injured before we got a chance to work out a trade (Seth McKinney, ironically). Charlie Frye went through six guys in camp, a seventh he never saw…and then started game one behind Hank Fraley, an eighth guy who wasn’t on the roster for any of those games.

Before center was a problem, though, the Browns already had issues at guard. And just off to the side, there were hidden problems at tackle, too; after Kelly Butler, there really wasn’t anyone to fill in anywhere. The starters weren’t the problem; it was the fact that there was no depth on the depth chart behind them.

This season, though, appears to be different. Even with the release of LG Joe Andruzzi (arguably Cleveland’s worst lineman last season), the line not only has talent at the starter position, but talent waiting in reserve in case something goes awry. Since, in Cleveland, something almost always goes awry, this is a good, good thing.

On opening day, this could very easily be Cleveland’s starting lineup:

The starters I’m happy with. The depth, though, thrills me. Let’s say something happened to Shaffer; Tucker could shift to RT and McKinney could step in at RG. If something happened to Fraley, McKinney and Smith both have experience at center. The only thing the line can’t withstand is three tackle injuries…but even as bad as it got in 2006, there weren’t three injured tackles.

This is a totally different situation from last season, when Phil Savage traded away depth at center to New Orleans in order to move up in round two and nab D’Qwell Jackson. The Browns and their fans learned the hard way that talented depth is just as important as talented starters. The starting line of Shaffer, Andruzzi, Bentley, Coleman, and Tucker might not’ve been bad had they ever seen the field. This year, both in free agency and in the draft, Phil Savage did what he did with the Browns’ linebackers last season: he completely revamped a struggling unit and turned it into a quality collection of players.