WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va – As S Grant Delpit lined up in the secondary during 11-on-11 drills, he looked around to assess the offense and see how his teammates lined up in the defensive scheme. When the ball was snapped and QB Deshaun Watson looked for an open pass-catcher, Delpit covered his man to remove a target for the anticipated pass.
While the Browns are only five days into training camp, they are setting the foundation for the 2024 season. They aren't resting on their laurels of the success they had in 2023. Instead, Delpit has new expectations for himself and the defense.
"We can't take what we did last year but we know that we want to be the best in every aspect of defense," Delpit said. "So, we got the tools to do it, we got the defense to do it, the coaches to do it. So, it's on us really."
Delpit finished the 2023 season with 80 tackles, seven tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, three passes defensed, one interception, one fumble recovery and 1.5 sacks. However, he endured a groin injury and was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 13, and said he felt like he didn't have the chance to the end the 2023 season the way he wanted.
Yet, it's a new year for Delpit.
Safeties coach Ephraim Banda said they had goals set for the 2023 season for Delpit, which he tackled until his injury. Now, as they continue through training camp and look ahead to the 2024 season, they are focused on a reset of goals, and what Delpit wants to attack.
"I'm excited to see where coming off the injury and the work that he's put in the offseason and seeing him really attack this offseason, get closer and closer to games and I know he'll be ready," Banda said. "I know he's motivated mentally, physically. He really wants to attack it and have a really successful year with his body. He wants to go out there and be the guy for the group and really push everyone to get to where we all want to go."
Banda's relationship with Delpit goes back to high school days, as Banda tried to recruit Delpit to Miami. Delpit eventually chose LSU to play college football, but they kept their relationship. So, after Delpit was drafted in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft to the Browns and Banda became the safeties coach in Cleveland in 2023, the two reunited.
As the two have worked together to help Delpit take the next step as a player, Banda said they have discussed the idea of growing the big picture of the defense. For Delpit, that looks like understanding why and how things are done wholistically, not just at his position. Banda said they spend time understanding how to set fronts and pressures, and why they pressure. They study conversions off that pressure and identify offenses so they can make plays. By understanding the big picture of the defense, and the offense, Banda and Delpit are looking for ways to create more takeaways, sacks and tackles.
Those conversations started at the tail end of the 2023 season in exit interviews. Banda and Delpit discussed what Delpit wanted as a player so that Banda could help tailor to those needs when he came back for camp.
It's all played a significant role in Delpit's growth as a player over his five-year career, both on the field and as a leader. Since his high school recruitment to the present day, Banda has seen Delpit mature and grow as a leader.
"Even last year, really pushed him to make sure that the defense feels his personality," Banda said. "He has one. Sometimes he kind of comes across as stoic and quiet, but when you see him behind closed doors or you see him on the field make a play, it comes out. And my challenge to Grant is to make sure that that defense that's on that grass feels that consistently because that's leadership and people respond to that. So, for me it's all about for Grant, it's all about making sure that he makes ones around him better every day. So, that's the leadership area that I thought he did a good job last year and we're going to continue to push this year."
And Delpit echoed that sentiment.
"I feel like I'm a vocal guy," Delpit said. "I try not to never leave the field, get everybody on the same page. I don't have the green dot, but I would if I could. I'm open to it. But just being that guy that gets everybody on the same page, and really, that's the safety's job. Got to set the tempo. We got to set the pace and set the physicality for the defense. So that's what I try to do."
In the second year of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's system, Delpit enjoys being a safety in the scheme. They play in man coverage a high percentage of the time, Delpit said, and so he holds the goal being the best man safety in football.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski sees Delpit's versatility as the key factor to his success in the system. Safeties who are versatile can have the ability to play down the line of scrimmage, play in the post, at the linebacker level and play a half field. It allows the coordinators to utilize them in a multitude of ways. And Stefanski sees that potential in Delpit.
"I think everybody saw what Grant was able to do, how he was able to play in our system, the physicality that he brings to what we do, has great ball skills," Stefanski said. "As he becomes a veteran in this league, takes on more of a leadership role, is in a really good room with some guys that understand what it takes to play ball and Grant's right there at the top of it."
Even as Delpit enters his fifth year with the Browns – with a 3-year contract extension that kept him as a staple of the Browns secondary – Delpit still feels like he has more to prove. In 2024, he's setting the bar high.
"I feel I haven't showed anything yet," Delpit said. "(I want to) reach for new heights. I can't wait."
