Austin Barber doing more than just going home in Browns' season opener

BEREA ― Austin Barber's quite familiar with EverBank Stadium. He's even familiar with playing in it.

The Browns rookie offensive lineman and Jacksonville native has been to Jaguars games at the stadium while growing up. While Barber was at the University of Florida , he played four times there in the Gators' annual rivalry game against the University of Georgia.

It's just that Barber, the Browns' third-round pick , has never played in a Jaguars ' game in that stadium. That is. until now.

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"Yeah, obviously you see when the schedule comes out and I'm going home for my first ever game in the NFL," Barber said this week ahead of the Browns ' Sept. 13 opener. "It's pretty surreal. A lot of family's going to be there, a lot of supporters are going to be there. I'm just excited to go back."

Barber's not just going home to Jacksonville when Cleveland kicks off the season against the Jaguars. He's going to have a major role in what the Browns do on offense.

The back injury that forced right guard Teven Jenkins to leave practice Sept. 9, and then missed the next day's practice continues to be an issue. Jenkins was not on the practice field Sept. 11, the final full practice the Browns will have ahead of going to Jacksonville.

The Browns will officially announce game statuses for the opener after practice. That's expected to be around 1:15 p.m.

That leaves Barber to start in Jenkins' place at right guard against the Jaguars. Which, again, would mean his NFL regular-season debut would be happening in his hometown.

"Yeah, that's a crazy thought, but I don't know," Barber said. "I just got to be ready when my number's called. It's crazy I'm going home for my first game."

With Barber expected to start, it would mean the Browns will have two rookies among their starting five linemen. Top draft pick Spencer Fano will be making his debut as well at left tackle.

The two rookies were two of the Browns' top five draft picks, all of whom were selected within the top 86 picks. There's a great chance at least four of the five ― Fano and Barber on the line, KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston at wide receiver ― start, while the fifth, safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, could as well depending on the personnel group on the first defensive snap.

While Fano was long expected to be the opening-day starter at left tackle, Barber's rapid ascension has been a bit of a surprise. The two rookies, though, have spent plenty of time talking amongst themselves about the entire transition from college to NFL.

"Me and Spencer came in at the same time and we spent a lot of time together, especially during rookie minicamp and camp and stuff," Barber said. "Yeah, just talk to him a lot. We bounce feedback off of each other and we talk to the vets as well. We lean on them a lot."

What's just as crazy as the 6-foot-7, 320-pound Barber getting to make his debut in his hometown is that he'll be playing right guard when he does go home. That's because, whether it was while he was at Trinity Christian High School or at Florida, he was a left tackle.

It's not even that far back into Barber's past that you have to look to find him in a different position. He was the Browns' No. 2 right tackle as recently as their preseason opener in Chicago .

However, a different injury to Jenkins led to Barber being shifted over to right guard ahead of the joint practice and preseason game against the Buffalo Bills in mid-August. Despite having only played three total snaps at guard, two of them run plays, it's been a revelation for the Browns.

"His development's been impressive," Browns offensive coordinator Travis Switzer, himself a former interior offensive lineman at the University of Akron, said this week. "It's hard enough for a rookie to come in and play, let alone when he's been at multiple spots. It's all about the approach and the way he goes about it. I mean he's wired the right way. He's a very diligent guy, he's very tough. So, we're excited about him and his development."

The development Barber has gone through matches an overall trait that's shared by almost all of the Browns' offensive linemen. Even when Jenkins was expected to start, they were going with five players ― Fano at left tackle, Zion Johnson at left guard, Elgton Jenkins at center, either Teven Jenkins or Barber at right guard and Tytus Howard at right tackle ― who have also moved around the offensive line during their college and/or NFL careers.

One benefit that Barber had working in his favor with the transition was the timing. It was almost instantaneous that head coach Todd Monken and offensive line coach George Warhop decided to flip him from left to right tackle, and even a move to guard was something they had even hinted at as early as draft night in April.

Howard, who'll be right beside Barber on the right side of the offensive line, understands that himself. He came into the league as a first-round offensive tackle, then played 64 snaps in his debut game in 2019 at left guard before the rest of the season playing left tackle.

"Yeah, I think that's the biggest key," Howard told the Beacon Journal this week. "I think Coach Warhop basically saw how smart he was and basically saw that and said, Hey, let's go ahead and get that positional flexibility, start working on him because we see him as a guy who can play multiple spots, and the earlier that he gets comfortable with it, the better. So if last-minute something happened, it won't be like a shock that he's been moved at because he's already done it before."

The transition to guard and the prospects of starting the season opener are all new experiences for Barber. What he's tried to do is to keep things normal in terms of a routine.

That process, Barber admits, has changed since he arrived with the Browns just because of the time commitment compared to while he was in college. The extra time has mostly been spent watching more of the Jaguars' talented defensive front, which includes former No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker and two-time Pro Bowler Josh Hines-Allen at the ends and 12-year vet Arik Armstead and former Ohio State Buckeye DaVon Hamilton inside.

"They're a really good front," Barber said. " Josh Allen 's been there forever and Armstead's been in the league for a long time. They're vets. They're really good. You got to be ready for what they do and you got to be ready to go."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at

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