Coleman, Erving battle for starting slot on line

The Browns upgraded center and right guard in free agency, re-signed left guard Joel Bitonio to a multi-year contract and still have left tackle Joe Thomas, who for 10 years has been a comfort to quarterbacks like a lighthouse on a rocky coast.

Not every position can be fixed in one offseason, so the Browns, determined to be more of a running team this year, are choosing to ride the horses they have at right tackle.

Whether Shon Coleman and/or Cameron Erving turn out to be stallions or cart ponies will be determined in August during the heat of training camp and preseason.

“I think (the offensive line) could be very good,” Coleman said June 13 before the first practice of a three-day minicamp at the Browns’ training complex in Berea. “They made some big moves in the offseason on the line. I think it could be really good.”

J.C. Tretter was signed in free agency to play center because Erving played poorly there last year.

It isn’t often a rebuilding team gets older at a position in free agency, but that’s what the Browns did when they signed Tretter (26) to replace Erving (24).

Kevin Zeitler, 27, is replacing 32-year-old John Greco at right guard. Greco is recovering from foot surgery and isn’t participating in minicamp.

The Browns went heavy on defense in the draft, taking defensive end Myles Garrett and safety Jabrill Peppers with their first two picks and they got what they hope will be their quarterback of the future with the 52nd pick when they chose DeShone Kizer of Notre Dame. Shon Coleman walks off the field during the team’s organized team activity May 31 in Berea.

Kizer, in fact, got some snaps with the first team during practice June 13, but none of that matters if the offensive line doesn’t get fixed.

A different center, a different right guard and a different right tackle represents a 60 percent overhaul for the team that gave up a franchise-record 66 sacks last year.

The 2016 offensive line coach, Hal Hunter, was fired and replaced by Bob Wylie.

Not every sack allowed last year was the fault of the offensive line, but head coach Hue Jackson knows it takes more than duct tape to fix a leaky pipe.

“We challenge all of our players to be the best they can be,” Jackson said after the June 13 practice,

speaking in general terms. “We all know there’s still a little more in there for all of them. This is just football on grass. There are no pads on.

“No one’s trying to claim anybody is this or that. I don’t see that right now, but what I see is a hard-working team that’s taking coaching, that’s working extremely hard, that’s trying to do everything right to give ourselves the best opportunity when we come back from training camp to hit the ground running.”

The winner in the battle between Coleman and Erving will replace Austin Pasztor.

Pasztor started the first 15 games at right tackle and the final game, in Pittsburgh, at right guard when Erving started at right tackle. Pasztor was so unremarkable in 16 starts with the Browns that none of the 31 other teams in the NFL has signed him even as a backup.

Coleman could have an edge over Erving because the current administration drafted him. Coleman, a third-round draft pick in 2016, was slowed by knee surgery and played in only seven games as a rookie without a start.

His most extensive playing time game in the fourth quarter of the final game after Erving had to leave because of a knee injury.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better,” Coleman said. “This offseason was big for me, just getting bigger, stronger. Capitalize on that last game I had. The coaches definitely see I’ve been working on my game. That’s been a big thing for me, just getting better.”

Erving was miscast as a center, but the Browns had no choice because Alex Mack used free agency to flee to Atlanta in the winter of 2016. Erving is valuable to the Browns even as a backup because he can play both tackle spots and center if he has to.

He was a tackle for most of his college career at Florida State.

“It has definitely been two trying years in my career, but I don’t feel like they’ve gone bad,” said Erving, a first-round pick in 2015. “I feel that I’ve done what I needed to do, and just moving forward, you have to worry about what’s coming and not what’s in the past.”

Erving is healthy. He did not need surgery to repair the knee injury that knocked him out of the game in Pittsburgh on Jan. 1 to end the 2016 season.

RON SCHWANE — ASSOCIATED PRESS