Parker Brailsford has "Real Chance" to Start for Cleveland

The 2026 NFL draft wrapped up last month with Alabama boasting 10 players taken in the seven-round draft, and another five were signed as undrafted free agents to various teams across the league. The Crimson Tide had at least one player drafted in six of the seven rounds in late April, including two first-round picks in Kadyn Proctor to the Miami Dolphins and Ty Simpson to the Los Angeles Rams.

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While Simpson is unlikely to unseat reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford at quarterback for head coach Sean McVay and the Rams, Proctor has an opportunity to start early in his career in Miami. Another former Alabama offensive lineman also has a chance to lock down a starting spot early, with Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reporting that former Alabama center Parker Brailsford is turning heads early during rookie minicamp, and that the former Crimson Tide center has a "real chance" to become the Browns' starting center as a fifth-round rookie.

“An athletic center, what he does really well is move in the run game,” Browns Director of Player Personnel Adam Al-Khayyel said after the Browns took Brailsford in the fifth round. “Got tremendous range, great finish. To be honest, if you didn’t know his measurables on his card, you wouldn’t say he plays like a sub-300-pound player. He’s strong, firm. So, really like the skill set and really like how it fits with the offensive side scheme.”

Brailsford may be a little undersized for a typical NFL center, coming in at 6-foot-2, 290 pounds during the NFL combine, but being a two-year starter at Alabama, where he's faced some of the top defensive line talent in the country, has prepared the former Crimson Tide captain for what life may look like in the NFL.

The AFC North (the division Brailsford will play in after Cleveland drafted him) is known for physicality along the trenches, boasting premier defensive line play with superstars like Myles Garrett, TJ Watt, and Trey Hendrickson. However, all three of them play on the edge, and Garrett plays for the same team as Brailsford, meaning he likely won't see many, if any, reps against three of the best pass rushers in the league as a center. However, that doesn't mean his life will be easy, as the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals have two of the top interior defensive linemen in the NFL in Cameron Heyward, a 16-year NFL veteran with Pittsburgh, and Dexter Lawrence, whom the Bengals traded a first-round pick for before the 2026 NFL draft.

Brailsford is used to playing with leverage against bigger defensive linemen; however, after facing Georgia three times, Tennessee, LSU, and Auburn twice during his Alabama career. While Proctor may be the favorite to notch Alabama's 2026 draft class's first start, Brailsford could be a sneaky pick to become a long-term starter in the NFL. Cleveland's head coach, Todd Monken, compared Brailsford to former Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum, who just signed the highest contract ever for a center in NFL history.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.