Staff Report

 

CLEVELAND — Marshall quarterback Rakeem Cato finally got a chance.

The Thundering Herd quarterback was not drafted in last week’s NFL draft, nor was he signed to a free agent contract.

However, the Cleveland Browns did invite him to their minicamp this weekend and the 6-foot, 178-pounder joined 12 drafted players, four undrafted free agents, a handful of first-year players and 50 tryout players.

“We give guys an opportunity to come out here that maybe feel through the cracks with a lot of the tryout guys and it allows us to do 11-on-11 work,” said Browns’ coach Mike Pettine.

“Like we found last year, we found three guys that made the 53 in this. It’s just great to be able to get these guys on film and get them evaluated.”

Cato and Tennessee’s Justin Worley are the only two quarterbacks listed who will be trying to find a spot on a Browns’ roster that already has Johnny Manziel, Josh McCown and Connor Shaw.

Shaw is considered a first-year player and took most of the snaps among the three quarterbacks.

Cato was a two-time Offensive Player of the Year in Conference USA the past two seasons. He led the Thundering Herd to a 13-1 record, the C-USA title and with a Boca Raton Bowl win over Northern Illinois and was voted the game’s MVP.