The Cleveland Browns potentially found a steal in the third round of this year’s draft when the team took former Michigan offensive guard Zak Zinter with their pick.
Zinter was a unanimous All-American guard at Michigan, but a freak injury – involving future teammate Mike Hall Jr, no less – caused him to miss the Wolverines’ national championship run and pushed him further down the draft board than had he been healthy during Michigan’s championship run.
Now, Zinter is being called into action this week as the guard who will potentially replace Wyatt Teller this week after the veteran guard was injured during Week 3.
Analyst Camryn Justice shared a video on X with Zinter explaining how he is preparing for this expanded role ahead of the Browns’ matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I’ve been preparing (with the) ‘next man up’ mentality since I got here,” Zinter said, adding, “You’re one play away, so you never know when it’s going to be.”
#Browns rookie Zak Zinter praised Wyatt Teller, Joel Bitonio and Ethan Pocic for helping bring him along and told me he's been preparing for this bigger role since he got here.
He's ready to embrace the next man up mentality—which you'll see on the Next Man Up segment this week. pic.twitter.com/9PwrUodKCm
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) September 25, 2024
Zinter added that while he is preparing for the role, he laments the way he earned it as Teller suffered a sprained MCL and was placed on the Injured Reserve (IR) list following the contest against the New York Giants.
The rookie guard also credited guards Joel Bitonio and the aforementioned Teller with helping him learn the ropes, sharing pre- and post-workout tricks with the 6-foot-6 guard to help him with life as an NFL lineman.
Heading into the Week 4 matchup, Zinter has logged 50 total offensive snaps and an additional 10 snaps with the special teams, valuable reps that will benefit him and his fellow teammates on the makeshift offensive line.
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