The last time the Cleveland Browns opened the regular season without Joe Thomas as the starting left tackle was in 2006.
That day against the New Orleans Saints, Kevin Shaffer was in his third and final year as the starting left tackle. Shaffer would start all 16 games that season before moving to right tackle the following season as Thomas began his Hall of Fame career.
When the Browns take the field on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Desmond Harrison - an undrafted free agent who took a circuitous route to the NFL - will line up at what has been one of the club’s premiere positions for 37 of the franchise’s 72 years of existence.