Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Bubba Ventrone (6.4.25)
Were there any players from the Senior Bowl that the Browns drafted?
“I don’t think we drafted any players that were on my team. We did obviously draft Dillon (Gabriel).”
Was Gabriel on your team?
“No, he was on the other team. He actually generated a pretty good opening drive that they scored on too, against us.”
Did you have the opportunity to spend any time with Gabriel?
“We had interactions down there in passing. I got to know a decent amount of players on both teams.”
So when the draft discussions took place, did you contribute, regarding him?
“Oh, regarding Dillon? No.”
How was that whole experience for you?
“It was a great experience. It really was. Well, first off, it really jump started the evaluation process for me. Spent a lot of time evaluating the players that were going to be on my team and then obviously getting to know those guys, see them interact in a team setting amongst their peers, in meetings and things like practice. You could hear a lot of the communication at practice amongst those guys. So it was definitely a really beneficial tool and resource for me.”
So, DeAndre Carter. Tell us about him as a returner. Does he go into this offseason as the number one guy?
“I had D.C. his rookie year, we had him on practice squad in New England. So, me and CO (Chad O’Shea) were pretty familiar with him. Extremely hard worker, undrafted kid that has a lot of talent and experience. He’s done a really good job. He’s been a combo returner since he’s been in the league, had a lot of production. Last year, he had good production in the kick return game. I would say that he’s at the top of the depth chart for us right now in both of those phases.”
He’s over 30. Has he got gas in the tank?
“He’s got gas in the tank. If you watch the film from last year, I think that you can see he’s got the same type of run style, the same type of mentality that he had when he had production early in his career.”
What about Dustin (Hopkins)? Obviously last year he goes through those struggles late in the season. Like, what have your discussions been like with him so far this offseason and during this period?
“Yeah, I think with any player, you know, it’s a new season. Everything that you’ve done in the past, obviously those things contribute and matter, but we’re clean slate. I feel like he’s in a good space mentally. I think that he has hit the ball well in the spring to this point. Had a nice day yesterday and we’re just gonna keep working it like we have and understand that it’s a process, and we’re gonna get to where we’re going.”
Was he not in a good space mentally last year, then?
“I’m not saying that he wasn’t in a good space mentally, but when you’re having that many missed kicks, you know, and the results aren’t coming and you’re working, you’re putting in the time and effort, you can be a little bit, inconsistent there relative to the situation.”
Back to D.C., has the return game been a source of frustration to you for two years?
“I would say we’ve left too many yards out there. Yeah, I think we’ve left too many yards out there for sure. I think having consistency at that position is definitely going to help us.”
Does that mean having the same guy rather than a group of guys?
“Not necessarily the same guy, has to do both phases. I think that when one guy is doing both phases, you do have a little bit more consistency.”
You’ve got a year now of data from the new kickoff. How much did that ease this offseason with how to adjust and set things up and all that?
“Yeah. So, we hired a new assistant special teams coach, Kyle Hoke. So, we did a lot of research that actually was tag team with, I would say, our analytics department on the data relative to where the balls kicked, caught, all that stuff. And then going back and looking at the techniques that go into the play, I feel like we have a much better grasp on how we want to attack that play. So, looking forward to applying everything, not only in the OTAs, but obviously moving into training camp and then preseason and the regular season.”
Are we kicking off from the 25-yard line now or what was it?
“No. So the only thing that has changed is where the touchback’s gonna go to. The touchback will now go to the 35.”
They didn’t move the kickoff back five yards, too?
“No, the kickoff will stay from the minus 35, and then the touchback moves to the 35-yard line.”
What do you think that will result in?
“I think ultimately you’re gonna have a lot more returned kicks.”
Luke Floreia is a local guy that we saw make some plays as a receiver, but I know he’s been working special teams unit for you guys as well. What have you seen from his contributions early on?
“Well, the first thing is I think he’s done a really good job relative to just giving good looks. He’s done a good job. The effort’s been good. He’s a ball handler. He’s got pretty good hands, a little bit smaller of a guy, but he’s got good quickness. So, he’s been receptive to everything we’re trying to do.”
So, what gets you excited and fired up about the fact that teams are just going to be so much better this year than they were last year?
“Yeah, I think that first off, we have some, I would say we have some carryover from last season. We developed a good amount of young players that contributed for us. Winston (Reid), Bookie (Nathaniel Watson) guys like that, even guys like Chris Edmonds that are coming back that have done a good job in the spring. And I would just say just the buy in. I feel like with our whole team, not just the kicking game, I feel the players are bought in on making it harder and just working harder. And I think that Kevin’s (Stefanski) done a really good job on sending a message on how we need to attack this season, this offseason program, obviously in the training camp, in the season, but I feel like our whole team, coaching staff understands like what we need to do.”
Bubba, you guys lost a lot of contributors on the special team game from Rodney (McLeod) to D’Anthony (Bell), who’s really next up to kind of fill some of those voids on special teams?
“Yeah, I think we’re going to see here once we get into training camp and we truly have competition at every single position, pretty much. We have a really good linebacker room, the safety position. There’s a lot of guys, there’s a lot of opportunity in those positions for the big four. Even at corner, we have a lot of spots that are available. I mean you lose Mike (Ford Jr.), D. Bell, those are two your top guys. So someone’s gonna have to step up.”
Of the five rookie draft picks, not quarterbacks, which will be predominant on special teams?
“I think we’ll get contributions from all the guys that aren’t quarterbacks. Honestly, in some capacity, probably less from Mason (Graham) than the others. But I mean, look, Carson (Schwesinger) was a walk-on at UCLA, so he’s got a four-phase background. That’s what he did. I mean he was a four-phase contributor at UCLA, had a lot of production, got opportunities to play defense. So I see that guy being a guy that will play for us, especially early. Harold Fannin didn’t have a lot of experience, but things he did at the Senior Bowl were noticeable. So, I think that he’s got a skill set that we’ll be able to work with. And then we signed a good amount of undrafted players that I think that will compete to earn spots.”
The two running backs?
“The two running backs? Yeah. And we’re going to continue to work those guys in the ball handling area. Both of those guys will factor back there. (Dylan) Sampson will do some kick return stuff, (Quinshon) Judkins will do some kick return stuff.”
A lot of kickers don’t survive what Dustin went through last year. So why do you guys have so much faith in him?
“Yeah, I think that he’s been consistent in his entire career. He really has. He had a great year in ‘23, for whatever reason, did not have a great year this past year. And I think that he’s put it to bed and as long as the player is focused on the task at hand and I think that he’s done that. His preparation, he’s in really good shape. He’s lean, he’s strong. Really don’t see any changes in his kicking mechanics, ball elevation, anything. So, I feel like he’s in a good spot.”
But just to follow up on that, Bubba, historically ‘23 was an outlier for his beyond 50-yard kicks. So was it something special that you guys did that year?
“No, I don’t think so. I think that obviously he just – he connected on it better. He just did. Sometimes it’s just like that, you know, sometimes in sports you get in a little bit of a slump. I mean there’s guys that bat over .300 for their whole careers and get into a slump for a while. I think that we’re just trying to find our way out of it.”
Charley (Hughlett) gone now and you guys bring Rex (Sunahara) back, you bring Brent (Matiscik) at long snapper. Like what do you need to see out of those guys in that position throughout the summer?
“It’s good to have competition at every position as long as the roster can handle it. We felt like at that position we needed to have some competition. Obviously snapping is a big evaluation of that position. Ability to protect, ability to cover all those things will factor into making a decision on that.”
You had talked about Kevin just setting the intensity for this offseason and feeling like the guys are brought in. Is that a noticeable difference from this time last year? Do you recognize that it feels different or does it not?
“I think it does feel different. I do. I think it feels different when you finish a season like we did, you know, and not really talking about last season. But nobody was happy with how that season played out. And we’re doing, everyone’s doing our best to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Would you have been in favor of kicking off from the 30 or even the 25?
“I would have been in favor of kicking off from the 30. The thing that I actually wanted was – so now if the ball falls short of the landing zone, if the ball falls short of the 20-yard line. So last year the rules were the ball would be placed at the 40-yard line. If the ball’s kicked out of bounds, the ball’s placed at the 40-yard line. Now the touchback goes to the 35. If the ball falls short of the landing zone, the ball still goes to the 40. I wanted it to be the 45 or the 50 to discourage any type of like alternative line drive kicks, things like that, because you’re really only sacrificing five yards. I wanted the penalty to be greater that way the play’s clean and it just looks better.”
So, do you expect ball placement being an issue for these kickers? I think we saw last year, like not a lot of kickers were kicking into the end zone if they were leaving it short, kind of 10 yards short or such. Kind of hard to get into that, in between.
“No, I don’t, I really don’t. I don’t see it. I don’t. And to your point, I don’t see a lot of teams kicking touchbacks, trying to kick the ball into the end zone. I think it’s, I mean, regardless of what the schemes or the rules are, I think it’s hard to return a ball past the 35-yard line. So, if you can tackle it inside the 35, it’s technically a win.”
Last year at some point you mentioned the two spot during practice. You guys have gone to that, you know, mostly to get the quarterbacks reps. But did you talk to Kevin about the value you see in that?
“We’ve talked about past experiences. Yeah, when I played in San Francisco, we two spotted quite a bit and we talked about building the callus on our bodies and being in better condition and better shape. And I think that when you’re able to do that, if you have the numbers to do it – and obviously we have four quarterbacks now that we’re trying to get reps to. But I think that if you’re able to handle it, the volume, it enables you to build conditioning amongst your team and everybody’s getting the experience in the reps and the running at the same time. So look, you can’t two spot every single drill, but I think that’ll be something that we’ll look at going into camp.”
Is Diontae (Johnson) someone that can help you in the return game?
“Yeah, he is. I was actually – this is funny. So, 2019, I was at his pro day at Toledo scouting him and another player that I ended up signing in Indy, Ashton Dolan. But yeah, he’s had production in his career. He was actually, I think he was second team All-Pro, maybe his rookie season. But super good, like great hands, has really good ability to make miss quick and fast, good vision. So he’ll be, he’ll definitely be a guy that we’ll factor.”
# # #
***Visit the Browns Media Center for materials provided by the Browns communications department, including media schedules, press releases, quotes, photos, media guides, rosters, depth charts and more.***