The Basics
Height: 6’6
Weight: 357 pounds
College: Georgia
Experience: 6
Celeveland is a born-and-bred Georgia boy who hails from the town of Toccoa. He starred at Stephens County High School, earning a four-star rating (No. 6 offensive guard nationally) as a prospect and an invite to the 2016 U.S. Army All-American Game. Staying true to his roots, Cleveland chose to continue his atheltic career at the University of Georgia.
Despite being a high-caliber recruit, Cleveland redshirted his first season on campus which obviously speaks to the talent that was going through the UGA program at the time. During his redshirt freshman season, Cleveland played in all 15 games and earned his first career starts in which he played right guard in the final five contests of the year.
In 2018, Cleveland started the first games of the season at right guard before suffering a lower body injury. He missed six games during the year and came back to play four more but as a backup.
The following year, Cleveland started just seven of 13 games at right guard as he continued to be in and out of the starting lineup. The 2020 season finally saw Cleveland put it all together as he started all nine games in the pandemic-shortened season. He was named a Third-Team All-American by the Associated Press and a First-Team All-SEC selection by all 14 coaches in the conference.
Cleveland was a eventually selected in the third round (94th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. As a rookie, he started four games before a knee injury suffered in Week Five put him on injured/reserve until November 20th. Overall he played in 12 games, but only logged those first four games as starts.
In 2022, Cleveland played in nine games but logged just one start at right guard. The 2023 season was more of the same with just two starts while playing a role in 16 games.
Cleveland was completely out of the starting lineup in 2024 but played in all 17 games on the team’s kick protection unit. In his final year with the Ravens, he played in 10 games with no starts before being suspended on December 8th. Following his reinstatement on January 1st, Cleveland was waived by the Ravens.
Four days later, Cleveland was signed by the Chargers. He did not make an appearance with the team and was later signed to a reserve/futures contract.
The Good
Cleveland is a mammoth offensive lineman at a true 6’6 and weighing anywhere between 345-360 pounds throughout his career. He’s also strong as an ox with 30 bench press reps at the NFL Combine during his draft year.
The Bad
Despite being a former four-star recruit and third-round pick of the Ravens, Cleveland has not panned out the way many expected him to, even in that tailor-made offense for him around Lamar Jackson. He’s now on his second team of his career and so far this offseason, there haven’t been any notable reports regarding his position on the two-deeps.
2026 Outlook
Cleveland was signed late in 2025 to help provide depth through the final weeks of the regular season and into the playoffs. The Chargers signed Cleveland to a new deal that kept him with the team through the offseason, but I can’t help but see the shift to the Mike McDaniel offense as a massive red flag for his chances of making the final roster. He was a perfect fit for Greg Roman’s power run scheme, but he’s not the dynamic athlete McDaniel covets at guard in his offense. Cleveland was already going to have a tough time making the active roster with so many other bodies better-suited for running outside zone. But now as we inch closer to training camp, I can only see him competing with Trevor Penning for the very last spot (if the Chargers once again choose to keep nine on the active roster).
Read the full article here