Winning a job against the odds is nothing new for Ray Agnew.
At Southern Illinois, he arrived on campus as a walk-on fullback who was, by his own admission, not highly touted.
He was hungry then to make his case for a spot, and in order to be an odds buster in Browns’ training camp as an undrafted free agent, he understands he needs to be hungry now.
On July 26, as camp commenced in Berea, Agnew couldn’t exactly show off his forte of pummeling an oncoming defender with the pads not going on for a couple more days.
Photo gallery from today’s practice
But every snap is an opportunity for an impression – something Agnew can appreciate after earning his way to a scholarship with the Salukis and being a team captain as a fifth-year senior last year.
‘I think it is helpful, because I’ve been through adversity before,’ Agnew said after practice. ‘I know how to take tough coaching. I know how to fail and learn from my mistakes and get back up and do it better the next time. So I think that does help, but at the end of the day, it just comes down to what you do on the field.’
(full audio interview with Agnew here)
What Agnew has done on the field has made its mark to this point.
Last year for SIU, which is a Football Championship Subdivision squad, Agnew spearheaded a rushing attack paced by younger sibling Malcolm that averaged 153.1 yards per game.
His punishing style was enough to garner attention from Northeast Ohio, and after the draft, the Browns called to invite him in and earn a roster spot.
The responsibilities are a little different with the zone blocking scheme the Browns are implementing under Coach Mike Pettine and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, but Agnew embraces the challenge.
‘Reading what front the defense is in,’ Agnew said of the key to zone blocking for a fullback. ‘You’ve got to know what the linemen are going to do and how they’re going to block. Your assignment is based off that. A lot of times, it’s about hip placement and stuff like that.
‘Back in college, I was just so focused on the running and blowing somebody up. Now I’ve got to be more precise with my hip placement while still being physical.’
Being physical at the point of attack is a standard for the Agnew family.
Agnew’s father, Ray Jr., was a 285-pound defensive lineman who was selected 10th overall by the Patriots in the 1990 NFL draft out of North Carolina State. Ray Agnew Jr. played 11 years in the NFL, recording 377 tackles and 22.5 sacks, and is now the Rams’ assistant director of pro personnel.
‘He just tells me there’s peaks and valleys,’ Agnew said of his father’s advice. ‘You’re going to have good plays and bad plays, good days and bad days. You can’t get too high on the good. You can’t get too low on the bad. You’ve just got to work on being consistently good obviously – just not letting one bad day kill the rest of your week or one good day make you lose your edge.’
Edge will not be an issue for Agnew, though, just as it wasn’t when he was a college walk-on and certainly not now as he pursues his NFL dream.
‘I feel like I’ve been an underdog my whole life, all the way through high school not getting recruited that much and not being very well recognized, even in college not being recognized,’ Agnew said. ‘And it moves on to here, too – being undrafted and what not.
‘I’ve been an underdog my whole life. I would say I’m used to it, and I accept the challenge.’
