Browns sign running back L.J. Scott

The Cleveland Browns signed running back L.J. Scott on Monday.

In a subsequent transaction, the team waived running back Devante Mays.

An undrafted free agent, Scott played four years at Michigan State, where he made 23 starts. He finished his collegiate career at No. 9 on the school’s all-time list for rushing yards (2,855) and carries (610), while his 25 rushing touchdowns are 12th in program history.

Scott, who is 6-foot and 227 pounds, had his best season in 2016 when he rushed for 994 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry. (Although his 2015 season, where he had 11 rushing touchdowns and averaged 4.8 yards per carry, was pretty good as well.)

According to Lance Zierlein’s draft profile of Scott at NFL.com:

Scott failed to hit the 1,000 yard mark during his career and had just one season averaging more than 4.8 yards per carry, but those numbers are not indicative of his NFL potential. Despite consecutive seasons of traffic jams in front of him, his vision and decisiveness has not been compromised. Scott is a volume ball-carrier whose pass-catching ability adds to his value as a potential starter, but he struggles to find explosive carries and might need to be part of a “thunder and lightning” pairing.

Scott battled an ankle injury his senior year and played in just five games, where he only averaged 3.3 yards per carry on 79 rushing attempts. He originally had a rookie minicamp tryout with the Baltimore Ravens, but the Ravens obviously decided not to sign him.

Scott will now have an opportunity to show the Browns what he can do as the team opens the first of 10 Organized Team Activities on Tuesday in Berea.