INDIANAPOLIS -- One podium over from Mekhi Becton on Wednesday was Ben Bartch.
Becton, of course, is a monster of a human being who is very much in the running for the Browns at No. 10. Bartch is a tackle prospect, too, out of Division III St. John’s University -- the Johnnies -- who started his college career as a tight end.
Here’s how he went from someone with no Division I offers to standing at a podium on Wednesday morning at the combine:
How it happened: Look, Bartch wasn’t exactly Travis Kelce out there. He did run the 400 in high school -- one time. He didn’t realize you could cut to the inside line after a certain point, so he was not doing well by the end. He was a thrower, not a runner.
After arriving at St. John’s, his coaches would joke with him whenever he dropped a pass they would move him to tackle. Then, one day, he got a call and they actually wanted him to play there.
It worked out. Would he have ended up in Indianapolis as a tight end?
“I don’t know,” he said. “Probably not.”
How he made it work: Let’s start with the smoothie. Bartch had to put on weight over the summer but didn’t have time to get all the carbohydrates he needed before going to his job as a strength coach at a local high school. What he did have was a friend’s NutriBullet and a bunch of stuff to throw in it. If you’re interested, here’s how to make it:
- 7 scrambled eggs
- A big tub of cottage cheese’
- Quick grits
- Peanut butter
- Banana
- Gatorade.
- Throw it all in the NutriBullet and plug your nose.
“I’d gag sometimes, but that’s what you have to do,” he said.
How’d he come up with it?
“I just kind of researched online for the most clean and healthy ingredients for putting on good mass,” he said. “That summer I went from 250 (pounds) to 275, and then after that I went from 275 to 305.”
Then he had to learn how to play. So he did what everyone does when they have to learn how to do something. He went to YouTube.
“I made it a mission to learn as much as I could on my own from the Internet about it,” he said, “then practicing and doing reps on my own.”
He’d watch pros. He’d watch instructional videos.
“Anything I could get my hands on,” he said. “I created a YouTube playlist by adding tons of videos and content, then just taking notes at night.”
Don’t worry, he credited his coaches, too.
“I had really good offensive line coaches,” he said.
How he got here: The Senior Bowl was a big opportunity for Bartch. It was a chance to show he could play against the best competition.
“Michael Jordan said you have to expect things of yourself before you do them,” Bartch said. “I expected of myself that I was going to perform well, whether or not other people thought I was some small-school scrub who was going to get destroyed. So I think going down there, you get that first rep out of your system and you just relax a little bit. Like, look we’re just playing football. We’re having fun. I think it was a great experience and really big for me.”
It’s not a surprise he was willing to take on the challenge. It’s just what he’s used to.
“At St. John’s, there’s a certain accountability and responsibility that you have to do it on your own,” he said. “We don’t have personal chefs or people giving you a smoothie after practice. You have to take it upon yourself to stay motivated and hold yourself accountable.”
He won’t be doing much here this weekend on the field. He has a small knee injury from the Senior Bowl and will skip workouts. Instead, he’ll use his pro day on March 25 at the University of Minnesota to show what he can do on the field.
Then the Dayton, Oregon native will try and follow in the footsteps of lower division linemen like Ali Marpet from Hobart and Marpet’s Buccaneers’ teammate, Alex Cappa, from Humboldt State. Bartch is poised to become the first player drafted from his conference since 2003.
“I’m very humbled about it,” he said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be here, to be honest. If I can bring some pride and some honor back to St. John’s and represent them well, I’m all for it.”
More Browns coverage
- Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry, shared meals and the plan for the Browns to win quiet: Lesmerises
- Berry: Joe Schobert has ‘earned the right to test the market’; non-committal on Olivier Vernon
- What does Andrew Berry mean when he says he’s going to be aggressive? It’s about opportunity
- Kevin Stefanski will let Alex Van Pelt call preseason plays to determine who handles it during season
- Searching for the Browns’ version of Tyreek Hill: Meet TCU’s Jalen Reagor
- Steelers hoping for a better Ben Roethlisberger and everything else we learned about the AFC North
- Browns have ‘big plans’ for David Njoku and will tender Kareem Hunt
- Ohio State WR K.J. Hill looks up to Browns’ Jarvis Landry because ‘he’s got that dog in him’
- Berry will listen to trade offers for OBJ and others but ‘we view him as part of our future’
- Tony Grossi suspended by ESPN Cleveland for calling Baker Mayfield a ‘midget’ on hot microphone
- Jarvis Landry says Kobe Bryant’s death inspired him to have hip surgery
- Tight ends and the Browns at NFL combine 2020: What you need to know
Like what you’re reading? Want more? Subscribe to Football Insider for exclusive Browns content, including daily texts from Mary Kay Cabot and cleveland.com's entire coverage team. Register quickly below using your phone number.