The battle for the starting strong safety spot is already hot in Cleveland. Jabrill Peppers and Derrick Kindred are splitting the first-team reps during minicamp.

The expectation is that Peppers will win the job, but he will have to pry it away from last year’s starter in Kindred.

Kindred is not giving up his starting spot without a fight. He was quite impressive against the run as a hybrid LB/safety in 2017 before going on injured reserve with a broken wrist in December.

Peppers struggled in the deep free safety role as a first-round rookie, but he thrived in college in the role Kindred played in Cleveland last year. Peppers did acquit himself nicely late in the season after taking over for the injured starter.

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