The Key Tower still stands tallest and waves still crash the shores of Lake Erie but there is a sizable void in the Cleveland landscape. And it's not just that massive mural of LeBron James that hung downtown either.
There's another really large part of Cleveland that will be missing when the Browns host the Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium in Sunday's season opener.
After 11 seasons and 10,363 consecutive snaps, the Browns will open a season without Joe Thomas.
The former left tackle isn't just a sure-fire Hall of Famer and one of -- if not -- the best to ever play the position, he's a "legend." That's what former teammate Joe Haden calls him. For a few years there, he and Thomas were the only reason to watch the thoroughly awful Browns.
"It's going to be crazy not seeing him," Haden was telling me the other day. "He was the main thing there the whole time. A great dude."
But with Thomas in retirement, the Browns' offensive line is in a state of flux, to put it mildly. Not that the Steelers or 30 other teams are complaining.
"That's a good loss for us," Bud Dupree was saying. "Joe was a great player, a tremendous player, Pro Bowl, All-Pro-all-the-time guy. When you lose a guy like that, it's hard to fill his shoes."
Ask the Browns.
For his first four seasons, Joel Bitonio has been one of the NFL's better left guards but now he could be shifting him over to Thomas' old spot. Or maybe not.
On Cleveland's unofficial depth chart Bitonio is still listed as the starting left tackle while rookie Austin Corbett, a second-round pick out of Nevada, is at left guard. But that has changed.
On Friday, after months of speculation, Desmond Harrison -- an undrafted free agent out of West Georgia -- has been named the starter to protect Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor's blind side. Seriously.
After an entire off-season program, OTAs, minicamp, training camp and four preseason games with Bitonio getting a long look at tackle, Jackson made his decision two days before the opener against the Steelers. Yes, you can start to see why Jackson has gone 1-31 in his two seasons.
On Thursday, the Browns released backup center Aaron Neary which allowed Corbett to become the backup center, Harrison to start at left tackle and Bitonio at left guard.
"(Harrison's) talented enough, I think this is hopefully going to be our lineup as we travel through the season,” Jackson told reporters Friday. “I feel good about those five guys, I think this is going to give us the best chance for success.”
Bitonio had made no secret of his desire to stay at his natural position. His Pittsburgh counterparts --- guards David DeCastro and Ramon Foster -- can't say they blame him.
It's not entirely uncommon for a guard to move to tackle for, maybe, a game in a pinch, but it's quite rare to do it for any length of time. Both DeCastro and Foster say it would be difficult for anyone.
"For me, personally, I know I'd have a hard time doing it," DeCastro, a two-time All-Pro, told DKPittsburghSports.com. "It's all I know."
"If I had to? Yes. Would I want to? Probably no," Foster, a 10-year veteran, added. "There haven't been many that actually do it. Do I think he's a capable athlete? Absolutely. But I know the space at left tackle is a lot different than being on the inside."
While all offensive lineman are ginormous human beings -- DeCastro measures 6-foot-5 and 316 pounds and Foster goes 6-5, 328 -- not many guards are physically capable of playing tackle. Guards work in phone booths compared to the guys on the outside, who tend to be longer with longer arms and have greater athleticism and work in larger spaces.
Ideally, NFL teams look for left tackles with, minimally, 34-inch arms. At the 2013 scouting combine, Bitonio's arms measured 33.78 inches. By comparison, Steelers third-round pick Chukes Okorafor's arms measured 34.6 inches at this year's event in Indianapolis.
So, um, does size matter?
"I think Joe Thomas had, relatively, short arms and he was pretty good with it," DeCastro said. "That's why football's great. It's not all the athletic ability you're given. It's about being smart and understanding leverage and angles."
But tackles also usually contend with bigger, better athletes, the edge rushers -- defensive ends and outside linebackers -- whose livelihood is to get after quarterbacks, guys like Dupree and Cam Heyward.
Last season, Heyward recorded a career-high 12 sacks, one of which came in Week 1 vs. a Cleveland offensive line which yielded 50 sacks, sixth-most in the NFL. Conversely, the Steelers led the league in sacks (56).
Heyward isn't quite salivating at what appears to be a mismatch in the trenches, but he is looking at what the Browns did and who they used where along their O-line in the preseason.
"Obviously, they're going to have some things that they're working on (in preseason), but you look at their last year tape, they were pretty sound even though they don't have Joe Thomas," Heyward was telling me. "You try to look at their concepts and what they do and individually what they've done in the preseason."
Outside of Bitonio and Harrison, the Browns offensive line features veteran center J.C. Tretter, right guard Kevin Zeitler and right tackle Chris Hubbard. While the Steelers are certainly familiar with Todd Haley's offense, they are no stranger to Hubbard.
In four seasons with Pittsburgh, Hubbard made 14 starts, 10 of them last season while starting right tackle Marcus Gilbert was out with either suspension or injury. The 27-year-old was able to capitalize on that fine performance by commanding a five-year, $37.5 million contract ($15.15M guaranteed) from Cleveland in free agency this offseason.
Obviously, Hubbard's former teammates were thrilled to see their old friend's hard work as a swing tackle the past few seasons get rewarded. But they're not above taking advantage of a first-year starter either.
"Hard-working mentality, attitude, he came in every day and did what he was supposed to do," Stephon Tuitt was telling me. "He's going to be a good opponent to go against. I can't wait to go against him. I'm very happy for him. Happy for the opportunity that he has with the Browns."
While Hubbard should see a lot of T.J. Watt and Tuitt on one side, it's the left side -- with the unheralded rookie Harrison going up against Dupree or Heyward -- that figures to be the matchup to watch in Week 1.
"Joe (Thomas) brought a lot of stability," Heyward was saying. "He's one of the left tackles that could road-grade and still defend when in passing.
"They're a little bit different with Bitonio, but he's a heckuva player, very stout. I think he's going to be the deciding glue that makes them tick."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers practice, UPMC Rooney Athletic Complex, Sept. 6, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS