What is the biggest weakness for the Browns?
By: Ivan Mulinder
If the Cleveland Browns were to start the 2022 season now, they would have 3 weaknesses in their roster that could limit their season to 9-10 wins (even with Deshaun Watson playing all 17 games). These weaknesses are:
- Wide Receiver
- Defensive End
- Defensive Tackle
Wide Receiver
The Browns WR1 is Amari Cooper, who is a very good Wide Receiver. In 2021, the Cowboys didn’t use him to his full potential, but he was still 12th in receiving touchdowns and gained 865 yards on 68 receptions. He had 8.3 yards per target and a catch % of 65.4%. When he has played in most of the games in a season he has consistently gained over 1000+ receiving yards. His PFF receiving grade last season was 73.9. Deshaun Watson with Amari Cooper should be a great combination, the problem is the Browns don’t have any great wide receiver talent below Amari Cooper.
Donovan People-Jones is their WR2 currently. He had 3 touchdowns, 597 yards on 34 receptions with a catch % of 61.5%, 11.6 yards per target, and a PFF receiving grade of 67. DPJ is a promising young wide receiver who Watson should elevate further, but that is conjecture at the moment.
David Bell, the Browns wide receiver drafted in Round 3 at pick 99 from Purdue, is highly regarded by the Browns Front Office, but he’s still a rookie. The Browns need to add another quality wide receiver and the obvious target is Will Fuller.
Will Fuller was playing with Deshaun Watson in 2020 and in 11 games he scored 8 touchdowns with 879 yards on 53 receptions and a catch % of 70.7%. His PFF receiving grade was 85. The problem with Will Fuller is he’s injury-prone, missing virtually all of last season with a broken thumb.
The Browns have an excellent Quarterback in Deshaun Watson. The Bengals and Chiefs have shown what is possible with a top 5 QB with excellent receivers and an average defense. Let’s remind ourselves of Watson’s 2020 statistics:
- 4,823 passing yards which was 1st in the NFL
- 33 passing touchdowns which was 7th in the NFL
- 70.2% completion rate which is excellent
- 1.3% interception %
- PFF overall grade of 92.5 and a passing grade of 91.2
The Browns have two very good Tight Ends in David Njoku and Harrison Bryant, but their receiving threat needs another quality addition if they are to emulate the Bengals and Chiefs successes who both had glaring holes in Defense. The Browns have 2 glaring holes in their Defense.
Defensive End
The Defensive End Room in Cleveland is similar to that of their Wide Receiver Room in that they have a great No1, but nothing great below him. Myles Garrett at the LDE position is outstanding. Chase Winovich is the top choice at RDE. Chase Winovich last season had a PFF run-blocking grade of 67.2 and pass-rushing grade of 48.9. His best year was in 2020 when he had 85 combined tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 12 QB hits, and 5.5 sacks.
Behind Chase is rookie Alex Wright (who was their Round 3 pick at 78 in the Draft). Behind Myles Garrett is Stephen Weatherly. His grades last season were 6 tackles for loss, 7 QB hits, and a PFF pass-rush grade of 58.9 with a run-blocking grade of 49.
The Browns need Jadeveon Clowney back. In 2021 playing for the Browns he had 11 sacks, 19 QB hits, and 11 tackles for loss. He’s clearly a step up from the Browns backup defensive ends and would make the Edge Room good, with Grant Delpit and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah adding further potential at blitzing.
Defensive Tackle
The Browns really don’t seem to value the defensive tackle position and I don’t understand why. The Browns get gashed every year by running teams and with the Ravens in their division, you’d think they would have learned their lesson by now. As it stands their DT Room is poor.
I think Taven Bryan is their likely starting RDT who had 2 sacks last season, 4 tackles for loss, 8 QB hits, 56 combined tackles, with a PFF run-blocking grade of 44.4. Behind him is Tommy Togiai who had a PFF run-blocking grade of 49 last season.
Over at LDT, the starters are going to be either Sheldon Day or Jordan Elliott. Sheldon Day is the Browns current best run-blocking DT with a PFF grade of 59.1. This shows how weak the Browns are at running blocking Tackle. Elliott has a PFF run-blocking grade of 45. The Browns at least drafted an LDT in Perrion Winfrey, but his likely development is that of an interior pass rusher as he’s very aggressive with very long arms. They really need him to develop into a better run blocking tackle.
A solution can be found in Free Agency with Akiem Hicks still available. He’s not a long-term solution to their run blocking woes, as he’s getting old now, but when he plays a full season he consistently stacks up solid statistics at tackling and QB hits. His PFF run-blocking grade has recently been in the mid 60’s, but in 2018 he hit 92.7!
