By: Ivan Mulinder

The Cleveland Browns have upgraded their offense over the off-season at quarterback and at wide receiver bringing in Deshaun Watson and Amari Cooper. I still believe they need to add another veteran wide receiver threat if the Browns are going to challenge the Chiefs, Bills and Bengals for the AFC Championship. What if they don’t add another quality wide receiver to their roster and run with who they have already, what will that mean to their chances of winning the AFC North and challenging for the AFC Championship? If this scenario plays out the Browns will need two players on offense to really step up and have a breakout season:

David Njoku

David Njoku was drafted in 2017 in Round 1 with pick 29. He’s 6.4, 246lbs, and ran the 40 in 4.64. His best 3 seasons have been in 2018, 2020, and 2021 where he’s played in the majority of the games. His stats are fairly consistent scoring 4 touchdowns in 2018 & 2021, with 631 receiving yards in 2018 and 475 receiving yards in 2021. His catch % has been between 65%-67% in all of these seasons and his yards per return have been between 11-13 each season. His PFF receiving grades were 65.3 in 2018, 64.1 in 2020, and 70.0 in 2021. David Njoku is a good player, but with Amari Cooper being the only great proven wide receiver talent on the team, and with the Browns often regarded as a tight end favored team, he’s going to need to take a greater load of the team’s yardage and red zone touchdowns. He was 12th in tight end touchdowns last season, but he needs to move into the top 5. Travis Kelce ranked 1st with 9 touchdowns and was second in receiving yards with 1,125 way ahead of Njoku’s 475. The Browns need to do a better job at scheming for Njoku as his catch % was actually better than Kelce’s last season so a lot is resting on this position and this player.

Donovan Peoples-Jones

There is arguably an even greater pressure on DPJ to step up. Currently, he is the Browns WR2 behind Amari Cooper so if the Browns Front Office don’t bring in another wide receiver they must have a lot of faith in him. The stats are mixed. On the positive side, PFF graded him 73.1 in receiving in 2020 although this went down to 67.0 last season. In 2021 he had 597 receiving yards on 34 receptions with 58 targets and 17.6 yards per return. He had 3 touchdowns and a catch % of 58.6%. He’s a Round 6 drafted wide receiver picked at 187, but he was badly trained and under-utilized at Michigan which is likely why he fell so far. He has a lot of potentials, but he’s really going to need to step and improve drastically if he’s going to have the production the Browns need out of their WR2 to be very successful in 2022.

The Browns have just re-signed their right defensive end, Jadeveon Clowney, on a 1 year $11 million deal. This is excellent news for the Browns as it means they just need to add a run stopper in their defensive tackle room to make their defense truly elite. PFF had Clowney with 11 sacks last season, a 62.8 run defense grade, and a 69.1 pass rush grade. He’s a crucial player to the Browns defensive line and relieves the pressure on Chase Winovich to be that DE2 opposite, Garrett. Chase Winovich had his best form in 2020 with 5.5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss and 12 quarterback hits so if he can improve upon this their DE Room will be very impressive. The Browns need their Linebackers to take the next step up and there is one player in particular they will be hoping to see make great strides forward.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah

JOK fell to the Browns in the 2020 Draft in Round 2 at pick 52. He’s 6.2, 215lbs, and fly’s around the field stopping the run. Per PFF, his run defense grade was 78.7 last season with an overall grade of 76.5. In 14 games he made 3 sacks, had 2 forced fumbles (5th), 3 tackles for loss, 4 quarterback hits, and 49 solo tackles (50th). He achieved these stats as a rookie player, so if he gets better in year 2 the Browns will have an excellent second line of defense in front of their already outstanding defensive backs.

If Njoku, DPJ, and JOK all have big seasons in 2022 then the Browns could catapult themselves into the AFC Championship talk, especially if they add a run-stopping defensive tackle and a veteran wide receiver.

The post 3 breakout candidates on the Cleveland Browns appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

Football fans caught a glimpse into the 2021 NFL season with last Thursday’s draft. Fan bases watched and reacted to a new batch of players to help bring their team to glory. 

Many teams felt they walked away from the draft with “a steal” in a specific round. But the Browns stunned fans with their second-round pick. 

The Cleveland Browns drafted Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the second round. Many analysts, including myself, believed Koramoah would be a first-round pick. Health concerns brought down his draft stock. 

The Browns capitalized on the declining draft stock. He is the missing piece that the defense needed to make a serious playoff push in 2021. His mixed ability to defend the pass and rush the pass gives that boost Cleveland needed. 

What makes Koraomoah so unique?

In the 2020 NFL Draft, there was an astronomical amount of hype around Isaiah Simmons. His ability to rush the QB and cover the pass grabbed analysts’ attention. However, it did not work out.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is a different story. 

He stands six feet and one inch tall, weighing 216 lbs of pure muscle. The safety-turned linebacker has become a significant problem for opposing offenses. He has the speed of a defensive back but the build of an EDGE rusher. How do you game plan for that?

The NFL comparison that best fits Koramoah is Kam Chancellor. It may be a very bold comparison, but hear me out. 

The first example is in his pass coverage ability. Koramoah creates problems for opposing quarterbacks with his ability to read their eyes. He locks in on the QB, forcing him to make a mistake or even turn over the ball. Kam Chancellor is one of the best safeties of all time due to his ability to anticipate the quarterback’s next move and break up or potentially intercept the pass. 

Another aspect is their ability to blitz the quarterback when they least expect it. Koramoah pops in a quarterback’s line of vision at the last possible second. Before he can react, the QB finds himself buried into the ground. Being run over by a car hurts less. 

Finally, Koramoah hits ball carries with superhero strength. He reads the play in front of him, then sprints towards the ballcarrier to beat them to a spot. Once he has the advantage, it is like being hit by a semi-truck. Balls pop loose. Passes knocked in the air. Koramoah is a playmaker. 

The Cleveland Browns have turned over a new leaf, with Kevin Stefanski leading the charge. Koramoah could not have fallen into a better situation. His style complements the defense well, especially with Myles Garrett and newly signed FA Jadeveon Clowney on each side of the line in front of him. 

The Browns made a smart draft choice. It is Koramoah’s time to prove it. 

The post Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah: The Browns missing piece appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

by Michael Obermuller

The NFL Draft came and went like a hurricane once again, with winners and losers grades flying in from every analyst in America. According to aggregate rankings, some of this year’s draft champions were teams like the Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Jets, and Miami Dolphins. Do any of these franchises actually have a shot at the Super Bowl though?

The short answer is yes. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers flipped the script in a single offseason, going from 7-9 to parade yachting through Tampa’s harbor. I know they signed the greatest quarterback the game has ever seen, but we’ve seen the NFL pull championship 180’s more often than any other sports league, and we could definitely see another dark horse Lombardi winner in February of 2022.

Based on both the NFL Draft and NFL Free Agency, here are four teams that could make the jump to SB Champs in what is now less than one calendar year away.

Cleveland Browns

Now I know this one seems like a cop-out, because the Browns were pretty darn good last season, but they’re still not even favorites to win their division according to most oddsmakers right now. On FanDuel Sportsbook, Cleveland has +1700 odds to win the big game, behind the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens at +1400. To me, the Browns might have had the top draft in football, and that’s after having a solid free agency and an 11-5 record in 2020.

General manager Andrew Berry made a splash just before the draft when he signed edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney. He had already bolstered the secondary in March, bringing in safety John Johnson III and corner Troy Hill (both formerly of the Los Angeles Rams), not to mention DT Malik Jackson and LB Anthony Walker elsewhere on the defense. This unit held Cleveland back in 2020, with a fluid consistency on the other side of the ball. After the signings they made, and the sleeper potential of draft picks like CB Greg Newsome II and LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (who never should have fallen out of the first round), it might be their strength just one year later.

The Brownies have been improving ever since Baker Mayfield took over at quarterback, and now this team is built to win it all. Top offensive line, ferocious pass rush, youthful secondary, blistering run game… oh, and star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. set to return from injury. Cleveland somehow faces a third-place schedule with a first-place roster, and I expect them to dominate.

Denver Broncos

A lot of people had the Denver Broncos as dark horses in 2020, but I promise you that I was not one of them. Even before the Courtland Sutton and Von Miller injuries (both healthy again), I thought Denver was a few missing pieces away from contention, but they may have solved a large chunk of that puzzle this offseason. They rank 11th on the aggregate draft boards, but I actually thought they deserved a higher grade. GM George Paton did a ton of things I liked this Spring, and it all started in the secondary with signings Kyle Fuller and Ronald Darby. It continued in the draft.

The tweet above doesn’t even include seventh round pick Kary Vincent Jr., who I thought was one of the top value picks of the entire draft. The LSU cornerback’s rank seemed to fall after he opted out in 2020, but he was very productive the season before when the Tigers won the College Football Playoff. The Broncos needed a deep secondary that could keep up with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, and this one can. Factor in Miller and Bradley Chubb finally pairing together off the edge, and this defense could have championship pedigree under Vic Fangio. The offense should be no slouch either, with a plethora of young weapons and the one tricky question being at quarterback (Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater set to compete).

P.S. Denver is currently the front-runner to trade for Aaron Rodgers… and that would only boost their +2400 Super Bowl odds.

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys may not have had the best draft grades in their entirety, but I thought they made a couple of very key selections early on, like middle linebacker Micah Parsons. After trading back for a couple of extra picks, the Boys drafted the top LB in the draft. Parsons is not only talented, he’s a leader with the ceiling of a Bobby Wagner type captain. They also filled their cornerback need in the second round (after missing out on Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II), drafting Kelvin Joseph out of Kentucky (a solid prospect with elite speed), and UCLA defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa is another intriguing prospect nabbed in the third.

Jerry Jones and Dallas went defense, defense, and more defense this draft after dishing out $240 million to Dak Prescott this offseason, and I loved the commitment here by Jones and company. This offense was spectacular before Prescott’s injury, averaging 32.6 points per game (PPG) during the five games he started. Dak plus a healthy offensive line should put the Cowboys back near the top of the league in efficiency, but this defense was in desperate need of reinforcements, allowing the fifth most PPG last season. When you consider how many injuries the franchise suffered in 2020, plus the improvements they’ve made this Spring, they are an easy 2021 dark horse in my eyes at +2800 odds.

Chicago Bears

I’m surprising myself with this one as I’ve been one of the biggest Matt Nagy-Ryan Pace haters the past few seasons, and most Bears fans would probably agree with me after the way this franchise has been run. That could all change with one draft decision, however, the trade-up for dual-threat quarterback Justin Fields. Now you are either a Fields believer or you aren’t ”” and I am ”” ranking the Ohio State product as my QB1 in 2021 (yes, that’s including Trevor Lawrence). As expected, NFL GM’s disagreed with us Fields supporters drafting Lawrence, Zach Wilson, and Trey Lance over him. To be fair, I like Wilson and Lawrence and think both could be successful, Lance I’m less sure about it.

Having the game-ready Fields as the Chicago QB1 instead of Andy Dalton makes all the difference in the world when evaluating this roster’s chances, but it wasn’t just the addition of Fields that changed my entire perspective on the Bears. Pace was drafting like his life depended on it (only because it totally did), and I have to admit that he struck gold under pressure. Left tackle Teven Jenkins was a steal in the second (a first round talent that will start after the release of Charles Leno). Then guard prospect Larry Borom and cornerback Thomas Graham Jr. were also some picks with some major potential to be had.

This once-great defense still flaunts playmakers like Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, Robert Quinn and Eddie Jackson. The defensive line should also get back 2020 opt-out Eddie Goldman alongside Akiem Hicks. So long as they get something out of corners Desmond Trufant and Jaylon Johnson, this is a formidable unit again in 2021. On the offensive side, the Bears managed to hold onto Allen Robinson, while adding interesting weapons like Damien Williams, Damiere Byrd and Marquise Goodwin for Fields to get the ball to. There are still problems to solve, but Chicago took a major leap in the Super Bowl odds after draft night in my opinion, yet they still sit at +4800 odds on FanDuel. I may just have to take that bet.

The post Post-NFL Draft Super Bowl Dark Horses in AFC and NFC appeared first on Pro Football Mania.