By: Ivan Mulinder

The Cleveland Browns beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24 – 13 on Friday, August 12th and there were a number of important takeaways from the game, some good, and some bad. Let’s have a closer look at some of the key analyses.

QB Deshaun Watson 

Deshaun Watson made his Browns debut and looked rusty. This is no great surprise when you consider that his last competitive game was against the Tennessee Titans in Week 17 2020/21 where he threw for 365 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 41-38 loss. Watson threw the ball 5 times with 1 completion for 7 yards, but Anthony Schwartz dropped three of these passes. The Browns have been clear that Jacoby Brissett is getting most of the first team reps in practice so it’s unsurprising that we saw him for such a short period in the game. The good news is his pocket presence looked good and he looked dangerous when scrambling – which is something the Browns lacked with Baker Mayfield. Once he’s back up to game speed Watson is going to be an excellent weapon in the Browns Offense.

C Nick Harris

Unfortunately, Centre Nick Harris suffered an ACL injury to his right knee. Nick had put on weight but kept his mobility and the Browns were hopeful he was going to have a good season. The way he was driven back wasn’t a good omen and now he’s going to have surgery on his knee and will be out for the season. Fortunately, the Browns brought in Ethan Pocic in Free Agency and his backup is Dawson Deaton. Deaton played Guard for Texas Tech and was the Browns 7th Round pick in the 2022 Draft going at number 246. This means he isn’t a starting caliber Centre.  Will the Browns move to bring back JC Tretter? I doubt it as they cut him from their roster, but Billy Price is still available in Free Agency so I wouldn’t be surprised if a move was made for him. 

WR Anthony Schwartz

I’ve mentioned already that Anthony Schwartz had a poor game. He didn’t register any yardage on Friday with multiple drops. Trying to look on the positive side, at least he got into positions to make catches which is more than he achieved in his rookie year in 2021. The Browns Wide Receiver Room remains a concern for me. Amari Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and David Bell didn’t play and have had a good Training Camp so far, but there is little to excite outside of those three. Michael Woods II was having a good Camp but pulled his hamstring and Javon Wims is now in his 4th season, so if he was going to have an impact you would think he’d have made it by now. Personally, I’d really like to see the Browns move for Will Fuller who is still available in Free Agency. 

CB Martin Emerson Jr

The Browns Cornerback Room has to be one of the deepest, if not the deepest, in the NFL- Denzel Ward, Greg Newsome II, Greedy Williams, AJ Green, and now Martin Emerson.  Emerson looked in total control all night and capped off a superb performance with a Pick 6 going 74 yards at the end of the first half to put the Browns in the lead. The only battle is going to be for the CB6 slot, but Herb Miller also looked good with a fine interception, and he is a 2-year veteran so he understands the game more and is learning from outstanding players. 

RB Jerome Ford 

The Browns love their Running Backs and Jerome Ford was motoring against the Jaguars. He had 10 carries for 57 yards, 5.7 yards per carry, and a rushing touchdown. In addition, he had 4 receptions for 45 yards, with an average of 11.2 yards per reception, and a receiving touchdown. Ford was selected by the Browns in Round 5 of the 2022 Draft with pick 156 and with this performance, and the Browns need at Wide Receiver, it could be that Kareem Hunt is traded to a team that is short of an RB1. With Nick Chubb, D’Ernest Johnson, Demetric Felton, and now Jerome Ford the Browns are loaded at Running Back, with an honorable mention to John Kelly. 

QB Battle

So, the Browns move on to a home game next week against the Philadelphia Eagles where we should begin to see more of their starters playing. However, don’t expect to see Jacoby Brissett on the pitch for long as the QB battle between Joshua Dobbs and Josh Rosen is a fascinating one from the evidence of Friday’s game. Dobbs completed 10 of 13 attempts for 108 yards and a touchdown whereas Rosen went 6 of 7 for 56 yards. It would appear that the Browns have much better depth at QB this season than last year where Case Keenum wasn’t even given the opportunity to start despite Baker’s horrendous injuries. As for all teams let’s hope there are no more serious injuries.

The post Takeaways from the Browns 24-13 victory over the Jaguars appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Ivan Mulinder

The Cleveland Browns entered the 2022 Draft with the following needs: DE, DT, K & WR. They ended up drafting 9 players (4 on Offense, 4 on Defense, and 1 ST). Here’s a list of the players they selected:

• Round 3 Pick 68 CB Martin Emerson from Mississippi State
• Round 3 Pick 78 DE Alex Wright from UAB
• Round 3 Pick 99 WR David Bell from the Purdue Boilermakers
• Round 4 Pick 108 DT Perrion Winfrey from Oklahoma Sooners
• Round 4 Pick 124 K Cade York from LSU
• Round 5 Pick 156 RB Jerome Ford from Cincinnati Bearcats
• Round 6 Pick 202 WR Mike Woods from Oklahoma Sooners
• Round 7 Pick 223 DE Isaiah Thomas from Oklahoma Sooners
• Round 7 Pick 246 C Dawson Deaton from Texas Tech

After the 7 Rounds, the Browns then selected 12 UDFA including:

• WR Isaiah Weston from Northern Iowa
• CB Julius Faulk from Delta State
• TE Zaire Mitchell-Paden from Florida Atlantic
• S D’Anthony Bell from West Florida
• LB Silas Kelly from Coastal Carolina

The NFL experts grading this Draft seem to have gone for a consensus grade of B+ but Andrew Berry was really pleased with his haul. I think, yet again, he drafted very well selecting players with high upside in key positions and trading down 3 times to get more of them. The Browns have a pretty full roster packed with a lot of talent. Most of these players have been picked to come through to the first team in a couple of years or more, as important rotational players, with 3 likely starting straight away. 

The 3 picks Andrew Berry traded down for turned into those 3 likely starters:

• CB Martin Emerson is graded the 3rd best CB in the SEC by PFF. He’s 6.2 201lbs with a 4.53 40-yard dash. Over the last 2 seasons, he’s posted 14 pass breakups and 4.5 tackles for loss. He has all the traits to play zone and man coverage although he’s not as good at stopping the run. This was a surprise pick for the Browns as CB wasn’t considered a need, but during Day 3 Troy Hill was traded back to the Rams for a 5th Round 2023 pick making Emerson a likely rotational starter.

• DT Perrion Winfrey, 6.4 290lbs and in 2021  posted 11 tackles for loss in 12 starts with 5.5 sacks. According to Sharp Football, he was the second-best value pick in the first 4 Rounds being picked 57 places lower than expected. Browns fans watching his video know they’ve got a very passionate guy who is a real brawler. This was an excellent pick and filled a real need for the Browns.

• K Cade York was the best Kicker in the Draft. In the regular season for LSU, he kicked 81.8% of his FG successfully and 97.6% of his extra points. He is famous for kicking a 57-yard FG in fog to beat the Florida Gators. We all saw how crucial McPherson was to the Bengals Super Bowl run last year and the Browns lost 5 games by less than 5 points last season so this was a very important pick and it shows how much Berry values him by getting him at 124.

In the Defensive End Room, Alex Wright is an archetypal Browns DE and probably fell to 78 because he didn’t test at the Combine. He’s 6.5 271lbs and in 2021 registered 7.5 tackles for loss and 7 sacks, with 3 pass breakups and 2 forced fumbles. PFF graded him the 3rd best DE in College Football so this was another important pick up at a crucial position of need and Wright will be a useful backup next season to Garrett and whoever else the Browns bring in during Free Agency. The Browns added a second DE in Isaiah Thomas who is 6.5 and 266lbs. He’s had 8 sacks a season for the last 2 years, and in 2021 added 11.5 tackles for loss, 4 pass breakups, 34 QB pressures, and 3 forced fumbles. His RAS score is 9.16 which is super athletic. The Browns have added quality depth to a really important position of need. I’m grading this room upgrade as an A.

WR concerns were covered with 2 selections, the better of which is undoubtedly David Bell who is 6.1 and a slightly heavier 212lbs. He was No.1 in contested catches in College football and had 13.8 yards per catch last season with 1,286 yards. He’s not fast, but he’s an excellent route runner both inside and outside and can create separation laterally, and uses his weight to win contested catches. This could mean that Landry isn’t returning as Bell and the Browns TE will be the short to medium range targets. Hopefully, this means the Browns will be after someone else like Will Fuller now the Draft is over. Michael Woods was selected with the pick the Browns received for the Amari Cooper trade and I suspect was selected because he has many of the traits Berry likes- he’s young at 22, he’s very athletic with a RAS score of 7.64 and he’s 6.1, so we’ll see how he progresses. Isaiah Weston is freakishly athletic with a RAS score of 9.99, a 4.42 40-yard dash, and elite measurements in the vertical and broad jumps.  I really think he’s one to watch, but the Browns still need to add a WR post Draft.

The Browns were not expected to select an RB with Chubb, Hunt, Johnson, and Felton already established on the roster, but Jerome Ford is a good choice. 5.10, 210lbs with a 4.46 40-yard dash. In 2021 he had 19 touchdowns, with 52 missed tackles forced, 32 explosive runs, 3 yards after contact per attempt, and a PFF rushing grade of 89.4! Kareem Hunt is on the last year of his contract and D’ernest Johnson is a free agent which no other team opted to take, so is back with the Browns. Jerome Ford is clearly the replacement for someone, and I speculate that Hunt might be used as a bargaining tool in a potential Baker trade. 

The Browns had a very good 2022 Draft which will go under the radar as they didn’t pick until Round 3. If they add more quality players, if Deshaun Watson gets a lot of game time, barring injuries, they’ve set themselves up for contention in the AFC North and the AFC Championship.

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