The Cleveland Browns had their fair share of difficulties last season. Between having to start veteran Jacoby Brissett while Deshaun Watson was suspended, and the latter quarterback looking extremely rusty when he did play, Cleveland’s offense was not exactly high-powered. Brissett is a perfectly fine quarterback, but not exactly someone known to chuck it down the field. With all of that in mind, it is not a shock to see where the Browns ranked when it came to offensive plays of 30 or more yards last season.
With just 21 to their name, 18 other teams were able to accumulate more plays of this type than Cleveland.
Of course the one outlier here is Denver and as Warren Sharp mentions, it was mostly “moonballs when losing”. Besides that, it is obvious that Cleveland needs to improve in this area for the upcoming season.
These numbers should look better for the Browns as Watson becomes more familiar with his teammates. That is in addition to adding some help in the form of former Jets receiver Elijah Moore. Cleveland is counting on Moore to be an important part of their offense this season. Moore, along with Donovan Peoples-Jones, should be able to find favorable matchups with opposing defenses focusing in on Amari Cooper.
Peoples-Jones was one of the better receivers when it came to catch rate over expected last season. This speaks about his volumes about his ability to reel in the ball, but also the quality of passes that were thrown in his direction last year. Peoples-Jones should have a much easier time making catches this season with a full season of Watson commandeering the offense.
There is also one other person of note, maybe you’ve heard of him, Nick Chubb. Chubb was one of the most explosive runners in the NFL last season and may in fact be the best running back in the league. The Browns will still utilize Chubb heavily in their game plan, but expect their passing game to evolve as well. Cleveland has been cornered into running a certain style of offense the past few seasons that can be effective, but is very limited in the variety of plays that can be run. There are more options at Kevin Stefanski’s disposal when curating a game plan that should lead to more explosiveness. That variety and potential explosiveness is what will ultimately determine the success of their season in what is a make or break year for this regime.
