This season was an utter disaster for the Browns, and until they can extricate themselves from Deshaun Watson’s contract, they are going to be at or near the bottom of the league. And when he’s healthy he just isn’t good enough. This will go down as the worst contract in sports history. They have two more seasons to go, with a cap hit of nearly $73M per year. After their 3-14 record, they will have the no.2 pick in the draft.
QB
And speaking of Watson, he managed only to play seven games this season, and he was dreadful. He could only muster 164 passing yds per game, throwing five TDs and three interceptions. Jameis Winston played the lion’s share of games, getting into 12. He wasn’t much better, only averaging 177 yds per game. And he nearly threw as many interceptions (12), as he did TDs (13). With the No. 2 pick in the draft, the Browns have so many issues to address that trading down wouldn’t be the worst idea…but they desperately need a QB, and they’ll be at least one of the two top QBs available to them. Between Cam Ward and Shadeur Sanders, one of them will still be on the board. And, if the Titans snag Travis Hunter at no.1, both of them will be there to choose from.
RB
Nick Chubb made it back from his horrific injury last year, in wk.7, but he was a shell of himself. He only managed 332 rushing yds, and more alarming was his rushing avg. He only gained 3.2 yards per rush. In 14 games, Jerome Ford wasn’t much better. He only averaged a tick over 40 rushing yards per game and only scored three TDs. His only bright spot was his yds per rush, (5.4).
WR
For a team with such an anemic offense, they did have a 1,000-yard receiver. With nobody to get him the ball, Jerry Jeudy somehow managed to gain 1229 receiving yds. He had 90 catches. On a team with a solid passing attack, that is solid production, but on this team, those numbers are otherworldly. Their No. 2 WR Elijah managed 61 catches, and their TE David Njoku caught 64 passes. Njoku was injured, only playing 11 games and his numbers did take a hit. He went down from 81 catches, and his yds per catch went from 10.9 to only 7.9. If the Browns decide to stay from the two QBs, they could look at WR/CB Travis Hunter…if he isn’t taken with the first pick.
DEFENSE
Hunter may be the way to go in the draft, considering how abysmal their defense was this season. Their pt differential was a whopping 177, which means they averaged giving up 10 more pts than they scored every game. They gave up an average of 25.5 pts per game. But, they have Myles Garrett who is one of the premier linemen in the game. He is a premium sack producer, sacking the QB 14 times this year. But Cleveland’s main problem on defense is in their secondary. CB Denzel Ward led the team in interceptions, with only two.
HEAD COACH
Kevin Stefanski has been the Browns HC since 2020. His career record with the team is 40-44. But before this trainwreck of a season, he was well above 500, sitting 37-30. He made it to the playoffs twice and has been named coach of the year twice as well. It is because of that resume that he still has a job with the Browns. One bad season can be forgiven, but two in a row won’t be tolerated. There is no doubt Stefanski is on the hot seat, and regardless of the contract problems caused by Deshaun Watson, he will be expected to find a way to overcome it and be in the mix to compete for the AFC North division title.
