As we slowly crawl towards training camp, I’m like a kid on vacation, “are we there yet, are we there yet?” As we all know, the Browns upgraded the roster on both offense and defense. If this comes together like we hope, John Dorsey will be elevated to God status. Opposing defenses have to respect the passing game and because of that, can’t load the box against the run. With Beckham, Landry, Callaway, Higgins and Njoku running loose, Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson should run wild. Can’t wait to see the impact of offensive coordinator Todd Monken on this group. The key as always is the offensive line and Austin Corbett’s advancement. Eric Kush was a valuable pickup and the depth on the OLine is good, however the tackle position is a concern.
On Defense, if Myles Garrett isn’t in the top three in sacks I’ll be disappointed. The additions of Vernon and Richardson will help. I still think Dorsey will look to add depth to the defensive line prior to the season starting. Really looking forward to seeing Genard Avery in this defense as well as Christian Kirksey. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks will probably use a lot of sets in pass defense with two LB’s ( Kirksey and Schobert) and an extra DB. I like the mix of the secondary, young players and veterans. Please extend Damarious Randell. It’s nice to have the possibility of having two shut down corners. Overall, the tackling has to improve. The special teams can only go up and it looks like Dorsey has paid attentions to this area. The only knock I’ve heard on the Browns is they have a rookie head coach. My concern with the coaching staff is how long it will take for them to gel with the players. After watching YouTube’s “Building The Browns,”(which I highly recommend) I’m not worried about Freddie or the staff.
So lets go team by team through the schedule and look at each of the Brown’s opponents. I’m not going to predict wins and loses until I see a little more of training camp. Week one Tennessee Titans. This is easy for me, I live in Nashville and it’s Titans all day and all night. When I first saw the schedule, this game scared me, but now that I’ve had time to think about it, I’m changing my mind. The Titans have a great defense that doesn’t allow a lot of points. Jurrell Casey, Harold Landry, Kevin Byard, Logan Ryan, Malcolm Butler and the addition of Cameron Wake are key components. So this is going to be a true test for the Browns. On offense, they get TE Delanie Walker back and have the workhorse RB Derrick Henry in the backfield. They also have RB Dion Lewis and use him like I wish the Browns would use Duke Johnson. The key is the interior of the offensive line and quarterback. They signed Roget Saffold to play guard, so that will help. There maybe a concern at tackle, the Titans didn’t pick up RT Jack Conklin’s option and he’s been dealing with injuries. I think Marcus Mariota has had more offensive coordinators than the Browns over the last four years, so catching the Titans week one might be a blessing. Is he a franchise QB? They picked up his option for this year and yet they traded for Ryan Tannehill. If this was the Browns of the past, you’re looking at a built in quarterback controversy.
Week two New York Jets. They hired Adam Gase to be the offensive coordinator and their key FA signing was RB Le Von Bell. Both should help QB Sam Darnold grow more in his second season. On defense they drafted two DL players that I love, DT Quinnen Williams and DE Jacha Polite. I’m not sold on their secondary. Trumaine Johnson is good, but we all know Greg Williams leaves his corners in man to man while the defense blitzes. I wonder which safety will line up in Delaware? Don’t discount the four game suspension to TE Chris Herndon for DWI. Again playing this team early might be an advantage for the Browns.
Week three Rams. Big home game for the Browns. DT Greg Gaines and S Taylor Rapp and RB Darrell Henderson were added through the draft and LB Clay Mathews and S Eric Weddle through free agency. The big question mark is Todd Gurley. He missed the last two games of the regular season and disappeared at times during the NFC Championship game and the Super Bowl. Training camp will tell the story on Gurley.
Week four Baltimore. So long Joe Flacco. Hello Lamar Jackson and new OC Greg Roman. Jackson is not the most accurate passer and the Chargers showed how to defend him in the playoffs. Load up on DB’s. Roman is a very creative coordinator, so Jackson will see a new playbook. The rats added veteran RB Mark Ingram in free agency, which will help Jackson, however he’ll get a lot of help from draft picks. Speed, Speed, speed. Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin and Justice Hill. On defense, where’s the pass rush? they lost Terrell Suggs and Za’Darius Smith to free agency and swung and missed on key free agents.
Week five San Fran. Staying healthy will be their biggest task. The pass rush will be better with draft picks Nick Bosa and Dee Ford and the offense will improve with Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd. Again, health is the key. As they say, the best ability is availability. On defense, the secondary is a work in progress and in the modern pass happy NFL, this is a problem. I guess they’re counting on an improved pass rush. The 49ers do have a good kicker in Robbie Gould.
Week six Seattle. The Seahawks extended QB Russell Wilson and still have LB Bobby Wagner and DT Jarren Reed. But lost Doug Baldwin, Frank Clark and Earl Thomas. Free agent Ziggy Ansah is coming off shoulder surgery, so it’s a wait and see with him. They did draft DE L. J. Collier, S Marquise and WR DK Metcalf. Hard to judge how much of an impact any will have on this team. I am impressed they turned Four draft picks into eleven.
Week seven Bye. Great place for a bye week. Especially with back to back road games in New England and Denver after the bye. This is also a good place to stop this weeks blog. If I missed anything or you have a different take on the Browns opponents, please let me know and comment. I know Browns fans can be opinionated, but that’s because we love our team. We are living the best off season in along time, however as my wife Karen says, “let me know when the season starts.” Next week I’ll look at the second part of the schedule and then it’s on to training camp. ARE WE THERE YET. Go Browns and Dawgcheck.