The Browns had a spectacular 2020-2021 season, but that does not mean they are ready for the season to come.
With all the offseason moves regarding other teams such as Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford, Carson Wentz going to the Colts and JJ Watt to Cardinals, there will be a lot of teams making a splash next year. As well as most of last year’s playoff teams coming back next year at full strength, excluding New Orleans who lost Drew Brees.
With most NFL teams only increasing in skill this offseason what do the browns need to do to keep up?
The Browns offense had a stealer year with their first playoff win in 26 years, with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt rushing for a little over 1,900 yards and Mayfield passing for 3,563 yards.
With great offensive stats like those what could the Browns possibly be? It all boils down to the offensive line, defensive line and most importantly our defensive backs.
Starting with the offensive line, Baker Mayfield has been sacked 26 times this year during the 2020/2021 season. This is a huge problem with too much pressure being put on the pocket, Mayfield does not have the same luxuries as a team with a formidable offensive line, meaning he is usually grasping at straws when throwing the ball.
But there is a simple fix to this problem: start resetting the offensive line by using third or fourth draft picks on new linebackers.
The second problem is our defensive line. The Browns have the 21st worst defense in all of the NFL, primarily because the Browns have allowed 3,962 passing yards from opposing teams this season. That is more than Mayfield has passed for this year.
One of the reasons our defensive line is lacking is that Miles Garrett is the only formidable part of our defense. Garret is one of most flexible left tackles in the NFL right now, but the Browns need more.
With most of our pressure coming into the pocket being from the left side, it makes it easy for the opposing QB to scramble to the right in most cases.
The Browns should use their second round draft pick on a very skilled right tackle. To hopefully pressure that quarterback into making some mistakes that could be valuable in turning a close game, into a Browns victory.
Finally, one of the last underlying problems of the defense is our defensive backs, the Browns only received 11 interceptions this season. This is primarily because most of the skilled players in the Brown’s defense can not keep up with the speed and route running abilities of some of the more elite wide receivers, such as Tyreek Hill and Stephon Diggs.
The most logical course of action would be to draft the most skilled defensive back available during our first draft spot: to hopefully acquire a player with enough skill to keep some of the NFL’s greatest receiving threats at bay.
Overall the Browns wrapped up one of their best seasons to date, but like all great teams there is still room for improvement. At least they will not need a new head coach anytime soon.
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