Browns QB Josh Dobbs gives his thoughts on having Cedric Tillman as a teammate in Cleveland
Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs re-signed with the Cleveland Browns earlier this offseason. Dobbs signed with Cleveland ahead of the 2022 season, but he was released in late November when Deshaun Watson returned from his suspension. The former Tennessee standout spent a couple of weeks on the Detroit Lions practice squad before he was […]
Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs re-signed with the Cleveland Browns earlier this offseason.
Dobbs signed with Cleveland ahead of the 2022 season, but he was released in late November when Deshaun Watson returned from his suspension.
The former Tennessee standout spent a couple of weeks on the Detroit Lions practice squad before he was picked up by the Tennessee Titans. Dobbs started the final two games of the regular season for the Titans (losses to the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars).
Dobbs will be joined in Cleveland this season by former Vols wide receiver Cedric Tillman (former UT running back John Kelly is also on the Browns' roster).
Tillman was selected by the Browns in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Earlier this month, Dobbs spoke to Akron Beacon Journal about having Tillman as a teammate in Cleveland (note: Tillman and Dobbs were never teammates at Tennessee as Dobbs was finished after the 2016 season and Tillman arrived in 2018).
"I'm excited, man, I'm excited," said Dobbs. "It's always good to have a fellow Vol get drafted to whatever team you're on. So, to have Ced up here — and then he's an even better dude off the field — so, to have a guy like that coming into the locker room, man, I'm excited for him to get up here."
"When he's been healthy, man, he's been very difficult to stop," added Dobbs. "He was a deep-ball threat last year, and then early this year. He did a great job making the contested catchers down the field and is adding to that part of the offense, as well as obviously being a big body in our scheme. That'll fit in well with being able to get dirty and excel in helping the run game."
Tillman, who was the leading returning wide receiver in the SEC entering the 2022 season, suffered an ankle injury early last season that forced him to miss several games and impacted his effectiveness.
The freak injury likely hurt TIllman's draft stock (though that turned out to be a good thing for Cleveland…otherwise they wouldn't have been able to land him in the third round).
Cedric Tillman's potential impact in Cleveland
Tillman has elite body control which should help him quickly make an impact for the Browns (especially in the red zone). He also has enough speed to stretch the field vertically.
And as Dobbs pointed out, the Browns try to get their wide receivers into one-on-one matchups as much as possible, so some of what Tillman learned in Tennessee's offense will translate in Cleveland.
"At the end of the day, you can see the playmaking skills," explained Dobbs. "I think that's really good about the Coach Heupel offense, right? Guys are put in one-on-one situations because the defense has to play them like that, and so guys have to go out win their one-on-one matchups."
"And so in our offense, we're very similar with having (running back Nick) Chubb, so guys have to stack the box. So guys are able, on the outside, to be put in one-on-one situations."
Sounds like a perfect situation for Tillman.
