Recent playmakers rankings show the Cleveland Browns have more questions than answers
The Cleveland Browns are in a must-win year, yet the team has far more questions than answers.
It could be the Cleveland Browns have far more questions than answers.
Bill Barnwell of ESPN put together his annual offensive playmaker's rankings, compiling every team in the NFL's collection of wide receivers, running backs and tight ends. The list provides his snapshot of the talent on all 32 teams' offenses heading into the season.
The Browns, heading into a make-or-break season, ranked No. 20 on Barnwell's list, as unknown circulate over whether the team can stay healthy for an entire season.
"Nick Chubb is coming off a serious ACL injury, and while he was able to return and become a spectacularly efficient back after tearing up his knee at Georgia, it's tough to assume he'll bounce back to being the league's best pure runner at 28," writes Barnwell.
"Jerome Ford wasn't good in his absence, albeit behind an injury-riddled offensive line. Elijah Moore didn't do much after being acquired from the Jets. While Cleveland signaled its need for a No. 2 wideout by trading for Jerry Jeudy, the former first-rounder has put together only one above-average NFL season when he approached 1,000 yards in 2022. There's major upside here if everyone is healthy and lives up to expectations, but it would be a surprise if any of the top playmakers on this roster played a full 17 games."
Much of Jeudy and Amari Cooper's success will rely on the health of Deshaun Watson, something that hasn't been a guarantee during the embattled quarterback's entire tenure with Cleveland.
The 2023 season was his best run yet. Still, he couldn't manage to stay off the injury reserve list. What is there to say that will change in 2024? Not much.
Then there is the question of whether Chubb will return as an elite running back after his gruesome injury at the start of the 2023 campaign.
NFL executives still believe he can be a No. 1 running back, if healthy. The if in that sentence is doing all the heavy lifting.
Though the Browns may be gunning for elite status in the NFL, the team has far more unknowns than knowns as the 2024 season creeps forward.
In 2023, Cleveland's playmakers ranked No. 12 in the league. Before that, Cleveland was ranked No. 23 in 2022.
