Mike Pettine shares just how the Cleveland Browns create their depth chart
September 10, 2015Urban Meyer weighs in on position battles, Hawaii, and short weeks
September 10, 2015The 2015 opening weekend of the NFL is finally upon us with the Cleveland Browns set to take the field on Sunday on the road against the New York Jets. It has been a long offseason and preseason since we last watched a meaningful NFL game. The Browns made a lot of changes over the offseason and have a lot of new faces on the team. It will be an interesting season for the Browns to see if they can catch up to the competition in the AFC North, building off of a 7-9 season a year ago.
With that, here are my ten bold predictions for the Browns 2015 NFL season.
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The Browns will have a top-20 run defense
The Browns were horrible against the run last season, giving up 141.6 rushing yards per game, which was last in the NFL. But, this offseason the Browns overhauled their defensive line to fix this problem. The rebuild started with the drafting of the centerpiece of the defensive line, Danny Shelton. Shelton is a huge run-stuffing lineman who will help clog up the interior running lanes for offenses. The Browns also added veteran Randy Starks and rookie Xavier Cooper to bolster the defensive line depth. Another factor that will help improve the run defense is that the team will be in their second year under the same Mike Pettine defensive scheme. I believe the Browns will show a huge improvement in their run defense.
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Duke Johnson will have more rushing yards than Isaiah Crowell
The Browns running back group is a two-headed backfield after the trade of Terrance West. Isaiah Crowell is slated to be the starting running back and the back who takes the majority of the carries, but I believe Duke Johnson will end the season with more rushing yards. Johnson has great agility and speed to make defenders miss and go for big chunks of yards. The former Miami (FL) running back has the talent to be a true playmaker for the Browns offense. Crowell has an issue with fumbling, so he could be relied less upon if this problem resurfaces. The big thing for Johnson will be staying healthy through the entire NFL season. These reasons give me the opinion that Duke Johnson will out-rush Isaiah Crowell this season.
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Travis Benjamin will have two punt return touchdowns
Travis Benjamin had a horrible year last season as the Browns punt returner. But, that was his first season back from a serious ACL tear. This preseason, Benjamin looked a lot more comfortable in the return game, even returning a punt for touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His speed is unmatched by most in the league. I believe he will have a comeback season in the return game and take two punts back for touchdowns.
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Brian Hartline will lead the team in touchdown receptions
One of the biggest moves of the offseason was the signing of receiver Brian Hartline. He is a player with sure hands and crisp route running that gives Josh McCown a safety net on the outside. In the little time in the preseason, Hartline was a frequent target of McCown. The former Buckeye has good combination of size, speed, route running and hands to be a reliable redzone target for the offense. That is why I believe Hartline will lead the Browns in receiving touchdowns this season.
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Austin Davis will play one game for the Browns
The Browns have not been able to play the same starting quarterback under center for all 16 games since 2001. That will continue this season as the Browns face another year of uncertainty at the quarterback position. The Browns added former Rams quarterback Austin Davis this week because of the injury concern with Johnny Manziel. I believe the team likes Davis and that a injury or lack of production by McCown and/or Manziel will give Davis an opportunity to start a game this season.
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Terrelle Pryor will be a versatile weapon for the Browns offense
Terrelle Pryor’s status with the team was up in the air throughout the preseason, but at the end he made the final 53-man roster. I believe Pryor will be a versatile weapon for the Browns, playing in many different positions and roles on the offense. His value will not be as a true receiver, but as a player who can make plays in many different situations. Pryor will line up wide as a receiver and also in the backfield as the wildcat quarterback. The Browns will be able to use him as mismatch for opposing defenses.
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The Browns secondary will be a top-three secondary in the NFL
The Browns upgraded an already talented secondary by replacing Buster Skrine with veteran Tramon Williams. Williams gives the Browns a really good starting cornerback duo with Joe Haden. The starting safeties, Donte Whitner and Tashaun Gipson, are both Pro Bowl level talents who have very complementary skillsets to each other. The starting four in the secondary can stand up with the best in the league. But to make the secondary even better, the Browns have very good depth throughout. K’Waun Williams, Pierre Desir and Justin Gilbert are three young corners who give the Browns good options as third and fourth corners. At safety, Jordan Poyer and rookie Ibraheim Campbell are also solid options as backups. The secondary is talented on top and deep throughout.
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E.J. Bibbs will lead the tight ends in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns
E.J. Bibbs was probably the breakout star of the preseason as an undrafted free agent. He has the athleticism and receiving skills that is unmatched by anyone else on the Browns tight end depth chart. He will soon prove to be a mismatch for defenses, making him a valuable player in the Browns passing game. Bibbs brings the best receiving skills of all the tight ends on the team, so he will gain more playing time because of this fact.
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Christian Kirksey will have a breakout season in Year 2
Christian Kirksey had a solid season in his rookie year, sharing time with Craig Robertson as the starting inside linebacker next to Karlos Dansby. But this season, I believe Kirksey will separate himself from Robertson and be the solo starter next to Dansby at the inside linebacker spots. Kirksey has great athleticism that allows him to quickly get to the ball and make plays in the pass and run defense. He has good coverage skills, which is important in the pass-happy NFL. His major improvement will be between his ears where he will become more comfortable with the game, pairing his football intelligence with his already impressive athleticism.
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The Browns offensive line will be the driving force behind an improved offense
At full strength, the Browns have one of the best offensive lines in the entire NFL. This line will be the major reason for an improved Browns offense I believe we will see this season. The offensive line will give time to passing game and holes for the running game. We saw a snippet of how the offense can play behind the full strength offensive line last season, scoring 26.8 points a game in the first five games of the season with a full strength line. That would have ranked as the eighth best points per game average in the NFL last season. This gives me the belief that the Browns can return to that form this season with all five linemen of the offensive healthy.
60 Comments
I think you are wrong – these are the stats and rankings of the Browns for 2014:
Offense Ranks
27th Points / Game
20th Pass Yards per Game
29th Yards per Rush per game
18th TO’s
Defense Ranks
9th Points per Game
8th Pass Yards per Game
28th Yards per Rush
4th TO’s
We are in agreement – we need divine intervention to have a winning team this year. The defense might show improvement over last year with some of the acquisitions but the offense remains in painful disarray with one failure after the other in the DRAFT and Free agency in feeble attempts to address the very large holes in RB, QB, WR
I like Erving and he is a plus, we will see how Mack has come back from his injury and if he can reenergize the offensive line as he did last year – Sunday will tell us pretty much what we have – if we can’t beat the Jets its going to be a long, long season
You did not list the rank of rush yards per game I used.
For per rush, I separated out the RB as that matters and left out QB that drug down avg.
Why would you eliminate the QB rushing yards when most QB rushes are designed running plays for the QB? That would be like eliminating all passing yards caught by ends and running backs to hype the yards per catch by the team when “ONLY” counting catches by WR’s.
sigh. yards/game was all players. we were 17th.
I then listed the RBs YPA as that is most relevant to actual rushing prowess.
yes, if we want to be a good passing team, then looking at our WR/TE receiving options makes more sense than focusing on our RBs (unless Duke turns out to be a Sproles).
We were 17th in rushing yard per game, 5th in number of rushing attempts, 28th in yards per rush attempt, 23rd in total yards for the season, 27th in points, 20th in passing yards per game, 13th in fumbles, and 6th in fumbles lost.
Ok so what’s your point? We had a dismal rushing attack last year – we have essentially the same backfield this year – coming up with numbers for just the Cleveland RB’s does what??? Unless you went in to all 32 teams and extracted the yds per rush for each RB in the NFL by team for comparison your Cleveland RB number is meaningless for comparison.
out of curiosity what happened to your expected vaunted Browns rushing attack?
out of curiosity did the game live up to expectations?
Once the QB went down in the first series and they put Manziel in the game at that point I wrote off the game. I was shocked by the 52 yard TD by Manziel and thought for about 30 seconds that perhaps I had badly misjudged him but then he restored order to the universe with 3 turnovers.
The hoped for improved running game never materialized, the front 4 on offense appeared confused and unprepared and the defense did the best they could combating 5 turnovers and 10-12 penalties.
1 down 15 to go – going to be a long season especially if Manziel is the QB
hi TERRY … you nailed it. mccown had a great drive going & when the injury / turnover happened my heart sank.