Last Year:

Record: 1-15

Offense: 16.5 ppg (31st)

Defense: 28.25 pa (30th)

Offseason: 

Key Acquisitions: WR. Kenny Britt, C. JC Tretter, G. Kevin Zeitler, S. Calvin Pryor

Key Losses: QB. Robert Griffin III, WR. Terrelle Pryor, WR. Andrew Hawkins, TE. Gary Barnidge, LB. Demario Davis,

 Breakdown

Offense:

The Browns should be much better offensively in 2017. I love what they did to improve the offensive line in free agency bringing in two new quality starters. Zeitler, who came over from the Bengals is one of the best guards in the league and Tretter was good for the Packers a year ago. Combine that with the legendary Joe Thomas still going strong at LT and a quality guard in Bitonio and they could really have something. RT could be an issue as Shon Coleman and Cameron Irving will be competing for that spot both of whom have not developed into starter caliber players at this point. They could actually have a top ten caliber offensive line this year. The receiving corps should be improved this year as well. Corey Coleman should be better in year two and hopefully can stay healthy. He has all the skills to develop into a number one receiver one day. They lost Pryor in free agency but picked up Kenny Britt who actually had a decent year for the Rams despite terrible QB play. Rookie first round pick David Njoku is raw but incredibly talented and will have every opportunity to be the starting tight end with Gary Barnidge released. He was one of the most athletic prospects in the class and if he can grasp the technical side of things should be an instant contributor. In the back field the duo of Crowell and Johnson return and most likely their roles will remain the same. Crowell is the feature back who will take the bulk of the carries. If he can average 4.9 yards per carry behind the offensive line they had a year ago he should be even better this year. Johnson will remain the dual-threat change of pace back that spells Crowell and gets a lot of looks in the receiving game. The major question mark of this offense is QB play. First and foremost who will be the QB? Supposedly it will be a three man competition between Cody Kessler, DeShone Kizer, and Brock Osweiler. Kessler actually played well last season, especially considering the lack of talent around him and should be the favorite to win the job. Early reports out of mini cap are that Kizer has been impressive and may be ahead of schedule. Given his raw talent he could push for the job but most likely will not be ready to start week 1. Osweiler was a disaster in Houston. He was so bad the Texans gave the Browns a draft pick just to take him off their hands. I just cannot see him winning the job under any circumstances. Overall the run game should be pretty good for the Browns but with so many young receivers and inconsistent QB play the passing game is sure to be hit or miss. At the end of the day this league is about QB play and being able to move the ball through the air and the Browns are not ready to do that a high level quite just yet.

Defense:

Defensively The Browns made some strides as well. For starters they hired Greg Williams to take over as the defensive coordinator. He will be converting the team to a 4-3 defense and definitely blitzing and being more aggressive. Up front the big addition was first overall pick Myles Garrett who can help immediately change things if he lives up to his potential. Ogbah was their best pass rusher a year ago and now that he is number two and a year older he should be more effective without the majority of opponent eyes on him. Shelton really came on last season as a run stopper and looks like he could be at the very least a solid starting defensive tackle and maybe even more. Veteran Desmond Bryant was lost last July with a torn pectoral muscle and missed the entire year. If he has recovered he figures to be the other starting defensive tackle. The linebacking duo will consist of Jamie Collins and Christain Kirksey. Collins was not bad in his short stink with the Browns after being traded during the year from the Pats but he was not as good as we know him to be either. I think a full offseason with the Browns and playing in Williams new scheme will help bring Collins back to the level he played at in New England. Kirksey had a breakout year in his third season and was one of the best players on a bad defense. Him and Collins could form one of the better linebacking duos in the game if Kirksey continues to get better. The Secondary is where things get really shaky for the Browns. Haden has been often hurt  and when he does play an average starting corner for the past few seasons and his days as a top corner are clearly a thing of the past. The team also added Jason McCourty who is also not the player he used to be and clearly on the decline. Jamar Taylor was actually the team’s best corner in 2016 and figures to man the slot for the Browns. If he can continue playing at the level he did a year ago it will give the team at least one legitimate corner back. Another guy most casual fans may not know about is second year man Briean Boddy-Calhoun. He was an undrafted free agent that was picked up off waivers on the last week of the preseason and earned his keep. He ended up starting seven games with three interceptions and 11 pass deflections. He does not have elite talent but he can play and works hard and should be able to beat out McCourty for a starting job.  At safety the Browns will have to figure out how they want to use Peppers. For now we will just list him as the starting strong safety. The belief  is that they will find somewhere for him to start and take advantage of his unique playmaking ability. They traded for Pryor from the Jets and he projects to start at free safety. He can really defend the run put was not very good in coverage. Ultimately I cannot see the Browns holding up very well against the top passing offenses in the game. The pass rush figures to be inconsistent and they lack top cover guys at corner or safety.