Cleveland Browns vs. Washington: What we're looking for

Jun 16, 2015; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown (13) and Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo during minicamp at the Cleveland Browns practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Eight months after we last saw them, the Cleveland Browns return to action tonight as they face the Washington Redskins in the first preseason friendly of 2015.

While it can be hard to draw definitive conclusions from a preseason game because no one is showing their full offensive or defensive packages, head coach Mike Pettine has a plan in place for the game.

“Probably be typical first game. Get guys — the starters for sure — it will be all an individualized plan. You’ll get some guys that are with the ones that might go into the second quarter; you might get some ones that don’t play at all; and anything in between,” Pettine told the team’s website. “It’s just hard to give an actual amount just because you don’t know how the game is going to play out. Things aren’t going well, sometimes you want to keep them out there longer, things are going well you want to pull them sooner.”

For starting quarterback Josh McCown, tonight’s game presents an opportunity to see what he has in the offense.

“The main thing with any preseason game is to kind of knock the rust off, get the offense going a little bit, but to come out healthy more than anything because you know that you’re not going to be showing everything that you have in your bag,” McCown told The Beacon Journal. “You just want to go out there, work efficiently and do some things that you can feel good about, but everybody get out healthy.”

Even though the two teams may be somewhat vanilla tonight, there are still several storylines that the coaches and fans will be looking closely at during the game.

To that end, we’ve brought together the Dawg Pound Daily staff to share what they will be looking for out of the Browns.

Joining us our co-editor Vincent Rapisardi (@Vin_Rapisardi), and staff writers Roger Cohen (@rogercohen14), Mark Riley (@markriley1961), Brandon Lambert (@TheRealBLambert) and Giovanni Castelli (@gcastelli216).

Roger: What I’m looking (and hoping) for tonight is:

Nobody getting carted off or limping off the field
No illegal procedure or delay of game penalties
Some crispness and tempo from the offense — regardless of who is in at quarterback
Solid special teams play
Most importantly — see No. 1

An added bonus would be Johnny Manziel looking “the part” of an NFL quarterback, maybe even hitting some throws down the seam. But again, I expect at least one bad injury, plenty of penalties and nothing to keep the “nattering nabobs of negativism” of the world from claiming we’re doomed — in mid-August.

Jun 16, 2015; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns tight ends coach Brian Angelichio talks with Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) during minicamp at the Cleveland Browns practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Gio: The most important thing to watch heading into the first preseason game of the year for the Browns is the play of quarterback Johnny Manziel. The reason being is simple: Manziel, of all the players on the roster, has the most to prove at the most important position on the field … quarterback.

Can Manziel overcome the past tribulations that derailed his rookie season and become the quarterback the Browns need? Or will he fall flat on his face as he did against Cincinnati last December? The first preseason game is a way to gauge how far he has come to this point and to see the progression he’s made, if any, as Manziel should see a good quarter or two of play against Washington.

Granted, not all can be based or assumed off of this one game, but it will set the benchmark of where Manziel is, and how far he needs to go to seize the starting quarterback position from Josh McCown.

Mark: I’m looking at the effectiveness of the defense against the run.

Brandon: Looking at tonight’s preseason opener, it’s obvious what the most important thing to watch for is (wait for it), the quarterback situation!

Wait, the team is going to hand the ball off 60 percent to 70 percent of the time, and pretty much everyone already knows this non-competition is going to go one of two ways. Either Josh McCown does start the season, and they find some reason to pull him for Johnny Manziel, or Manziel simply ‘wins’ the starting spot and goes on to start the regular season opener. So that’s not it.

I want to immediately go to the run game, but with Terrance West a bit banged up and Duke Johnson already ruled out of the game, that makes the run game slightly less interesting to watch. It also feels like with a healthy and slightly tweaked offensive line, it really doesn’t matter who they put back there, yards should be fairly easy to come by. This is evidenced by the fact that the Browns even considered Ray Rice and his 3.1 yards per carry.

This brings me to the Browns defensive line. The biggest thing to take out of tonight is going to be watching that rotation work its magic against both the pass and the run. Will they be able to reach the quarterback? Can Danny Shelton and Phil Taylor make their presences known in the middle of the line? Perhaps, most importantly, can they stop the run that punished the team so much last season?

With the depth and rotational possibilities of the defensive line, they should provide some intriguing viewing for the first half of the game at least, maybe even deep into the third quarter.

Sep 14, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns cornerback Justin Gilbert (21) against the New Orleans Saints at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Browns defeated the Saints 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Vincent: The most important thing to look out for is the play of the younger players. What will we see out of Justin Gilbert? How about Johnny Manziel? The final scores of these games obviously have no impact on the season, but the type of play does.

A good preseason for the aforementioned could lift spirits and confidence within the organization about Gilbert’s and Manziel’s futures with the team.

Staying away from injury is also a big plus I’m sure the coaches would like to take away from this game. Remember, these games mean nothing, the last thing you want is to see a player go down with an injury.

At the end of day, we want to see Manziel and his progression thus far. It’s as simple as that.

Tom: For starters, we simply cannot wait to see Danny Shelton in action. From all the talk coming out of training camp, to the Vines showing him manhandling offensive linemen, to him racing downfield to level a wide receiver, Shelton sounds like the type of player that will keep opposing offensive coordinators up at night.

Sticking with the rookies, we’re also eager to see how Cameron Erving looks along the offensive line, and Nate Orchard and Xavier Cooper look on defense.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we want to see what offensive coordinator John DeFilippo brings to the table. As much as people are focusing on Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel, DeFilippo is just as much of an unknown in his first year as a coordinator.

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Can he get the plays in on time to avoid having to waste a timeout? Does the progression of plays make sense? Does he have the wide receivers run three-yard patters on third-and-four? If the Browns are pounding the defense with the running game do they stick with it or inexplicably start passing?

Those questions will be answered progressively throughout the preseason, not just tonight, but they are every bit as important as figuring out who’s helmet headset DeFilippo will be talking into come the season opener on Sept. 13.

Now that you’ve heard from us, we want to hear from you, Browns fans. Have your say in the comment section and let us know what areas of the team you will be focusing on tonight.

Once the action kicks off tonight, be sure to follow Dawg Pound Daily as we Tweet during the game and for updates of all the action at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Next: Top 10 All-Time Passing Games

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Cleveland vs. Washington: What we’re looking for from the Browns

By Thomas Moore | Aug 13, 2015

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