Cleveland Browns wide receivers creating a buzz
By Thomas Moore
The Cleveland Browns have plenty of potential at wide receiver in 2016. The trick now is to that it into production.
The Cleveland Browns are a team that has not been known for its offensive prowess over the years.
Over the past eight seasons the Browns have only averaged 16.8 points per game, and only eight times since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978 have they managed to average more than 21 points a per game in a season.
But that may change if the buzz surrounding the passing game can evolve from potential into production when the season opens on Sept. 11.
https://twitter.com/JaysonGraham1/status/768583443688980480
Cleveland’s core group of Josh Gordon, Terrelle Pryor and Corey Coleman have become one of the most talked about receivers in the NFL during the preseason – and that’s with Pryor being the only member of the trio to actually take the field during a game.
“All the guys have different strengths so you want to show those and utilize them when you get those matchups.” quarterback Robert Griffin III said after Wednesday’s practice. “When you don’t have those matchups, you have to make the appropriate throws and check the ball down. When we get our chances to get them the ball, we definitely want to do that and they’ll make the plays for us.”
More from Dawg Pound Daily
- How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
- Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
- 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not
- Is Marcus Davenport on the Browns radar in 2023?
- 5 Free agents from Super Bowl LVII Cleveland Browns should target
Friday night’s preseason friendly against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could provide the first opportunity for Browns fans to see Coleman, Pryor and Gordon on the field together, a prospect that may give Tampa’s secondary sleepless nights but excites head coach Hue Jackson.
“That sounds good. That sounds really good,” Jackson said after this morning’s practice. I’m looking forward to that. I think so. I think we have a good chance for that to happen.”
“We have a lot of guys that can do great things,” he said. “You just have to give them opportunities, and they’ll make those plays for you. They understand that, as well. There are a lot of guys. There are a lot of fish in the tank, and it’s up to us to feed them the right way.”
As exciting as it is right now, these are still the Browns so some of the enthusiasm needs to be tempered with a wee bit of reality.
Gordon still needs to serve a four-game suspension so that his conditional reinstatement becomes permanent, Pryor only has two career receptions, and Coleman has yet to play against an NFL cornerback not wearing Orange and Brown.
That will all work itself out in good time, however, and it is the preseason, a time to embrace hope and shun reality.
“We have a lot of guys that can do great things,” Griffin said. “You just have to give them opportunities, and they’ll make those plays for you. They understand that, as well. There are a lot of guys. There are a lot of fish in the tank, and it’s up to us to feed them the right way.”
Next: Browns must be careful with Coleman and Gordon
Based on what we’ve seen and read so far, the Browns passing game may be the most exciting thing fans have seen since Webster Slaughter, Reggie Langhorne and Brian Brennan were terrorizing opposing defenses at Municipal Stadium.
All it will take is turning all that potential into production come Sundays this fall.