Cleveland Browns: Kevin Zeitler quietly having a great season
By Randy Gurzi
The struggles on the offensive line for the Cleveland Browns has been well documented, but despite the issues, right guard Kevin Zeitler is quietly dominating.
Just ahead of the 2017 season, the Cleveland Browns landed right guard Kevin Zeitler on a massive five-year $60 million contract. To date, Zeitler has been proving to be worth every penny.
He was one of the few bright spots on the team during their 0-16 campaign and coming into 2018, we all knew he would once again come in and get the job done. Fast forward to Week 8 and that’s exactly what’s been happening.
And Cleveland has surely needed his presence. With struggles on the outside from both starting tackles, the stability in the middle has been phenomenal. It’s also going unnoticed outside of Cleveland fans for the most part.
With so much noise going on about how bad the Browns O-line is, it’s nice to see some stats reflect the hard work of Zeitler. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he’s given up just five pressures all season and has the highest pass-blocking grade in the NFL.
This is nothing out of the norm for Zeitler, who makes little noise but just shows up to work hard every day. Still, it’s nice to see him get some well-deserved praise for his incredible work up front.
In all honesty, the interior of the Browns line is solid. J.C Tretter is a good center and Joel Bitonio is another stud at guard. The issues this season, at least in pass protection, for Cleveland have mostly fallen on the tackles Chirs Hubbard and Desmond Harrison.
Zeitler’s play shows that at least the cupboard isn’t bare, it just needs a little work is all.
For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe to PFF’s EDGE or ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.