Cleveland Browns: Wide receivers’ drop problem seemingly cured

Despite how hair-pullingly awful the Cleveland Browns wide receivers were at the start of 2018, the problem seems to have cured itself. The Browns are rapidly moving down the list of dropped passes through the past few weeks.

Oh, what a few weeks can do for an ailing football team. The Cleveland Browns might know this better than any other team in the league. From the start of the season, the Browns have transformed from an 0-16 mess and the laughing stock of the league, to a promising young squad playing meaningful games in December.

A lot of factors have contributed to this turnaround in northeast Ohio, from rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield’s resurgence, to a much more talented defense. But most of all, the offense has been revived by the wide receivers. Namely, the rate at which those receivers drop passes has gone down dramatically.

At around the midseason mark, Browns targets led the league in the rate of drops. In week four against Oakland alone, Baker Mayfield had nine passes dropped in a 45-42 overtime loss.

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Perhaps had the receivers actually caught the passes thrown to them, the Browns could have won that game handedly. In recent weeks, however, it seems that the Browns don’t have to worry about that possibility anymore.

From the beginning of November until now, the Browns have, no pun intended, dropped from No. 1 to No. 11 in the dropped passes department. They are currently in a three-way tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, all with 15 drops on the season. Still, this isn’t the best place the Browns could be (the Seahawks are No. 32 with only four drops on the year) but it’s much better than where they were.

Admittedly, the Browns have some problems at the wide receiver position. Jarvis Landry is a nice piece for a budding offense, but contrary to what his contract might tell you, he is not a true No. 1 receiver. Antonio Callaway might develop into something, but for right now, he is a lot of talent with an equal amount of boneheaded plays during the game.

The Browns have no true game-breaking receiver, a la A.J Green or DeAndre Hopkins. Baker Mayfield is making due with what he has, and it’s worked at points, but the Browns need a No. 1 guy.

More importantly than that, though, they need someone with sure hands to make things happen for Cleveland. Baker Mayfield makes some terrific throws. Let’s make sure the receivers actually catch them.