Will the offensive line be the downfall of the Cleveland Browns in 2019?

The Cleveland Browns made significant improvements to their roster in the offseason, but the offensive line remains a group with questions.

The Cleveland Browns are in the debate of the most talented teams in the NFL for the 2019 season. And with young play-makers on both sides of the ball, the Browns should be in this debate for several years.

Because of the talent on the roster, the Browns have become favorites to win the AFC North and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2002. For a team that has been the joke of the NFL for the past decade, it is shocking to see the quick turnaround for the franchise.

But even with all of the talent on Cleveland’s roster, there remains questions in some areas of the team. The biggest question is if rookie head coach Freddie Kitchens can manage the big personalities in the locker room and the expectations and prevent a disappointing season due to “internal discord.”

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Kitchens has been talked about as the biggest question mark for the 2019 Browns. But in terms of the players, the offensive line remains a question mark and concern. With a franchise quarterback in Baker Mayfield, the offensive line being a concern is not a good feeling.

Dating back to last season, there have been questions about Cleveland’s offensive line. After Joe Thomas retired, Cleveland could not find a starting left tackle and opted to start undrafted rookie Desmond Harrison for the first eight games of the season. Harrison struggled in those games, as did the performance of the entire offensive line.

In the first eight games of 2018, the Browns allowed 33 sacks. The Browns passing offense struggled because of the amount of pressure on the quarterback – as well as some questionable play-calling from Todd Haley.

But after Haley was fired and Kitchens took over the offense, the offensive line performed like the best offensive line in football. Harrison was replaced by Greg Robinson for the final eight games of the season and Mayfield did not face much backside pressure after.

Overall, the Browns allowed only five sacks the final eight games of the season, which helped Mayfield and the rest of the passing the offense’s performance to take off. And because of the strong play of the offensive line, most of the unit returns in 2019 – except for right guard Kevin Zeitler, who was a part of the Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon trade package.

Even though the only hole from last year’s starting offensive line is at right guard, which will be settled during training camp, the offensive line is arguably the biggest weakness for the 2019 Browns. And that is mostly because of how much talent the other position groups have on the depth chart.

For how well the offensive line performed during the second half of 2018, it will be tough for the group to recreate that success in 2019, especially after losing their best pass blocker in Zeitler. There are a lot of unknowns with his replacement at right guard, but the expectation is that no matter who it is, there will likely be more pressure coming from that area of the interior offensive line.

There are concerns about consistency with the offensive tackles and if they will be able to perform at a high level for an entire campaign. But the hole at right guard and consistency issues will not be the downfall of the Browns in 2019.

When Kitchens took over as the play-caller last season, he implemented an offense that helped the offensive line. By utilizing short passing concepts with quicker release times, there was hardly any pressure getting to Mayfield. He also moved Mayfield out of the pocket more, making it more difficult for defenses to generate any type of pressure.

Kitchens also hired a strong offensive line coach in James Campen this offseason. In his long career with the Packers, Campen developed several mid-round draft picks into solid offensive linemen. He has made a career of getting the best out of his offensive line, even if it does not boast top-tier talent. Just with his coaching, the Browns offensive line should be able to fix most of their consistency issues and improve their performance.

With Kitchens building an offense with the blocking concepts of Campen, the offensive line should be put in their best position to succeed. Even if they do not have top-tier offensive linemen in terms of talent, it should be a unit that has success.

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The offensive line may be viewed as the biggest weakness on the Browns roster, but it should not hinder the success of the team in 2019. Unless the offense is dramatically changed for the upcoming season, the offensive line will not be the downfall of the 2019 Browns.

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