The Cleveland Browns are ready to get the 2019 season started, but there are a few questions as we head into Week 1 of the new season
The long, gruesome offseason has officially come to an end as we are now into the first week of the 2019 season. With the preseason finally in the rearview and the 53-man roster set, the Cleveland Browns are turning their attention to their first opponents of the year in the Tennessee Titans.
While there’s usually a lot of excitement this time of year, it’s been a long time since there was kind of buzz around the Browns. Throughout the past two offseasons, general manager John Dorsey has done a tremendous job building a competitive roster and there’s a real belief that this team can compete for the AFC North title.
This Sunday will be the first chance we get to see if the hype lines up with the team Cleveland puts on the field. Here, we look at three questions that will need to be answered as they kick the regular season off.
Bonus question: Was going young with their specialists the right call?
This one didn’t make the top three simply because it felt like the right move — even if there was a little risk involved. After switching kickers two weeks into the 2018 season, the Browns decided to add a young kicker through the draft in Austin Seibert.
The Oklahoma product started out slow in training camp but came on strong as the preseason progressed. He ended up winning the job over Greg Joseph and should solidify the position for many years to come.
He isn’t the only rookie specialist though as Cleveland also decided to part ways with Britton Colquitt in favor of The Scottish Hammer, Jamie Gillan. Undrafted out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Gillan isn’t as polished as Colquitt, but he has a powerful leg and also displayed some tackling skills.
There’s still some concern going into the season with two players that have no NFL experience, but the fact is they both looked the part and won their jobs based on their merit.
3. Can the O-Line hold up?
The most disturbing part of the Cleveland Browns ‘dress rehearsal’ game in Week 3 of the preseason was the struggles of the offensive line. This group was constantly in the storylines throughout the offseason, mainly due to the departure of Kevin Zeitler who was traded to the New York Giants.
With him no longer manning the right guard spot, the Browns had several players take turns trying to replace him with Austin Corbett, Kyle Kalis, and Drew Forbes all coming into the conversation. In the end, it was free agent pick up Eric Kush who ended up getting the nod for Week 1.
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All eyes will be on Kush due to the fact that he’s replacing one of the better interior linemen in the NFL, but he wasn’t the only player who struggled in that Week 3 contest.
The entire line was off their game as Baker Mayfield was under duress from the moment the ball was snapped.
He ended up having an ugly statistical night, which was capped off with a pick to end the first half. However, that really wasn’t his fault as no one could have been succesful under the pressure he was facing.
Now as they prepare to go up against an underrated Tennessee defense, the front line players for the Browns need to re-discover the magic they found to close out the 2018 season. In those final eight games, they surrendered just five sacks and Mayfield and the team went 5-3 in that stretch.
The skill players are there and should have no problem putting points on the board for Cleveland. The question is whether or not the line will allow them the time necessary to get the job done.
2. Will there be any rust at wide receiver?
The preseason is too long. There’s really no one who seems to argue against that. The first couple of weeks bring a little excitement as football is finally back but before long, it starts to get hard to watch. There are also countless injuries that happen during these games that really don’t mean anything at all.
With that being said, it makes sense that the Browns kept Odell Beckham, Jr. and Jarvis Landry sidelined for every exhibition game. Both players dealt with some minor injuries during the offseason, so this gave them time to rest up. It also kept them both from suffering any other injury in a game that literally means nothing.
For Landry, this really shouldn’t be a big deal. He knows Freddie Kitchens’ offense since he was there when the new head coach took over as the interim offensive coordinator midway through this past season. He also has a solid rapport with Baker Mayfield as the two were on the field for 13 and a half games in 2018.
With OBJ, it’s a different story. He has some practice time with Mayfield but the two have yet to log any in-game action. In the end, that likely won’t matter as they should have no problem putting together a good season. The only question is whether or not they can get off to a hot start, or if there will be some rust to knock off.
If there is, that could become a problem for the Browns in this first game. It’s nothing that will make or break the season, but it’s worth watching when the game gets underway.
1. How will Freddie Kitchens look in the regular season?
When trying to figure out if the Browns will be succesful or not this season, the biggest question centers around their head coach. Freddie Kitchens had a lot of success as the play-caller to close out the 2018 season, which helped him earn this opportunity to coach the young franchise.
Since his selection, there have been plenty of naysayers who believe the rookie coach won’t be able to handle this job. That’s quite a leap to make, especially when you look around the league and see young coaches such as Sean McVay, Matt Nagy, and Doug Pederson all having success early on in their respective careers.
Out of those three coaches mentioned, both Nagy and McVay won their divisions as rookies and both McVay and Pederson were coaching in the Super Bowl by year two — with Pederson winning it all. This isn’t to say Kitchens will win a Super Bowl right away, but it proves that the belief that you need an experienced coach to have success is flawed.
The real keys to success are whether or not the coach knows what they’re doing and if they can command the respect of their team. So far, it appears Kitchens has both of those things.
We all saw his play-calling bring an offense back to life and it appears as though every player on this team genuinely loves the head coach. And so far, the returns look good as the team looked good for the most part in the preseason.
Still, we need to see it all come together in the regular season for Kitchens and his players. It’s one thing to believe he will be a good coach, it’s another to see it in action.
Sunday will be his first chance to show the doubters he knows what he’s doing. A win against Tennessee will go a long way toward building confidence and making even more believers.