Cleveland Browns Report Card: First quarter of the 2019 season

Coaching

John Dorsey was able to make his first head coaching hire this offseason and he ended up going with Freddie Kitchens. The former interim offensive coordinator went from a dark horse candidate to the newest shot-caller in Cleveland and fans loved the pick.

Kitchens wasn’t a flashy name but he’s someone the players trusted and he showed some offensive innovation last year. Plus, he has Baker Mayfield in his corner which is huge.

The rookie coach then added some experience around him as he named Todd Monken his offensive coordinator and Steve Wilks his defensive coordinator. He also lured Mike Priefer away from the Minnesota Vikings which was a huge coup.

So far, the results have been mixed. Kitchens and Monken have yet to find an identity and it’s hard to see anywhere the new coordinator has made his mark. That has a lot to do with Kitchens remaining the play-caller but Monken’s history as a passing game guru has yet to make an impact.

As for Wilks, he’s been doing amazing work with a team that’s been snake-bitten with injuries. He’s kept them in every game this season, as they were even close during the Tennessee game until the offense started to turn the ball over in the final quarter.

Priefer is also making a huge difference as the kicking game and coverage units are much better in 2019 than years past. Still, the defensive and special teams coordinators seem to be doing the majority of the heavy lifting at this point which hurts the grade.

Grade: D+

The Baltimore game seems to be the only one where things really clicked. Even in the blowout against New York, the team was sloppy and there was no way they were losing with the Jets down to a third-string quarterback. On top of that, the continued penalties are a direct reflection of coaching.

Cleveland is lucky to be in first place and they have five divisional games starting after Week 11. They can still win their division but the staff needs to clean a lot up going forward.