Jarvis Landry is the Cleveland Browns No. 1 Receiver, not Odell Beckham Jr.
The Cleveland Browns passing attack looks completely different than it did early this season. This charge has been led by Jarvis Landry, who has become the No. 1 receiver.
All hope was lost for the Cleveland Browns after their road loss to the Denver Broncos that gave them a 2-6 record. People, like myself, questioned the leadership of this team and their ability to bounce back from adversity.
I am not too proud to admit when I was wrong and boy was I wrong about this one. Since that loss to the Broncos, Cleveland has won three straight games and has responded to their fair share of adversity.
Their best defensive player, Myles Garrett, was suspended for at least the rest of the season after an on-field brawl with the the Pittsburgh Steelers. They also lost defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi for one game because of the incident.
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They still managed to dominate the Miami Dolphins, who aren’t good, but you can only beat who you play and the Browns did what they were supposed too. For the first time this season Cleveland has played consecutive good games.
The defense has been great, led by linebacker Joe Schobert, who has three interceptions in the last two games and should be getting a big contract extension soon. But as Browns fans know, the offense has to carry their weight too, and that’s what they’ve been doing this winning streak.
The entire team seems to have more fire and composure, and that starts with their emotional leader Jarvis Landry. His skill-set paired with good play-calling and a great running back has allowed him to have more of an impact.
Nick Chubb has been unstoppable, but early in the season their pass plays weren’t complimenting the run. The passing attack’s play designs were taking too long to develop and the offensive line couldn’t hold their blocks.
In the last three weeks, the routes are shorter so the ball is coming out of Baker Mayfield‘s hands faster, which works for Landry because he is a great possession receiver. Mayfield also deserves credit for moving out of the pocket to get more time.
When Landry starts to hurt a team with underneath routes that opens up the deep ball for his best friend Odell Beckham Jr., who caught his first touchdown since week two on Sunday.
When they traded for Beckham it was clear he was going to be the No. 1 receiver. But so far, he and Landry have an identical number of targets and Landry has been slightly more effective. He has five more catches and 67 more yards
Has Beckham been disappointing? Of course, he looked like one of the best receivers to ever play the game in his first three years and he hasn’t looked like that for the Browns.
But that should not take away from what Landry has done this season. Beckham also looked emotionally unstable before coming to Cleveland and Landry seems to have helped with that as well.
Landry may not have expected to be the top receiver this season, but that is the what happened and he has taken full advantage of it.