What’s happening with Cleveland Browns wide receiver corps?

The Cleveland Browns wide receivers, outside of Jarvis Landry, are all on the decline. What’s the reason for this, and can they fix it in the offseason?

Other than Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham, Jr., the numbers show that the Cleveland Browns wide receivers have been almost nonexistent.

The Browns are getting a great year from Landry, who is already over 1,000  yards. Beckham will probably go over 1,000 next week while playing through an injury that will require surgery.

Still, 2019 is arguably the worst season of OBJ’s career despite having 910 yards in receptions. That would be very good for a normal receiver but far below his usual standards.

The link to a table comparing last year’s and this year’s performance for Browns wide receivers can be found here:

What happened to the rest of the Browns’ wide receiver corps?

Statistically, the third wide receiver in terms of receiving yardage is Damion Ratley, who only has 136 yards this season. He had only 144 yards as a rookie but in fewer snaps.

He had176 as a rookie and 227 snaps this year, so he is definitely less productive while being used more often. Thus, he still regressed in his second year rather than improve as he should have.

Rashard Higgins is also suffering through the worst year of his career by far.  Last year, he had 572 yards in 483 snaps or 1.18 yards per snap. This year in 172 snaps he has  59 yards or 0.34.

In other words, he was nearly three times as productive in 2018 compared to 2019. He’s missed several games due to injury, so perhaps there is some physical issue that is preventing him from playing well. That’s just a guess. Otherwise, it is inconceivable that a player who meshed so well with Baker Mayfield last year is now next to useless.

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Antonio Callaway is long gone after a rookie campaign that allowed him to hold it together long enough to haul in 586 yards. This year he had only 89 before being cut, apparently due to substance abuse.

Taywan Taylor was brought in using a late-round draft pick for 2020. He had 466 yards last year in 226 snaps, which is very good. That earned him one target this year, which he did not catch, and the team has given up on him. He is still used on special teams.

For that matter, tight end David Njoku has only been a shadow of himself, though of course he has been injured this season.

Baker Mayfield last year was a quarterback who could process information rapidly and get the ball out quickly to any target on the field. Now, he strongly favors OBJ or Landry and other wide receivers do not get much of a look.

By the numbers, OBJ and Landry have gotten 83 percent of the wide receiver targets this year. How can it be that every receiver except Jarvis Landry is having a worse year than 2018, and those who have been here a while are having their career-worst year?  Why can the coaching staff not find a role for these players in the offense?

These are all questions that the team needs to answer in the offseason to avoid a repeat in this department next year.