3 Cleveland Browns players who must show out in Preseason Week 1
1. JoJo Natson, Wide Receiver
JoJo Natson was brought into Cleveland mainly as a return specialist for Special Teams coach Mike Priefer.
Unfortunately for Natson though, he did not get the opportunity to show the Browns what he could do in the return game for very long. During Week 3 of the 2020 NFL Season, the Browns were facing the Washington Football Team when Natson left the game with a knee injury. An MRI later revealed that Natson tore his ACL and was done for the season.
In the 2021 NFL Draft, the Browns selected the Auburn wide receiver Anthony Schwartz in the third round. Schwartz is a candidate to be one of the teams return guys with a blazing 4.25 40-yard dash time (only 0.01 seconds off from tying John Ross’s record time of 4.24).
The Browns’ depth at receiver is amongst the best in the NFL and it would be really tough for the team to keep Natson when several other players can do the same thing as him in the return game but also offer more on the offensive side of the ball.
It’s really tough for any professional athlete to come back from an ACL injury. It may be even harder for Natson because of how shifty he is on the field. Standing at 5-foot-7, 153 pounds, and a blazing 4.38 40-yard dash, he just weaves in-and-out of defenders. The real question is how his ACL will react to him doing this at full speed.
With guys like Schwartz, Felton, and second-year product Donovan Peoples-Jones all capable of being return men and receiving threats on offense, Natson needs to not only show the Browns something that the rest of them can’t on special teams but on the offensive side of the ball as well if he wants to make the 53-man roster.