Re-thinking 53-man Browns roster after cut down
By Randy Gurzi
Browns Roster: Wide Receiver (6)
Odell Beckham, Jr., Jarvis Landry, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Rashard Higgins, Anthony Schwartz, KhaDarel Hodge
At wide receiver, the Cleveland Browns are pretty stacked as well. Odell Beckham, Jr. is still the biggest name in the corps despite not living up to his potential since joining Cleveland. Not all iof that was on him though since 2019 was a mess all around and in 2020, he was beating his defender but he and Baker Mayfield were not on the same page.
Returning from a torn ACL, OBJ should still be the No. 1 guy and as long as his speed is back, he can be the top deep threat as well. His former collegiate teammate, Jarvis Landry, is still on the roster as well. Landry saw his effectiveness wane in 2020 but he was also coming back from hip surgery and had a rib injury during the year.
Still a veteran leader, Landry could be pushed for snaps by some of the younger options including Donovan Peoples-Jones, the sixth-round pick from Michigan in 2020. Peoples-Jones has been the talk of camp, making one great play after another. He’s edging out Rashard Higgins for the No. 3 spot. Higgins still makes the team but he could be in trouble of losing a lot of snaps due to the ascension of DPJ.
Anthony Schwartz is their only rookie wide receiver and he’s known for his incredible speed. He won’t be high on the depth chart right away but there should be some packages for him where he gets out there and tests the defense’s speed.
Lastly, we have KhaDarel Hodge. As a pure receiver, he probably wouldn’t make this team but since he’s a stud on special teams, he makes the cut. It’s also never a bad idea to go deep at the position when the top player is coming off a serious injury.