3 Adjustments Cleveland Browns must make during the bye

Cleveland Browns must mix up personnel in 13

It is worth repeating, 13 personnel puts the best players on the field. People seem to think using this personnel group means Stefanksi is over his head. It also has led to ridiculous outrage demanding he stop calling plays.

These demands miss the point. It is not the personnel grouping that is causing the problem. Let’s say Offensive Coordinator Alex Van Pelt calls the plays.

What is he supposed to do different? Is changing OC’s going to make the wide receiver room good? Is it going to magically allow them to beat man-to-man coverage (which is the real problem)? No, it won’t. So there is no sense is destroying what continuity there is with the team.

Play calling is an involved process. The play caller has to learn the tendencies of his quarterback. He has to know what he can and cannot do. He has to know what plays the quarterback likes and does not. He has to know what makes the quarterback comfortable and what is unsettling. Changing play caller’s now will only compound the issue.

Instead, the Browns should double down on 13 personnel but they must mix up the players within it. Instead of lining up and being predictable in 13, they need to become multiple.

They already shift from 13 to 10, splitting out the tight ends as wide receivers, on occasion. But now, they need to start shifting to multiple personnel groups and formations while starting from 13.

There are many advantages to doing this. It will break up the tendency to run the ball and play action out of it. It forces the defense to play against personnel that they might not have matched on the field. Once different formations and plays become the new normal, defenses will have to back off the 13 grouping which will open up the run game.

But this will mean that the tight ends will need to play multiple positions. One of the mantras fans hear out of Berea is “the more you can do”. Well, it is time to find out who can do what. In particular, the Browns need to start using tight end David Njoku in different roles.

Like it or not, Njoku is the best wide receiver on the team. He has even become an effective blocker. Maybe it’s time to use him as an H-back. Line him up at fullback, wide receiver, in-line tight end or even running back. This can be done to create mismatches not only for Njoku for but other player on the field as well.

It’s time to mix up the formations in 13 personnel. It is also time to mix up the personnel with 13. Multiple players can play multiple rules within the group. It’s time to find out who can do more.