Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper should be some of the statistical leaders for the Cleveland Browns in 2022, but who else will stand out?
The Cleveland Browns and some of their talented players could be in the mix as NFL league leaders in a variety of categories this upcoming season. Defensive end Myles Garrett had a great season a year ago and finished with 16 sacks and finished fifth in the league. Nick Chubb, the Browns running back finished second in rushing yards with 1,259 yards.
When you start looking back at some of these stat leaders in Browns team history, we’ll have to see if any of these current Cleveland players this season can catch some of these long-time standing marks.
For most receptions in a single season, former tight end Ozzie Newsome holds that mark with 89 catches in 1983. He did that again in 1984 and Kellen Winslow tied Newsome with his 89 receptions in 2006.
One-hit-wonder wide receiver Josh Gordon holds the stat lead in total reception yards with 1,646 in 2013. Braylon Edwards holds the most touchdowns in a season record with 16 back in 2007.
In the run game running back, Jim Brown holds the mark for most yards in a season with 1,863 of them back in 1963. He also holds the mark for most touchdowns on the ground with 17 in both 1958 and 1965.
On the defensive side of the ball, Myles Garrett got the single-season sack crown with 16 this past season. Thom Darden, a former Cleveland cornerback collected 10 interceptions back in 1978 to hold the team lead in picks in a single season. Cornerback Anthony Henry tied him up in 2001 with 10 as well.
So, with that bit of background let’s tackle some predictions for the current team and see who we think will be leaders in various offense and defensive categories for the team.
We’ll begin with the defense and look at the categories of sacks, total tackles, and interceptions first.
2022 Cleveland Browns Sack Leader: Myles Garrett
The former No. 1 draft pick from 2017 was dominating a year ago finishing with a Browns all-time best 16 sacks in a season. I look for Garrett to do the same this season. Can he close in on last year’s NFL season leader in T.J. Watt who had 22.5 a year ago?
2022 Cleveland Browns Tackles Leader: Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah
The 2021 NFL draft third pick out of Notre Dame had a solid rookie campaign and was quickly recognized for his impressive production for the team. He finished with 76 total tackles and forced two fumbles.
Last year, veteran linebacker Anthony Walker led the team with 113 tackles. I look to see JOK overtake Walker in this category this next season.
2022 Cleveland Browns Interceptions Leader: Denzel Ward
Last season, both Denzel Ward and safety John Johnson III had three interceptions to lead the team in that department. Johnson had another season when he played for the Los Angeles Rams where he picked off four passes. Wards had three interceptions in two different seasons.
This will be Ward’s season to shine and will lead the team this season in interceptions. My best guess is he’ll end up with at least five picks.
2022 Cleveland Browns rushing Leader: Nick Chubb
The heart and soul of the Browns offense finished last season with 1,259 yards rushing and an impressive 5.5 yards per carry. He’s led the team in rushing over his four-year tenure with the team and he will show no signs of slowing down this season.
He will lead the team in yards as he attempts to move up on the team’s all-time rushing leader board. He currently sits at No. 6 but will likely pass both in 2022.
2022 Cleveland Browns Rushing Touchdowns Leader: Kareem Hunt
Last season Hunt was injured for most of the year but still managed to score five touchdowns on the ground in only eight games.
If he can stay healthy, he’ll challenge Nick Chubb for the touchdowns title this season.
2022 Cleveland Browns Receptions Leader: Amari Cooper
The Browns traded for Amari Cooper from the Dallas Cowboys. He will be the new go-to No. 1 wide receiver for Cleveland. He had 68 receptions a year ago and 92 catches the year before that. I expect Deshaun Watson to look to Cooper a lot this next season and him to lead the team in receptions.
I also look for Donovan Peoples-Jones to increase his receptions total going into his third season as he had 34 catches last year. Also, don’t be surprised if rookie David Bell, out of Purdue has a healthy start to his season. He was a catching machine in college. He grabbed 93 passes last season and had 232 catches in only three seasons.
2022 Cleveland Browns Reception Yards Leader: Amari Cooper
With his team-leading receptions count, Amari Cooper will also lead the team in yards total as well. He went over 1,100 yards in two of the last three seasons. It’s not likely that any Cleveland player will come close to what Josh Gordan did in 2013 with over 1600 yards in a season.
However, Cooper and the rest of the wide receivers will hopefully have far more productive seasons ahead of them now that Deshaun Watson is throwing them the ball.
2022 Cleveland Browns Reception Touchdown Leader: David Njoku
In a bit of a surprise, I’m taking the Browns tight end David Njoku to lead the team in receiving touchdowns. He did a year ago with four for the season.
This year however the team has Amari Cooper on the team. The former Dallas Cowboy had eight touchdowns a year ago and has never had more than that in any other year of his career.
So, I’m going to go with Njoku this season as I believe Deshaun Watson will find his big tight end target down in the red zone a lot.
There you have it! We aren’t taking too many risks this time with our selections. Some of our talented Browns players will also be pushing the lead of overall NFL rankings and hopefully, that’s a good sign that Cleveland will be vying for the playoffs again this season.