There are many storylines for the Cleveland Browns this week as they prepare to take on the
Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday
The biggest storyline of the preseason for the Cleveland Browns continues to revolve around quarterback Deshaun Watson. He’s expected to be suspended for the majority of the season although we still await an actual decision. While that stormy cloud still sits over the team and its future, we have other more pressing storylines for this upcoming preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
After the Browns went down to Jacksonville last weekend for their first game and came back with a win and a decent showing, especially from some of their new rookies, the team still has to address some pressing issues.
Let’s take a look now at a few of those topics.
3 storylines for Browns versus the Eagles
No. 3: The injury-prone offensive line
It feels like Deja Vu.
Cleveland struggled a year ago with offensive linemen going down with injuries and it became a constant battle of trying to fill in the gaps throughout the season. 2022 has already gotten off to a similar start. Starting center Nick Harris went down with a serious knee injury in the first preseason game and then one of his potential replacements, Dawson Deaton, went down as well with a torn ACL during practice on Monday.
Deaton was a seventh-round draft pick out of Texas Tech who they hoped would help backup their new starter, Ethan Pocic.
A former second-round selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, Pocic started 40 games in his career for the Seattle Seahawks. Cleveland also has Brock Hoffman, a rookie the team signed out of Virginia Tech to fill in if needed.
The concern obviously is that they’re already two players down. Over the last several seasons the team’s offensive line had been considered one of its strengths — and when they have all been healthy the team has excelled. The best season to showcase was 2020 when the Browns made it to the playoffs.
Tackle Jack Conklin is still working his way back from a serious injury last season. He’s been a veteran on the team that really had provided some stability on that line until he got injured last year. Third-year player Jedrick Wills was also injured on and off last season as well. Wyatt Teller and Joel Bitonio are all back and healthy so that’s some good news.
The season is a lengthy one and we just saw how fragile things can be when within a few days of each other, two players go down with season-ending injuries.
Fingers will be crossed as we see how things go in this game on Sunday against the Eagles. Let’s hope to see no more injuries on the line or anywhere else on the team.
No. 2: The wide receiver battle
Outside of Amari Cooper, there aren’t any other wide receivers that stand out on the team and say, “superstar.” Why Cleveland hasn’t invested in drafting more young talent or gone after a few more veteran free agents to help this part of the team out remains a mystery.
Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz are two wide receivers that are supposed to be those guys and bring the team some success, but neither has provided that spark to this point of their careers.
Schwartz had two opportunities a week ago to grab a couple of passes in the opening stages of the Jags game and he failed miserably. This week he made a nice catch in practice and folks want to believe that he’ll repeat that in a game but that hasn’t happened yet and I’m not holding my breath.
PLAY OF THE DAY: Jacoby Brissett finds Anthony Schwartz for the deep TD. #Browns pic.twitter.com/7yIJVUiz7Y
— clevelanddotcom (@clevelanddotcom) August 16, 2022
Cleveland did draft David Bell, a wide receiver from Purdue and he seemed to catch any pass thrown his way during camp. We’ll see how he does this season. There are other wideouts looking to secure those last couple of spots in the room. After Schwartz’ performance in the first preseason game, he better come out catching everything thrown his way if he wants to stay on the roster.
Late-round draft pick Michael Woods Jr. might have a shot at securing a spot but he’s dealing with a recent minor injury. Javin Wims, Mike Harley, Travell Harris, and J’Marcus Bradley could all be in the wide receiver mix as well. It would be nice to see one of these players step up and make something happen in the game against the Eagles.
Bradley got an extra opportunity in last week’s game to return kicks, but he didn’t do much so this week those duties go to another player on the team that is very versatile and could secure his spot on the team. Let’s discuss that player next and a new Cleveland kicker that is catching everyone’s attention.
No. 1: A special team to watch closely
Cleveland thought their special teams unit would have a potential star in Jakeem Grant when they signed him as a free agent this offseason. However, bad luck hit Grant as he went down with a season-ending injury. Cleveland did just claim a new special team guy and wide receiver named Easop Winston. He played with the New Orleans Saints last season and returned some punts for the Saints but didn’t do much else.
So, he’ll get his tryout to make the team, but in the meantime, it looks like Demetric Felton will again get his chance at kickoffs and punts in the game on Sunday. He was listed on the latest Cleveland depth chart as the player returning kicks. Felton is that player that can fill in at almost every position. The team and coaches love his availability to play different roles and with this latest chance, it will only secure his slot on the roster.
A year ago, Felton returned nine kickoffs and 32 punts. Neither of his average on runbacks was great but now he gets to try again.
Finally, it seems Cleveland has already anointed Cade York as their future kicker. He was drafted in the fourth round this year out of LSU. I’m not sure this is the team’s best move because they haven’t given York anyone else to compete against him and challenge the young player. The Browns have struggled to find a good kicker in recent years and now they’ve decided to not have a competition for the kicking job.
The reverse in football philosophy has me concerned. Maybe not for this next preseason game or even a month from now, but there will be mounting pressure on the young kicker to make important kicks in the future. It’s fun watching York kick 55-yard field goals in practice but that’s all they are.
There isn’t anyone breathing down his neck. Some are even comparing him to the great former Browns kicker Phil Dawson even though York has yet to kick in a regular season game.
Watch for these storylines on Sunday and we’ll see what new topics arise next. We know that will be the case when we watch our favorite team. Enjoy the game folks!