Browns' best Week 1 personnel group validates the KC Concepcion-Denzel Boston hype

For better or worse, Week 1 confirmed several theories about the 2026 Cleveland Browns. Unfortunately, it validated those who think Deshaun Watson can no longer be a starting quarterback, but there were also positive confirmations.

Week 1 showed flashes of what rookie offensive linemen Austin Barber and Spencer Fano can do for years to come, and it also confirmed what every fan and analyst was thinking: KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston must be on the field at all times.

Even on a day when the offense struggled to get much going, their best personnel grouping posted an elite success rate. According to Next Gen Stats, the Browns had a 56 percent success rate while using 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers).

For context, success rate is measured as a percentage of plays that gain a positive amount of yardage toward a successful first-down conversion based on down and distance. The league average for success rate in 2025 was 43.5, per ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi.

KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston give Browns every reason to live in 11 personnel

The Browns only ran 51 offensive plays against the Jaguars, and 34 of them were in 11 personnel. They averaged 6.38 yards per play with that grouping on the field.

Notably, they ran just nine plays in 12 personnel (one RB, two TEs, two WRs) for a 22 percent success rate and 4.67 yards per play.

While the yards-per-play stat might be inflated by Denzel Boston's garbage-time touchdown, success rate factors down and distance into the equation. The final numbers aren't encouraging, of course, but the underlying metrics show positive signs.

Unlike last season, the Browns have two dynamic playmakers who can change the outlook of a game in the blink of an eye. KC Concepcion, even with the fumble, had a pretty solid debut, playing on special teams, getting touches out of the backfield, and making defenders miss in the passing game.

Boston was mostly a decoy as Deshaun Watson barely took shots down the field. But the rookie only needed one play to finish as the team's leader in receiving yards and score the first touchdown of the season.

As for Jerry Jeudy, he ran some quarterback-friendly routes and created some opportunities to make plays. Watson failed to connect with him on multiple occasions, including targeting Jeudy on his interception during the first drive of the game.

The Browns have every reason to live in 11 personnel. Football is complex, but sometimes it can be that simple. The fact of the matter is that it gives them the opportunity to have their best players on the field at all times.

It also forces opposing defenses to load the box rather than stack the box or put in a spy on Deshaun Watson, who had a couple of scrambles in his first game back from injury.

They can spread the field with Jeudy, Concepcion, and Boston while Harold Fannin Jr. works between the numbers as their YAC specialist. Quinshon Judkins wasn't efficient in this one, but he's still the team's workhorse and potentially their most explosive running back.

There's no point in bringing in an additional blocker if the Browns can't establish the run. And as much as every offense must shake things up here and there, there's no way to justifying leaving Concepcion or Boston on the sideline. Both players have to be on the field.

Concepcion and Boston combined for 102 receiving yards and a touchdown on just six receptions. That's half of Watson's underwhelming production in the season opener (205 yards, one touchdown, and one interception).

Barring a surprise, the offense will continue to struggle as long as the quarterback situation remains the same. The rookie playmakers, along with Fannin, are this team's only real hope to move the ball and sustain drives right now.

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