If you had to choose a side of the ball that needs the most work on the Cleveland Browns, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't instantly say the offense. There is certainly pieces of a high-powered attack on hand, in the likes of Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, Jack Conklin, David Njoku, and Jerry Jeudy. The rest of the unit remains extremely unproven.
It would also be insane to ignore the obvious. The single most important position in the entire game is quarterback. If you don't have the quarterback position settled, the chances of getting very far are near zero. The Browns' current group, headlined by the seasoned Joe Flacco, is either underwhelming or unproven, depending on who you ask.
While the Browns took two swings at quarterbacks in the Draft, expectations should be tempered with the fact that they were third (Dillon Gabriel) and fifth-round (Shedeur Sanders) picks, respectively. While no one would fault fans hoping one of these youngsters becomes that next slept-on superstar, the Brock Purdy, Russell Wilson, even Jalen Hurts arc is the outlier, not the norm.
Furthermore, the Browns' running room got a major boost when Quinshon Judkins (second round) and Dylan Sampson (fourth round), and while the initial reports are promising, they have yet to carry the ball at the NFL level. Still, the running back position in Cleveland seems to be in good hands.
At receiver, Jeudy proved to be a piece worth building with in the lost season of 2024. Outside of Jeudy, there are a lot of questions and not many answers with the Browns' pass catchers.
Even Kevin Stefanski should be on notice after he surrendered play-calling duties to Ken Dorsey in 2024 following a dreadful start to the season. At every level of the offense, there are reasons to be concerned. All of this is to say - yes, the Browns offense needs a lot of work.
Browns offense lands near the bottom in new national ranking
Ben Sobleski of Bleacher Report didn't mince words when he listed the Browns as having the 27th-ranked offense in the NFL.
"At this juncture, head coach/play-caller Kevin Stefanski needs a hard reset and re-establish some kind of identity for his offense. It'll likely come in the form of the run game after Cleveland added Ohio State's Quinshon Judkins and Tennessee's Dylan Sampson in the draft' second and fourth rounds, respectively.Ben Sobleski
All the while, the Browns will hope a quality quarterback emerges from the quartet of Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. "
Furthermore, the mass of departures from Cleveland at nearly every offensive position, namely Jameis Winston, Nick Chubb, Elijah Moore, and Jedrick Wills Jr. was mentioned in regards to the Browns' ranking.
With each of those departures, however, very fair points can be raised for why they're no longer on the roster. Despite Winston's extremely exciting play style, it was evident that getting him to rein it in was a fool's errand. Chubb, a beloved franchise legend, struggled in his return from a serious injury in 2024 before suffering another serious injury.
Elijah Moore had a decent impact for the Browns, but one can gather from the lukewarm interest in his services in free agency that he was considered a replaceable player by the Browns. Finally, Wills has major injury concerns, as he announced he may miss the entirety of the 2025 season as he continues rehabbing a serious injury.
There is an emotional component to losing players who fought the good fight for your favorite team. As Andrew Berry said, in an interview with Cleveland's 92.3, his job is to be non-emotional in constructing the best roster for the Cleveland Browns. Not every move the Browns' front office makes is a slam dunk, but the thinking is clear with the departures they allowed on offense.
So, while it hurts to be ranked as the 6th worst offense in the NFL - the logic is sound. It is up to Kevin Stefanski and the rest of the offense to restore themselves to the top 10 offense they fielded in 2023.