3 Browns offseason decisions that already look brilliant

We're only three weeks into the season but the Cleveland Browns have already had more than their share of highs and lows.

They thoroughly beat the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans at home — giving up just six points at Cleveland Browns Stadium. In between those wins, they had a disheartening loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, which also saw them lose Nick Chubb for the year.

With all this going on, they're now 2-1 and starting to show us what type of team they will be this year. They've also shown that these three offseason moves are already looking brilliant.

3. Signing Ogbo Okoronkwo

The Browns made some splash moves this offseason, including the signing of Dalvin Tomlinson and the acquisition of Za'Darius Smith and Elijah Moore via trade. Before any of those moves, however, they first signed Ogbo Okoronkwo, an ascending pass rusher who had five sacks for the Houston Texans in 2022.

Okoronkwo originally looked to be the starter across from Myles Garrett but once Smith was added, he wound up being a reserve. Even with that being the case, Okoronkwo was expected to have a huge role in the scheme run by Jim Schwartz.

After three games, it's clear that wasn't just wishful thinking.

Okoronkwo had the very first sack of the season for Cleveland, taking Joe Burrow don on third-and-five during their first drive in Week 1. He was also on fire in Week 3 with two tackles and a half-sack.

He even snuffed out a screen pass to Tyjae Spears, wrapping him up for a two-yard loss early in the win over Tennessee.

Smith was the high-profile addition and has been generating a lot of pressure but Okoronkwo was the underrated move that has been getting home. After three weeks it already feels safe to say this was a home run by Andrew Berry.

2. Making the last-minute trade for Dustin Hopkins

There was a portion of the offseason where DeAndre Hopkins was being connected to the Cleveland Browns. Recently released by the Arizona Cardinals, a reunion between him and Deshaun Watson seemed to be on the table.

As we saw in Week 3, however, the Browns didn't need that DHop as he was overshadowed by Amari Cooper. They did, however, land another DHop who has been a blessing for them.

Cleveland finally decided to give up on Cade York who was good on just 75 percent of his kicks as a rookie and looked even worse in the preseason. They wanted to give him every opportunity to succeed but it just wasn't working. So they released him and traded for Dustin Hopkins who had lost his job with the Chargers to Cameron Dicker.

As fate would have it, York is now with the Tennessee Titans practice squad so he was watching in Week 3 as Hopkins came in and calmly drilled two kicks, including a 52-yarder. On the year, Hopkins is now 7-of-8 with a long of 55 yards. He's also hit on all four extra-point tries.

For years, we all heard about the kicking issues at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The wind from Lake Erie seemed to give every kicker they brought in fits. But so far, Hopkins hasn't missed at home and seems to have no issues with this.

There's a lot of football left to play and he hasn't tried a high-pressure kick with the game on the line yet. But even so, the addition of Hopkins has been well worth the seventh-round pick they surrendered.

1. Adding Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator

After three years with Joe Woods as his defensive coordinator, Kevin Stefanski finally made the decision to move on this offseason. Woods wound up with the New Orleans Saints and has been decent, giving up fewer than 18 points per game in three weeks.

While that's good for Woods, the fact remains that he wasn't working out in Cleveland. The players weren't buying in and once he lost the locker room, there was no getting it back.

With him out, the Browns ended up making a splash by hiring Jim Schwartz to take over. Schwartz actually started his NFL coaching career with Cleveland back in 1993 and eventually became one of the most well-regarded defensive coordinators in the game.

Schwartz is best known for helping the Philadelphia Eagles win a Super Bowl in 2017. Even with Nick Foles taking over at quarterback for an injured Carson Wentz, the Eagles were dominant and much of that was due to the defense Schwartz led.

So far with him calling defensive plays, the Browns have surrendered just 18 points on defense and only six at home.

Beyond the stats, players are out there having fun. Myles Garrett is putting up insane numbers, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is making hits in the backfield, and Grant Delpit has turned into a heat-seeking missile.

Over the past several seasons, the Browns defense has underperformed. With Schwartz, they look primed to carry the team. That makes this decision a winner already.

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