Cleveland Browns stock up/stock down Week 1 edition

After an embarrassing display of football on national television; the Cleveland Browns dropped their season, and home opener to the Dallas Cowboys 33-17. With a game like that, it’s easy to find issues, but difficult to find any silver lining.

Before this one started, the Browns announced the inactive players, most notably quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr., and right tackle Jack Conklin. Throughout the game, the Browns sustained injuries to David Njoku, Jerry Jeudy, and Tony Fields at different points of the game with both Njoku and Fields not returning.

Wills was doubtful throughout the week, but not having Conklin replace him at LT was a significant blow to an already thin offensive line, and was a brief foreshadow for the soul-crushing defeat that would occur a mere few hours later. The season isn't over with, even though it seems so, there is plenty of time for Cleveland to turn things around. Let’s review three individuals or groups whose stock is down, and three whose stock is up after Week 1 of the NFL season.

1. Stock Down: Deshaun Watson

Deshaun Watson: It’s hard to even argue for him anymore because the timetable for when the fans should expect him to knock off the rust seems to be on a neverending extension, much like his contract. If Watson continues to play like this, the chants for Jameis Winston will not take long on a larger scale then what was seen on Sunday.

I have theorized that the Browns opted against re-signing, or even offering a contract to Joe Flacco after last season because one bad game would signal the Cleveland faithful to start the chants. Set aside the embarrassing loss for a second and remember that we’re stuck with Watson for the next two seasons with massive cap hits if we cut him. I understand the sample size is not what we were all expecting, but when he plays like this on most occasions, and exceptional games are the outliers, we have a big problem. If at any time you must justify yourself by saying, “yeah but remember last year during insert whatever week,” you're part of the problem.

Both interceptions by Watson on Sunday were his own doing, a tipped ball at the line, and a tipped ball off the receivers’ hands that he led far too much. Watson was lucky when he threw that first interception in the second quarter, it was only his first. Dallas dropped three to four balls that easily could have been caught, some of which were nowhere near target. He led receivers into defenseless situations (Jerry Jeudy) and displayed almost no situational awareness (taking a sack on fourth down, getting out of bounds on third and short).

He overthrew receivers, underthrew receivers, missed wide-open receivers, consistently held the ball too long, and fled the pocket too soon. If Watson’s first read was not there, he seemed incapable of reading the defense well enough to determine where to go next.

For more clarification, Watson threw for only 36 yards in the first half, a historically low statistic, even for the Browns' horrendous quarterback play in recent history. If he doesn’t turn his play around, no team in the NFL would be willing to take on his contract, and if his skills are not there, it’s a PR nightmare to sign someone with his history to take on a backup role.

2. Stock Down: Kevin Stefanski

This one may be an unpopular opinion, but it's difficult to blame only the players when the team looks completely unprepared ( Cleveland Browns vs. Houston Texans in the 2023 Wild Card Round). Since becoming the head coach in 2020, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, Baker Mayfield, Joe Woods, and Alex Van Pelt, to name a few notable names, have all come and go; often referred to as a "fall guy."

When something goes wrong within Kevin Stefanski's team everyone seems to be punished or called out, but he remains unchallenged. In the offseason, the NFLPA released their annual team report cards for each team. The most alarming part of the report was the Browns’ players rating Kevin Stefanski 28th among all Head Coaches in the NFL. The comments revealed that over 30% of players felt he was inefficient with their time, and Browns players felt he was somewhat willing to listen to players and coaches.

This lines up with his hiring of Ken Dorsey in the offseason when other more qualified candidates, most of whom would have threatened his status as a play caller, were not considered for the Browns offensive coordinator position.

In 2023, Stefanski was named the NFL Coach of the Year, due mostly to his ability to win games with four different starting quarterbacks. In reality, the defense won those games; as the season wore on, the “number one defense” faded away because they could not continuously shut down opposing offenses when their offense was on the field for twelve minutes a game. Couple that with the easy back half of the season, and we see why the Browns made the postseason. In the Wild Card Game against Houston, Cleveland looked unprepared and overwhelmed like they did Sunday.

Cleveland’s Offense was terrible, stagnant, and lacked urgency when down 24 points returning after the half. There is too much invested in the skill positions to justify the performance they gave the fans. The only consistency within the Browns has been Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry; either the personnel department is terrible at evaluating talent, or the coaching staff can't turn potential into anything promising.

The offense hasn't evolved in any capacity since Stefanski took over, it’s the same offense he ran in Minnesota. Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmerman was the head coach in 2019 when Stefanski was his offensive coordinator, in case you needed further proof of his growth. He continues to force the players to adjust to his scheme rather than adjust his scheme to his player's strengths. So long as this continues, we’ll see strong defensive play, and an offense capable of hanging around but never reaching their true potential.

Amari Cooper and Jerry Jeudy are two of the best route runners in the NFL; when they’re not able to get open, the routes are schemed poorly. Instead, the Browns are contingent upon paying massive amounts of money for receivers used mostly as decoys so the offense can continue to run TE and RB screens or five-yard routes. Apart from after the bye week, the season opener is the game that coaches have the longest to gameplan for.

Being out-coached and out-played is a testament to the work of Browns coaches and players in that preparation time. A blowout in the capacity it was, is a terrible look on the coach. When Stefanski decides to rest his starters, the team is embarrassed the following week. We criticized Baker Mayfield for his consistency, but the Browns have continued to play well just about every other year when there’s no expectations. Sound familiar?

Stock Down: Offensive Line

Before the game started, the OL was in a tough spot with Jack Conlin ruled out for the game. At this point in his tenure with the Browns, much like Watson, it’s been a toss-up on whether he’ll suit up come game day.

This past week I wrote that Jack Conklin would be a catalyst for the game against the Cowboys and that a catalyst could impact the game negatively or positively. I truly believed that he could have made a difference within this game, and for the most part, I think if Watson has any excuse for his performance, which he does not, it was terrible pass protection.  Speaking of Conklin, being ruled out resulted in Cowboys star EDGE Micah Parsons wreaking havoc for 60 minutes.

While no one can control injuries, it’s worth mentioning that he has only played in 37 of a possible 68 games now in his fifth season with Cleveland. That doesn’t even count the countless games he’s started and didn’t finish. At this point, it’s worth exploring a trade that adds some OL depth and potentially a draft pick for the 2025 season. With both starting Tackles out (Conklin and Wills), the Browns were forced to roll the dice with James Hudson starting at LT, and 2023 standout Dawand Jones starting at RT. It got ugly in a hurry, with both contributing to a handful of penalties that killed the offense's momentum early in the first half.

Penalties in general killed the Browns; mix that with a plethora of missed blocking assignments and you get six sacks, 18 QB hits, and dozens of QB pressures. Watson spent the entirety of the game running from the Cowboy's consistent pressure, which caused him to get rid of the ball quickly, or force throws into questionable windows.

Did anyone see how much time Dak Prescott had to sit in the pocket for much of the game?  Running the ball, typically the strength of the Cleveland Browns offense, was a non-factor on Sunday. While the Browns averaged 4.8 yards per carry, and 93 yards total, Watson contributed eight YPC and 39 yards total. In comparison, Jerome Ford rushed the ball 12 times for 44 yards and 3.7 YPC. Having both Wills and Conklin will immediately improve the OL, and once Nick Chubb returns, opposing defenses may finally fear the Browns offense again.

Or possibly, the loss of former OL Coach Bill Callahan has impacted the group far more than anyone could have seen coming.

1. Stock Up: Myles Garrett

Browns fans are 100% justified in asking where Myles Garrett was for most of the game. As the game went on, I found myself wondering if Garrett would intervene at some point with a momentum-changing play, and it just never happened. In terms of both his expectations and the expectations of Browns fans, he had a quiet game. He accounted for one sack, one forced fumble, two tackles, one tackle for loss, and a bunch of QB pressures/hits.

The first sack of the game, by Dalvin Tomlinson, was a direct effect of Garrett. Rushing through two defenders and shaking them, QB Dak Prescott saw Garrett approaching him and quickly tried to run up the center and was met with an unblocked Tomlinson for the sack. In the grand scheme, the Dallas OL did a great job of containing or minimizing Garrett's ability to change the game. Wherever he lined up, Dallas OL caught it and picked him up. He spent most of the game being double-teamed, which should have opened more windows for other players to capitalize. Look for him to play angry next week and explode for a massive game.

2. Stock Up: Jerry Jeudy

While the productivity he displayed on Sunday in no way justifies the contract that he signed when Cleveland traded for him in the offseason, it was refreshing to see a Browns receiver catching the ball. Speaking with Denver Broncos fans after the trade, many of them had a high opinion of Jeudy’s speed, route running, and ability to shake defenders.

Their overarching complaint, and why they were glad to move on from him, was that he consistently dropped the football. On a day when Amari Cooper, David Njoku, and the other Browns receivers were dropping the ball at a rapid rate while wide open; Jeudy was able to haul in the ones that touched his hands. Alibis, one specific play where Jeudy caught the ball but was immediately crushed by a Dallas safety he was unaware of. I contributed that one to Watson’s decision and ball placement and I'm just glad there was not a significant injury to Jeudy on that play.

Time will tell if the contract pans out, much of it will depend on how much the Browns decide to expand their very basic playbook, and Watson’s performance for the remainder of the season. However, thus far if drops were the major concern, Jeudy is off to a great start. Look for Jeudy to get more looks moving forward as Cleveland will most likely move on from Cooper after the 2024 season.

3. Stock Up: Jameis Winston

As Browns fans, anytime there's consistently poor play from our QB, we immediately believe the backup QB would have played better. Sometimes that is the case, and sometimes it’s not. The fact that a player who didn’t take a single snap for the Browns on Sunday is even considered for stock-up, should tell you everything you need to know about both the game and the Deshaun Watson experiment.

Watson threw for 169 yards, one TD, and 2 INT’s and a 53% completion percentage. He also had a historically bad first half of the game for a franchise that has had terrible QBs over the years (DeShone Kizer). Winston has garnished a solid number of headlines over the last couple of months for his play, personality, and ability to fire the team up. In the preseason, Winston was 10 of 14 for 93 yards. That's roughly 9.4 yards per completion.

Compare that to Watson’s 3.8 YPC and fans recognize that Watson would have put more stats behind those interceptions, or at a minimum could not have played worse. At this point, I think most Cleveland fans are willing to ride with the QB who threw for 5,109 yards, 33 TDs, and 30 INTs, or 4,090 yards, 28 TDs, and 18 INTs, and that QB is Winston.

If the Browns decide that the old Watson, or even a fraction of the old Watson will never return; you must drive on with Winston. However, doing this means Cleveland must do what they rarely do; accept that they were wrong. It is doable if, and only if, you force your player development team to develop Dorian Thompson-Robinson into a starting-caliber QB while he’s still on a rookie contract until you are financially free from Watson.

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