Should Donovan Peoples-Jones be a priority for the Cleveland Browns?
By Josh Brown
The Cleveland Browns took Donovan Peoples-Jones in Round 6 of the 2020 NFL Draft after a less-than-stellar college career with the Michigan Wolverines. To be honest, if it wasn't for the fact he was a highly touted recruit that had terrible quarterback play he may not have even been drafted by any team that year.
Since then, DPJ has grabbed 109 passes on 174 targets for 1,740 yards and eight touchdowns. For a sixth-round pick, those are some excellent numbers, but is DPJ even better than we think or just good based on his draft status?
Is DPJ a true threat for the Browns?
While Peoples-Jones brings a big body and the ability to win contested catches, 46.4% of the time per Player Profiler ranking 39th in the NFL, is he explosive enough? Pete Smith of Browns Digest looked into this when the Browns were "showing interest" in DeAndre Hopkins.
"The Browns want to be more explosive. 14.5 percent of his targets resulted in chunk plays. Hopkins has 15 explosive plays over his last 19 games, but that required 160 targets to get there, meaning that only 9.3 percent of his plays were explosive."
- PETE SMITH JUN 5, 2023
So as an offense in the NFL, you want to be as explosive as possible DPJ certainly checks that box based on the numbers.
He wins contested balls at a top-40 rate and makes chunk/explosive plays. Sounds like a pretty good receiver. What about catch percentage or target separation, etc? Well, let's look at him compared to our No. 1 wideout.
Catch % | True Catch % | Target sep | Route Win % | QB Rating per Target | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amari Cooper | 59.1% | 75.7% | 1.72 | 39.5% | 98.0 |
DPJ | 63.5% | 80.3% | 1.93 | 39.4% | 97.5 |
So based on the above numbers, DPJ has shown that he keeps up with the Browns number one option Amari Cooper in many categories. All the talk was about bringing in DeAndre Hopkins or at one point bringing back Odell Beckham Jr. So how does DPJ stack up with those star wideouts?
Catch % | True Catch % | Target sep | Route Win % | QB Rating per Target | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DPJ | 63.5% | 80.3% | 1.93 | 39.4% | 97.5 |
OBJ(2021) | 53.7% | 78.6% | 1.63 | 41.1% | 94.4 |
DeAndre Hopkins | 66.7% | 81.0% | 1.77 | 51.8% | 81.8 |
Once again the 24-year-old DPJ holds his own across the board. So you tell us is he an important piece for the future that the Browns should find a way to keep or just a nice story in his final season?
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