The Cleveland Browns are 2-1 heading into a big Thursday Night Football matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where the home team is the underdog. Despite the Browns strong start and playoff contention early in the season, Cleveland’s offensive line has not performed well. Whether it is PFF grades, earning Frownies, or just the overall film, very few are lauding the unit upfront.
The line was also not one of the reasons mentioned by fans for why the team is 2-1:
The line’s concerns only grow if center
Elgton Jenkins cannot play on Thursday.
This offseason, OL Spencer Fano was considered the capstone of the new and improved Browns offensive line. The first offensive lineman selected in the 2026 NFL draft, Fano has not played poorly but, as noted in takeaways from Week 3, Cleveland’s offense has done him no favors:
Rookie Spencer Fano put on an island; looked like a rookie much of the game. Cleveland’s offense didn’t give him a lot of help and expected him to hold up. Unfortunately, it looks like film from the first two games showed that Fano could be beaten inside because Carolina attacked him there a lot.
This analysis was backed up by former Browns and Ohio State Buckeyes star LeCharles Bentley a day later:
I wish the Browns spread the help in pass protection a bit better. It’s a tall ask for a rookie left tackle to be on an island.
In his Substack article, Bentley showed a video where Cleveland slid protection to the right, with five blockers for just three Panthers defenders. That not only left Fano blocking one-on-one, but also gave his defender a much larger area for his defender to attack. Instead of having a left guard and another defender directly to Fano’s right, Zion Johnson is blocking no one between the center and right guard:
This is not a mistake by Johnson; instead, it was the protection call by the offense.
Against an aggressive, veteran, and versatile Steelers defense, the Browns need to heed Bentley’s desire to “spread the help in pass protection” in Week 4. Otherwise, Deshaun Watson may not have a chance to get the offense going.
How do you feel like Fano has played so far as a rookie? Do you think Monken will make some protection adjustmenets for the Steelers?
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