What is the story about?
The Cleveland Browns played a terrible game in Week 1, with a lot of blame going to QB Deshaun Watson on offense, and then the team’s defense in general. But were other areas responsible for the low output offensively too? There was one unit that actually played at a very high level, believe it or not.
Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 1 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Quarterback
- We can’t just look at the stat line for Deshaun Watson and think he wasn’t a problem. With that said, there are two sides to this. Fans are fed up with Watson. We thought we were done with him after the owner’s comments last year, and yet here he is, starting again. How many empty scoring halves of offense under Watson have we been subjected to? And then when you listen to the clip below, they’re exactly right, what the hell are we doing here, Todd Monken? We are coddling Watson with kid gloves.
- Now, with all of that in mind, sure, there were a few positives I saw from Watson. I thought his deep ball in garbage time was thrown well, and he had some nice scrambles. He is certainly not tentative about running after his two Achilles injuries. The problem is, this is what, year four of us seeing Watson with the Browns? We’re sick of trying to cherry pick a few highlights to hope he’ll be better. That’s stuff you’d want to point out with Shedeur Sanders as a youngster, not Watson at this point, who has proven he is too turnover prone and doesn’t put points on the board.
Running Back
- The Browns were blown out so early that it again made it difficult to rely on the running game. Also, this is a Jaguars front that thrived at stopping the run a year ago.
- Nonetheless, there was nothing really special about the way Quinshon Judkins ran in Week 1. His backup, Dylan Sampson, is out with an injury now.
- Fullback Michael Burton got six snaps in.
Wide Receiver
- Despite his fumble, I liked that KC Concepcion was utilized in a variety of ways like he was in the preseason. Based on touches, he was the most involved receiver by far.
- Denzel Boston caught two passes, including a deep ball for a touchdown. You can see the frame he has and how Browns quarterbacks will be confident in throwing the ball his direction, thinking it’ll either be a catch of a contested play, but not an interception.
- Concepcion and Boston received decent grades for Cleveland from PFF in the high 60s, making them the team’s second- and third-highest graded players offensively.
- It was surprising to see Tylan Wallace receive 29% of the snaps. I didn’t think he’d even be involved in the offense. He even out-snapped Isaiah Bond, who had seemed to have a solid camp for Cleveland.
Tight End
- Harold Fannin wasn’t even looked at until late in the second half. Ridiculous.
- Blake Whiteheart caught the opening pass, but didn’t have anything else come his way. Cleveland only went with two tight ends getting reps.
Offensive Line
- Austin Barber was the Browns’ highest-graded player, per PFF, receiving a grade of 82.6. You get the feeling that he’ll remain at right guard, even when Teven Jenkins returns.
- Overall, the new Browns’ offensive line blocked well. However, the penalties stacked up and were killers.
- PFF is attributing all 5 of the Jaguars’ sacks to Deshaun Watson, and 0 being on the offensive line. The offensive line and wide receiver play remain encouraging, if we’re looking for optimism moving forward.
- ESPN agreed in their assessment of the Browns’ offensive line:
