The New York Jets return home on Sunday, looking to avoid their third four-game losing streak in Aaron Glenn’s first 22 games as head coach against the surprising 3-1 Cleveland Browns.
New York has won three of their last four games against Cleveland, including a 27-20 win last season.
Let’s break down the Browns’ roster going position by position:
Quarterbacks
The controversial Deshaun Watson has rebounded from a shaky start to the season to lead the Browns to three straight wins by a total of 10 points.
He has a quarterback rating of over 100 and has rushed for 10 first downs.
However, he’s averaging just 214 passing yards per game and has been sacked 11 times with two interceptions and three fumbles.
After going 3-4 as a starter last season, with 10 interceptions, Shedeur Sanders is now back to being the number two.
Sixth round rookie Taylen Green has been the number three, although Dillon Gabriel was activated for practice from injured reserve this week. He will presumably replace Green on the roster soon, but not this weekend.
Offensive Line
The Browns have completely overhauled their starting offensive line since last season. Left tackle Spencer Fano was drafted in the first round and right guard Austin Barber was drafted in the third round, joining three veteran additions as the new starting group.
At right tackle is Tytus Howard, who was acquired via trade. He has five penalties in four games so far this season. The left guard is Zion Johnson, who was a free agency signing who was previously with the Chargers. Center Elgton Jenkins, who will be making his return after missing last Thursday night’s win over the Steelers, was signed in March after his release from the Packers.
The bench at least has a familiar look, as Luke Wypler, Dawand Jones and Teven Jenkins all started games for the Browns last year with Wypler also having started the last game at center. In addition, Zak Zinter has been with the team for three years, although he didn’t start in any of his four appearances last season. All three of his NFL starts were in his rookie year.
(Teven) Jenkins has been ruled out of Sunday’s game but the other offensive lineman on the roster, fifth round rookie Parker Brailsford, will probably still be inactive.
Running Backs
The Browns’ lead back is Quinshon Judkins, who racked up 827 yards and seven touchdowns last season despite only playing in 14 games. He’s off to a bit of a slow start this year, though, as he averages just 3.0 yards per carry.
Raheim Sanders only has six carries as the number two, but he’s used a lot in the passing game and has combined with Judkins for 25 catches in the first four games.
The number three back is Jaleel McLaughlin, who only has two carries this season – although one went for a 28-yard touchdown.
Veteran Michael Burton is also on the roster as a fullback.
Pass catchers
The Browns were surprisingly led in receiving by a rookie last year, as tight end Harold Fannin led the team in catches, yards and touchdown receptions, while 2024 pro bowler Jerry Jeudy had a down year.
Youngsters are leading the way this year too. Second round rookie receiver Denzel Boston leads them in receiving yards and has flashed big play potential with 46 and 55-yard touchdowns as he is dangerous after the catch.
First rounder KC Concepcion has also made an impact and he’s tied with Fannin on 17 receptions to lead the team.
Jeudy has once again made a slow start, but he is still a starter. Backups Isaiah Bond, ex-Jet Malachi Corley and Tylan Wallace have just two catches between them. Wallace is ruled out for Sunday anyway.
Fannin once again leads the Browns with three touchdown catches, but he no longer has David Njoku as a fellow starter at tight end. With seventh round rookie Carsen Ryan ruled out on Sunday, Blake Whiteheart will be the primary backup with Burton perhaps contributing here too. Whiteheart only has two catches this year, but one went for a touchdown.
Defensive Line
The Browns will be shorthanded on the defensive line this weekend, as last year’s first round pick Mason Graham and key reserve Mike Hall were both ruled out. In addition, Kalia Davis – who is on injured reserve but had his practice window opened this week – missed practice on Thursday and Friday so isn’t ready to be activated to provide reinforcements.
Graham had been making a big impact with four sacks in the first four games, so that’s a significant loss.
The starters will now be Maliek Collins and Adin Huntington with two of Cleveland’s three practice squad defensive tackles (Sam Kamara, Chris Williams and Zion Logue) presumably set to be elevated. Collins is a solid player who had 6.5 sacks last year, but the Browns should be downgraded from a unit which was already the ninth-worst in the NFL for yards per attempt allowed.
Cleveland will be at full strength on the defensive line, although Jared Verse hasn’t been very productive so far as he deals with the pressure of being Myles Garrett’s replacement. Verse, who was included in the trade that sent Garrett to the Rams, was a pro bowler last season with 7.5 sacks, but has just two quarterback hits and no sacks so far this season.
The other starting defensive end is Isaiah McGuire with Derek Barnett healthy enough to come off the bench despite missing practice earlier in the week. Sam Williams will also be in the rotation.
The Browns lost a potential starter, Alex Wright, to an Achilles injury in August so he’s out for the year, which is why they added Barnett. Wright had 5.5 sacks last season.
Linebackers
The Browns’ linebacker unit is led by last year’s defensive rookie of the year, Carson Schwesinger, who racked up 156 tackles in 2025 and
leads the team with 35 this year.
With Devin Bush now in Chicago and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah still on the PUP list, the other starter is a familiar face, Quincy Williams, who signed for the Browns during the offseason. The main thing that is different about Williams’ role with the Browns is that he’s blitzing at a much higher rate. The Jets have had some issue with blitz pick-ups in key moments, so hopefully that’s something they’ll have been working on all week.
Easton Mascarenas-Arnold is also listed as a starter, but the Browns rarely have more than two linebackers on the field so he’s only played 20 snaps in the first four games.
The backups are Winston Reid and fifth round rookie Justin Jefferson.
Defensive Backs
The Browns’ secondary is led by Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward, and the other starting cornerback is Tyson Campbell, who was acquired via trade last season and ended up with 18 pass breakups.
The primary slot cornerback is Myles Harden, who currently leads the team with three pass breakups. Mekhi Blackmon also made one start this year in a game Campbell missed.
The Browns have two reliable veterans at safety in Ronnie Hickman and Grant Delpit, but they also have second round rookie Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, who has been seeing some playing time in three-safety sets.
Additional secondary depth comes in the shape of cornerbacks Noah Igbinoghene and Toriano Pride Jr. and safeties Daniel Thomas and Donovan McMillan.
Special Teams
The Browns’ placekicker is Andre Szmyt, who only missed three field goals last season and is perfect on all kicks this year, including a 56-yard game winner in the last game.
Their punter is the veteran Corey Bojorquez, who is putting up big numbers so far this season.
In the return game, Corley is listed as the main kickoff returner, although Sanders had the most success so far with a 74-yard runback. Concepcion is the punt returner, with Boston listed as his backup.
You will no doubt recall how first quarter touchdown returns by both Kene Nwangwu and Isaiah Williams sparked the Jets to their win over the Browns last season but many of the players from those units have been replaced.
The primary gunners are Corley and Thomas, and their most productive tacklers in kick coverage include McMillon, Whiteheart and McNeil-Warren.
