The Cleveland Browns are on their bye week, and boy, do they need it!
It has been a harsh first eight weeks of the 2025 season for the Browns as they transitioned from an ineffective Joe Flacco quarterback
to an equally ineffective Dillon Gabriel, while also dealing with daily questions about Shedeur Sanders, the most over-talked about fifth-round pick in the history of the NFL Draft.
There are some good things, like having Myles Garrett and the play of this year’s draft class. But, those are more than balanced out by the bad, including a wide receiver group that can’t catch and an aging and injured offensive line.
Put it all together, and it is no wonder the Browns are sitting at 2-6. And as improbable as it seems, Cleveland is not out of the race for the AFC North Division, as the Pittsburgh Steelers have just four wins, while the Cincinnati Bengals have three, and the Baltimore Ravens check in with two victories.
Of course, the Browns have lost to all three of those teams already this season, so the odds of a turnaround in the second half of the season are very much not in their favor.
But there are still nine games to go, starting next week against the one-win New York Jets, and with that in mind, we turned to Dawgs By Nature’s august roundtable with one simple question:
If you could make one move in the second half of the season, what would it be and why?
Let’s see what everyone had to say.
Another quarterback change
Barry Shuck: I think the Browns should just go ahead and start Shedeur Sanders at quarterback. The season is not lost quite yet, and the schedule gets easier from this point on. This means Cleveland has a chance to end the year with a respectable record, just probably not good enough to get one of the three Wild Card seeds. Why not just play him?
The coaches claim he isn’t ready, and we have to trust their judgment. Shedeur’s fans are saying he is a superstar being muted. Just end it and play the kid. The next game is against the New Jersey, um, York Jets, who are a trash team with a great defense and no offense. Sound familiar? Start him, let him play the entire game, and just see what is what. If he is extraordinary, then hurray for the Browns. If he sucks, then we will know what to do from this point on, including next year’s NFL draft.
Center the offense
Jared Mueller: It is simple: starting to play more under center and less out of the shotgun, as much as that might be Dillon Gabriel’s comfort spot. The wide zone, play-action, and bootleg game help younger, limited players overcome their shortcomings. While Gabriel might throw more interceptions because he has to turn his back to the defense, having him under center would help to marry the run and pass games much better and keep defenses off guard. He can also throw a little further downfield when he can be on the move, set up, and fire, as opposed to taking just a two-step drop out of the gun.
Find someone to catch the ball
Chris Pokorny: The one thing I’d change about the Browns for the second half of the season is hashing out the wide receiver room. The group needs a fire lit under them, and it starts with finding better ways to leverage the receivers on some intermediate throws and the quick outside passes that Dillon Gabriel excelled at in the preseason and training camp. Getting the ball to the tight ends and running backs has been too much of a fallback for this team, and that anticipation and trust in the wide receivers needs to be practiced to death now.
Cedric Tillman returning after the bye should help provide some better size, but there also has to be a big effort made to feed Jerry Jeudy early and often. His drops have been beyond frustrating, but he’s by far the top receiver at being able to get open on the roster, and that has to be leveraged to help spark the offense and generate some big plays.
Curtiss Brown: Everyone is likely saying offense for what needs to be fixed for the Cleveland Browns (obviously), but I’ll focus on the wide receiver room.
I went back and forth on what the team needs to fix, as there are a ton of issues, but the wide receiver room is the most glaring one. This is just a hunch, but I believe the reason why the Browns didn’t invest in the wide receiver room at all during the offseason is that general manager Andrew Berry banked on internal development from the group. Instead, it didn’t happen. The receivers can’t get open consistently, and there isn’t an alpha in the group. Jerry Jeudy seems to be in his own head at the moment, Isaiah Bond isn’t worth playing right now due to his unpolished route running, and Cedric Tillman is out but could play as soon after the bye.
From what I know, the Browns are calling around for receiver help, as they should. Trading for Chris Olave from the New Orleans Saints could help the room in a lot of ways. Olave, Jeudy, and Tillman are a competent trio (that is not saying much), but you need to do something with the room, as it has been underwhelming for the entire season.
What do you think, Browns fans? If you could change one thing about the team for the rest of the season, what would it be and why?
