The Browns offense at 2021 minicamp/ESPN Cleveland Rob Lorenzo
Taking a look at who could be the X-factors for the Browns offensively
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
*Editor's note: Danny Cunningham is a Cleveland Browns writer for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland*
The Cleveland Browns were a successful team in 2020 because of what they were able to do on the offensive side of the equation. It was a unit that was able to do a little bit of everything well behind one of the best offensive lines in the game, and that shouldn’t change a bit during 2021.
The Browns bring a loaded offense into the season. Fourth-year quarterback Baker Mayfield will be at the helm of one of the most explosive groups in the league. Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, and Austin Hooper are simply an embarrassment of riches. And that’s even before getting to wide receiver Rashard Higgins, whom Mayfield has a terrific connection with, second-year wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones who had a knack for the big play as a rookie, and tight ends Harrison Bryant and David Njoku. Simply put, this offensive group could be scary good.
But who are the players that can separate this offense from a baseline of pretty good to one of, if not the best in football? Let’s take a look at the x-factors on offense.
Baker Mayfield
It seems odd to put stars on any list of x-factors, but the Browns have an abundance of them, and the quarterback is almost always going to be the primary guy able to take the group up a level. If Mayfield is simply average this season, the Browns are going to win quite a few football games. They’re too talented not to. But if Mayfield continues to improve upon the guy that led this team in the second half of 2020, they’re going to be elite offensively.
In the last 10 regular season games of the year, Mayfield completed nearly 64% of his passes for nearly 2500 yards, 16 touchdowns, and just a pair of interceptions, and those numbers likely would have been better had three of those games not been played in hurricane-like conditions. In that stretch he was one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, and the Browns went 7-3.
The biggest reason the optimism may not even be those numbers, but more the fact that despite this being Mayfield’s fourth year, it will be the first time he enters the season with the same coaching staff as the year prior. There’s no telling what that level of comfort and familiarity will mean for Mayfield and the Browns, but it’s difficult to imagine it meaning anything but good things.
Odell Beckham Jr.
Again, it’s weird to have a star on this list, and no star in Cleveland may shine brighter than Beckham. But thus far in his Cleveland career, he’s been underwhelming through little fault of his own. The Freddie Kitchens era was one to forget about for a number of reasons, and one of them was the use of Beckham. Last season, Beckham tearing the ACL in his left knee was a blow to the offense, even though the team unquestionably picked up steam after his departure for the season.
When the two have shared the field, Mayfield and Beckham haven’t been able to figure out the strong connection most assumed they would have once teamed up. With Beckham’s contract situation, it’s almost now or never for he and Mayfield to get on the same page. If the two are able to figure it out – here’s reason to believe they will – then the Browns offense is going to go to an entire new level in 2021. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Beckham accounts for 1,600 yards and 12 touchdowns, but the attention that will be paid to him will make things much easier for the rest of the Browns offense. His numbers may not reflect just how successful this offense is, but it could be a precursor to big years had by others.
Anthony Schwartz
Anthony Schwartz didn’t have his name mentioned above as he was the team’s third-round pick in this spring’s NFL Draft and certainly has questions about his skillset. But the thing that’s unquestioned is Schwartz’s world class speed. He was the fastest player in the 2021 NFL Draft, and will be one of the fastest players in the NFL as soon as he sets on the field.
The rest of Schwartz’s skillset is relatively raw. There are questions of whether or not he’ll be able to catch passes effectively enough to stick on the field, and his route running may need some work as well. But one thing head coach Kevin Stefanski did well last season was put his guys in position to be successful, and there are ways to get the ball in the speedsters’ hands.
Think back to last year against Tennessee, when Peoples-Jones was inserted into the game with one job: running a double move on a play action pass. Seventy-five yards later, Peoples-Jones was in the end zone and the Titans still may not have known his name.
Schwartz may not get many snaps this season for the Browns, but there’s no reason there cannot be a handful of plays installed for him to show off his speed this season.
