First quarter awards and citations as the Browns hit their bye week
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
NFL coaches compartmentalize their seasons into quarters to evaluate their teams.
The first quarter (four games) is enough to give you an idea of what kind of team you might have, but there’s also time to change things you don’t like.
“We’re a 2-2 football team,” coach Kevin Stefanski said as his team hit the first bye week this year. “Which means there’s some good and there’s some bad. So that’s what … this week is about, identifying some things that we need to do better and fix them and that’s what we’re going to do.”
We take this time out in the Browns’ season to assess what’s going on through the first four games and salute deserving winners and runners-up of our First Quarter Awards.
1. Biggest disappointment: Season-ending injuries to Jack Conklin, Jakeem Grant, and Nick Chubb.
It’s not right to single out one as a bigger disappointment than the others. Each of these players has battled through season-ending injuries before in his athletic career. Each knows the lonely, arduous rehabilitation that awaits him. Godspeed to each of them.
Runner-up: Elijah Moore.
2. Biggest surprise: Dawand Jones.
The (very) big guy from Ohio State was Next Man Up when Conklin tore two ligaments in his left knee in the second quarter of Game 1. Jones made his first start in Pittsburgh against T.J. Watt, perhaps the most difficult opponent he’ll face all year. Jones did OK, though Watt was able to scoop up a fumble and score the winning touchdown, and has improved each game.
Runner-up: Dustin Hopkins.
3. Most accurate pre-season prediction: The defense would carry the team.
The moment Jim Schwartz was hired as defensive coordinator the revamping of the defense was underway. A concerted investment in the defensive line followed. And by the time the regular season started, Schwartz had changed the culture of the defense to an all-out attack mentality. Through four games, the defense ranks in the top five in 10 major categories and held opponents to 3 points in each of the two victories.
Runner-up: Promoting Dorian Thompson-Robinson to top backup quarterback was not a good idea.
4. Most puzzling occurrence: Trading Josh Dobbs for a 5th-round pick.
Dobbs was the perfect backup quarterback for the following reasons: He had experience in the Browns’ offense, possessed the skillsets to make plays with his arm and legs, had a long relationship with starter Deshaun Watson, was totally invested in serving as his backup, and was relatively cheap ($2 million) for a quarterback with NFL starting experience. Thompson-Robinson’s early success in the preseason prompted GM Andrew Berry to swap Dobbs to quarterback-starved Arizona for a fifth-round draft pick in 2024. It was not a popular trade in the QB room and with the coaches.
Runner-up: Deshaun Watson’s late scratch before the Baltimore game.
5. Biggest blown opportunity: Getting blown out by injury-ravaged Ravens at home.
First place was at stake and the Browns laid an egg. Division games have the weight of two games and this loss was extra costly. The Ravens figure to be much healthier for the rematch in Baltimore on November 12.
Runner-up: Giving away game in Pittsburgh and extending losing streak there to 20 games.
6. Player with most to prove: Deshaun Watson.
He looked in the Tennessee game to be turning the corner and resembling the player he used to be. Then he opted out of the Baltimore game because of the shoulder injury. He needs to get back in and pick up from his last game and start lighting the fireworks show that he promised the offense to be.
Runner-up: Jedrick Wills.
David Njoku, or the guy on the right, HAS to be used more in the Browns offense.
7. Most untapped player: David Njoku.
The tight end was targeted seven times by DTR and caught six, bringing his season total to 16 receptions in 18 targets. Njoku has matured into a really good player. So now it’s time for Watson to target him more. Njoku is such an obvious mismatch for a defense, it’s incomprehensible he has only one 100-yard receiving game in 83 career games. Travis Kelce gets about nine targets per game. Njoku should get seven, at least.
Runner-up: Pierre Strong.
8. Team trend nobody saw coming: Defense with three defensive takeaways in four games.
Schwartz’s defense had eight turnovers, two touchdowns and two safeties in the four preseason games. I don’t know what’s going on so far in the regular season. My suspicion is it’s a fluke and the turnovers will come.
Runner-up: Running game slowing to a crawl.
9. Most underrated player: Denzel Ward.
I know, how can a $100 million player be underrated? But Ward is. He really isn’t mentioned enough nationally among the elite cornerbacks and locally he is stigmatized by injuries (four concussions) that have cost him 15 games in six seasons, which really isn’t a lot for a cornerback. Ward is a great player.
Runner-up: Anthony Walker.
10. Most overrated player: Greg Newsome.
He recently received love from Ward and Schwartz, who touted him as one of the best nickel cornerbacks in the league. I think that’s a bit of an overstatement. Although I think Newsome is playing better than in his previous two seasons, Pro Football Reference says he’s given up 7 receptions in 9 targets and quarterbacks have a passer rating of 110.2 targeting him. And his career interception total remains the same as his jersey number – zero.
Runner-up: Jordan Elliott.
11. Team MVP: Myles Garrett.
With Chubb out for the year, this is a no-brainer right now. He figured to benefit the most from the addition of Schwartz. Garrett has been instrumental in dictating the game in both victories. His 5.5 sacks put him on pace for 23 over 17 games, which would break the NFL record of 22.5, which was set over 16 games by Michael Strahan. The voting process for NFL defensive player-of-the-year changed last year from choosing just one player to choosing five, and it was the first time Garrett received votes. He finished fifth behind Nick Bosa, Micah Parsons, Chris Jones and Haason Reddick. Garrett is picking up steam as a bona fide DPOY candidate this year.
Runner-up: Amari Cooper.
