Second-year receiver Cedric Tillman should benefit from the Ken Dorsey offensive system and could emerge as a key role player in the new Dorsey offense. (Cleveland Browns)
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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.
It’s kind of amazing how many Browns players posted career seasons in 2023.
Which got me thinking about some under-radar players who might do the same in 2024.
To recap from last season …
Wide receiver Amari Cooper, bolstered by that franchise-record 265-yard receiving day in Houston on Christmas Eve, set career highs with 1,250 yards and 83.3 yards per game at the age of 29.
Tight end David Njoku had 81 receptions -- just eight off the Browns’ franchise record – for 882 yards and 6 touchdowns. All were career highs.
Though it seemed less than what everybody expected, receiver Elijah Moore had career highs in receptions (59) and yards (640).
Replacing injured Nick Chubb, Jerome Ford rushed for 813 yards, including 100-yard games against the Steelers and Ravens, and added 319 yards on 44 receptions.
Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah broke out in his third season with career highs in tackles (101), tackles-for-loss (20), quarterback hits (5), sacks (3.5) and interceptions (2). He was the only defensive player who showed up in the wild-card playoff game in Houston.
Cornerback Greg Newsome broke a two-year interception drought with his first two picks as an NFL player, including a Pick 6 in the fourth quarter in Baltimore that closed a Ravens lead to one point and inspired a last-second victory.
Which brings up kicker Dustin Hopkins, who found the fountain of youth at the age of 33 and belted 8 of 8 field goals from 50+ yards after going 15 of 30 from the magic number over nine previous NFL seasons. Hopkins’ 91.7 percent accuracy mark on 33 of 36 field goals was the best of his career, and he had four game-winning kicks. A veritable godsend.
Second-year cornerback Martin Emerson seized the CB2 role and led the team with 4 interceptions.
Lest we forget, Myles Garrett finally captured his coveted NFL defensive player-of-the-year award despite a drop-off of sacks from 16 the previous two seasons to 14. Garrett’s phenomenal game against the Colts (9 tackles, 2 strip-sacks, a batted pass and a highlight-reel block of a field goal after vaulting over the Indianapolis center), qualifies as his best NFL game.
That’s nine key players having career years. That’s how you win 11 games while having to play four quarterbacks.
Is it reasonable to expect even better years from all nine players in 2024? Totally not. So where does the boost in overall team production come from?
Obvious answers are big years out of quarterback Deshaun Watson, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, defensive end Za’Darius Smith, safety Grant Delpit and defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson.
But I cite three players very much under radar who can make much bigger contributions in 2024 than they did in 2023.
Cedric Tillman, wide receiver
The 2023 third-round pick from Tennessee saw only 44 targets and had 21 receptions in 609 offensive snaps in his rookie year. Tillman played behind Cooper, Moore, Donovan Peoples-Jones and David Bell for half the season.
After Peoples-Jones was traded to the Lions, Tillman got more play time. By then, however, Watson was shut down with his second shoulder injury and the offense was gurgling with P.J. Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson at the quarterback helm.
When Joe Flacco arrived and rescued the offense, Tillman had 11 of his 21 catches in five games, though there were instances of Tillman running wrong routes.
GM Andrew Berry, for one, believes Tillman should have gotten more play time earlier.
This year, the Ken Dorsey offense will implement more shotgun, spread formations to accommodate Watson. Many of these will include Njoku and a running back on the line of scrimmage with Watson in “empty” formation.
But the WR4 role is wide open and Tillman figures to get first crack at it.
Tillman’s strong physique (6-3, 215 pounds) is an asset that should benefit Watson. I would expect Tillman to seize the opportunity that awaits him.
Alex Wright, defensive end
I found it hard to believe that Wright actually had fewer defensive snaps last season than in his rookie year – 388 in 2023 to 542 in 2022.
Yet in the first season under “attack” coordinator Jim Schwartz, Wright turned in 5 sacks. Four came in the last four games when DE3 Ogbo Okoronkwo was idled with a pectoral injury.
Oh, to be a young pass rusher with Schwartz as your coordinator.
Wright’s late-season resurgence suggests he could be a more prevalent player in 2024. When Schwartz sees pass rush ability, he utilizes it.
Pierre Strong, running back/returner
Admittedly, this is a reach.
Strong’s 4.36 speed is the best of the running backs, but I’m not sure how he fits in the Ken Dorsey offense. He’s a pure runner, not a receiving back. He averaged 4.6 yards on 63 carries playing behind Chubb, Ford and Kareem Hunt last year.
But now the vaunted wide-zone run scheme devised by outgoing offensive line coach Bill Callahan is history. Dorsey’s “empty”-heavy scheme often will employ a back on the line of scrimmage – not in the backfield -- to be used as a receiver.
Strong has but 12 receptions in two years of spot duty with the Patriots as a rookie and the Browns last year. But he was a capable receiver in his college career at South Dakota State.
Strong very well could be a camp casualty because Ford and newcomer Nyheim Hines are more accomplished receivers out of the backfield..
But Strong may be a valuable resource to special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone in the new hybrid kickoff format.
The new format requires two returners, splitting the “landing zone” inside the 20-yard line in half, on every kickoff. Ventrone intends to employ a committee of returners – perhaps Hines, James Proche, Strong and Moore – to keep opposing special teams coordinators guessing.
I thought Strong was a talented back last year, but I’m not sure where he falls on the depth chart in Dorsey’s offensive system beside Chubb, Ford, Hines and free agent-signee D’Onta Foreman – a former Houston teammate of Watson.