Breakdown Part 1

With the 2022 season opener just a few days away, time to take a look at the Browns' roster that will attempt to recreate the 2020 season and their first playoff appearance in nearly 20 years.

This is a richly talented team on paper at most positions, but there are weaknesses at a few vital ones on both sides of the football that might make it difficult to achieve their goals. The two-day exploration begins with the offense.

At quarterback, Jacoby Brissett, whose reputation as a starting quarterback is spotty at best, will handle the huddle in the first 11 games while Deshaun Watson serves his well-deserved suspension. That's a problem, if for no other reason than Brissett's talents hinder this offense. 

He is, at best, a game manager. Hand the football off to a terrific set of running backs. Check. Keep mistakes to a minimum. Check. Ball control is mandatory. Check. Throw the ball deep to keep defenses honest. Uh, nope. Not gonna happen. Brissett is too erratic at airing it out.

The National Football League, however, is a predominantly passing league, somewhere around 65% of the time. One of the Browns' greatest attributes is running the football as often as 50% of the time. Grind-it-out, bleed-the-clock, beat-them-up football. They do it better than just about any NFL team. 

The best quarterback for this offense, though, will not be available for nearly three months. Until then, be ready for head coach Kevin Stefanski's boring football with second- and third-and-short the primary goal on every possession. 

The running backs room is dynamic with Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, D'Ernest Johnson Jr. and rookie Jerome Ford, who flashed in the exhibition season. Chubb and Hunt are long bone-crushing touchdown runs waiting to happen. Johnson is one of the best in the NFL off the bench. Abundant talent here.

Can't say the same about the wide receivers, though. A room thisclose to being desperate. Outside of savvy veteran Amari Cooper, there isn't a playmaker in that room. Brissett needs help. He won't get it with this crew unless rookie David Bell lives up to his college reputation of catching everything.

Everywhere else, there is either frustrating inconsistency -- Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz -- or inexperience with rookie Michael Woods II. General Manager Andrew Berry must be looking at this group through rose-colored blinders if he is satisfied.

Brissett also will be targeting tight ends David Njoku and Harrison Bryant for the most part with newly signed Jesse James handling the blocking when he gets his limited reps. Njoku, another inconsistent performer who was puzzlingly richly rewarded in the offseason for not sure what, is expected to get most of the attention unless Stefanski realizes Bryant is more talented at actually catching the football.

And now the offensive line, which was one of the best in the NFL as recently as a couple of years ago. No longer is that the case with the exception of the exceptional guard tandem of Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller. If right tackle Jack Conklin is totally healed from major surgery and his usual All-Pro self, the picture dramatically improves.

The weaknesses reside in the middle with Ethan Pocic filling in for Nick Harris, out for the season with a substantial knee injury, and at left tackle with Jedrick Wills Jr, who has been threatening for two seasons now to be worthy of the club's first-round pick in 2020. He hasn't come close in either phase of the offense. 

Offensive line coach Bill Callahan, who recommended Wills when two-time Pro Bowler Tristan Wirfs was available (and drafted three picks later by Tampa Bay), has a lot of work to do to make up for that mistake.

The 6-6 Pocic. signed to back up the 6-0 Harris after the Browns foolishly released veteran center JC Tretter, their best offensive lineman last season, lacks the quickness you want from your pivot in the ground game. Being able to move up to the second level is not his forte.

Bottom line: The disjointed season, at least from a quarterback standpoint, will force the defense to be the major player if a return to the postseason ever becomes a reality. This offense, at least for the first 11 games, won't score many points. 

Next: The defense and special teams