Where goest thou, Browns?

The 2023 Cleveland Browns are the most mystifying team in the National Football League. That is not a rhetorical statement. It is pure fact.

No one, not Kevin Stefanski, not Andrew Berry, not Dee and Jimmy Haslam III have any idea what will unfold in the next 18 weeks. They can hope, but that's about it.

What we know for certain is this edition of the Browns hasn't been this strong since the perennial playoff-seeking Browns of the mid- and late-1980s. It is a roster dripping with talent. And yet there are nagging suspicions that linger deep enough where doubts play games with your mind.

On the one hand, it is marvelously accomplished enough to ostensibly (gonna use that word a lot here) write the feel-good comeback story of the season. It is also a franchise that has miserably underachieved during the last generation and could ostensibly do it again.

It is quite capable of winning just a handful of games, say seven like last season, or winning as many as 10 or 11. The positives clearly lean toward the latter. But previous history begs to differ. Positive outcomes and Cleveland Browns in the same sentence or thought is an oxymoron.

Breaking it down . . . 

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Offense: Quite capable of scoring from anywhere on the field. Strong line working in front of a dynamic backfield featuring arguably the best running back in the NFL in Nick Chubb, a beefed-up and vastly improved receivers corps and a couple of reliable pass-catching tight ends.

All led by the biggest puzzle of all, a Jekyll/Hyde quarterback whose performance, fairly or unfairly, will determine the fate of this woebegone franchise. One man, one goal, one starved fan base yearning for any kind of joy beyond the regular season.

Deshaun Watson early in his career was a brilliant quarterback for the Houston Texans until he wound up in a massive amount of trouble off the field. That's how he wound up with the Browns last year after being bribed by the Haslams that Cleveland was where he should be.

Watson's suspension-filled first season was a disaster. Couldn't have gone any worse. Looked nothing like his days in Houston. That was his Mr. Hyde persona.  But that was then. And by virtue of his descent to mediocrity, no one knows what to expect now. It's strictly a guess.

Watson bragged recently that the 2023 offense will look nothing like last season's stodgy edition. "It's going to be great," he declared. "I think Kevin (Stefanski) is on the edge of wanting to call some things. There are a lot of things that are going to look very different."

And then he teased with this. "Once Sept. 10 (the season opener at home against the Cincinnati Bengals) comes around, it is going to be fireworks," he said. "That's the plan. Don't hold anything back. Let it all loose. We want to go out there and have fun doing it."

Media reports out of Berea indicate everything is running smoothly on this side of the ball. Everyone looks good. Ready to begin the march ostensibly toward late-January football. 

I don't believe a word of it. I believe my eyes when the real games are played. Not what someone else observes in practice. That's the way I think. Can't help myself. I'm a half-empty sort. What my eyes see in person reveals a lot more.

If it's Watson's Dr. Jekyll persona and turns out that way, so much the better. Everyone prospers.

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Defense: Capable of shutting down opposing teams with a new coordinator and a renewed and very refreshing aggressive approach. Last season, the passive pass.defense was primarily responsible for the 7-10 finish, blowing three very winnable games that greased the departure of coordinator Joe Woods.

New coordinator Jim Schwartz is from the old school, which teaches that if the opposing quarterback is on his back, he cannot throw the football. And with a brand new line surrounding the peerless Myles Garrett, that ostensibly will happen a lot this season.

General Manager Andrew Berry helped his new coordinator by importing Za'Darius Smith and Ogbo Okoronkwo to help Garrett, and tackles Dalvin Tomlinson and Shelby Harris to ostensibly plug up a middle that resembled the Red Sea after Moses did his thing.

Add a loaded secondary and very active athletic linebackers and you have a formula that can't be any worse than last season. 

It's fairly certain Schwartz will work autonomously. That will free up Stefanski, who was constantly badgered as the head coach with questions last season about the leaks in the secondary that cost games. Now he can concentrate on the offense, knowing Schwartz has everything under control.

That's a plus because Stefanski is probably sitting on a seat warming on a daily basis. Temperature of that seat will be determined after the Oct. 1 game against the Baltimore Ravens at home. Think job security.

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Special teams: The only negative here is based on what transpired during training camp. Hello Dustin Hopkins. Welcome to the graveyard of placekickers in the NFL. Hope you last longer than Cade York. Your best Phil Dawson impression would be nice.

New coordinator Bubba Ventrone, who arrived with sterling credentials, is off to an interesting start. He lost his return specialist when Jakeem Grant tore up a knee tendon on the first kickoff of the exhibition season. Then he lost York, who melted down like a piece of Velveeta.

His return teams on kickoffs and punts need a little polishing, opposing teams in the exhibition season frequently establishing good field position. Other than that, can't complain.

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Overall, the talent is unquestionably there. The big difference, the big separator, is knowing how to win. You can't teach that. It's a feeling. It's an attitude. It's a test of wills. It's imposing your will on opponents. Learn how to do that and you've won at least half the battle. The talent is present.