The Cleveland Browns finished the 2023 season with an 11-6 record and made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Their playoff appearance this past was just their 3rd playoff appearance this century and despite the 45-14 loss to the Texans in the wild card round of the playoffs – it was a very very successful season for the Browns all things considered. If you would have told any Browns fan in week 1 that they would be in the playoffs with Joe Flacco as their starting quarterback, Geron Christian as one of their tackles and James Hudson as their other – due to how many injuries they had – I don’t think they would have believed you. And now that that injury riddled season is behind us – the Cleveland Browns success in 2024 – largely – relies on quarterback Deshaun Watson. I know the Browns have been heralded at times as a very underrated team, and that they’re a lot of peoples sleeper pick to make deep postseason run – but if this team can stay healthy – and if Deshaun Watson can be a serviceable quarterback – they’re going to be a very difficult team to beat on any given Sunday. The Browns defense is without a doubt one of the best in all of football and as long as the offense doesn’t commit multiple turnovers in 7 out of the final 8 games – like they did last year – the defense is going to feast and the pass rush is going to routinely get after the quarterback. But how will the Browns do this year? Well we’re going to break it down in today’s video. Now let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video by breaking down who the Browns signed in free agency and who they lost in free agency. The biggest signing they made was bringing back veteran Zadairus Smith who has aged like fine wine over the course of his NFL career. Bringing back Za’Darius was great for both him and the team as Zadarius had 60 pressures last year along with 20 quarterback hits. There weren’t many teammates who had 60+ pressures last year by Zadarius and Myles were one of a handful. Bringing Zadarius back on a 2 year $23 million dollar deal was a great deal for Cleveland as they get a really good second pass rusher behind Myles and a guy who has been around for a long time and knows how to get home. Unfortunately Zadarius only had 5.5 sacks last year – and I say that with quotations around only – because Zadarius was a really really productive player for the Browns last year. And I think bringing him back was essential for their 2024 success. They also brought back veteran Shelby Harris – which wasn’t a flashy signing by any means but it was key that they brought back a player who started 7 games for them last year – and a veteran who most certainly knows his role. And it’s never bad to have defensive line depth in today’s era. But one move in particular that I really liked – well two – and we’ll get to the other soon – but I really liked the addition of veteran linebacker Jordan Hicks. I – not only liked this signing because he’s a good player – but I think he will pair really well with Jeremiah Owusu Koramoah and the fact that Cleveland brought him in for just $8 million dollars over the course of two years. Yes Jordan Hicks is 32 years old now and yes he can fall off at any point – but he played at a very high level during this time in Minnesota over the past two years and he’s been playing at a high level fro most of his career. We will break down the defense more in a minute – and man do I love this unit – but I also really liked the Jameis Winston signing too. Having a viable backup quarterback in a 17 game season is critical – and we saw what happened just 4 snaps into the Jets season last year. And having Jameis be able o back up Deshaun if the worst case scenario happens again – well – I think Jameis is one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league – and to b honest – I think he’s better than a few starters around the league – and you can probably think of a few too. As for the losses the Browns had in free agency – the main losses are defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, linebacker Sione Takitaki, quarterback Joe Flacco, and tight end Harrison Bryant. Jordan Elliott is an okay player at best and he was a 3rd round pick back in 2020 – and his production is very easily replaceable. Takitaki was a very solid linebacker and a player who will certainly contribute in New England – but with how loaded this Browns defense is – I say this in the nicest way possible and with respect to the current players on the Browns defense – but Takitaki leaving isn’t going to be that noticeable in the grand scheme of things. He’s a solid player and will be around the league for a while – but losing him isn’t the end of the world. I wasn’t surprised to see the Browns let Joe Flacco walk in free agency and I really think if Deshaun had a bad start to the 2024 season – and if Flacco were still on the roster – the crowd and the Browns fans would be clamoring for Flacco to enter a game. Not at the first sign of adversity for Deshaun – but faster than they would for Jameis Winston – due to what Flacco did for this team last year. The Browns didn’t have a whole lot of money – but I liked what they did with the resources they had by bringing Zadarius back, and by going out and signing Jordan Hicks and Jameis Winston
Now for the Browns defense entering the 2024 season – I do not say this with every team – but I legitimately think they can lead the league in points allowed per game and be a major reason as to why the Browns have success this year. I know some people get sick of hearing how the Browns are underrated every year – and I get it. But to me personally – the Browns are ver underrated heading into the year – not because people are forgetting how good of a running back Nick Chubb is, or because Amari is going to have another 1,200 yard year – or anything like that – but because of how dominant this defense is. And unfortunately for the Browns defense in 2023 – they were set up to fail – and often. Perhaps the best game to exemplify this was the Steelers game in week 2. The Browns out gained the Steelers by over 150 yards and held the ball for over 35 minutes in this game. The Steelers did not take an offensive snap inside the Browns 20 yard line, and they also ran for over 195 yards as a team. Based on that alone – you would probably think Cleveland won this game by 2 or 3 touchdowns. But they didn’t. And because of an Alex Highsmith pick 6, a TJ Watt fumble return for a touchdown, and a 71 yard touchdown by George Pickens – the Browns ended up losing this game. They lost the turnover battle 4 to 2 and when you allow just 255 yards of opposing offense – and you even create multiple turnovers – you should win the game. Period. There weren’t any other games for Cleveland quite as drastic as the week 2 Steelers game – but what gets either forgotten about – or simply not acknowledged from the 2023 Browns season – is how often Joe Flacco turned the ball over. He had 8 interceptions on just 204 passing attempts and if he would have thrown as many passes as the league leader in passing attempts last year – which was Sam Howell – Flacco would have thrown 24 interceptions. And the Browns quarterbacks collectively threw 24 touchdowns to 23 interceptions last year – which put the defense in a position to fail – a lot. Myles Garrett is without a doubt one of the best players in football and he will be the anchor of this defense for 2024 – and the next several years too. And I love Myles and think he is one of the most insane athletes on the planet – especially for his size. But I can’t emphasize enough how much I love this secondary. It should not be a hot take to say the Browns have the best trio of corners out of any team and they are led by Denzel Ward. Denzel is now a 3 time pro bowler and Browns fans would be the first to tell you – that he has been a very good player for years – and he has. But unlike other times in his career – it’s not just Denzel and another corner out there. Martin Emerson has been a very good corner since being a 3rd round pick back in 2022 and Martin had 4 interceptions last year – and did not allow a touchdown despite being targeted 70 times. Opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of just 45.3 when targeting Emerson last year and the Browns secondary is the epitome of a no fly zone.
Their starting nickel corner is Greg Newsome who was their first round pick back in 2021 and to put it bluntly – all of these guys are studs in the defensive backfield. And when you marry – not just an okay pass rush – but a great pass rush – along with 3 great corners – and two solid safeties as well in Juan Thornhill and Grant Delpit – good luck trying to throw the ball against this team. I refuse to believe the Browns are going to commit 37 turnovers offensively two years in a row – and due in large part to this – the Browns defense will naturally be put in more advantageous situations – unlike the situations they were put in routinely in 2023. Cleveland allowed the fewest passing yards in 2023 and finished 3rd in interceptions as a team. Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu Koramoah has been a player I’ve loved for years and he is usually all over the field. He led the team in tackles last year with 101 while also having 20 tackles for a loss and even had 3.5 sacks. He was named a pro bowler for the first time and I would expect much of the same this year. This defense has playmakers at every level and they will routinely make opposing offenses lives hell. There truly is no weakness on the Cleveland Browns defense.
