Browns offense will need to answer these underrated questions in 2024: Ashley Bastock
BROWNS
Browns offense will need to answer these underrated questions in 2024: Ashley Bastock
Published: Jan. 31, 2024, 12:38 p.m.
Cleveland Browns vs, Houston Texans, January 13, 2024
The Browns have questions beyond Deshaun Watson when it comes to their 2024 offense, including what the running back room will look like. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
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By Ashley Bastock, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — So many of the questions surrounding the Browns offense in 2024 will be dependent on one person.
Specifically, the health of that one person.
It’s Deshaun Watson’s world, and after a season-ending fracture to his glenoid bone in his right throwing shoulder that cost him the final eight games of the season, his recovery is perhaps the story of the offseason in Cleveland. So is how he will work with new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, and the pass-catching weapons the Browns will put around him.
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But while it may not seem like it at the moment, there’s more to the unit than just Watson’s recovery.
Here are three underrated questions the Cleveland offense will need to answer in 2024:
1. How will they run Deshaun Watson?
Ok, allow me one additional Watson point here. Assuming his recovery goes well without any setbacks, the biggest question for me is how the Browns will run him given his recent injury. He’s always been a physical runner throughout his career, but he isn’t the same type of runner as Josh Allen or Cam Newton, both of whom Dorsey has also coached. Think more finesse, less bulldozing based on size.
His ability on the ground is an important part of his game. Scramble yards in particular have been a big part of his game, and according to Pro Football Focus he has 1,626 career rushing yards on 235 scramble runs.
But given the unprecedented nature of this particular fracture in quarterbacks, it’s hard to guess how this aspect of his game may change. Will Watson need to pull back, or look more hesitant? Throwing the ball aside, this is maybe the area of his game that I’m most curious to see the impact of the injury.
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2. What will the running back room (and contracts) look like?
Andrew Berry said it last week at his season wrap-up press conference: Nick Chubb’s contract is the elephant in the room right now for Cleveland. The GM did also make it clear, however, that the team doesn’t plan on moving on from their star RB after his season ended in Week 2 following that gruesome knee injury that required two reconstructive surgeries in the fall.
“Nobody wants to see that carry in Pittsburgh be the last time he carries the ball for the Cleveland Browns,” Berry said. “And obviously there are things that we’ll have to work through … We obviously will work to keep him on the team.”
Chubb’s contract has a cap hit of $15.825 million next season, and a $11.775 million base salary, according to Spotrac. His dead cap number is only at $4 million. He is set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2025 after signing a 3-year contract extension worth $36.6 million in 2021.
That being said, Chubb is more than just a running back — he’s the heart and soul of the team, a face of the franchise. The contract it sounds like will get reworked, but it’s still a matter of the Browns actually doing it.
Beyond Chubb, the other big question is what to do about Kareem Hunt, who will be a free-agent come March. Hunt re-signed with the team following Chubb’s knee injury, and wound up leading the team with nine rushing touchdowns in the regular season.
3. How will they tackle the turnover problem?
The Browns were the worst team in the league with 37 giveaways in 2023, and lost the takeaway battle in 11 of their 17 regular-season games. They were lucky enough that their defense was so good they were able to overcome that and not only have a winning record, but earn a playoff spot.
But it’s still a problem that must be solved, and that’s where the addition of Dorsey becomes interesting.
Dorsey was fired in November by Bills head coach Sean McDermott with Buffalo falling to 5-5 following a 24-22 loss to the Broncos. It was their fourth loss in six games, and quarterback Josh Allen committed three of the Bills’ four turnovers in that game. It also marked the sixth straight game Buffalo was held to under 26 points. Allen was leading the NFL with 11 interceptions at the time.
So how much was Dorsey to blame for those turnovers? Allen was also leading the league with touchdowns (19) at the time.
Time will tell, but big picture, this is a question that could haunt the offense if they can’t find an answer.
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