Cleveland Browns Season Preview for 2023-2024
Scott Morris | August 23, 2023
The past season, Browns struggled and finished with a 7-10, surrounded by their controversial decision to bring in Deshaun Watson, the quarterback. Although they were unable to secure a spot in the playoffs, they have prepared well enough in the offseason and seem pretty competitive for the AFC North. It has never been this obvious for a team to have weaknesses for which they have to go out of their way; new defensive and special teams coordinator—also, reinforcements to the receiving corps and defensive tackle unit.
Overview of 2022
Initially, Watson was banned for the whole season, but the suspension was reduced to 11 games. His replacement – Jacob Brisset – did a decent job; alas, it was their defense not stepping up. This shows how the season was bound to fail for the Browns as they faced humiliating losses against the Jets, Falcons, and Patriots with a score of 2-5.
With Watson’s return in week 13, all was supposed to go well for the franchise as they offered him a fully-guaranteed $230 million deal. They even traded some of the draft picks for that. Nonetheless, nothing went according to the plan as Watson failed to deliver, very unlike the player who had the NFL’s highest career passer rating by the start of the year 2022.
Then the offensive strategies went awry as they were now planned as suited to Brisset. This is where the head coach – Kevin Stefanski – failed. Moreover, Cleveland’s talent issues became evident around December and January as the weather hardened. All these factors, collectively, result in a shameful 3-3 by the end of the year. Even when the defense started doing better, the offense struggled to step up; hence, it finished at the bottom of the AFC North standings for the season.
How 2023 looks
After a productive offseason that dealt with quite a lot of issues the franchise faced the previous season, a PFN Analyst (Dalton Miller) placed them on the 18th spot of his NFL Draft Power Rankings for 2023. According to Miller, all other aspects seem set for this year’s campaigns. It is just Watson who has to step up and be at his best. If that happens, along with Nick Chubb, the Browns’ would indeed have one of the best offenses.
Optimism surrounds the camp with Watson’s statement about “magical things,” and his being back on the field provides stability too. Not a lot of changes were made to the offense either, adding to the strength, and apparently, there is a lot of new talent to add to the excitement. With Elijah Moore and Marquise Goodwin on board, the team can capitalize on their strengths for a more spread look. Cedric Tillman’s pick can prove handy, too, as he was a star player in college before injury got him.
A new defense coordinator, Jim Schwartz, should do wonders, as the defense seemed unfocused under Woods. Additions of Myles Garret and Dalvin Tomlinson will be a massive help to the defense, too, along with some other changes as re-signing Anthony Walker Jr. With all these changes and if Watson starts right this time, the Cleveland Browns will surely go big this year.
2023 Cleveland Browns Futures Odds
Division Champs +325
AFC Champs +1600
Super Bowl Champs +3300
Total Wins Over-Under 9.5
