BEREA, Ohio — The 2024 Cleveland Browns are shooting their shot — and not just in trade conversations for receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
The Browns are shooting their shots on offense as they retool their scheme for this season under head coach Kevin Stefanski and new-to-Cleveland offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey.
And they want to shoot shots often.
Allow general manager Andrew Berry to explain.
“If we were in a free-throw contest against Steph Curry, if the free-throw contest was three shots, we’d have a chance to luck into maybe winning the match,” Berry told Yahoo Sports in a Monday sitdown interview. “If it’s 100 shots, there’s just no shot. I think the same thing holds if you play at a pace or run enough plays where you have more offensive possessions, assuming you have a good offense.
“If you can get more opportunities, [it’s] not only going to give you more chances to score, but it’s gonna allow you to try to create that margin relative to your opponent.”
In a sport in which games are played just weekly and playoff rounds are decided by a single contest rather than a series, NFL teams win not only on the basis of talent but also typically with some luck in a game of variability.
The Browns know that and are factoring the analytics into their offensive system build. After running a league-high 1,187 offensive plays in 2023, Cleveland hired Dorsey to run an offense capable of hammering tempo. Enter one-word plays to help the team assemble more quickly at the line of scrimmage.
“We call them ‘NASCAR plays,’” receiver Amari Cooper told Yahoo Sports. “We have so many one-worders so we can get lined up as fast as possible.”
Hello from training camp stop 7, where the Cleveland Browns redid their weight room and adjacent facilities this offseason. This walkthrough area has two 25-yard wide screens to project game film or Madden-like play setups.
Goal: Simulate & challenge players *before* game day. pic.twitter.com/7T2spNZNIV
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) August 5, 2024
Speed between plays isn’t only about catching the defense off guard. It’s also about increasing the volume of plays thrown at a defense.
The idea: If some plays won’t work due to the opponent and others won’t work due to the influence of chance, give a talented group of players more chances and the impact variability has on the game’s outcome decreases.
Spend less time on structured West Coast routes and more on option routes that empower receivers to read the defense. Add in more dropback passing and run-pass options, and the Browns believe quarterback Deshaun Watson can better leverage athleticism and mobility to make plays in space.
“He’s a dynamic drop-back passer,” Berry said. “He has a very instinctive feel to the game and we want to really build an environment where he can play fast, play reflexively and … create more matchup problems, whether it’s through the air or ground.”
In many ways, Watson’s skills are the starting thread to this fabric. The Browns were productive in 2023, fronting the 10th-ranked scoring offense and 16th-ranked offense in yardage. But an offense that worked rather well for veteran Joe Flacco upon entry did not actually play to Watson’s strengths. The Browns owe Watson a guaranteed $46 million this year, and they know better than to neglect their investment.
In Watson’s first two seasons in Cleveland, he disappointed.
A holdout, personal conduct suspension and shoulder surgery have truncated Watson’s past three seasons, respectively. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback who completed 67.8% of passes and generated a 104.5 passer rating in four Houston seasons has fallen to a 59.8% completion rate and 81.7 passer rating in 12 Cleveland games.
Watson played just six games last season as he initially battled a shoulder injury and then ultimately underwent surgery on the fracture.
He arrived at training camp cleared to throw in individual and team drills alike, taking scheduled rest days but otherwise suffering no limitations, Browns coach and executive staff members said Monday.
“You see a multitude of throws, you’ve seen throws to every area of the field,” Stefanski told Yahoo Sports. “So he looks the same to me [as before his injury], which is the way of saying that the arm strength, the accuracy looks exactly how it did previously.”
The Browns’ offense will need Watson to carry the load as running back Nick Chubb continues to rehabilitate from surgeries to repair his left ACL and MCL. Cooper will be his first target, barring a trade of Cooper to San Francisco for Aiyuk. Tight end David Njoku and receiver Elijah Moore are also legitimate threats.
The emphases will change from the team’s Week 1 game against the Dallas Cowboys to its always-demanding gauntlet of AFC North contests. Expect Cleveland to flash one set of tempo plays in the opener … and then reorganize concepts each week to account for matchups and opposing schemes.
“If we’re worth our salt, your game plan should look different week to week because you’re playing different defenses,” Stefanski said. “Defenses that are susceptible to certain schemes, you want to lean into those schemes. So I would hope that we are adjusting week to week. Year to year, you cannot stay the same. The defensive coaches are too good.
“If there’s anything that keeps me up at night, it’s not changing with the times.”
