The trades that have powered up the Cleveland Browns on one end are showing vulnerability on the other
The Cleveland Browns made trades to power up their receivers and their pass rush as well as adding a nice draft asset for 2020, but those moves create question marks that don't appear to have good answers right now.
The strong safety position for the Browns is iffy to put it kindly, Eric Kush as the team's right guard is going from great to hopefully average and Dontrell Hilliard should be fine, but his debut in the preseason was mixed.
The Browns should benefit immensely from Odell Beckham and Olivier Vernon, who should help them in the standings and potentially the postseason, but the tradeoff, at least for the moment, is hoping the replacements can hold up as opposed to thrive.
Austin Corbett has not been able to step in and take over for Zeitler, looking like the backup center they hope can figure it out, which may work, but it doesn't help them right now.
The Browns have a committee approach to strong safety. There's an argument to be made that it's the least important position in the defense, especially if the scheme minimizes their exposure, but it certainly looks vulnerable right now.
Dontrell Hilliard doesn't need to be Duke Johnson, but his up and down performance against the Washington Redskins at least raised the question of the timing of the trade, since Kareem Hunt is out at least half the season with his suspension. They took a great offer and capitalized on a nice opportunity, but Hilliard goes from being perhaps supplemental to being very necessary in a hurry.
So long as they stay healthy, Beckham and Vernon will impact the Browns more than Zeitler and Peppers would and it's difficult to argue otherwise. Nevertheless, the questions with the offensive line and safety position bring about a reasonable conversation in regards to if the Browns were able to do enough to address those holes after those trades.
Safety and the offensive line both stand out as areas to be addressed in 2020 and if they do so effectively, the Browns could be in position to win the Super Bowl, but it's 2019 and the hope is they don't shortcircuit the season about to happen.
