Browns 22nd in Jenny Vrentas's Power Rankings
When it comes to power rankings and the Cleveland Browns at this point in the offseason, the initial reaction is wanting to get worked up before quickly remembering every other time they were supposed to be better and floundered. Jenny Vrentas from theMMQB ranks the Browns 22nd in her power rankings with a healthy amount of skepticism.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Browns had a big offseason. Yes, and…? They addressed their most vital need by signing RT Jack Conklin, and they overpaid for Austin Hooper, but clearly Kevin Stefanski sees him as an important cog to running his offense. This is a determinative year for former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield, who won’t have the benefit of a full offseason to get to know his fourth head coach and fourth OC in his three-year NFL career. The offensive line was the biggest on-field reason for the Browns’ stumbles last year, and picking 10th, they’ll also have the chance to add one of the top offensive tackles in this year’s draft class. But, as always with the Browns, we’ll believe they are turning the corner when we see it.
The offseason challenges Vrentas mentions are real. New head coach Kevin Stefanski is calm about it, taking everything in stride and talking about how they are planning to work around the difficulties presented by COVID-19 and the restrictions that come with it. They aren't going to have OTAs or minicamps. And when it comes to training camp and preseason, those might be truncated significantly, which favors more established teams.
The Browns, if they are able to land a quality left tackle in the upcoming draft, do have what amounts to a pretty complete offense. And in a normal year, there would be issues to get worked out in terms of learning the new offense and getting their timing down. This couldn't be further from a normal year, so those challenges will be magnified.
The defense has some pieces, but it's also got a significant number of additions on one-year deals that will need to come in and start. Defense doesn't take as long as offense to come together, but with so many new pieces to incorporate, it's difficult to know how it will perform.
For all of the things that Stefanski and Andrew Berry seem to be building on this team that are genuinely worth being excited about, life seems to be getting in the way and it may result in a clunkier first year than anyone anticipated. The Browns certainly have the upside to finish much higher than 22nd and on talent, they are better than that, but with all of the added challenges presented by a pandemic and its impact on the NFL calendar that's still yet to be realized, the sheer number of unknowns make it difficult to argue her point of view.
