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I like Scott Petrak’s writing/analysis. This is a good one that did a nice job of summing up things we’ve talked about,

https://www.brownszone.com/2023/01/30/season-in-review-not-much-went-right-in-2022/

2022 in review: Not much went right in 2022
Scott Petrak
Jan. 30, 2023

Not much went according to plan for the Browns this season.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson was suspended for the first 11 games after being acquired in a blockbuster and controversial trade. Jacoby Brissett replaced him and exceeded expectations, yet the Browns were 4-7 when Watson returned to the lineup. The rust was obvious after he went 700 days between starts, and his six games were filled with ups and downs as the Browns went 3-3.

Wyatt Teller added to Pro Bowl roster


Despite the difficulties, the Browns had a chance to reach the playoffs. They wasted the opportunities, had too many frustrating losses, finished 7-10 and missed the postseason for the second straight year.

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The pressure is on general manager Andrew Berry, coach Kevin Stefanski and Watson to make the necessary changes and adjustments during the offseason. If the Browns miss the playoffs again next season, significant changes could be coming.

Before we turn our full attention to 2023, it’s time to take a look back at the 2022 season — best and worst players, best and worst moments, key numbers and an offseason to-do list.

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OFFSEASON TO-DO LIST

Front and center

New defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is known for getting great production from the defensive line. He needs a lot more talent if the Browns are going to perform to his standard.

After superstar end Myles Garrett, they have nothing but question marks. General manager Andrew Berry’s top priority in the next three months will be significantly upgrading the front four. The Browns need two tackles, including a game-changer, and an end to replace Jadeveon Clowney opposite Garrett.


The need for speed

The offense has plenty of pieces in place, including quarterback Deshaun Watson, but the work isn’t done in the quest to reach an elite level. The unit wasn’t as explosive as desired and needs a wideout who can run past and stress the defense with his speed. Anthony Schwartz hasn’t been able to fill that role, so Berry is charged with finding someone in the draft, free agency or through a trade. Surrounding Watson with as much talent as possible is the right strategy and should include an upgrade from Harrison Bryant as the No. 2 tight end.

Time to move on?

Safety John Johnson III hasn’t lived up to the three-year, $33.75 million contract signed in 2021, and the Browns could save $9.75 million under the salary cap by cutting him with a post-June 1 designation. Schwartz likes to use a deep safety, so the Browns must decide whether Johnson can excel in that role. If they think he can, a contract restructuring could be in order.


If the Browns cut him, Johnson’s replacement likely isn’t on the roster.

Bring ’em back

Center Ethan Pocic was great after stepping into the starting lineup when Nick Harris suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason. Pocic played on a one-year, $1.187 million deal after signing as a free agent and earned a big raise. The Browns want to keep him and would be best served by getting a deal done before Pocic can hit the open market in March.

Linebackers Anthony Walker Jr. and Sione Takitaki were missed greatly when they went down with injuries and are worth bringing back despite their free agent status.


Tweaking the staff

Firing Joe Woods and replacing him with Schwartz was the major move on the coaching staff and minor ones are expected to follow. Mike Priefer is expected to return as special teams coordinator after the kicking game made big improvements in the second half of the season, but shuffling on the defensive staff will happen after the switch to Schwartz.

BY THE NUMBERS

-20: Scoring differential, 381-361
1: Winning streak — two games
1: NFL player with at least 10 sacks in each of the last five years — Myles Garrett
2: Losing streaks — of four and two games
2: Touchdowns by cornerback Denzel Ward on fumble recoveries
3: Non-offensive TDs in the win over Houston, a first in franchise history
3: Players in the league, including safety Grant Delpit, with 100 tackles and four interceptions
3-3: Record with Deshaun Watson at quarterback
4-4: Record at FirstEnergy Stadium
9: Fumbles lost by the Browns and their opponents. The Browns fumbled 15 times, while opponents fumbled 26 times
10: Missed kicks by rookie Cade York, who went 24-for-32 on field goals and 35-for-37 on extra points
16: Sacks for Garrett, tying the franchise record he set in 2021
18: Sacks by the rest of the team, led by Taven Bryan with three
42: Touchdowns for the Browns and their opponents
42: Fourth-down attempts, most in the league — the 54.8 percent conversion rate ranked eighth
48.5: Yards of Corey Bojorquez’s punting average, a franchise record
74.5: Career sacks for Garrett, most in franchise history
79.1: Passer rating for Watson, a career low
88.9: Passer rating for Jacoby Brissett, a career high
532: Team rushing attempts, fifth-most in the league
1,525: Rushing yards for Nick Chubb, a career high and third in the league
2,490: Team rushing yards, the most for the franchise since 1963
TOP PLAYERS


Joel Bitonio

The left guard made the All-Pro first team for the second straight year and didn’t miss a snap for the sixth straight regular season. He’s dominant as a run blocker and pass protector.

Nick Chubb

Set a career high with 1,525 rushing yards, making his fourth straight Pro Bowl and the All-Pro second team. Mr. Reliable had 12 rushing touchdowns but none in the six games quarterback Deshaun Watson started.

Myles Garrett

The four-time Pro Bowl defensive end had issues off the field — a one-car accident that cost him a game and getting benched for the first three plays vs. the Saints for violating team rules — but was as good as ever on it. He tied his franchise record with 16 sacks and passed Clay Matthews Jr. as the franchise’s career leader. He managed the production despite injuries and nearly constant double teams.

Amari Cooper

The elite route-runner fought through a core muscle injury in the second half of the season, finishing with 78 catches for 1,160 yards, a 14.9 average and nine touchdowns. The receiver made a huge impact in his first season after being acquired in a trade with the Cowboys.

Ethan Pocic

The center had perhaps the most surprising performance. He took over as the starter after Nick Harris suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason opener and was outstanding, joining Bitonio and right guard Wyatt Teller to form one of the best interior threesomes in the league.

Honorable mention: quarterback Jacoby Brissett, receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, tight end David Njoku.

BOTTOM PLAYERS

Anthony Schwartz

Injuries, drops and mental health issues led to another lost season for the speedy receiver. He was a third-round pick in 2021 but has only 14 catches in two seasons, including four this year in 11 games. The organization hasn’t given up on him but can’t count on him to be part of the rotation next year.

Tommy Togiai

Defensive tackle was a weak spot all year, yet Togiai failed to make an impact. In fact, the fourth-round pick in 2021 was a healthy scratch multiple times and got passed on the depth chart by midseason pickup Ben Stille. In 12 games Togiai had 13 tackles, a half-sack, a fumble recovery and a pass defensed.

Jadeveon Clowney

The big-name defensive end wouldn’t be on this list if performance were the only criterion. But he refused to play on first and second down in a three-point midseason loss to the Ravens and was benched for the first possession the next game. If that weren’t enough, he publicly ripped the coaching staff for the use of him and Myles Garrett and was sent home for the final three days of the season.

Greedy Williams

The second-round pick in 2019 was a non-factor. Rookie Martin Emerson Jr. passed Williams on the cornerback depth chart, and Williams will be looking for a fresh start as a free agent in March. He made one start in 11 games, totaling 11 tackles.

Jacob Phillips

He couldn’t beat out Anthony Walker Jr. for the starting middle linebacker job in the preseason, then struggled after Walker’s quadriceps tendon tore. To make matters worse, Phillips sustained a season-ending torn pectoral, continuing the injury problems that have marked his three-year career.

Honorable mention: tight end Harrison Bryant, safety John Johnson III, defensive end Chase Winovich.

BEST MOMENTS

What a way to start

The Browns won the opener for only the second time since coming back in 1999. They beat Baker Mayfield and the Panthers when rookie Cade York drilled a 58-yard field goal in the final seconds in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Sparkling under the lights

The most satisfying victories came in prime time, or close to it.

The Browns swept their AFC North foes at FirstEnergy Stadium, starting with a 29-17 Thursday night victory over the Steelers in Week 3. The best performance of the year came five weeks later in a 32-13 Monday night victory over the Bengals on Halloween. The final piece of the triumvirate came late in the afternoon of Dec. 17 when the Browns beat the Ravens 13-3.

Getting the GOAT

Nobody knows if Tom Brady will play another game on the lakefront. If he doesn’t, the Browns bested him and the Buccaneers in his finale with a 23-17 overtime decision. The Browns rallied in quarterback Jacoby Brissett’s final start before handing the reins to Deshaun Watson.

WORST MOMENTS

Stumbling, bumbling, crumbling

The Browns should’ve started 2-0 for the first time since returning in 1999. But they found a way to blow a certain win in Week 2, and the 31-30 loss was felt the rest of the season.

A million things went wrong in the final two minutes. Nick Chubb scored when he shouldn’t have, Cade York missed an extra point, Amari Cooper didn’t recover an onside kick, the defense gave up two touchdowns and Jacoby Brissett threw an interception. The collapse was epic.

Bah humbug

The playoffs were a long shot but not out of the question. Until the New Orleans Saints visited FirstEnergy Stadium on a frightful Christmas Eve afternoon.

The Saints hadn’t won a game outdoors all year but managed to handle the elements better than the home team during the coldest regular-season game in Browns history. The Saints found success with direct-snap runs, while the Browns dropped three touchdown passes in the 17-10 loss.

Least vs. the East

The Browns lost plenty of close games that stung. They also had a couple of clunkers — 38-15 at home vs. the Patriots and 39-17 at Miami — bad enough to question just about everything.

The Browns were outcoached and outclassed in those matchups. The blowouts were made worse because the Patriots played a rookie quarterback and the Dolphins game followed the bye.

That about sums it up. Nice breakdown. There really wasn’t much that went right. If your max number of consecutive wins is 2 you’re not good

I will be interested to see what the Browns do w/the LBer unit. I have a few thoughts on the group.

--Despite the high PFF grade, I wasn't all that impressed w/Walker. His depth on drops was not deep enough and he isn't a force in the run game because he doesn't shed blocks all that well. He might be gone in FA.

--JOK gets a lot of love, but he was a problem on our defense. He's weak. He can't shed blocks at all. He has to dodge them. This leads him to losing gap integrity and gambling. In turn, that leads to long runs. I don't see him as an every down regular LBer. Perhaps Schwartz can create a special role for him where he blitzes a lot, both run and pass blitzes and uses him as a mirror on certain players. He is athletic. Maybe he can shine as a specialist.

--I think TakiTaki can function in Schwartz's scheme. He's not great, but he can be functional.

--I think Phillips stinks. Terrible angles. Not elite speed. Not physical. Poor play recognition.

--I liked what I saw from Deion Jones. He's pretty good in pass coverage and he has good speed. Not very physical, but he can help on passing downs.

--I actually think a lot of the guys we brought in from the streets played better than our name players at the position. I do think we need an addition to the LBer corps. A guy who is a stud. A force against the run and understands how to get the proper depth in zone coverages.

You mentioned JOK, and it was interesting that D’qwell jackson says JOK basically stinks. Or at the very least that he’s out of position and does his own thing too much

D’Qwell basically says we need to cut our losses and move on. He's pretty passionate about it. lol

JOK does seems to be the type of player you have to create a role for.


I agree with most of the first part, not true all the time but he's definitely 'consistently inconsistent'. As for the second part -- I'm hopeful a pro like Schwartz can craft that role.

I agree on Deion Jones. Besides him I really thought Reggie Raglund played great and was a factor on this defense playing better down the stretch.

And Schwartz was adamant about the fact that he welcomes talented players and that his job is to put them in roles where they achieve.

"Go with your fastball; if you have a good fastball, bust their knuckles and throw 99. Be who you are, have the confidence to be who you are."

He also disputed some of the claims that our LBs are too light. "They come in all packages... I want instincts, communication and explosiveness" "If I'm doing my job we're playing smart, fast and physical".

I tend to side with you in regards to JOK. I would note, that like Woods, Schwartz rarely blitzes and I would not expect that to change. I think our LBs (excluding Phillips who is just terrible) looked really bad in large part to the trash interior d-lineman. Getting D-lineman that can eat blocks will be crucial moving forward.

It'll be an interesting year for JOK. Hopefully, he does not show up to camp weighing 205lbs due to his alkaline vegan diet.

Seems to me JOK is just a Box Safety.

We want him to be like Derwin James or Isaiah Simmons, but I think he's not.

I love LBers. I wish we had a Ray Lewis, Lawrence Taylor, Mike Singletary, Junior Seau, Brian Urlacher, Jack Lambert, Dick Butkus, etc type LB who could just wreck games and provide Leadership.

I respect your opinion, but he didn't always do what he was coached to do. No one coaches a player to not fill a gap by running behind the blocker and trying to catch the RB from behind. He needs to get more physical or make a position switch. I'm not saying he can't be effective, but he was a huge liability against the run I understand our DTs were terrible and that perhaps coaching was an issue, but JOK had his own issues.

And if one really thinks about it, our DTs played a lot better towards the end of the year when we brought in guys like Ragland, Jones, Fields, etc.

“And if one really thinks about it, our DTs played a lot better towards the end of the year when we brought in guys like Ragland, Jones, Fields, etc.“

True but some of that is due to Winfrey IMO. I do think Jones made a noticeable difference. Ragland, to be honest I didn’t notice him much

crappy year... we we're 7-10... should have been 10-7.... defense needs to improve... Watson needs to improve....