Browns offensive evolution should still have plenty of room for tight ends: Tuesday takeaways – cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns offense will certainly look different in 2022, but dont sell all your tight end stock just yet.

Certainly, the Browns will use more 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers) this season with their dynamic new signal-caller. Deshaun Watson, however, is familiar with tight end usage.

In 2018, with Bill OBrien as head coach, the Texans ran 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) on 35 percent of their plays, according to Sharp Football Stats. On early downs in the first three quarters, it was 43 percent.

In 2019, again under OBrien, the number was 35 percent on early downs in the first three quarters.

During Watsons best season in 2020, with Romeo Crennel at the helm for most of the season and Tim Kelly as offensive coordinator, 12 personnel was used on 28 percent of the snaps and 37 percent of early-down snaps in the first three quarters.

Kevin Stefanskis job this offseason is to marry what Watson does best with what Stefanski likes to do. So while things will certainly have a more open feel, Stefanski should be able to find plenty of room for one of his favorite positions.

Springing to action

How much does the offseason program matter? We can debate it, but when Stefanski said at the owners meetings he expects Watson to be there when the teams offseason program begins, it was a good sign.

Stefanski cant compel players to show up for the voluntary portion of the program -- which is all but one week of it -- but after two years of disruptions due to COVID-19 and the NFLPA taking a stand, theres something to be said about Browns players treating this offseason program like a team that hasnt earned the right to take it lightly.

Its more of a tone-setter than anything. Its saying, Were going to show up, were going to work and were not going to miss an opportunity to get better together.

No one wins the Super Bowl in April, May or June. Still, there is work getting done and there is value to being there, even if part of it is just symbolic.

Is Odell the answer?

Its fun to think about Odell Beckham Jr. returning to Cleveland and rewriting that chapter, but at some point, there has to be a real discussion about whether it makes sense.

Beckham showed in Los Angeles he is still a productive player. He also tore his ACL in the Super Bowl on Feb. 13. He needed all 11 months to return from his torn ACL last season, so its fair to wonder when he would actually be able to return to the field.

Then theres how things ended. Yes, its easy to just point the finger at Baker Mayfield, but Beckham put the Browns in a difficult position and it became a clear breaking point for a team with playoff aspirations.

In the end, the question has to be Does it make sense from a football standpoint? This close to Beckhams latest injury, it might not. In a few months? Maybe the answer changes.

Center of competition

There was no real reason to just hand Nick Harris the starting center job, so bringing in Ethan Pocic, who checks some boxes in what the Browns seem to like, makes sense. At 6-foot-6, 320 pounds, hes bigger than Harris, who is listed at 6-1, 293, which was the knock on the Washington product when the Browns drafted him.

(If youre wondering, former Browns center JC Tretter checked in at 6-4, 307.)

Pocic is a former four-star recruit who played at LSU. He has played all three interior positions in the NFL. If Harris does ultimately win the center job, Pocic is an insurance policy behind him and offers depth behind Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller -- an unenviable position, since Bitonio hasnt missed a snap since 2017 and Teller didnt miss a snap last season.

No one knows how ready Harris is more than the Browns, who have watched him in practice and had him in meetings the last two seasons. Even if they believe hes ready, pushing him with some real competition is a good thing.

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Browns offensive evolution should still have plenty of room for tight ends: Tuesday takeaways - cleveland.com