QB: I am not concerned about the Browns QB room. Watson played his best football during his final few games, so I don’t see a reason to give up on him. The Browns also have lots of depth behind him. Jameson Winston is also a proven veteran, and Tyler Huntley was able to fill in for Lamar Jackson. In addition, DTR showed improvement and lots of potential to be a solid backup. I am going to keep it short with the QB position, but I talk about it in depth here: https://dawgsdigest.blog/go/GPb2.

Grade: I am going to give it an A- grade. I think the Browns have a top notch QB room from top to bottom besides the fact that we still need to see more from Deshaun Watson before we can determine if he is our franchise QB.

RB: Nick Chubb is the best pure runner in the league. I am not going to count him out just because of his injury. If Derrick Henry can play well till the age of 30, I think Nick Chubb still has a at least another great season ahead of him. I also think the Browns will still have an acceptable RB room if he misses time. Just not elite. Donta Foreman could take over the lead back role, and/or Jerome Ford and Nyheim Hines could be the secondary back/ receiving backs. When Nick Chubb returns Foreman could have a similar role to Kareem Hunt, just getting carries on short yardage or redzone situations.

Grade: I am giving the RB room an A- grade Nick Chubb is the best pure runner in the league and has lots of depth behind him. However, while I expect Nick Chubb to be good, I am not certain that he will remain the best.

WR: I think the Browns have a solid WR room. Amari Cooper is a viable number 1 option. I would argue Jerry Jeudy is a high end WR2 , and while Elijah Moore didn’t meet expectations last season, I think he has shown he is a good enough contributor to be a viable WR3. If he breaks out, he could be a high end WR3. I also think Cedric Tillman and Jamari Thrash have potential to be nice rotational options. Cedric Tillman showed flashes last year and could still develop into a future starter.

Grade: I will give the WR position a B-. It has the potential to be a good WR room, but also has the potential to be a WR room where Cooper is the only great option. However, I think Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, Elijah Moore, and others will be enough for this offense to be able to thrive

TE: I think David Njoku has been underrated and under utilized his whole career. I think if the Browns give the chief more targets, he will be elite, and neck in neck with TE’s like Mark Andrews. The Browns don’t have much behind David Njoku, signaling that they may not use 3 tight end sets a lot. However, Jordan Akins has experience with Deshaun Watson and could be a nice TE2.

Grade: I will give the TE position an A-.

OL: The starters on the offensive line are all excellent players, beside Jedrick Wills. The only weaknesses on the offensive line would be Jedrick Wills, and lack of veteran depth.

Grade: I will give the offensive line an A

Now, we will transition into defense position grades.

DE: The Browns have a very talented DE room. They have 4 players I believe will be in the rotation for DE. The Browns have an excellent duo in Myles Garrett and Zadarius Smith. Yes, Zadarius Smith didn’t have many sacks last season, but he had lots of pressures. I think Zadarius Smith just had a down year in terms of finishing plays. Don’t forget he was seen as close to elite before last season, and I don’t think his play last season should make us forget how good he is. The Browns also have a very good rotational player in Ogbo. Alex Wright is also blossoming. I think this is an all round great DE room.

Grade: I will give the DE room an A. It is excellent from top to bottom.

DT: The Browns DT room is not quite as good their DE room. I think we have a solid group of DT’s that paired with our DE’s, make our DL elite. If Mike Hall can become a great passrusher, that could help our DL go to the next level, and make it close to impossible for other teams to get the ball out vs our defense.

Grade: I will give the DT room a B.

LB’s: The LB room just isn’t a priority for the Browns. JOK is elite, but outside of JOK is nothing special. The training camp battles between LB’s other then JOK and Jordan Hicks will be interesting.

Grade: C+

CB: I think the Browns CB room is underrated. Denzel Ward is among the best CBs in the league, and Martin Emerson is on the cusp of being elite, and could establish himself among the elite given time. I think Greg Newsome is also a talented player and was also a good draft pick. While Greg Newsome is often put in the slot, due to the fact that we have Ward and Emerson, I think he could easily be a good outside corner on any other team. This is an excellent trio. On top of that, we have good depth behind them. Cam Mitchell has shown he can step up and play CB3/slot corner well. We also have depth in Kahlef Hailassie, and invested a 6th round pick into Myles Harden.

Grade: A+. the CB room is good from top to bottom.

Safety: I also think the Browns have a great safety room. Grant Delpit had a breakout season and is bound to be a future pro bowler, or all pro. Juan Thornhill wasn’t the best, and was injured a lot, but he was fine. Ronnie Hickman was excellent and could be a starter on the Browns for a long time. D Anthony Bell is also excellent depth and could even be a fine starter. Same with Rodney Mcleod

Grade: A-.

overall team grade: A-

In conclusion, I am very high on this Browns team, and I believe they will be Superbowl contenders next season.

photo credit: “Paul DePodesta and Jimmy Haslam” by Erik Drost is licensed under CC BY 2.0