Early look at the Detroit Lions 2017 opponents: Cleveland Browns

Quarterbacks

The Cleveland Browns serve as a cautionary tale to Lions fans that think Detroit should move on from Matthew Stafford. They drafted a highly touted quarterback in the first round every second year for a decade.They have also tried the journeyman starter route with Josh McCown, and the taking on of a once successful but fallen star route in Robert Griffin III. All of those attempts have failed.

They drafted Cody Kessler in the third round of the 2016 draft. The best thing that can be said about his play as a rookie is that he was not Josh McCown or RG3. The team was clearly not particularly enamored with his performance. They selected Notre Dame’s Deshone Kizer in the second round of the 2017 draft. They have even done something that I don’t recall ever having happened before in the NFL. The Cleveland Browns traded for another team’s bad contract. They gave up a fourth round pick in a trade. They got Brock Osweiler and a second round pick back from the Houston Texans.

It was said at the time that the Browns would not be keeping Osweiler for long, but he is still there as training camp is about to open. The Browns know that unless they fix the quarterback problem their team has a built cap on their success. Anyone who tells you they know who the Browns will start under center is either lying or being lied to. What we can definitively say is that the Lions will not be facing a particularly good quarterback in week 14.

Wide Receiver

The Browns have not fared much better at wide receiver. Josh Gordon could have been the league’s best. With no quarterback worth mentioning he put up a sophomore season that had people questioning whether he was better than Megatron. His trials and tribulations have been well documented. Last year Terrelle Pryor took on the number one receiver role and showed the league he had successfully transitioned from bad quarterback to good receiver. He, of course, left in free agency to play for Washington.

The Browns did pick up Kenny Britt, who has been a productive receiver for the Rams recently. Britt had an injury plagued period in Tennesee but has reclaimed some of the magic he flashed in his early years. He crossed the 1000 yard plateau for a rams fan that had little to cheer about in 2017.

Corey Coleman has the physical tools to be a field stretching deep threat, but he needs to learn to play the position at the NFL level or he will be a one trick pony. In the NFL one trick ponies do not have long careers. He has been injured and played poorly when available. Receivers coach Al Saunders has hinted that Coleman needed to get himself in better shape if he wants to be healthy long enough to deliver on that physical ability.

They don’t have an impressive group looking to fill the remainder of their roster at the position. Their best bet for a third receiver is Ricardo Louis. He is a big bodied and athletic target and has drawn praise from the coaching staff. The rest of the group is awful. The Lions should not have difficulty matching their corners with Browns receivers.

Tight End

David Njoku may be the Browns most dangerous receiver in time. Lions fans are familiar with how unlikely it is that a rookie tight end makes his mark on the league early, however. Unlike Eric Ebron‘s early career though, the Browns do not have a lot of competition for targets, or a quarterback that would prefer to throw into triple coverage then check down to the tight end. Njoku is a glorified wide receiver playing the tight end spot. The Browns will surely do everything they can to get him into mismatches throughout the season.

Behind Njoku is Seth DeValve. If the Browns use a lot of two tight end sets they will have two decent options. Even in one tight end sets, DeValve gives the Browns a much more capable blocker, which will earn him snaps while Njoku develops that part of his game.