The Cleveland Browns are looking to get back on track after back-to-back disappointing campaigns. With truly no excuses this year after overhauling their coordinators and the weak points on their roster this offseason, the Browns have sought to also give quarterback Deshaun Watson more weapons like Elijah Moore as well.
The 2023 season has a stronghold on the future of the team; another losing season could shift the direction of this team substantially.
If the Browns want to get back into the postseason, they are going to need an uptick from their key performers. Which players on the roster have the most to prove this season on a team that has undergone an identity change on defense, and on a team that has no excuses offensively?
LT Jedrick Wills
There may not be a player with more to prove this season other than the quarterback himself than fourth-year left tackle Jedrick Wills.
Drafted with the 10th overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft, Wills started his career with a strong rookie campaign that provided a solid foundation to build from. However, the two following seasons have plateaued at that same level of play with stretches of downright unfocused, undisciplined, and ugly reps on the field.
While there are also reps on tape that show a tackle with excellent foot speed and fundamentally sound hands, Wills has the makeup of a player who lacks the drive to dial in on a week-to-week and play-by-play basis. After picking up his fifth-year option, Wills will hang around through 2024 but this is the year to prove he deserves to be around long-term.
If he finds the motivation and drive to lock in this season, playing at a high level all year, the Browns will likely shovel out a new deal for him. However, a new season of more of the same and long-term talks will never arrive between the two sides.
It’s now or never for the former Alabama stalwart.
DT Perrion Winfrey
The timeline for Winfrey to prove his worth to the team that drafted him is much more accelerated than the other players on this list.
Entering just his second season, Winfrey has already been in headlines for showing up late to practice, being benched in a preseason game, getting suspended a regular season game, and then a domestic violence charge that was dropped after he completed a diversion program.
Winfrey’s roster spot is far from safe as he will have to battle it out against the likes of Maurice Hurst and Trysten Hill in training camp. And that is just on the field in Berea. One more slip-up off the field and Winfrey does not stay on the team.
It is up to Winfrey who he wants to be or he could be out of the league rather quickly.
CB Greg Newsome II
Greg Newsome II had a rookie season that had him in the same conversation as Denver Broncos’ cornerback Patrick Surtain II. However, he was asked to be the only player to hold down the nickel position in 2022, a role that is extremely difficult for a player to do compared to outside cornerback.
And he did not like it. Newsome has changed agents and had a heart-to-heart with the Browns this offseason, and the new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz seems to have a system where both Newsome and Denzel Ward will rotate inside based on personnel and matching preferences across from them.
Newsome has cheered up and has since been praised by Schwartz for his efforts throughout minicamp thus far. Now that he will be back to playing outside, where he thrived as a rookie and even on the reps he played out there in 2022, Newsome has to prove he can lock down top-tier talents.
He is entering the year where he can earn himself a healthy payday as well, so Newsome has much to prove to the Browns this season.
WR Elijah Moore
The Browns turned the 43rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft into both Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman. And given how shallow the wide receiver room was a year ago after the top two guys, Moore has a chance to prove he can be the second option for Watson behind Amari Cooper.
His time in New York was tumultuous with the Jets, and now with solidified quarterback play (we hope), Moore has the opportunity to get back to the level of production he saw when he was on the field as a rookie. The Browns are going to throw the football a ton, and Moore has been building rapport with Watson already.
However, if it does not work out for Moore in Cleveland, then that makes two stops of failures for the former second round pick. As the Browns have the decision to make on Cooper’s steep cap hit after the 2023 season, and as Moore enters a season where he could realistically get a contract extension, the Ole Miss product has a chance to prove he can be the guy long-term in Cleveland.
K Cade York
Letting the fourth round kicker work through his woes a year ago, Cade York will not have the same sized leash this season in Cleveland. And now with a new special teams coordinator to help him work through some of the smaller details, York must prove he can be the long-term kicker for the Browns.
If he sputters for even two weeks this season, the Browns could begin bringing in different kickers. He will get the benefit of the doubt and all of the reps in training camp once again, but York cannot go through the same inconsistencies in year two and expect to keep his job.
There is no doubting the pop in his leg, but the ball needs to go through the uprights.
RB Jerome Ford
The action of the Browns this offseason has sent a very clear message at the running back position: they believe in second-year ball carrier Jerome Ford.
As Kareem Hunt remains a free agent and a long shot to return to Cleveland this season, the Browns need to replace his 155 touches from a year ago. And likely more touches than that as the Browns will likely cut down the workload of Nick Chubb back below 300 carries again in 2023.
Ford has the opportunity to prove to the Browns that he can not only be the Robin to Chubb’s Batman but that he could potentially carry the load as Chubb creeps toward 30 years of age. A strong season keeps Ford in good graces with the Browns, even an average season puts the Browns in a position to look for another running back who could carry a massive workload next offseason.
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Third-year linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah finds himself in the same boat as Newsome. Two young players from the same draft class with highly promising rookie seasons who I am willing to toss the tape out on given the coaching and direction they were receiving in year two.
However, like Newsome, Owusu-Koramoah needs to return to form for the Browns. His weight has been questioned as he has suffered season-ending injuries in back-to-back seasons down the stretch, and now he has to win the favor of a new defensive coordinator.
There is no doubting the explosiveness that Owusu-Koramoah plays with, but the Browns need 17 games, and 17 games of the former Notre Dame linebacker flying around the football.
QB Deshaun Watson
To be clear: it is not a make-or-break season for Watson.
His contract dictates he will be here beyond 2023. However, another bad season would put the Browns in a bad place organizationally and financially. All of the upgrades the Browns have made to their roster this offseason mean very little if their $230 million quarterback does not return to the highs he saw from 2018 to 2020.
The Browns’ season, and likely the job security of head coach Kevin Stefanski, hinges directly on the play of Watson.
They are shifting the offense toward the strengths of their quarterback, giving him back some pre-snap command after starting quarterbacks who probably should not start for NFL teams through the first three seasons of the Stefanski era, and they gave him added weapons to every level of the field.
Now it is up to Watson to command the offense they are catering toward him.
