During this series Jack Duffin will be going position by position looking at everything contracts and roster construction to look at how Andrew Berry has built the team and what the future of the Cleveland Browns holds.
Jack Duffin
During this Cleveland Browns roster building and contract series I will be lookingoneposition roomper week and going deep into several different factors. If there is something in particular you would like me to cover then please let me know and I will try and work it in during this series or down the line.
Contracts
Looking at every contract the Cleveland Browns currently have as well as when extension might be due for particular players.
QB-RB-WR-TE-T-G-C
2024 Roster Prediction
Giving you an idea of who the most likely players are to make the team in 2024 and then discussing the runners and riders for the practice squad as well.
QB-RB-WR-TE-T-G-C
2025 & 2026 Roster Prediction(OBR VIP)
Why stop at just looking at 2024, what does the future of the position room look like over the next two years. Who could be departing and which position rooms are they most likely to change.
QB-RB-WR-TE-T-G-C
Andrew Berry Roster Building Strategy & Philosophy(OBR VIP)
We now have a significant sample when it comes to Andrew Berry and building the roster, looking at how he has operated over the years from the team before he took over to where it is now.
QB-RB-WR-TE-T-G
Contract Article (OBR VIP)
A lot of these articles will be looking at what someone's future extension could look like if the Cleveland Browns decide to extend them.
Watson-Chubb-Cooper-Njoku-Wills-Teller
PositionalSpending Under Andrew Berry (OBR VIP)
Going back over each season to see how much Andrew Berry has spent on the position and then using my cash formula to project what it could look like moving forward if Jimmy Haslam keeps investing in the team.
QB-RB-WR-TE-T-G/C
Bonus Articles
Some articles just don't fit in any of the above categories so I will link them here.
Move On From Watson-DePodesta's Guardrails-Positional Spending Vs NFL-Which Positions Markets Have Stagnated-Proven Performance Escalator- Berry's Low Free Agency Spending
What Is The Premise?
Taking a look back at the 2023 season to see how many snaps each player played during the regular season and look at what that could mean for the 2024 season.
We will be looking both at individual players as well as snaps per position because this will also allow us to see if there is the potential for increasing the number of wide receiver snaps as an example based on their increased investment in the position with the addition of Jeudy.
All of these charts and data I shared the morning after each game during the season, so if you are interested make sure you check out the OBR following game day during the 2024 season.
Quarterback
We start with the most straight forward, one quarterback out there per snap. If Thompson-Robinson makes the 2024 roster then he will be as the teams third quarterback and not active on gameday so don't expect to see much focus around any gimmick plays in camp.
Running Back
The aim will be to get Chubb back up to 50% of running back snaps in a game based on how he started the season week one. Then based on past patterns you would assume the backup is likely to get close to 35% and the third back around 15% but this number could be lower if they want to only have a running back on the field 90% of the time. Watson has been successful over his career with an empty backfield so expect to see some of this mixed into the playbook.
Wide Receiver
The first question is do we expect to see more wide receiver snaps during the 2024 season than we did during the 2023 season and my answer would be yes. I don't think it will be a significant jump with the ceiling most likely being 2.70. This is because you will still have goal line plays and other obvious run plays where you will want extra offensive linemen or tight ends.
If we look across the season it is roughly 80% of snaps that Cooper was playing and I would expect Jeudy to play a similar amount based on the investment they have made into him. This means an average of 1.1 wide receiver snaps across the four other members of the room. Moore should get the majority of these but will face competition from Tillman mainly depending how he plays in training camp. Bell and Thrash will be battling to be active on gameday, if both play getting to 10% would be good for each.
Tight End
Similar to Cooper and Jeudy it seems likely that Njoku will sit at around 80% of snaps in each game. The real question is what happens with the rest of the tight end room, I'm expecting a reduction in amount of snaps coming down to around 1.2 tight ends per snap but this could come even lower to 1.15. That is because they could rely more on the offensive linemen to carry the blocking aspect and then focus more on tight ends as pass catcher.
Offensive Line
When you have twelve offensive lineman taking snaps during an NFL season you know nothing good has happened here!
They averaged 5.13 during the 2023 season and I am thinking this will rise potentially in 2024 to just under 5.20, they don't appear to have a tight end other than Njoku who can block very well unless they keep Ricci.
The key thing we want to see next season is only six to seven players getting snaps in this list rather than double digits.
Conclusion
Here is a look at each position as the season goes along.
If I had to guess what the 2024 season might look like on offense:
Quarterback - 1.00
Running Back - 0.90
Wide Receiver - 2.70
Tight End - 1.15
Offensive Line - 5.20
The final 0.05 will move around based on Watson's health, if he goes down I could see them putting it into running back. If Dorsey has his way this could be into tight end as he used the position quite a lot in 2023. Ifthey become the high powered offense that they want to be then the investment will go into wide receiver.
Tomorrow I will be back to look at the defensive side of the ball.
