The Browns need to figure out who’s starting at quarterback. They also need to find some players who can reliably catch the ball.
Cleveland was plagued by drops last year. It finished the season with 9 more drops than any other team – about twice as many as half of the teams in the league.
| DROPS -- 2024 SEASON | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Drop | Rec | Pct |
| Philadelphia | 7 | 303 | 2.3% |
| Detroit | 12 | 399 | 2.9% |
| Las Vegas | 16 | 410 | 3.8% |
| LA Rams | 15 | 367 | 3.9% |
| Arizona | 17 | 374 | 4.3% |
| Dallas | 20 | 398 | 4.8% |
| Seattle | 21 | 413 | 4.8% |
| Minnesota | 19 | 364 | 5.0% |
| Chicago | 20 | 353 | 5.4% |
| Miami | 26 | 413 | 5.9% |
| Washington | 23 | 365 | 5.9% |
| Atlanta | 23 | 364 | 5.9% |
| Buffalo | 21 | 329 | 6.0% |
| Jacksonville | 22 | 343 | 6.0% |
| Cincinnati | 30 | 460 | 6.1% |
| Tampa Bay | 27 | 408 | 6.2% |
| Kansas City | 27 | 404 | 6.3% |
| Pittsburgh | 22 | 321 | 6.4% |
| San Francisco | 24 | 349 | 6.4% |
| Carolina | 24 | 341 | 6.6% |
| New England | 25 | 342 | 6.8% |
| Houston | 27 | 357 | 7.0% |
| Indianapolis | 23 | 289 | 7.4% |
| Denver | 32 | 379 | 7.8% |
| Baltimore | 27 | 318 | 7.8% |
| Tennessee | 29 | 336 | 7.9% |
| NY Giants | 33 | 366 | 8.3% |
| New Orleans | 31 | 340 | 8.4% |
| LA Chargers | 33 | 336 | 8.9% |
| NY Jets | 40 | 385 | 9.4% |
| Green Bay | 33 | 308 | 9.7% |
| Cleveland | 49 | 395 | 11.0% |
Some of these drops, I think, can be attributed to lesser quarterback play. When a ball is coming in a half second late or little off target, the probability of a drop goes way up. The Browns had Deshaun Watson and Jameis Winston at quarterback for most of last year, likely playing a big factor in all their drops.
Three of the four teams with drop rates under 4 percent were quarterbacked by Jalen Hurts, Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford. Not a big surprise that their drop rates were better than Cleveland. (If we’re trying to balance quarterbacks versus drops, probably the two receiving corps that were most plagued by drops last year would be the Packers and Chargers – those are teams with quarterbacks who are more likely to deliver accurate, on-time balls.)
But the pass catchers also need to do a better job of securing the football. Cleveland had eight players last year who caught a least 10 passes, and all but two of them had drop rates above the league average.
Amari Cooper “led” the way, dropping 10 of 34 catchable passes before the Browns were able to foist him off on Buffalo. (Cooper dropped only 2 of 22 catchable balls with the Bills.)
Jerry Jeudy (pictured) had a big season for Cleveland, particularly in the second half of the season, but he dropped a league-high 13 passes.
David Njoku has dropped 18 passes in the last two years, 5 more than any other tight end, but he dropped only 8 passes in his previous four seasons. (When Joe Flacco took over at quarterback late in the 2023 season, Njoku dropped 3 passes in six games with Flacco.)
| CLEVELAND'S PASS CATCHERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Drop | Rec | Pct |
| TE Jordan Akins | 1 | 40 | 2.4% |
| RB Jerome Ford | 1 | 37 | 2.6% |
| WR Elijah Moore | 5 | 61 | 7.6% |
| WR Cedric Tillman | 3 | 29 | 9.4% |
| TE David Njoku | 7 | 64 | 9.9% |
| RB Pierre Strong | 2 | 14 | 12.5% |
| WR Jerry Jeudy | 13 | 90 | 12.6% |
| WR Amari Cooper | 10 | 24 | 29.4% |
—Ian Allan