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Cleveland Browns: Can Andrew Hawkins carry passing attack?

By Kevin Parvizi

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Because of his lack of receiving touchdowns and the Cleveland Browns quarterback situation, slick slot receiver Andrew Hawkins will never be a viable option, even though he is quite clearly the team’s best pass-catcher. Perhaps Brian Hartline can have a bounce-back season and Dwayne Bowe can shake off an awful preseason to make a key impact in the Browns passing attack, but not even strong seasons from those two will allow them to usurp Hawkins at the top of the target totem pole.

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Hawkins looks especially locked in as the Browns top target for tomorrow’s game against the New York Jets, because the Jets boast a secondary of Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, and Buster Skrine. Duke Johnson‘s ability to recover from a concussion has the Browns in a better spot, but it’s still going to be difficult for this Josh McCown-led team to score points against one of the NFL’s best defenses on paper (especially when you account for the Todd Bowles factor).

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Since the Jets have Leonard Williams, Muhammad Wilkerson, and Damon Harrison up front, I wouldn’t count on Johnson and Isaiah Crowell going off tomorrow, even if the Browns have an elite offensive line. The Jets, after all, allowed just 3.8 yards per carry last season, which was the sixth-lowest average surrendered in the NFL in 2014.

The Browns will have to move the ball through the air against the Jets secondary to some extent, and, as Randall Cobb and Julian Edelman showed us last season, quick receivers who are difficult to cover in shot areas often have the best success against elite defenses, specifically those with star power at the cornerback position.

Not many receivers in this league have Hawkins’s foot speed, and he has sneaky playmaking ability, averaging a robust 13.1 yards per reception last season with 63 receptions for 824 yards in total. Hawkins, who is just 5’7″, 180 pounds, profiles as the type of slot receiver who can’t be taken out of games, which means that the Browns could use him to nickel-and-dime the Jets secondary.

See, the problem is that because the Browns most experienced outside receivers are slow types who won’t do well against a secondary like the Jets, they’ll have to lean on Hawkins when they do throw the ball. Ideally, the Browns would like to run the ball frequently in what will be a gritty, defensive struggle between these two teams, but, again, the Jets are so great at stopping the run that the Cleveland Browns will have to keep the opposition honest with some passes.

Hawkins has the YAC ability and agility to be a real weapon for the Browns tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. ET, but he won’t have the easiest matchup in the world either. The Jets paid Buster Skrine big money this offseason, and while Browns fans know that he can be inconsistent, this is a guy with elite ball skills and the quickness and footwork to keep up with a guy like Hawkins in the slot. This means that the Browns will have to find creative ways to move Hawkins around into short areas, because, again, his skill-set gives McCown the best hope on the plays when they don’t hand the ball off to Crowell or Johnson.

After catching five passes on just five targets for 93 yards in Week 10 against the Atlanta Falcons, Andrew Hawkins never had another five-catch game for the remainder of the regular season due to massive struggles at the quarterback position. He will be in a tough spot tomorrow against Skrine, and he’ll have to hope that McCown can get him the ball and trust that he’ll be able to use his footwork to get open.

Tomorrow’s game will show us just how good the rapport between McCown and Hawkins is, and that will be a huge key to victory for this team. The Browns don’t really have another wide receiver who can make an impact against the Jets defense, so Johnson and Hawkins will be the team’s two biggest keys in the passing game, with Hawkins being the only one at 100%.

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