Cleveland Browns: Josh Gordon set to explode in 2016

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon is back in a big way, and he’s ready to explode in 2016.

A 2015 without wide receiver Josh Gordon was a difficult season for the Cleveland Browns. Setting aside all of the issues that seemingly plague the franchise, missing Gordon was clearly a problem for the team.

Gordon’s ability is perhaps best highlighted by his dominant 2013 season in which he led the NFL in receiving yards with 1646 yards off just 86 receptions while also tacking on nine touchdowns. He’s a big play threat each and every down, making plays against outmatched cornerbacks assigned to him.

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He was just 12th in total receptions that year but was able to completely dominate his peers, averaging 18.9 yards per catch. The scary thing is that in 2013, Gordon caught just 57 percent of his targets. It was also just his second season in the NFL.

Expect bigger things now that he’s back on the field and ready to contribute again.

In fact, he’s already delivering in a big way. New Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III is finding Gordon to be a reliable receiver in his return to the Browns. Just look at his play here:

That’s the kind of dominance the Browns need from Gordon in his big return. The receiver that was forced out of the 2015 season due to substance abuse violations clearly hasn’t missed a step in his time away. He can still get up over the cornerbacks and make plays on the ball.

Of Griffin’s 119 yards passing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the latest preseason game, 87 of those yards were to Gordon on just two receptions. He tacked on a touchdown for good measure. Griffin’s under-60 percent completion percentage wasn’t particularly impressive, but Gordon’s catches certainly were.

There’s a four game suspension still in store for Gordon to start the 2016 season, but if he’s able to come back from that like he has since his July reinstatement, expect him to deliver. Griffin knows he can turn the Browns’ passing attack around as well, stating, “It’s fun throwing to any of those guys when they make plays like that for you.”  Griffin, who has been in a slump in recent years, needs someone like Gordon to step up if the Browns offense can succeed.

At this point, Josh Gordon can almost single-handedly turn Hue Jackson’s reworked Cleveland Browns offense into a threat. A lot of people aren’t sold on Griffin as the answer at quarterback and the rest of the offense is still finding its feet. If Gordon can come in and dominate like he did in 2013, the team can actually be competitive.

A competitive Browns team could upend a crowded AFC North. While nobody should expect a division title immediately, Gordon’s return will at least make things interesting as the Browns can begin to keep pace with the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers to make them fight more for the division title that will likely go to one of those two.

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It isn’t so much a matter of whether Gordon can be productive but just how explosive he can be. Based on the limited sample size thus far, he looks poised to be as explosive as he was in 2013.