Cleveland Browns: 5 Weakest positions heading into 2018 season

In a world where injuries don’t happen and everyone is reliable, the Cleveland Browns have a pretty solid football team, but that isn’t likely to happen.

The Cleveland Browns have improved in a lot of areas this offseason and look like they can be a reasonably competitive football team in 2018. They do still have weaknesses and the biggest is depth, where injuries or inability to stay on the field could quickly put the Browns at a severe disadvantage.

None of this is should be a surprise for where the Browns are in their build.

But nevertheless, here are the five positions that look the most vulnerable heading into the 2018 season.

5. Wide Receiver

There isn’t a more mercurial position on the roster. If Josh Gordon is on the field and functional, if Antonio Callaway can stay healthy and on the field, if Rashard Higgins’ great camp carries over, the Browns have a really talented group. The problem is that the only receiver they can truly rely on is Jarvis Landry, who has been everything the Browns have hoped for and then some to this point.

If things go wrong for the Browns, their starting two receivers are Landry and an unproven Higgins. That’s not good, and all of the questions from last year carry over to this one.

There is so much potential and upside with this group, but none of it is truly bankable at this point. It could go from one of the biggest question marks to one of the biggest strengths pretty quickly, but there is undoubtedly a day to day, week to week feel with this group.

4. Cornerback

Obviously, there’s no shortage of bodies here. The Browns overhauled the group through the draft and free agency. As a result, there’s hope here but none of it is a proven commodity.

There’s a ton of excitement around Denzel Ward, the fourth-overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft and he looks like he can be a great cover corner. He’s not there yet and he’s going to get a trial by fire the first two weeks of the season against Antonio Brown and Michael Thomas. It’s an incredibly difficult position to play as a rookie and he’s being asked to be their top corner.

The Browns have a great slot corner in Briean Boddy-Calhoun, but the issue is the other boundary corner. Terrance Mitchell appears to be the favorite to win that job as T.J. Carrie has not only struggled to this point, but seems to be getting worse. E.J. Gaines suffered a sprained knee that is keeping him out for a few weeks and he hadn’t really sniffed first team reps either.

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Mitchell had a promising season for the Kansas City Chiefs last year and has shown ability while the ball is in the air, but it’s not as if the Browns can put their corners down in pen and say this is their group. There’s a real possibility that the answer to that spot isn’t currently on the roster. This group has no shortage of depth, but for all of the additions they’ve made, it’s just not clear that they have answers to this position.

3. Offensive Tackle

Joel Bitonio has looked good at left tackle, even if he’s still figuring things out. Chris Hubbard has been an effective right tackle that provides some unique opportunities because of his unorthodox build for the position. These two have been solid, if not spectacular to this point.

If one of them goes down, the Browns have a problem. Maybe they would put Spencer Drango out there again as they did last year in the wake of Joe Thomas’s injury. Drango has obvious limitations dealing with speed rushers but he performed valiantly against Joey Bosa of the San Diego Chargers. Shon Coleman is a solid run blocker, but his pass protection is inconsistent and seems like it’s actually gotten worse since being replaced by Bitonio at left tackle.

Greg Robinson is a guard masquerading as a tackle — if he’s anything — and like Coleman, struggles in pass protection. The Browns appear to be high on undrafted rookie Desmond Harrison, who has underwhelming play strength, but has some ability in pass protection. He’s not ready for Sundays, but Christian DiLauro has some promising characteristics that could allow him to become a good player if the Browns can find a spot on their roster.

2. Guard

Healthy, the Browns should be okay at guard. Kevin Zeitler can occasionally have some lapses in pass protection, but he’s a mauler in a phone booth as a run blocker. Austin Corbett is a rookie that has a lot of promise, but it stands to reason there will be some inconsistency.

The larger issue here is depth. Spencer Drango has taken a ton of reps at right guard while Zeitler is recovering from a calf injury and the results have been uneven at best. At times, Drango can be a decent run blocker and pass protector, but he’s clearly the weak link of the group, the Browns will attempt to hide him and there will be a share of awful plays as defenses try to exploit him.

The Browns do not appear to trust anyone else at guard and the play to this point hasn’t given them a reason. If Drango is the next best option, the Browns need to find someone better. Geoff Gray has promising athletic traits, but they haven’t really played him much to this point.

1. Defensive Tackle

Jamie Meder has gotten better every season he’s been in the league and there’s plenty of reason to be excited about Larry Ogunjobi. After that, it’s pretty bare. Trevon Coley is dealing with a high ankle sprain and Caleb Brantley has been dealing with a quad issue, but Brantley struggled against the New York Giants and hasn’t been having a great camp. No one else on their roster has done anything that suggests they deserve an NFL roster spot.

The Browns should be active when teams cut down their rosters down to 53. A case can be made that other than Meder and Ogunjobi, everyone else could be replaced by waiver wire acquisitions. Coley, last year, was at least a good role player stopping the run, so he may receive the benefit of the doubt from the team for the time being.

The Browns will try to use defensive ends like Myles Garrett, Emmanuel Ogbah, Chris Smith, Carl Nassib or Chad Thomas inside to minimize the issue, but there’s a real problem at defensive tackle. And if Meder or Ogunjobi go down for any length of time, it becomes a huge problem.