Coaching
Cleveland brought in Kevin Stefanski as the head coach in 2020. He seized the most of his opportunity by going 11-5, giving Browns’ fans their first playoff experience since 2002. They bowed out in the AFC divisional round to the Kansas City Chiefs. Over the previous 14 seasons, Stefanski worked in the Vikings’ system with various coaching jobs. In 2019, he ran Minnesota’s offense for the first time, leading to his promotion to the Browns.
The Browns improved to 14th in points scored (408), which was a jump of 73 points from 2019. They finish 16th in yards gained. Since 1988, Cleveland ranked in the top 10 in scoring only once (2007 – 8th).
Alex Van Pelt returns for his second year as Cleveland’s offensive coordinator after spending the previous six seasons as the Packers & Bengals quarterbacks’ coach. He’s been a coach in the NFL since 2006. Van Pelt now has two years of experience as an offensive coordinator.
Cleveland inched up to 17th in yards allowed. They allowed 419 points (21st), which was 26 more than they allowed in 2019.
Joe Woods gets a second crack as the defensive coordinator. In 2019, he held the defensive back coach and passing game coordinator jobs for the 49ers after running the Broncos’ defense in 2017 and 2018. Woods worked in the Vikings’ system from 2006 to 2013.
Free Agency
The Browns added four players (S John Johnson, DE Jadeveon Clowney, CB Troy Hill, and DE Takkarist McKinley) to the defense via free agency in the offseason.
Johnson delivered over 100 tackles in his last two full seasons with the Rams while also being on a productive pace in 2019 (51 over six games). His play in coverage graded well thanks to Los Angeles having a dominating pass-rusher (Aaron Donald) and a talented secondary.
Clowney continues to underachieve in the pass rush (32 sacks in 83 career games) while making his fourth franchise change since 2018. Over the last two seasons, he missed 13 starts. His game does play well in run support.
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Hill saw his game improve after making a switch to slot corner for the Rams. His challenge will come when asked to cover elite physical receivers on the outside.
McKinley continues to fade against the run while losing in the pass rush over the past two seasons (4.5 sacks in 18 games – 13 over his first 31 starts with the Falcons). He is a former first-round draft pick (2017) who missed 12 games last year due to a groin issue.
The top four players gone from last season's defense are CB Terrance Mitchell, DE Olivier Vernon, LB B.J. Goodson, and DT Larry Ogunjobi.
Mitchell set a career-high in tackles (65) in 2020 while also picking up 13 defended passes and three forced fumbles. His downside came from allowing big plays and some damage in touchdowns allowed. When keeping a receiver in front of him, Mitchell tends to give up a low completion rate.
Vernon saw his 2020 season end in early January due to an Achilles injury. He finished with nine sacks and 36 tackles over 14 contests. Over his first seven seasons with the Dolphins and Giants, Vernon posted 51 sacks in 103 starts. He remains unsigned, which will come after recovering from his injury.
Goodson earned a starting job for the Browns over 14 games in 2020, thanks to his success in run support. He finished with a career-best 91 tackles while offering almost no pass rushing value (one sack over his last 44 games). Goodson remains a free agent in mid-May.
Over the last three seasons with the Browns, Ogunjobi had 148 combined tackles and 13.5 sacks. He will pressure the quarterback, but he tends to underachieve in sacks. His run defense has regressed in back-to-back seasons, suggesting his ceiling is a league-average player.
Cleveland didn’t add any offensive players in the offseason.
