Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns officially open up their 2025 preseason schedule on Friday night against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.
Though there are multiple things to keep an eye on throughout the game on both offense and defense, three specific things stand out as clear question marks right now.
Sanders has undoubtedly been the “talk of the town” since he was drafted in April, and for good reason. There’s no doubt that he’s extremely talented and has shown it throughout the offseason, but he hasn’t been able to consistently work with the first-team offense yet.
He’s looked very good from a release and accuracy standpoint so far, consistently putting balls where they need to be and knowing how and when to layer the football into tight spots. His main issue has been his processing speed in camp. When he’s practiced against a live rush or snap timer, he seemingly holds onto the ball way too long.
This was also the case in college at Colorado, where he took an inordinate number of unnecessary sacks due to this fact. If he can consistently show the ability to get the ball out faster and with precision in the face of danger, then it’ll be huge for his 2025 outlook and beyond.
It’s no secret that the Browns’ offensive line, both the 1st and 2nd-team units, haven’t looked the best in camp so far. It’s fair to say that training camp is more of a time to work on the fundamentals and communication aspect of it, but they need to put it all together this weekend.
Though LT Dawand Jones looks great in terms of his body composition, he’s shown a lack of foot speed on the edge this offseason. He’s looked better over the past couple of days, but the consistency needs to be there. This offensive line needs to show that it can get back into the swing of things when it comes to pass protection, and these next few games are going to be crucial for new OL coach Mike Bloomgren and Co.
The Panthers will likely leave their “starting” wide receivers in the game for a while on Friday night, so it’ll be a good opportunity for Mitchell and Harden to show what they can do. With Martin Emerson’s season-ending injury that he suffered in late July, Greg Newsome has officially moved back outside to field corner.
This means that one of Mitchell or Harden has to be able to lock down the starting slot role for this season. Both players have been playing well in camp so far, with Mitchell having the slight edge right now.
Carolina has an excellent group of young receivers in Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, and even veteran slot receiver Hunter Renfrow, who’s trying to make a comeback in 2025. As...
