Browns’ offensive snap counts, stats, and notes: Week 7 - Evaluation time

At 1-6, a new QB, and no No. 1 receiver, we’re now in evaluation mode.

Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 7 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

• QB: The Deshaun Watson injury sucked — no one should have to go through big injuries and rehabs like that. The optics of cheering during an injury look bad, but everyone knows that the cheers were because fans were desperate to see a new quarterback. Prior to the injury, Watson had a high completion percentage, but everything was safe and no points were on the board.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson was named the backup heading into the game, creating a weird dynamic where they brought Jameis Winston in to be the backup, and yet the switcharoo ended up happening here. DTR’s use of his legs was good, but it wasn’t good to see him not able to hit two fourth down passes to running backs who were open in the flat.
Winston came on and played a bit more free. He is the guy on the team with the biggest gunslinger mentality, and probably the right person to lead the offense if the team is looking to pick up some victories.

• RB: Welcome back, Nick Chubb. I thought he was a tad rusty, getting tripped up on a few plays in which we’re accustom to him being able to step through those and break them for big gains. But the energy he provided was there. He had 10 carries in the first half, but only 1 carry in the second half, as he must have hit his pitch count. Pierre Strong ended up seeing the most snaps, but neither he nor D’Onta Foreman saw many carries despite the quarterback injuries.
• WR: Even though Jerry Jeudy played 95% of the snaps, he had just one catch for 18 yards. The benefactor of Amari Cooper being dealt was Cedric Tillman, who caught 8 passes for 81 yards. Elijah Moore was reportedly benched for the first two series, but had 6 catches for 41 yards. Jamari Thrash made his debut, having seven snaps.
• TE: The tight ends were actively involved with all of the quarterbacks. David Njoku led the offense with 10 catches for 76 yards and 1 touchdown, but he did drop a couple of passes that he should have had. Jordan Akins added 4 nice catches for 42 yards, despite only playing 21% of the snaps.
• OL: We saw Ethan Pocic return at center, and Michael Dunn at right guard. Jack Conklin left during the game with a mysterious injury, being replaced by Dawand Jones. This just hasn’t been a good year for the offensive line, with everyone either being injured or underperforming.