Browns offensive snap counts vs. Eagles: Efficiency wins the day

Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ second preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

• Dillon Gabriel did a solid job, given what he had to work with, meaning both rookie quarterbacks stepped up to the occasion. You had the errant interception where two receivers ran their route into each other, and a botched handoff, things that can be ironed out with more practice. As a quarterback, though, Gabriel looked sharp on his quick decisions, showing how an offense can efficiently move the ball. My question that would remain, though, is how he’d perform throwing the ball a bit more downfield when defensive backs aren’t always giving that cushion.
• Pierre Strong was active this week after missing last week’s game, and he got a full workload, playing 65% of the snaps (high for a preseason game). I’m not sure what that exactly means. Cleveland is protecting Dylan Sampson and Jerome Ford already for the regular season, and Quinshon Judkins is probably going to end up signing sooner rather than later. Ahmani Marshall has practice squad written all over him, but it’s possible Strong could be a candidate for that too.
• The wide receiver situation still has uncertainties, perhaps more so because we don’t know what the coaching staff is thinking. With that said, it looks like Jamari Thrash is being given slot receiver reps, and he did a solid job catching the ball this week. I know we hear about how Diontae Johnson can put on some good moves, but over these past two games, all the quarterbacks just seem a bit off with him, and I’ve seen too many targets his direction that just aren’t working out. Greg Larvadain made some catches and had a nice run on an end around. Kaden Davis quietly led the team in receiving after having two touchdowns last week.
• I’m not sure we saw much from the backup tight ends this week. Blake Whiteheart didn’t play last week, and started this week.
• The Browns were 9-of-16 on third down conversions.