Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns finished the 2024 season ranked #20 in the passing attack. This coincided with the league’s 29th-ranked rushing team.
This year, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has already stated that Cleveland will return to its roots with a running scheme. But with any good offensive attack, it should be balanced. This means the offense can’t ditch the pass and offer ground-and-pound extensively.
RELATED: THE DICHOTOMY OF WR CEDRIC TILLMAN
With a balanced aerial game, the receivers, tight ends, and running backs have to be adept at advancing the ball through the air. This equates to capable pass-catching players.
Jerry Jeudy came to Cleveland in a trade with the Denver Broncos and quickly took that WR1 spot and elevated it to the tune of 1,229 yards, a personal best for him. He was targeted a whopping 145 times with 90 receptions and was named to his first Pro Bowl.
David Njoku is an exceptional pass-catcher at tight end, and GM Andrew Berry snagged the nation’s leading pass-catcher in the draft by adding Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin. WR2 remains up in the air. So is the slot receiver, although both positions have a lot of candidates.
Most Browns fans and the media that cover the team are high on Cedric Tillman taking over that other outside receiver spot, but don’t count out Jamari Thrash.
David Bell and Michael Woods seem to evade the cut wire every year and are in play for the slot. There are other receivers in camp as well, such as Cade McDonald, DeAndre Carter, Jaelen Gill, Kaden Davis, Luke Floriea, Gage Larvadain, and Kisean Johnson.
Oh yeah, and another Johnson: Diontae Johnson (5’-10”, 183 pounds).
This Johnson had over 1,100 yards in a single season. He has been to the Pro Bowl. He has an NFL career lifetime of 11.9 yards per reception. This Johnson was voted Second Team All-Pro. He is a former college conference Player of the Year.
Can this Johnson return to those roots with the Browns?
That all depends on which Johnson shows up.
Johnson grew up in Ruskin, Florida, located on the Eastern bank of Tampa Bay, which is comprised of numerous coastal cities such as Tampa, Dunedin, St. Petersburg, Largo, Apollo Beach, Bradenton, and Clearwater. Ruskin has a population of just north of 30,000.
Johnson attended Lennard High School. He played basketball (8.8 points per game average) and was the quarterback for the football team in his sophomore and junior seasons, passing for 988 yards in his best year. As a senior, he was moved to wide receiver, where he had 35 receptions for 1,017 yards and scored nine touchdowns. In addition, he added two punt returns for scores with a long of 87 yards, plus three kickoff touchdowns with his longest being 99 yards.
During his high school football career, he was voted Player of the Game nine times and was named All-City and All-County as a senior. Yet, Johnson struggled to get noticed.
As...
