Dawgs By Nature
After a long wait, the Cleveland Browns return to the gridiron. Unofficially, that is. The NFL preseason starts on Thursday, but the Browns will play against the Carolina Panthers on Friday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. The team is currently in Carolina for joint practices for today and tomorrow, but it doesn’t stop the team from getting in extra work and also getting a chance to hit someone with an opposite jersey color.
All eyes will be for sure on Shedeur Sanders, but he’s not the only part of importance. Here are the 3 things to watch for in the preseason opener.
If you are new to preseason football, allow me to tell you what to expect (outside of the actual game). If you are expecting the Browns and the Panthers to show off exotic new formations and creative looks, it’s not happening. It’s the preseason. Teams rarely show off what they installed during the offseason in a game that doesn’t count.
The offense will likely have its entire playbook cut in half to basic formations and simple concepts. The same goes for the defense. No exotic blitzes, no sim pressures, just your basic coverages. Despite the basic approach, the coaches will emphasize attention to detail and knowing where you need to be.
It’s all about doing the little stuff right, but at the same time giving max effort to prove you belong on the 53-man roster.
With the hamstring injuries to Kenny Pickett and rookie Dillon Gabriel, rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders will get the nod as QB1 for the first preseason game. Sanders has been working his way to try to move up the depth chart. Due to injuries, he will get his opportunity.
Sanders has handled this QB competition about as well as anyone would’ve predicted. It’s clear that he has put in the work and is doing what the team is asking him to do. Sanders won’t have the main starters out there with him, but he has gotten extensive work with the 2’s and 3’s throughout the majority of training camp. Will he take advantage of the opportunity that was given to him? We will find out Friday night.
The Browns drafted rookie running backs Dylan Sampson and Quinshon Judkins in this past draft. Reason? The return to the Kevin Stefanski offense, with emphasis on the running game (mainly wide zone running scheme) and creating a new running back tandem similar to Nick Chubb/Kareem Hunt.
With Judkins dealing with his legal charge (he also hasn’t signed his contract), the Browns running game hasn’t materialized throughout training camp. Sampson has been thrust into a bigger role until Judkins has his legal issues sorted out, but the rest of the running back room doesn’t have a ton of encouraging options.
The room lacks depth and quality, minus Judkins, with Jerome Ford the likely starter. Pierre Strong Jr, Ahmani Marshall...
