Browns: 5 best offensive players halfway through the season
By Chad Porto
#3 – TE Harrison Bryant
Andrew Berry’s first draft is still up in the air, but even if this is the best he’ll ever be, Berry found a gem in Harrison Bryant. The athletic tight end has done some impressive things so far in his rookie year and has become a favorite target of Baker Mayfield over the last few weeks before the bye week, mostly due to Austin Hooper getting hurt.
He’s second on the team in tight ends with yards (151) and tied for third on the team with receiving touchdowns at three (Kareem Hunt has four). He’s becoming more and more of a weapon for Mayfield and his size makes him too big for corners to cover and his speed makes him too fast for linebackers to cover. Consistency in his route running and releasing off the line better will come, hopefully, and if it does, he’ll be someone who won’t only push for more time but may cause the entire team to be shaken up in order to get him more opportunities.
That said, he’s still a project and there’s still plenty of work to be done. Lining him up in the slot would be a good move going forward as well.
Before you say it, yes, he’s very high, maybe too high. That said, the only other three players to even consider, Austin Hooper, Kareem Hunt, and Nick Chubb have either been ineffective (Hunt), not making big plays (Hooper), or hurt (Chubb). This is what this team looks like when guys are hurt. I don’t personally see Bryant closing out the year as a “top five guy” but he might. Anything can happen.