Browns: 5 best offensive players of the regular season

4. Jarvis Landry

There was a lot of doubt about how good Jarvis Landry would be in 2020 after having major hip surgery. It was an injury that threatened to alter his career course. When he did return he was still clearly recovering, and didn’t play all that well for the first few weeks. His yards-per-catch was down three full yards from the previous season, and he didn’t catch a touchdown until Week 12. All that said, Landry did have a good year, even if most of his outings were him grinding for each yard.

He wasn’t as targetted in years past. He’s been averaging 142 passes thrown his way over the last six years, in year seven he only had 101 opportunities, far less than years past. He usually caught 56% of the passes thrown his way, this year, he caught 71%. Showing that while Baker Mayfield didn’t throw to him a lot this year, that when he did he made sure to find the best opportunities for Landry to make a play.

It’s also no surprise that Landry found his swagger later in the year. His hip had mostly healed by that point and his best friend Odell Beckham Jr. was no longer throwing off the offense by allegedly demanding the ball be forced to him.

The team also focused heavier on the rushing game than at any other time in his career, so there were fewer opportunities, which makes his rate of success so impressive. His tenacity as a receiver and as a blocker really helped drive home the point that he was a team-first guy.