The Cleveland Browns fell to the New Orleans Saints but that wasn’t all that fell this weekend.
The Cleveland Browns gave the New Orleans a fight on Sunday but it wasn’t enough as the Saints defeated the Browns 17-10 in one of the ugliest games of the season. Why the NFL didn’t move the game with the temperature being as low as it was will baffle me for years to come. The weather was a reason the team struggled, but not the only reason.
The Browns’ usual cast of suspects struggled in the bad weather, just as they did in the warmer weather, so I’m not going to accept that as an excuse, nor should anyone else. Now, before we get to the list, let’s do the preamble. I don’t think the offense played well.
At all. So the names with the rising stocks on offense are there merely because I need someone, anyone, to fill out that portion of the list. So these players played marginally better than they usually do or didn’t play as badly as others.
Now, because I get this every week, not every player is eligible for this list. Some players are who we judge everyone by. Those names usually include Joel Bitonio, Nick Chubb, and Myles Garrett. This week, I’m adding Amari Cooper to that list. Cooper isn’t worth his $20 million per year contract, and I’ve been saying that since he got here.
Do you know what else I’ve been saying? He’s the best receiver the Browns have had in years. Cooper isn’t an elite playmaker anymore, but he’s still a very good, and reliable target. He’s a faster Jarvis Landry.
So those are your top-tier guys. One name also not on the list yet, is the embattled and disgraced Deshaun Watson. He’s been bad. He’s been horrid. We’re out of excuses, folks. He’s been practicing with this team since March, he’s been studying the playbook for just as long, and he’s had all the time in the world to prepare for his debut. He was out of the building for a total of six weeks. That’s it. He stopped practicing with the team end of August and was allowed back on Oct. 10.
Look what Baker Mayfield has done in three weeks in Los Angeles, Watson has no excuses. He’s been bad. But, I’m also giving him a break as I want to see what he looks like in decent weather, with weeks of work, just so there’s no debate on who he is as a player. At least for the rest of this season.
Rising Stocks – Offense
Kareem Hunt
Kareem Hunt was never “that guy” that fans made him out to be. He lived off of his legacy from Kansas City throughout his entire run in Cleveland but over the last two or three seasons, fans have noticed that he’s just not that good. Whenever Nick Chubb would be removed from the lineup on a short-yardage play, and given to Hunt, fans on social media always wondered why; especially since it appeared as though Hunt would fail to convert more often than not. Now, the cat’s out of the bag, and Hunt is on the chopping block. That said, he played better this week than he has for most of the year, so he’s on the list.
Harrison Bryant
We all had such hopes for Harrison Bryant. The award winner for the best collegiate tight end has not been given much to do with the Browns, and it’s unclear if he even has the talent to be more than a backup. Still, PFF gave Bryant his third-best run-blocking grade of the year on Sunday and that counts for something. Especially when we’re struggling to find productive offensive players from Sunday not named Nick Chubb or Amari Cooper.
Pharaoh Brown
2022 should be the last season the Cleveland Browns hire Pharaoh Brown to do anything other than as a coaching assistant. Even though he only had nine plays, he did what he was signed to do, block and block well. It’s a little surprising he didn’t play more considering how much running the Browns…oh wait, that’s right, in near-sub-zero temperatures, Kevin Stefanski threw the ball 31 times. I almost forgot who I was covering for a second.
Rising Stocks – Defense
Reggie Ragland
I don’t think Reggie Ragland is going to rack up 10 more tackles next week, in fact, he may not rack up 10 more tackles the rest of the season, but Ragland had a huge game for the Browns and he did more than his fair share to help put the Browns in a position to win. The Browns’ defense has been scorched on the ground by far worse teams than the Saints, so to hold them to only 17 points is a quiet victory, and Ragland led the way.
Chase Winovich
Sadly, Chase Winovich has only played six games, two of which are not really anything meaningful. For those four other games, he’s been fine. He played 32 snaps on Sunday and played very well against the run. Now, everyone knew the Saints were going to run it, so the play recognition was pretty easy, but still, it was good to see him play so well.
Martin Emerson
Martin Emerson has proven that he’s not ready to be a starter in this league, at least just yet, but there are flashes of what he could be if he puts it all together. He’s a solid guy for coverage assignments but against the run, he’s not been good. He catches guys too much, but on Saturday, he did more than just catch guys. He not only stood up a few guys on impact but he had his best tackling game in some time.
Taven Bryan
Taven Bryan has made himself very expendable, but on Saturday he looked downright tolerable. PFF had him in the Top 8 of players on defense and considering how well the Browns played against the Saints squad that ran the ball 39 times, it was good to see Bryan actually refuse to get moved a lot of times.
Denzel Ward
Denzel Ward was so not worth that contract he got but man, every so often, he looks like he should be. Ward stepped up big against the run on Saturday, having his second-best game against the run according to PFF.
Falling Stocks – Offense
David Njoku
David Njoku was a bad re-signing. He may be in the Top 10 in a bunch of tight-end stats but that’s more an indictment of the lack of good tight ends in the league than it is a testament to how good he is. Now, I want to give Njoku a pass for dropping passes due to the cold weather, I really do, but he drops them in warm weather too. He’s wildly inconsistent and we’re not letting him off the hook. Not at his salary.
Ethan Pocic
Ethan Pocic has been a nice run blocker for the team all year, but his pass blocking has nearly gotten Jacoby Brissett killed on more than a few dozen occasions. Yet, on Saturday, it was the inverse. He kept his assignments in front of him and rarely missed any blitzes, a big issue of his. But when it came to running the ball, Pocic looked awful. He got driven backward, couldn’t get any holes opened up, and at times looked lost. On more than one play, Pocic ran down the center of the field without making contact with anyone from the Saints. All while Chubb was 15 yards behind him getting stopped.
Wyatt Teller
The sheen is off Wyatt Teller. He’s strong as a bull, quick as a rabbit, and may be the Shaquille O’Neal off offensive guards; A bit guy with no real talent. See it’s easy to out-muscle someone. Teller does that a lot. But to have the nimbleness to shift down the line to pick up blitzes and be keen enough to see that in defenses? That’s not Teller’s forte. Like with Pocic, which flipped this week. Partly due to the fact no one can get any traction due to the frozen field (completely, actually). Teller has fallen off this season, so much so there’s a Wile E. Coyote-sized hole where he landed. Teller’s always been bad at pass blocking, hence why he was always among the team leaders in penalties, he overcompensated due to his slow lateral movement, but now that he’s not run blocking as well as he used to, that’s concerning. That was the whole reason he got that massive contract.
David Bell
I’m still waiting for David Bell to break out. It’s been an entire season and the only thing we’ve seen him do more than miss passes thrown his way is get excuses for why he’s been so bad. We’re at that point of the season where we’re done accepting excuses. Bell has had a bad year.
Jack Conklin
For the year, Jack Conklin has not played well. He doesn’t have the same dominating strength he’s had the last few years, that’s largely due to the injury he suffered last year. Yet, he’s the anti-Wyatt Teller. Conklin has all the skill in the world, just look at his pass-blocking grades. He’s near-elite. Even though he couldn’t move the Saints off the line of scrimmage on Saturday, Conklin got his new deal because of his ability to block against the pass rush. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him slide over to left tackle next season.
Falling Stocks – Defense
Greg Newsome
Greg Newsome isn’t going to be a Pro Bowler or an All-Pro corner but that’s ok, as he’s largely consistent, especially against the pass. Yet, he’s a nightmare against the run. I don’t mean that he makes other teams shake, I mean he’s awful. He’s a good tackler when it’s a receiver but the minute he sees someone over 210, he’s better off just jumping out of the way.
Perrion Winfrey
I think Martin Emerson and David Bell are going to be ok, regardless of their stats and PFF scores this year. I think Perrion Winfrey is a bust. This is sad, because like Tommy Togiai, I really liked the draft pick. Yet, Winfrey has made next to no noticeable impact on the team this year, other than being a pain in the butt for everyone who has to deal with him. Winfrey may be a candidate to get cut this offseason based on his attitude issues alone, and his play isn’t doing him any favors.
Deion Jones
The Cleveland Browns would be better off letting the Cleveland Guardians sign Deion Jones, as all he does is catch. Well, in this case, it’s catching runners, in the latter’s case it’d be catching pitches. But the linebacker has proven why the Atlanta Falcons were done with him. He doesn’t do a good job filling gaps and sniffing out tackles. You can argue that no linebacker can, because of how bad the defensive tackles have been all year, yet Anthony Walker, Sione Takitaki, and Reggie Ragland have all proven that’s possible. It’s just not if you’re Jones.
Tommy Togiai
I thought he had all the potential in the world, but man, he has just been bad. So bad he only played one snap. One snap on a defensive line that includes Jordan Elliot. Talk about a dude whose career is dead.
Alex Wright
Alex Wright has had a rough year, and he hasn’t shown to have the quickness needed to play in the pros for very long. He’s had momentary glimpses but at such a rare rate that it’s fairer to say he took advantage of a broken play and not so much broke a quality play-up. Wright may be on his way out.