by Pro Football Focus came out with the rankings of all 32 offensive lines in the NFL and the Cleveland Browns were ranked 20th for the upcoming season. During the slower parts of the offseason, this can certainly become a topic of debate as training camp comes to a start towards the end of the month.
In ranking Cleveland in the bottom half of the league, PFF had this to say about the Browns:
“Cleveland’s interior offensive line was the major reason why the line was widely touted as one of the league’s best in 2018, but the front now looks much different after shipping Kevin Zeitler to New York in exchange for Odell Beckham and Olivier Vernon. Second-year guard Austin Corbett, who has logged just 14 NFL snaps, will step in alongside right tackle Chris Hubbard. The Browns’ offense is now lightyears better following an exciting offseason, but it will be intriguing to see how the offensive line fares given their losses.”
To put the Browns ranking into perspective, teams like the Bills, Giants and Chiefs were the next three teams in front of them while the Jaguars, Falcons and Seahawks were the next three teams behind the Browns in rank.
The loss of Kevin Zeitler was very costly but is his contract all that worth it in the long run? Can second-year guard Austin Corbett take the next step in his career after playing just 14 snaps as a rookie? Is he ready to take on a starting role in protecting signal-caller Baker Mayfield?
Four players on the starting offensive line played in 100 percent of the offensive plays last year for the Browns: Joel Bitonio, J. C. Tretter, Kevin Zeitler and Chris Hubbard.
It was certainly a tale of two halves for the Browns offensive line last season. For the year, they allowed a total of 38 sacks, 33 of them came in the first eight games of the season with Hue Jackson in charge.
During weeks 1-8, the offensive line allowed two or more sacks in every game. From weeks 9-17, just once did Baker Mayfield get sacked twice in a game. What a drastic change and a monumental upgrade Kitchens and Williams were to Jackson and Haley along with Greg Robinson playing over Desmond Harrison from week nine on.
Despite the low rank, Baker Mayfield’s protection in the pocket will be surrounded by a group of guys up front that are reliable, skilled and durability. It’s going to be a fun time watching the Browns play, but make no mistake, the guys up front deserve a lot more credit than they deserve and this ranking from PFF should not get any Browns fans feeling worried about the protection of Baker Mayfield this season and beyond.
