Last year was as season of progress for the Cleveland Browns, but they still need to address a few areas to take the next step in 2019.
When the 2018 regular season kicked off, Hue Jackson was the head coach, Todd Haley was the offensive coordinator, Gregg Williams was the defensive coordinator and Tyrod Taylor was the starting quarterback.
When the season wrapped up with a Week 17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Haley was long gone, Jackson was since fired and on the Cincinnati Bengals staff, and Baker Mayfield was the starting signal-caller.
With that much coaching and personnel turnover, you’d think the Browns had another challenging season. Instead, the Browns went 7-8-1 and showed true promise for the future.
Mayfield was great with then interim offensive coordinator, and now head coach, Freddie Kitchens, Nick Chubb took the lead-back role in stride and Myles Garrett had a breakout year. There were more bright spots not mentioned, but those were the three that really stood out.
As is the case with many young teams, the Browns had an up and down year. Offensively, Cleveland is only a couple pieces away. They had weeks where they looked unstoppable and other weeks they struggled to move the ball.
Defensively, the team scuffled. This side of the ball needs the most attention, which is the area the Browns should focus primarily on this offseason.
Now, the Browns look to build off last season. They are in primed position to fill many of their needs with at least one draft pick in all seven rounds and the third-most available cap space in the NFL.