Kevin Stefanski believes Browns have big opportunity with offense

On Mar 27, 2023

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski yells instructions during the first half against the Bengals in Cleveland, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022.

PHOENIX — Kevin Stefanski is, at his core, an offensive football coach.

So no one should understand the importance offense plays in winning football games more than the Browns’ head coach. Not just winning games, either, but in putting teams in position to go to the Super Bowl.

Even Stefanski, though, admits pinning down the exact per-game average a team will need is a challenge.

“We just we’re talking about as a league, how close these games are,” Stefanski said Monday morning at the NFL’s annual meetings at the Arizona Biltmore resort. “The margin of victory I think was the closest it’s been in a long, long time. So I don’t know what the number is. You’ve heard 24 (point per game) kind of thrown around in that vein — 24, 25, 26. But obviously it’s whatever it takes in that given week.

“But I do think the way the rules are written, the way some of these offenses are, I do think it’s probably fair to say you’re in that 24-plus range.”

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Stefanski’s biggest concern right now isn’t knowing what the number is exactly. It’s just having an offense that’s capable of putting up the number consistently, regardless of what that number may be.

A year ago, the Browns were just shy of that number through 11 games, scoring 23.9 points a game. Those games were started by Jacoby Brissett, ostensibly the backup who was starting because of Deshaun Watson’s league-imposed suspension.

When Watson returned, the Browns offense took a dip, averaging 16.3 points, 298 total yards and 166 passing yards over the final six games. Some of that could be chalked up to Watson’s rust, having not played a regular-season game in 700 days and seeing live NFL defenses for the first time.

“I do think with time away, there are certain things that are a challenge to replicate, and certainly pass rush is hard to replicate in a practice,” Stefanski said. “You do your best, but you don’t want to hit the quarterback either. So I do think that’s something that he’ll get and has gotten more comfortable with with his games last season. I think we’ll be more comfortable going forward, yes.”

That’s some of it, but not all of it. What the Browns also lacked was enough playmakers around Watson.

They had Nick Chubb, obviously, to run the ball. They also had an established receiver in Amari Cooper, along with Donovan Peoples-Jones and David Njoku having breakthrough kinds of seasons.

That was about it, though. So the last two weeks the Browns front office, led by general manager Andrew Berry, tried to change that fact.

They added a young but talented receiver when they traded for Elijah Moore, then added a veteran speed receiver in Marquise Goodwin. They gave Watson a familiar target from his Houston days in tight end Jordan Akins.

That’s coupled with an offensive line in which the Browns have invested heavily, including a new three-year deal for center Ethan Pocic this month. That kind of investment across the offense removes many of the possible excuses for what could potentially hold them back in the fall, whether or not Stefanski wants to admit it or not.

“I think our focus, as you can imagine, every week, every year, every day you walk in, is to put our players in the position to succeed,” Stefanski said. “Excited about the offseason, excited about Deshaun obviously getting some work in now with some of our guys and then he’ll be back up in April to start that program. But I think overall we’re just excited about the opportunity we have.”