Life as a Browns fan has been bleak. The future might not be.
Inside: Early insights from OTAs and a reader question on running quarterbacks. Matthew Stafford also got a mammoth, two-year extension. Let’s go.
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Browns trending … up?
Cleveland’s football team got a new coach this offseason, former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, so they were one of several teams to get an early start to offseason practices.
Organized team activities, or OTAs for short, are voluntary offseason practices that teams hold every spring. No contact, just drills, walkthroughs and 7-on-7s.
It’s the time of year when every player is in the best shape of their lives. It’s when quarterbacks like Bryce Young are looking “really good” in their coach’s “evolved” scheme. It’s also our first look at rookies.
(Reminder: The Browns had the league’s best draft class, per our Dane Brugler.)
Our Zac Jackson was in the building for Cleveland’s OTAs, sharing what he saw in his Browns rookie report.
That report begins with a highlight. Rookie receiver Denzel Boston, a second-round pick this April, beats cornerback Tyson Campbell for a 50-yard touchdown. (Boston stands nearly 6-foot-4, by the way.)
“(Boston) makes that catch against one of the most talented guys in the league,” said Monken. “That’s what you want to see. You want to see your guys, especially some of your younger draft picks, make those plays.”
Here it is:
Boston joins first rounders KC Concepcion and Spencer Fano among the rookies who can immediately improve the offense. Here’s what Zac wrote about each:
Receivers: Boston and Concepcion. “Concepcion is fast. The heavy motion usage we’ve seen during the early installs indicates that he’ll move around the formation and hunt favorable matchups. Boston’s big catch made a nice impression, but the coaching staff will look for consistency and growth.”
Left tackle: Fano. “It’s only a matter of time before Fano, the No. 9 pick last month, is the starting left tackle … (a position) Fano hasn’t played since his freshman season at Utah in 2023. Presumably, his training-camp education will include plenty of reps against Myles Garrett.”
More in Zac’s full story here. As for the quarterback situation, you might’ve caught something in Boston’s touchdown grab. Who the quarterback was. Scroll back up.
Yup, that’s Cleveland’s $230 million-man, Deshaun Watson, now competing with fifth-round second-year Shedeur Sanders for the starting spot. Watson is still under contract for one season and, per Zac, “is getting every chance to win the starting job and is the leader right now.”
I asked a lifelong Browns fan how he’d feel about Watson winning the starting role. “Numb.” Life as a Browns fan, I guess, unless these rookies spark a turnaround.
Five more OTA takeaways next, after a quick question from a fellow reader.
How to: Protect your quarterback
Thursday’s newsletter referenced scheme changes in Baltimore and Washington that should better protect their franchise quarterbacks. One reader, David, asked a great question:
💬 Why does Ted Nguyen reference being under center as a way to protect mobile quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson from injury? Being in the shotgun gives them more time to read blitzes, routes and avoid pressure. Am I wrong?
I texted Ted and got his answer:
“Playing in the gun means your quarterback will be involved in the run game. So you’re calling more zone read, bash reads, concepts where your quarterback is a runner.
“Playing under center, you’re handing the ball off and then you’re running play action off of it where you’re getting guys open with the run fake. There’s less indecision.
“And when you’re running play action, you’re probably less likely to run than you are to pass, at least compared to shotgun fakes, since guys are more likely to be open downfield.”
The article we’re referencing covers offensive playcalling changes for 13 teams. Back to OTAs.
📈 OTA Reports 📉
OTAs start early for teams with new coaches, a list that also includes:
Giants
They got bad news. An already thin defensive line lost starter Roy Robertson-Harris to an Achilles tear during Thursday’s OTA practice. With Dexter Lawrence traded and now Robertson-Harris injured, Big Blue is without the two defensive linemen who played the most snaps for them last season. Yes, start fantasy running backs against them. Coach John Harbaugh’s update on Malik Nabers isn’t great, either.
Another note: The Giants are playing No. 5 pick and potential edge rusher Arvell Reese at the starting inside linebacker spot, while Brian Burns and Abdul Carter get almost every edge rep with the first-team defense and Kayvon Thibodeaux works with the backups. Is Thibodeaux now a trade candidate?
Raiders
Klint Kubiak is impressing in Las Vegas. The spotlight hasn’t altered the first-time head coach, according to Raiders players. Their quotes in Sam Warren’s story remind me of the early impressions of Ben Johnson in Chicago (which is obviously great news for Raiders Nation).
“It’s all ball with him,” said cornerback Eric Stokes. “And that’s what I love. He steps up, but he isn’t taking no little giggles, no nothing. We about business.” The business they’re in? The Ashton Jeanty business.
Steelers
Pittsburgh welcomed back Aaron Rodgers. The quarterback was in attendance for the first day of new coach Mike McCarthy’s voluntary practices, as he’ll need time to jell with a set of receivers that (outside of DK Metcalf) have caught just 16 passes from Rodgers. As for Pittsburgh’s QB2? That’s a competition with both long and short-term consequences.
Falcons
They sure have experience. “Atlanta has five coaches who have called plays at the NFL level — Kevin Stefanski, Tommy Rees, quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand and offensive line coach Bill Callahan,” Josh Kendall writes in his Falcons OTA takeaways.
The legendary Callahan, also Atlanta’s run game coordinator, has a new-look approach to using Bijan Robinson. “I love the plan that he has,” said Robinson. 👀
Ravens
Baltimore’s got a new approach. Jesse Minter is a 43-year-old first-time head coach, tasked with improving upon the John Harbaugh regime that saw the Ravens reach the postseason in 12 of Harbaugh’s 18 seasons.
Minter’s first task: Getting Baltimore at its best late in games. He took a novel approach to accomplishing that with a competition involving two oversized medicine balls. Jeff Zrebiec explains it all here. Brilliant.
What might be the biggest news of the spring period didn’t come on a practice field. Matthew Stafford and the Rams agreed to an extension that keeps him in L.A. through 2027. The numbers are not yet official, but we’ve got the other details here.
Extra Points
👀 Revisiting old takes. Revisiting the past can be an uncomfortable but informative exercise. Dane Brugler examining his preseason top 50 for the 2026 draft class is the latter. And maybe the former, at least for Dane.
📓 Ambassador Burrow. The Bengals quarterback appears all-in on growing the NFL, and our Paul Dehner Jr. explains why. You might be surprised.
🏊 Get in the pool. 49ers star linebacker Fred Warner wanted to accelerate his rehab, so he turned to the pool. We’ve got a video of him swimming, and the story behind why.
▶️ Thursday’s most-clicked: Travis Hunter led our list of highly drafted sophomores who underwhelmed as rookies.
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