Cleveland Browns Depth Chart
- AFC North
- Stadium
- Cleveland Browns Stadium
- Head Coach
- Kevin Stefanski
- Offensive Coordinator
- Alex Van Pelt
- Defensive Coordinator
- Jim Schwartz
- Special Teams Coach
- Bubba Ventrone
- Defensive Scheme
- 4-3
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper (abdomen) took part in 11-on-11 drills in Tuesday's OTAs. Cooper had core muscle surgery in February after playing through the issue for part of the 2022 season. His ability to participate fully on Tuesday is a good sign as he should be able to open training camp. Cooper is primed for a solid year as Cleveland's WR1 heading into 2023.
A potential reunion between Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson and free-agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who was released by the Arizona Cardinals last week, is now regarded as a strong possibility, according to league sources. Meanwhile, a return to the Houston Texans, the team Hopkins began his career with, is not expected. In addition to the Browns, the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills were tied to Hopkins when he was still with the Cardinals, but it remains to be seen if the money will be right for them to sign the Pro Bowl wideout. Although the 30-year-old is no longer at his peak, he'd still easily be a top-25 fantasy receiver if he were to join the Browns, and Watson would also become more attractive as a low-end QB1 target.
It's unknown whether the Cleveland Browns will make an attempt to sign free-agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and reunite him with quarterback Deshaun Watson, but Watson has shopped the Browns to Hopkins as a potential landing spot. Watson said, "of course we would love to have him," but that those decisions are made "out of my range." The addition of Hopkins in Cleveland would definitely make Watson a more intriguing low-end QB1 in fantasy, but it would also be bad news for wideouts Amari Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Elijah Moore. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported on Thursday that Hopkins is open-minded about teams league-wide, and he's prepared to be patient. Minicamp could be considered a soft deadline for the 30-year-old to pick a new team, while training camp would be more of a hard deadline.
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jakeem Grant Sr. (Achilles) was a limited participant in organized team activities on Wednesday after spending the first week of OTAs exclusively with trainers. Grant worked on a side field mostly catching kicks on Wednesday, and his path to returning from a torn Achilles and trying to make the final roster will be via the return game on special teams. The 30-year-old didn't play at all in 2022 because of his injury. He's never really been a threat as a pass-catcher in seven NFL seasons, with his career year coming in 2020 with the Miami Dolphins, when he caught 36 passes for 373 yards and one touchdown in 14 games (four starts). Grant will be well off the fantasy radar come draft season this fall.
It's clear from organized team activities that the Cleveland Browns are intent on feeding new wide receiver Elijah Moore this year. He was frequently targeted by quarterback Deshaun Watson during practice on Wednesday, mostly on quick passes. Moore has been lining up in different spots and going in motion a lot. It's still unclear on how exactly his role will shake out, but it's clear the Browns want to get him the ball on short passes to let him create with the ball in his hands in space. "(Moore) has great flexibility; inside and outside flexibility," offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said. The 23-year-old impressed as a rookie with the Jets in 2021, but he fell out of favor last year and was traded to Cleveland, where he has a nice chance to bounce back. Moore is quickly becoming a trendy sleeper target in fantasy drafts this year, especially in PPR leagues.
