Who Will Win Cleveland Browns' Wide Receiver Battle?

Like every NFL team, the Cleveland Browns have decisions to make this summer. The roster, let alone the depth chart, has yet to work itself out at a number of positions. Though the spotlight will be on the quarterback position, where Josh McCown is penciled in as a starter but Johnny Manziel could prove a threat, the men catching the passes are equally as important to the Browns' offense.

With that said, that level of importance is relative. Until the Browns identify their quarterback, the receivers will be in a state of flux. And further still, Cleveland will likely attempt a redo on their 2014 season and try to be a run-heavy, defense-first type of team. This won't be a team featuring four-receiver sets drive after drive, because that's not how they are being built, for better or worse.

This means that the receivers pegged to play the biggest roles for the Browns this year will need to truly prove themselves worthy of their snaps. Andrew Hawkins, Dwayne Bowe, Brian Hartline, Travis Benjamin, Taylor Gabriel, rookie Vince Mayle and tight end Rob Housler aren't each getting 100 targets this season. In fact, based on last year, they will be lucky to get 40 each. 

Player	Tgts.	Rec.	Rec.%	Yds.	YPC	TD	YAC
Hawkins	113	63	55.8%	824	13.1	2	364
Gabriel	71	36	50.7%	621	17.3	1	238
Bowe	96	60	62.5%	754	12.6	0	237
Hartline	63	39	61.9%	474	12.2	2	139
Benjamin	46	18	39.1%	314	17.4	3	50

The key for the Browns will be yards after the catch. Whether it's Manziel or McCown behind center, this isn't going to be an offense built on deep passing. Those deep passes will be there—Gabriel averaged 17.3 yards per reception last year and Bowe has long been known as a magnet for the deep ball—but they will be mere accessories to the meat of Cleveland's offense. For that reason, Hawkins has an edge.

Hawkins was the Browns' leading receiver in 2014, catching 63 passes on 113 targets for 824 yards and two scores. He averaged 13.1 yards per catch, but most importantly, he had 364 yards after the catch, leading the team. As a result, he accounted for 44 first downs last year, more than any other Browns' rusher or receiver. 

The question is where Hawkins will play this year, given the additions of Bowe and Hartline and Gabriel's impressive rookie year. With the Cincinnati Bengals, Hawkins was a marginal slot receiver. The slot receiver job should prove to be less of a marginal position for the Browns this year, but will putting Hawkins back into the slot maximize his potential or limit his impact?

It would certainly provide the Browns with a mismatch against slower coverage linebackers and safeties who like to hit but not necessarily tackle. Hawkins is fast and small, making him shifty and slippery. It's how he got all those yards after the catch last year. More likely than not, the Browns will take note of his versatility and line him up both inside and outside this year, depending on the situation.

But who joins him? Bowe and Gabriel seem the most likely to be on the field most often, with Hartline playing more of a reserve role. Hartline has the capacity to be a high-volume receiver. He did, after all, get targeted north of 120 times in both the 2012 and 2013 seasons—and he can be a deep threat. But one of these Cleveland veteran receivers will have to be left out of the party.

At least Hartline is likely to have a job with the Browns when the season begins. The same cannot be said for Benjamin, who caught just 18 passes on 46 targets in 2014. And his speed, which makes him an ideal kick and punt returner, cannot save him as either a receiver or a special teamer.

The Browns have a great number of players capable of returning kicks and punts, from Marlon Moore to Shaun Draughn to rookie Duke Johnson to Gabriel. Benjamin lacks reliable hands and doesn't give the Browns anything they wouldn't have—or would miss—without him. 

Gabriel is the wild card among all of these receivers. Clearly, the Browns have a plan for him. He was the team's second-leading receiver last year despite being an undrafted rookie, totaling 621 yards on 36 catches and only two wideouts in the league had higher yards-per-catch numbers for 2014 (among those who had 1.875 receptions per game, per ESPN's criteria).

Still, Gabriel caught just 50.7 percent of the passes thrown his way last year. He's working hard this offseason to become not just better but dominant.

He told the Browns' official website about his lofty goals in February: "I look at how Antonio Brown and Steve Smith can take over a game. I love that. I know that I have that same ability where I can do that throughout a full 16-game season. I'm just ready to show it."

But if Gabriel cannot polish that rawness satisfactorily enough, he will have to cede snaps to more experienced players like Bowe. Because of that, Mayle is unlikely to be an impact player for the Browns in his rookie season. Should he even stick with the team, expect his year to be spent on the practice squad unless he manages to adapt to the NFL at a rapid pace this summer.

A number of things can and will change for the Browns between now and the start of the season, so it's hard to say with any certainty exactly what the Browns' receiver depth chart will look like. However, Hawkins can be expected to reprise his starting role, albeit with more assignment versatility.

What gets murkier is figuring out when and how Bowe, Hartline and Gabriel will be used. Gabriel is a promising, homegrown talent, Bowe and Hartline have the more tenuous grips on starting and one of the two could even be released before Week 1. For now, though, it's fair to expect that Hawkins and Gabriel will be joined by one or both of Bowe and Hartline as the Browns' main wide receivers.