Identifying Cleveland Browns' Biggest Strengths, Weaknesses After Draft

The Cleveland Browns made 12 picks in the 2015 NFL draft, addressing needs both on offense and defense and snagging players who will boost depth throughout the roster.

Some areas got stronger while other areas remain relative weaknesses for the team. What did they take care of and what is yet to be addressed? Let's take a look. 

Strength: The Run Defense

Bringing on nose tackle Danny Shelton in Round 1 and fellow defensive lineman Xavier Cooper in Round 3 should do a lot to improve a Browns run defense that ranked last in the league in rushing yardage allowed per game last season, at 141.6 yards.

Shelton and Cooper won't be every-down players in head coach Mike Pettine and coordinator Jim O'Neil's rotational defensive line. But situationally mixed in with the likes of Phil Taylor, John Hughes, Billy Winn, Randy Starks, Desmond Bryant and Armonty Bryant, the Browns should be able to field a combination of defenders better suited to stopping the run than they have in years past.

Cleveland clearly noted its struggles against the run last year and moved to improve with their first pick in this year's draft. While the Browns won't immediately become the NFL's top run-stopping defense, they should be able to field a defense that is vastly improved in that area this year.

Weakness: The Wide Receiver Position

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Unlike in 2014, the Cleveland Browns did draft a wide receiver, taking Washington State's Vince Mayle in Round 4. They also brought on running back Duke Johnson in Round 3, who caught 65 passes in college for 642 yards and four touchdowns.

But Mayle is a project and Johnson, while dynamic, isn't the same thing as a young 6'2" wideout. The Browns weren't able to get one of the draft's better receivers, opting instead to address other needs. Though the Browns don't deserve criticism for their decision, wide receiver remains an area of weakness for the team.

The Browns do have a considerable amount of veteran talent in their receiving corps, which features players such as Dwayne Bowe, Brian Hartline and Andrew Hawkins. But the Browns would be well-served to have a cadre of younger receivers—beyond Mayle and Taylor Gabriel—to develop into future starters.

For the short term, the Browns may be in decent shape at the receiver position. But the receiving corps is not quite built for the long term yet.

Strength: The Secondary

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The Browns made a few key additions to their secondary via the draft, taking safety Ibraheim Campbell in Round 4, cornerback Charles Gaines in Round 6 and cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Omolu in Round 7. But that's not the only reason why the Browns secondary will be a strength in 2015.

It's also because their secondary was a strength last season and looks to be as good or better this year, even if the trio of rookies do nothing more than contribute on special teams. Last season, the Browns defense ranked 11th in passing yards per game allowed, even though only five teams were thrown against more.

Most importantly, the Browns defense was tops in the league in opponent completion percentage, at 57.07 percent.

All of that was thanks to cornerbacks Joe Haden, Buster Skrine, Justin Gilbert and Pierre Desir along with safeties Tashaun Gipson and Donte Whitner. Skrine is gone, and he certainly exceeded expectations after being moved outside, having played slot corner for most of his career, but he also accounted for 17 penalties.

For the most part, the Browns secondary will be unchanged in 2015. And if it matches the performance from a season ago, it should be one of the better pass-defense units in the league.

Weakness: The Pass Rush

The Browns did important work to improve a pass rush that totaled just 31 sacks last year by drafting Utah outside linebacker Nate Orchard. Orchard had 22 sacks in two years at Utah and his 18.5 in 2014 were second in the NCAA.

But one pass-rusher can only do so much. While the addition of nose tackle Danny Shelton should allow the Browns defensive line to better occupy opposing offensive linemen, opening lanes for would-be Cleveland pass-rushers, until that actually happens on the field, it is only a hypothetical situation.

Head coach Mike Pettine and defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil are all about building up stout and aggressive defensive front sevens, and it's something they will likely focus on heavily this year, given that the secondary is mostly in place and highly effective. 

But as it stands right now, the Browns have not done as much work as hoped to improve their ability to rush the passer.

Strength: The Offensive Line

The Browns already had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, though that designation was certainly marred by the broken leg suffered by center Alex Mack halfway through the 2014 season. Their only weaknesses seemed to be the backup center position and right tackle, where Mitchell Schwartz has performed well, but not as well as the linemen around him.

Cleveland made another key addition to its line in the 2015 NFL draft, taking versatile lineman Cameron Erving with their second of two first-round picks. Erving will likely be inserted somewhere on the right side of the line this year and could make the move to center in 2016, should Mack exercise the opt-out clause in his current contract.

The best thing about Erving is that he can step in at left tackle if Joe Thomas gets hurt, as well as play guard or right tackle along with center. With the Browns likely to take a run-heavy approach to their offense yet again, having an intact offensive line that features highly talented players like Erving will help their efforts immensely. 

Weakness: Quarterback

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We're months away from the Browns finally determining who their starting quarterback for Week 1 of the 2015 NFL season will be. But the current vacancy at the job is not the only reason why it's a weakness at present, and the fact that the Browns didn't draft a quarterback isn't part of the problem either.

Instead, the problem is with the four quarterbacks currently on the Browns' roster and how well any of them project to be high-impact players for the team or for the NFL this year.

Johnny Manziel and Connor Shaw are both entering their second NFL seasons, and neither had significant on-field experience as rookies.

Josh McCown had one solid year serving as the Chicago Bears' starter while quarterback Jay Cutler recovered from injury, but he had a disappointing season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' starter in 2014. Thaddeus Lewis is a career backup, and while he has looked serviceable in the few games he has appeared in, he's also not considered a long-term lock on Cleveland's roster.

At some point, one of these four men will be named the Browns' starter. But even then, it's hard to expect much, especially given general manager Ray Farmer's comments about the position in his post-draft press conference.

Farmer said, "Now, whether or not [our quarterbacks are] great or whether or not they're [Colts QB] Andrew Luck or somebody else—[former Broncos QB] John Elway or whoever they're supposed to be—I don't think that's the case, but I do know what we're going to ask those guys to do, I think they're capable of doing."

It's not flat-out criticism of course, but it's not exactly glowing praise. It does not appear that Farmer sees a standout, Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback among the bunch, though he does see a group of quarterbacks "capable of doing" "what we're going to ask those guys to do." As in, not much in 2015.