5 Positions Cleveland Browns Must Still Address Before 2015 Season

The 2015 NFL draft was a productive one for the Cleveland Browns. The Browns selected 12 players, addressed a number of their more obvious needs and built up their supply of young depth players.

But that doesn't mean the Browns' work is over or that every position has been settled to its fullest ability. Here are five positions the Browns must still address during the remainder of the offseason.

Return Specialist

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It's not that the Browns don't have players capable of returning punts and kicks—it's that they may just have too many. Part of this summer's training camp will be spent trying to figure out just exactly who will be the team's return specialists—plural, because the Browns are certain to have more than one.

Last year, eight players returned either punts or kicks for the Browns. Wide receiver Marlon Moore led the team in kickoff returns with 13 for 322 yards. That was followed by the 12 kicks returned by fellow receiver Travis Benjamin for 246 yards. Benjamin also led the Browns in punt-return yardage with 15 returned for 127 yards.

Benjamin and Moore should remain in the mix to return punts and kicks this year, but so should rookies like running back Duke Johnson and cornerback Charles Gaines. Shaun Draughn was brought on by the Browns for his return skills late last year, and he ran back five kickoffs for a total of 115 yards. He was re-signed this offseason, ostensibly to reprise that role.

With football all about field position, expect the Browns to thoroughly vet any player they are considering as a kick or punt returner this summer.

Safety

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The Browns should have no trouble determining who their starting safeties are this year, with Donte Whitner and Tashaun Gipson reprising their respective roles from 2014. What becomes interesting, however, is the role of rookie Ibraheim Campbell. 

The Browns have told Campbell that he will be trained as both a free and strong safety, as head coach Mike Pettine and coordinator Jim O'Neil use the positions interchangeably. This could pose an opportunity for Campbell to hit the field as a rookie—and not just on special teams.

Further, it's possible that the Browns lose Gipson in the future. He is currently working off of a second-round restricted free-agent tender. Though the goal is to find a way to lock him down on a long-term deal, if they cannot, he could be an unrestricted free agent when the 2016 league year begins.

So it's possible, depending on his development, that the Browns could put Campbell on the field as a defensive back this year even though Gipson and Whitner have been so productive. That is something the Browns will have to work out over the course of training camp.

Cornerback

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Like the safety position, the Browns are mostly set at cornerback. Joe Haden and free-agent signing Tramon Williams should be the team's starters on the outside. But questions linger about the slot cornerback position.

Last year, the Browns brought on two corners in the draft—Justin Gilbert in Round 1 and Pierre Desir in Round 4. Then, upon losing Buster Skrine in free agency this year, they signed the aforementioned Williams. Then, the Browns selected Louisville cornerback Charles Gaines in Round 6 of the 2015 draft.

Another cornerback taken in this year's draft, Ifo Ekpre-Omolu, may have to sit out much of the year as he continues to rehabilitate from a torn ACL and dislocated knee he suffered last year, but he could become healthy enough to play in his rookie year.

So the Browns have a problem on their hands. A welcome problem, yes, but a problem nonetheless. Who starts and who sits?

Wide Receiver

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With the draft yielding the Browns 12 players and a number of undrafted rookies set to round the roster out to 90 players during the spring and summer, Cleveland doesn't technically have many positions of need. There will be depth along every positional group, but the goal is to identify starters and future stars.

The Browns are therefore not hurting at the wide receiver position. In fact, they boast a pretty serviceable group of veterans like Dwayne Bowe, Brian Hartline and Andrew Hawkins. They also drafted another wideout this year, Washington State's Vince Mayle, and also have 2014 undrafted product Taylor Gabriel to round out the unit.

But so many of these players are veterans and were not developed in-house by the Browns. Therefore, the Browns would be wise to identify a receiver or two who can be 2015's version of Gabriel to help the team put together a group of young receivers for the future.

Quarterback

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It's not likely that the Browns add another quarterback to their roster this offseason. The four currently on the team—Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel, Connor Shaw and Thaddeus Lewis—should be all they need in order to figure out their starter for 2015.

As of now, the Browns' starting quarterback heading into training camp will be McCown, according to an interview between Browns head coach Mike Pettine and Adam "The Bull" of 92.3 The Fan on Monday (h/t Mary Kay Cabot of Northeast Ohio Media Group). But that does not mean McCown will be the Browns' starter come Week 1 or that he will be the starter for all 16 games of the upcoming season.

Training camp will be a crucial time for all four quarterbacks, though the pressure will be considerably higher on the veteran McCown and the sophomore Manziel. Shaw, too, could find himself in the starting quarterback competition as the summer wears on. But clearly, identifying one of these men as the team's top quarterback is something the Browns must address through the remainder of the offseason.