{"id":48644,"date":"2018-09-04T16:46:22","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T20:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=48644"},"modified":"2021-06-02T21:28:10","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T01:28:10","slug":"cleveland-browns-five-players-expected-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/09\/04\/cleveland-browns-five-players-expected-shine\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Cleveland Browns Players Expected to Shine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As we head into the 2018 regular season, we can be sure that the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/browns\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cleveland Browns<\/a> are no longer short on talent. This is undoubtedly a stronger roster than the franchise has ever had in the <strong>Hue Jackson<\/strong> era. We can be fairly certain that the team will generally perform better than their predecessors.<\/p>\n<h1><strong>Five Cleveland Browns Players Expected to Shine in 2018<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h2>Myles Garrett \u2013 Defensive End<\/h2>\n<p>The only problem with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GarrMy00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myles Garrett<\/a><\/strong>? We haven\u2019t seen enough of him yet. In his rookie season, injuries caused him to miss five entire games and sit out portions of others.<\/p>\n<p>However, despite the defensive end position being difficult to master, Garrett was more than capable. In the 11 games he played, he recorded 31 total tackles and seven sacks. Had he played a full season, he would\u2019ve been in double-digit range.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s remember this: that in only 11 games, Garrett had clocked more sacks that <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WattJ.00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.J. Watt<\/a><\/strong> (5.5) and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MackKh00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Khalil Mack<\/a><\/strong> (4) managed in their rookie seasons. And it\u2019s only going to get bigger.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">He should be. Big year coming for Myles Garrett. BIG year&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9xQNSomQSP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/9xQNSomQSP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JeffRisdon\/status\/1036920836865880064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 4, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>According to Randy Gurzi of Dawg Pound Daily, Garrett is poised for an even better second season. He gave us a glimpse of his capabilities when he dominated the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/eagles\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> offensive line in their preseason matchup.<\/p>\n<h2>David Njoku \u2013 Tight End<\/h2>\n<p>Put simply, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/N\/NjokDa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Njoku<\/a><\/strong> is a physical freak and every opposing defense\u2019s worst nightmare. His height and leap enable him to reach a jump ball before any safety or corner. Added to that is his lighting speed, unusual for a person of his height, but most linebackers will probably struggle to keep up with him.<\/p>\n<p>Njoku has a high ceiling and it was already obvious at the college level and his rookie season as he produced numbers characteristic of players more experienced than him.<\/p>\n<p>He already displayed signs of his talent by catching two touchdowns in the Browns\u2019 first preseason game.<\/p>\n<h2>Josh Gordon \u2013 Wide Receiver<\/h2>\n<p>It really shouldn\u2019t be a concern that <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GordJo02.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Gordon<\/a><\/strong> won\u2019t be starting the first game of the preseason. In 2017, he went 1,077 days without playing in an NFL game. But his very first game back, he was instrumental in the first play of the game and finished with 85 yards off four receptions.<\/p>\n<p>Gordon is in better physical shape than ever, so conditioning isn\u2019t an issue at all.<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, despite struggling with his personal demons, he is very much the same as he was in 2013 \u2013 he dominated and was an absolute monster on the field. As Gurzi said, \u201cthe Browns won\u2019t keep him off the field long, even if he isn\u2019t starting. Look for him to sub in early, and rarely leave the field.&#8221; He\u2019ll be a terror for opponents, so it\u2019s unlikely he\u2019ll be on the bench for long. If anything, he\u2019s showing signs that he\u2019s fully prepared for the season.<\/p>\n<h2>Jarvis Landry \u2013 Wide Receiver<\/h2>\n<p>His one-handed receptions are a thing of beauty. No one else currently in the league compares in this area. He held back a little when Cleveland faced Philadelphia, but offensive coordinator <strong>Todd Haley<\/strong> pushed him into being a leader, and it\u2019ll likely happen.<\/p>\n<p>The three-time Pro Bowler wasn\u2019t around for the last two miserable seasons, so he\u2019s just going to do his thing. \u201cI wasn\u2019t part of that,\u201d Landry said during training camp. \u201cI didn\u2019t have nothing to do with what happened here. I can\u2019t take that on my back.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Antonio Callaway \u2013 Wide Receiver<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/2018\/02\/19\/antonio-callaway-2018-nfl-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Antonio Callaway<\/strong><\/a> has had a shaky start to his professional career, with all sorts of legal trouble. He\u2019s on a short leash with the Browns, but when he was forced to play an entire game during the preseason, he was full of stamina throughout and showed no sign of slowing down. That\u2019s something that will be of huge value when he starts the season opener in place of Gordon.<\/p>\n<p>This roster is a different one. This season is likely to be a different one. Expect a team that can contend with the very opponents who overcame them the last two years.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"-19C0MQTQaJXorOTt63jEw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1006943066\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'-19C0MQTQaJXorOTt63jEw',sig:'1S1Qf7kEKbU6Fc7jcL0YP0OiQx6V6M1ObJ7lBICrWqQ=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1006943066',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Week One of the 2018 NFL season approaches, which five Cleveland Browns players will help lead the team to marked improvement?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2583,"featured_media":48660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,54],"tags":[3581,264,1683,61,635,507,1472,40,81],"class_list":["post-48644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-browns","category-editorials","tag-antonio-callaway","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-david-njoku","tag-football","tag-jarvis-landry","tag-josh-gordon","tag-myles-garrett","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh-steelers"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2583"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}