What a difference a year makes. After going 1-15 in 2016 and being at the bottom of the barrel in most major statistical categories, the Cleveland Browns brought in a new defensive coordinator in Gregg Williams and made multiple personnel changes. Let’s dive deeper into some of those changes and what we may expect come Sunday based on the preseason.

Offense

You can’t talk about the Browns offense without starting with head coach Hue Jackson. Just like he did when he was the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, he uses many creative formations and motions before the snap to keep the defense on their toes and making it hard to match up with. This was a run play from the Week 11 matchup last year between the Browns and Steelers:

At the start of the play, center Cameron Erving (#74 – 2015 first-round pick who the Browns traded to the Chiefs on August 30th) is the only offensive lineman lined up at their normal spot. The guards and tackles are split out wide, but all motion back to their respective positions. Familiarity helps since the Steelers have faced a Hue Jackson-led offense quite a few times the last couple of years, but it’s never an easy assignment for the defense to adjust to.

Another thing I want to point out is the usage of three tight ends. Gone is Gary Barnidge, who scored a touchdown in three of the last four games vs. the Steelers, and in is 2016 first-round draft pick David Njoku, an elite athlete with size and speed (4.64 on the 40). Coupled with tight ends Seth DeValve and Randall Telfer, who were both on the squad last year, the Browns have a formidable trio that could take advantage of the middle of the field, especially with question marks surrounding Mike Mitchell and his effectiveness after missing most of training camp and all of the preseason with a hamstring injury.

DeShone Kizer, the Browns second-round draft pick out of Notre Dame, will be the starting quarterback, and I will be honest when I say this, he is unlike any quarterback the Browns have fielded in recent memory. Being an ND fan, I had the pleasure of watching every one of his games in his two years as a starter in college, and here are my takeaways:

• He has a big frame (6’4″, 230+ lbs.) which allows him to take a lot of hits
• A cannon for an arm allows him to make all of the throws
• Mobile: Not a fast guy (4.83 40-time), but had 997 yards on the ground with 18 rushing touchdowns in two years

Kizer made deep throws look routine like this one on 3rd-and-15 against the Saints in week one of the preseason:

On this play, he does a great job of not only avoiding the pressure, but maintains proper footwork and steps into this throw to give it enough power to make it downfield to his receiver. Here’s the go-ahead score from the same game on 4th-and-2 no less:

Expect the Browns to throw deep and outside of the numbers where Kizer excels at, especially with the acquisition of wide receiver Sammie Coates.

Kizer won’t blow you away with his speed, but his athleticism forces you to respect him as a runner. The Steelers have had issues defending the read option in the past – first thing that comes to mind is Terrelle Pryor‘s 93-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. The Browns showed that wrinkle during the preseason on this 3rd-and-1 conversion:

Not only does mobility open up the run game on read-option type plays, but it also allows the quarterback to escape the pocket and make throws like these:

Like I mentioned before, he loves throwing outside the numbers, and he’s good at it. Wide receiver Corey Coleman seems to be his favorite target, so watch for that come game time.

But for all the praise that I put on him, there’s a reason why he was a second and not a first-round pick. Sometimes he relied on his arm strength more than mechanics on his throws which made a few footballs hit the ground before they even reached the intended receiver. He took a few sacks in college because his internal clock was too slow. Here’s an example of him not throwing the ball away despite having ample time to make a throw:

A way to disrupt this offense is to force the throws towards the middle of the field where he sometimes struggles to see linebackers playing underneath coverage like on this play:

Scoring early and making Kizer beat you with him his arm would be my game plan. Many of times, he put too much pressure on himself to try and do everything and made a lot of mistakes. If you take away their ability to run the football because of them falling behind, he will commit turnovers. Speaking of running the football…

Their running game still consists of the early down back in Isaiah Crowell and their third down scat-back Duke Johnson. Crowell is a physical back who will only play better with an upgraded offensive line that saw the Browns take guard Kevin Zeitler from the Bengals and sign center J.C. Tretter. With future Hall of Famer Joe Thomas at left tackle, I could see this easily being a top-10 and maybe even a top-5 offensive line. And remember, Crowell had 152 yards on the ground vs. the Steelers in the season finale last year. Johnson isn’t a slouch either with 114 receptions in two seasons.

Defense

Under Gregg Williams, the Browns are back to running a 4-3 defense. The Steelers have lucked out that defensive end Myles Garrett suffered a high ankle sprain and will miss the game because he was going to be a nightmare to block with his speed. Another guy to watch out for is nose tackle Danny Shelton. The big guy came back earlier than expected from his knee injury and is officially questionable for the game. He’s a space filler up the middle, so it’ll be a huge loss for them if he doesn’t dress.

As everyone knows, Williams is an aggressive coordinator and isn’t afraid to blitz. Even though it was just the preseason, it’s still impressive that the Browns took down the opposing quarterback 16 times which was tied for 3rd. He’ll throw everything including the kitchen sink at you, especially on 3rd-and-long situations which will be key for the Steelers to avoid.

Here, the Browns fake an all out blitz with the corners giving huge cushions to the receivers:

They end up bringing only five defenders with the linebackers dropping underneath. There’s still enough pressure to force an incomplete pass. Here’s another blitz that many Steelers are familiar with because both LeBeau and Butler run it:

It’s a crossfire blitz where the two linebackers cross like an ‘X’ to confuse the offensive linemen. Usually, LeBeau and Butler will drop the end or outside linebacker in coverage, but it looks like Williams likes to bring six on his version of the blitz.

This is a closeup of another perfectly executed blitz where the defensive tackle will drop into zone coverage and the linebacker comes in on a delayed blitz. The Steelers offensive line won’t be able to ease their way into the season.

Because this is such a blitz-heavy team, the cornerbacks are left on islands by themselves, so this leave a lot of great opportunities for our stacked receiving group to make some plays.

I think it’s safe to assume that we’re all excited that football is finally back, but don’t think for a second that this game will be a cakewalk just because of the Browns history. This team may surprise you.