The Cleveland Browns enter this season with some major question marks.
Their quarterback situation will continue to be a headache, and they don’t seem to have much clarity on the matter right now.
That’s why Jared Dubin of CBS Sports thinks this team will have to turn to the running game.
In his latest column, he chose rookie running backs Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson as the team’s most important non-quarterback players right now:
“RB Quinshon Judkins and RB Dylan Sampson,” Dubin wrote of the Browns’ most important players aside from QB. “The Browns will likely shift back to the style of offense with which they actually had some success under Kevin Stefanski. That makes running the ball more important […] That means the rookies are going to have to play a significant role for a team that is very likely to have major issues at quarterback. And Judkins now has legal issues to deal with due to his domestic violence allegation. That could very well keep him off the field entirely, depending on when the issue is resolved at both a legal and NFL level.”
With Kevin Stefanski back in charge of the offense, we can expect to watch plenty of RPO and a run-heavy offense right from the jump.
Quinshon Judkins’ legal issues are a major setback for this team.
He was fully expected to embrace a workhorse back load out of the gate, and now, according to the league’s Personal Conduct Policy, he could be suspended without pay for six games.
Even if he somehow manages to get a couple of games off his suspension with an appeal, it’s hard to envision any scenario in which he doesn’t miss time.
Sampson will most likely keep his role as the team’s change-of-pace, third-down back, but the team will have to turn to veteran Jerome Ford to hold down the fort while Judkins gets back on the field.
The Browns definitely didn’t need this type of distraction, and having your second-round pick potentially miss a big chunk of the season for off-the-field issues is a team’s biggest nightmare.
Hopefully, it won’t doom the team’s chances early in the season.
NEXT:
Kevin Stefanski Gets Major Nod Among Top NFL Coaches
