The Cleveland Browns offense has plenty to prove heading into 2025. From quarterback to the team leaning on multiple rookies to potentially play important roles, it's daunting given how well defenses are currently playing. However, so much of the challenge for the Browns is to stop getting in their own way. Head Coach Kevin Stefanski keeps highlighting turnovers, one critical element, but there are other areas where the Browns can improve their offensive execution. It will also illuminate one of the challenges facing the rookie quarterbacks if they are going to end up starting at any point this season.
Stefanski has been highlighting turnovers for the last two seasons. Sadly, it hasn't yielded meaningful results. The Browns have been generous with the football, either putting it on the ground or simply throwing it to their opponents. Much of that comes down to execution, but it's also a biproduct of inefficiency in other areas.
One of those areas is the play calling operation. It was inefficient, often clunky and slow last year. Plays were coming in too late. That prevented the quarterback from getting a proper pre-snap read on the defense. They couldn't employ as much motion or shift, which have been staples of Stefanski's offense. There were too many times where the Browns were simply racing to get the play off, which gave the defense a significant advantage.
The defense didn't have to think. They could simply execute their initial call and do it with the confidence of knowing nothing was going to force them to change.
This was also a factor in the number of pre-snap penalties. Everything was rushed. The snap count. When they used movement before the snap, it was discombobulated and the Browns got called for a number of false start or illegal shifts.
It also put the quarterback at a disadvantage, something the Browns could ill afford. Not giving the quarterback time to potentially check into another play then leads to plays doomed to fail before they ever have a chance. Running the ball into the teeth of the defense when they might have been able change the run direction or check to a pass with better leverage.