Browns’ offensive snap counts, stats, and notes: Week 9 – Cedric Tillman, James Hudson see increased roles

Deshaun Watson receives a solid grade from PFF too.

Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 9 game against the Arizona Cardinals.

• QB: We’ll call this an encouraging game for Deshaun Watson, although you still have that asterisk that it was against a terrible defense. However, the thing I liked to see was that Watson’s deep ball was as good as it’s looked since putting on a Browns uniform, and he had several key runs. Watson was the Browns’ second-highest graded player by PFF this week, grading out to a 78.5.
• RB: The reps worked out so that it wasn’t really a three-headed monster this week, as Jerome Ford had the bulk of the snaps, followed by Kareem Hunt. The Browns’ yards per carry wasn’t high this week, despite Arizona having a bad run defense. Ford also caught several passes, including two swing passes from Watson.
• WR: Rookie Cedric Tillman got the amount of reps that Donovan Peoples-Jones would have gotten, but still the same type of production in the sense that he really wasn’t targeted. Watson put the ball on the money twice to Marquise Goodwin, but the receiver couldn’t come down with either and suffered a head injury on the second one. Also, this was another heck of a game by Amari Cooper. I’m still thanking the Cowboys for trading him to Cleveland for next to nothing.
• TE: Other than David Njoku, the tight ends have been a non-factor. Jordan Akins couldn’t haul in a low pass on a fourth down attempt.
• OL: Cleveland got some good news on Monday, when it was revealed that Jedrick Wills‘ knee injury should only keep him out for a month. James Hudson stepped in at left tackle in his place, and the two coincidentally played an identical number of snaps. With the tackles banged up, the guards came through with PFF grading Wyatt Teller (78.8) and Joel Bitonio (75.4) solidly.