Amid a disastrous begin, the Browns are altering play-callers. Regardless of profitable Coach of the 12 months twice since arriving in Cleveland in 2020, Kevin Stefanski will hand over play-calling duties to his new prime lieutenant.
Ken Dorsey will take over in that position, Stefanski introduced Wednesday. This comes practically a yr after the Payments fired Dorsey from his submit as their offensive play-caller. Whereas Stefanski is figuring out if Dorsey will name performs from the sideline or the sales space, he’s delegating play-calling tasks after holding that position for four-plus seasons.
Refusing to bench Deshaun Watson, Stefanski had stated he wanted to be higher within the play-calling position. With Watson out of the image for the season’s the rest (and probably for good in Cleveland, although his contract stays an anchor), Dorsey will take over for the achieved HC. With the Browns set to start out Jameis Winston in Week 8, he’ll hear the previous Payments OC calling the pictures.
Stefanski noticed his offense work with Baker Mayfield in 2020 and once more with Joe Flacco, regardless of a spate of accidents on offense, final season. Each slates ended with the Cleveland HC honored as NFL Coach of the 12 months. Stefanski additionally coaxed first rate play from Jacoby Brissett throughout Watson’s 11-game suspension in 2022. The Stefanski-Watson partnership didn’t mesh and whereas the latter in all probability deserves the lion’s share of the blame (as he ranks final in QBR and first in assured cash), this has not been the coach’s most interesting hour both. The Browns enter Week 8 final in complete offense and twenty ninth in scoring.
Though Jimmy Haslam positioned what can now be labeled blame on GM Andrew Berry for hatching the plan to totally assure Watson’s contract to persuade him to waive his no-trade clause for Cleveland in 2022, Stefanski was believed to be aligned with the entrance workplace boss. The Watson imaginative and prescient backfired spectacularly and the Browns now should navigate a season that entails vendor’s trades regardless of a quarterback signed at a totally assured charge by 2026. Regardless of Berry and Stefanski having signed extensions this offseason, it will not be out of the query possession is evaluating each long run — given the Watson debacle. Dorsey is immediately a key participant on this chapter.
The Payments fired Dorsey regardless of teaching a top-five offense. Buffalo started to lean on the run recreation extra underneath interim OC Joe Brady, with Dorsey enjoying a task in making an attempt to affect Josh Allen to run much less (for physique preservation functions). As Allen struggled with turnovers and the Payments in a midseason droop final season, Sean McDermott fired Dorsey. In Dorsey’s one full season as Buffalo’s OC (2022), the workforce ranked second in each factors and yards. In fact, Allen performed the lead position there. Going from the MVP candidate to Winston can be a steep drop for the second-chance OC.
Stefanski didn’t initially announce he would hold play-calling duties till coaching camp. Put in place to justify Watson’s beginning position repeatedly, Stefanski will now shift right into a CEO position to shut out his fifth season as Browns HC. Watson’s infinite struggles places Stefanski in a troublesome spot and regardless of Flacco’s success producing a playoff berth, Stefanski — the Vikings’ play-caller earlier than taking the Browns job in 2020 — will take a step again.
