Browns’ offensive snap counts, stats, and notes: Week 1

Below, we analyze the snap counts and stats on offense for the Cleveland Browns’ Week 1 game against the Carolina Panthers.

• Brace yourselves for 10 more games of Jacoby Brissett. There is definitely room for him to improve, since he didn’t have a full training camp of work with the starting unit. With that said, we saw what his weaknesses are. Also he can evade some pressure, he’s pretty slow. His downfield passes leave much to be desired. He is a safe quarterback who prefers to zip the ball in low to a receiver. That might work. If Cleveland is to rely on their ground game, we can win some games with a responsible game manager. But Brissett needs to be a little bit better when his receivers break open.
• Per Pro Football Focus, Brissett only graded a 46.9 in Week 1, which was the 29th best grade among quarterbacks.

• The dynamic duo is back! This offense is completely different when both Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb are healthy. It was great to see them both on the field at the same time too in some spots, with Hunt lining up in the fullback role. Hunt did some work as a blocker, but then also caught a touchdown from that spot in the first half.
• Chubb was the Browns’ second-highest graded player on offense with an 79.3, per PFF. He was also the fourth-best running back in Week 1 (hat tip to Ben Axelrod for that nugget, among others).
• D’Ernest Johnson was a healthy inactive. Rookie Jerome Ford was active to serve as the kick returner. Some speculated that this could mean the Browns want to trade Johnson, but that may not be the case. Chubb and Hunt are going to get all the reps if healthy, and if one goes down during the game, Ford (who appears to be the kick returner) or Demetric Felton can step in for an emergency. By keeping Johnson inactive, you have more depth at a position like the defensive line on gameday.

• Amari Cooper may have the best route running ability on the team, but it only merited 3 catches for 17 yards in Week 1. He only had one game worse (statistically) all of last season for the Cowboys.
• There were all tight catches, but kudos to Donovan Peoples-Jones for catching all the passes he did with tight coverage on him in big moments. The downside to seeing a lot of those plays remains the separation element, but I’ll take the tough catches any day of the week.
• I like that the Browns got Anthony Schwartz involved on two runs. There’s no better way to build a young player’s confidence than to make him feel like he’s contributing in a positive and threatening way. Schwartz can be a nice asset on offense, but they do need to stop throwing him the ball on short patterns over the middle.

• I thought we were going to see David Njoku targeted a lot this year, including in Week 1, but it wasn’t until late in the game that he saw a pass come his way. I’m sure that will improve; the team kept him in as a blocker a lot, perhaps to take some pressure off of second-year tackle James Hudson.

• Wyatt Teller was the Browns’ top-rated offensive player with a grade of 85.9, per PFF. That made him the highest-graded guard in Week 1, and James Hudson was the 11th-best graded tackle.
• Jedrick Wills, on the other hand, struggled a bit to open the season:

• Cleveland only allowed 1 sack and 4 quarterback hits.