Browns ‘most improved player’ in 2022 is a huge negative statement about team

The Cleveland Browns had a down season in 2022, again. While there was some hope despite Deshaun Watson’s suspension, the season ended up about where most predictions had the team: Out of the playoffs.

The biggest positive for the year was the leadership and solid play of Jacoby Brissett. Brissett wasn’t that good, overall, but the way this season will be remembered for him by Browns fans tells you just how down most of the rest of the team was.

Amari Cooper and Nick Chubb had solid seasons for the offense and Myles Garrett was his normally great self.

Pro Football Focus took a look at their own grades to see who improved the most for each team between 2021 and 2022. Cleveland’s “winner” was LB Deion Jones:

It speaks to the struggles of the Browns’ defense that Jones, who finished the season as the 74th-ranked linebacker with a 48.3 PFF grade, was the player who improved the most on their roster in 2022. Jones’ 2021 campaign with the Atlanta Falcons was the first time in his career that he produced a PFF grade lower than 65.0, and while he improved in 2022, he still failed to get back above that mark.

For those of you not sure what a 48.3 grade means for PFF, it's really bad. Really, really bad.

Interestingly, Brissett only improved just over six points from his PFF grade last year and posted a respectable 82.6 in 2022, good for sixth in the NFL.

The Browns will need a few players to take a jump next season. While that jump may not be shown in PFF grades, it needs to be clear on the field. Hopefully, that jump isn’t from terrible to really bad like Jones’ this year.