Cleveland Browns have a breakout WR in Donovan Peoples-Jones

The Cleveland Browns might have found some consistency opposite Jarvis Landry in potential deep threat Donovan Peoples-Jones.

In a tight race for the playoffs with the AFC essentially wide open, the AFC North is one of the toughest conferences along with the AFC West (with every team above 0.500). Coming off a dominant performance against the Cincinnati Bengals at their home turf, the Cleveland Browns need to get on a hot streak at the right time. Heading into New England to face-off against the Patriots in Week 10, Cleveland taking care of business against another AFC contender this coming week will be pivotal due to the rest of their schedule.

With all the Odell Beckham Jr. drama dominating headlines prior to Week 9, they shut out the noise and surprisingly got their passing game back, sort of in the context of their last few games. Baker Mayfield, playing with his current shoulder injury, played well and recorded his best passer rating this season (at 132.6) without turning over the football. The passing aspect of the Kevin Stefanski-led Browns offense hasn’t been consistent so far, with a lack of an option opposite of Jarvis Landry, who was out for a few games earlier this season due to injury (was on IR).

Rashard Higgins has been nothing but a backup or reserve receiver most of the time and rookie Anthony Schwartz is used sparingly. Higgins has reliable hands but isn’t a field stretcher unlike Schwartz, but the rookie still needs development compared to the veteran receiver. Either way, both are just not used for the most part and the coaching staff doesn’t trust them as the 2nd receiver option with their minimal snap count and targets each week.

The Brown’s focal point on offense is still their ground game; led mainly by Nick Chubb, D’Ernest Johnson, and Kareem Hunt (IR). Cleveland also uses heavy tight end sets to complement their running game with Austin Hooper, David Njoku, and Harrison Bryant. But if Cleveland can consistently take advantage of a few one-on-one coverage play-action deep shots each game, that will take the Browns offense to another level.

Enter in Donovan Peoples-Jones, the former 6th round pick and 2nd-year receiver out of Michigan.

Last year, Peoples-Jones was buried in the depth chart as a rookie but now has quietly seen more and more snaps as the number two receiver this year. Due to a few injuries, he has missed time but when he has been on the field, Peoples-Jones has shown why he should be a starter for the Browns. He has had over at least 50 yards and has found the end zone three times in the last three games with limited volume when he’s gotten the chance to start this season for Cleveland.

Peoples-Jones had all the physical tools to be productive in college but just didn’t put it all together. With the Cleveland Browns though, he has shown flashes of big-play potential and so far, that has paid dividends for Cleveland relative to where he was drafted (187th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft). A passing offense that lost a starting receiver might’ve found his replacement right away and the 22-year old wideout could see even more snaps in the near future.