The Cleveland Browns sitting at 4-2 and leading the AFC North Standings after six weeks has to be one of the feel-good stories over the first half of the season.
However, work is far from finished.
Head coach Todd Monken's group must still navigate the remaining 11 games, including rematches against the also 4-2 Steelers and Ravens, two games versus the 3-2 Bengals, in addition to improving the team's current struggles, primarily in the ground game and at the quarterback position.
Here are two players -- on on offense and one on defense -- who should see their snap count incremented over the next few weeks based on what they've shown so far, along with the players that could see their minutes reduced, as the Browns will attempt to close out the 2026 regular season as successfully as they have started it.
Listen, I realize this might be an overreaction, but there's really nothing to lose.
Over the course of the last three weeks, McLaughlin ripped off a 28-yard touchdown run in his only carry versus the Steelers -- second carry all-season long -- and followed that with a nine-carry 41-yard effort on Sunday, with starter Quinshon Judkins out of the lineup .
Even with such a minuscule sample, McLaughin leads the team with a 6.5 yard-per-carry average, success rate (54.5) than Judkins (41.1) or Raheim Sanders (33.3), as defined by Pro Football Reference.
Maybe McLaughlin will earn more carries out of pure desperation, as Sanders also missed last Sunday's game, while second-year pro Dylan Sampson has yet to log an offensive snap this season, but at least McLaughlin has earned a larger share of the workload based on what he's shown on limited carries.
So far, McLaughlin has played on 17.65 percent of the team's offensive snaps, compared to Judkins' 49.73 percent and Sanders' 27.01 percent. Newcomer Audric Estime has already seen 5.08 of the offense's snaps after joining the team last week , wasting no time in scoring his first touchdown for the Browns.
But regardless of when Judkins, Sanders and Sampson are ready to reappear for the team -- "Hopefully we'll get Samp back this week and we'll get Q back. We're hopeful to get two," stated Monken after the win over the Ravens regarding his backfield -- and how much of a factor they can be coming back from their respective energy, McLaughlin has made a solid argument in favor of, at the very least, a running back by committee approach.
While Sanders' could see some of his snaps taken away as the team's primary backup, the Browns need to consider taking away snaps from Judkins in favor of McLaughlin.
"J. Mac ran hard, man. He ran hard. He ran with a passion and a mission," said Monken about McLaughlin's performance versus Baltimore.
McLaughlin won't solve the Browns' ground game issues by himself, but at least there's a spark there. It would be a shame to see it go to waste.
Grant Delpit's first quarter head injury sustained against the Ravens might be the catalyst for a change here. Before Week 6, Delpit had participated in 100 percent of the defensive snaps in four out of the five first games, while logging a 97.2 percent in Week 4 versus the Steelers.
Along with Delpit, Ronnie Hickman has also been on the field almost on every defensive play, including a 100 percent snap count in five matchups and a 95.4 percentage in Week 4 against the Bucs.
This had left McNeil-Warren playing around 32 percent of defensive snaps before he set a personal best of 94.7 against the Ravens in Delpit's absence. Nonetheless, the rookie out of Toledo has been spectacular over the first six games of his pro career, and is currently graded as the top safety in the NFL by PFF.
Combine that with the fact that Delpit has been playing at a subpar level, and Hickman has had an up-and-down season, there's no reason to keep McNeil-Warren on the sidelines even if Delpit makes it back fast from his concussion.
Now factor in how much slot cornerback Myles Harden has struggled at times, just like Mekhi Blackmon, and it's obvious that McNeil-Warren needs more time on the field, even if it's in big nickel formations along with Delpit and Hickman.
The second-rounder has been a little overshadowed by all the offensive rookies from this year's draft, but McNeil-Warren's been more than living up to those hefty expectations.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/browns/onsi as Two Browns' Players Who Have Earned More Snaps After Win Over Ravens .
