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Who are some Cleveland Browns to watch over the final 9 games? Try these 5 players
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- Who are some Cleveland Browns to watch over the final 9 games? Try these 5 players
The Browns won a game Sunday and that raised the vibes around the whole team. Whether or not that translates into any kind of sustained success over the last nine games of the season remains to be seen.
Whether it does or doesn't, this is the point in the season when any football team, good or bad, should start seeing players emerge. Those players could be young players or players who have found their way onto the field because of injuries ahead of them.
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The Browns are no different than any other team. There's been a handful of players whose recent performances merit monitoring their progress as the season winds along.
After all, despite beating the Baltimore Ravens , the Browns remain a 2-6 football team for now. Their hopes for improving on that record likely require some of those emerging players to continue to blossom.
As the Browns get ready for their last game before the bye week on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers , let's take a look at five of those players.
Mohamoud Diabate , linebacker
Browns linebacker Mohamoud Diabate tackles Ravens running back Derrick Henry in the third quarter, Oct. 27, 2024, in Cleveland.
Diabate's been one of the better success stories for the Browns over the last few years. A year ago, he was an undrafted free agent rookie who mostly was a special-teams contributor. This season, however, Diabate has found himself becoming a much more important piece of the defense this season, especially as injuries have piled up at the linebacker position. Those injuries include his own hip injury, which has limited him to just four games. However, since coming back from the injured reserve list before a Week 6 game against the Philadelphia Eagles , Diabate has been credited with 20 combined tackles in three games, including nine against the Ravens. With Jordan Hicks and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah each dealing with injuries of their own, Diabate figures to become an even bigger piece of the defensive puzzle.
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Cedric Tillman , wide receiver
Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (5) and safety Eddie Jackson (39) tackle Cleveland Browns wide receiver Cedric Tillman (19) on Sunday in Cleveland.
This one's obvious to anyone who's watched the Browns' last two games. Through the first 20 games of his career, Tillman was looking like it was another third-round wide receiver taken by general manager Andrew Berry who wasn't going to pan out. Something, however, has happened the last two weeks to change that narrative. Tillman hasn't just been productive, he's been like a completely different wide receiver. Over the last two weeks, he has been targeted 21 times and caught 15 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. That includes the go-ahead 38-yard touchdown against the Ravens with 59 seconds remaining. The first 20 games of his career, Tillman only had 24 catches for 233 yards and no touchdowns. If Tillman can continue this trajectory, it could mean even bigger things for the Browns' passing offense.
Dawand Jones , offensive tackle
Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Dawand Jones (79) eyes Baltimore Ravens linebacker Tavius Robinson (95) on Oct. 27, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.
You're currently asking why Jones, who started nine games last year and five games this season, may be on the list. One, he's still a "young player" who's only in his second season, so there remains room for growth. The other piece emerged last week, when the Browns shifted Jones to left tackle while Jedrick Wills Jr. was, once again, sidelined with a knee injury. The results were, dare say, OK for his NFL debut at the position. Not great by any stretch, but intriguing would be the better way to describe what Jones did against Baltimore. According to Pro Football Focus, Jones allowed two quarterback hits and one hurry against the Ravens. The more glaring thing to happen off his side was a safety blitz by Kyle Hamilton , which resulted in a strip-sack. Jones was engaged in a double team with left guard Joel Bitonio while Hamilton, who looped around from the middle of the defensive formation, perfectly timed the blitz off the left side of the Browns line with the snap. Regardless, the question going forward with Jones runs in tandem with Wills. If Wills is going to continue to battle injuries and Jones can at least play competently at left tackle, are the Browns better served to start Jones? We'll see.
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Winston Reid , linebacker
Reid is this year's Diabate. He's the undrafted free agent rookie linebacker who has made a name for himself on special teams. Specifically, the Weber State University product has made his name with some incredibly brutal hits on special teams. However, Reid is finding his way into the linebacker rotation a few snaps at a time in each of the last four or five games. The previously mentioned injuries to Hicks and Owusu-Koramoah are going to potentially open up more opportunities for Reid to prove himself on the field.
Jaelon Darden , kick/punt return
Cleveland Browns kick returner Jaelon Darden returns a punt against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 20 in Cleveland.
The final name on the list has been with the Browns since they picked him up off waivers in December 2022. However, Darden has rarely gotten the opportunities in the regular season that he has this season, even if he was technically a practice squad player until the team signed him to the active roster on Tuesday. However the Browns have gotten Darden to the game day roster, he's opened some eyes with what he can do returning kicks and punts. He's averaging 11.8 yards, fourth best in the NFL, on 15 punt returns this season. He's also gaining 24.3 yards on four kickoff returns. What the Browns do with Darden going forward will be something to monitor, whether he is part of more roster movement, but he's certainly given at least some life to the return game.
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Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Mohamoud Diabate, Cedric Tillman top Browns to watch in final 9 games
