After finishing the 2024 season as one of the league’s worst offenses, the Browns are making some schematic changes in a transitional year for their running and passing game.
Cleveland is planning to return to an earlier iteration of Kevin Stefanski‘s scheme, according to ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi, with a stronger emphasis on running the ball from under center to open up the play-action passing game.
The Browns used more under-center formations in the first few years of Stefanski’s tenure as head coach and regularly posted top-10 rushing numbers. They moved to more shotgun looks after the acquisition of Deshaun Watson in 2022 and the running game suffered as a result, dipping to 19th in 2023 and 29th in 2024. (Injuries to Cleveland’s offensive linemen and running backs also played a role in their rushing regression.)
Stefanski has also dialed up play action less frequently in recent years. In 2020, his first year at the helm, the Browns’ 29.4% play-action rate ranked eighth in the league, per Next Gen Stats (subscription required). Since then, their highest rank was 19th in 2023 with a 25.1% play-action rate. A heavier usage of under-center runs will naturally provide a foundation off of which Cleveland can build more play-action concepts.
The Browns’ four-man quarterback room has varying amounts of experience with this type of offense. Joe Flacco, a 17-year veteran, is no stranger to adapting to new schemes after playing for three teams in the last three years and five in the last six, including a 2023 stint in Cleveland. Flacco has also spent plenty of time operating from under center and pushing the ball downfield off of play action dating back to his days in Baltimore.
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teelers had a strong under-center running game during Kenny Pickett‘s tenure as a starter, but his play-action rate in Pittsburgh across the 2022 and 2023 seasons was just 16.7%, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). That ticked up to 23.5% in Philadelphia last year, though the Eagles primarily used a shotgun spread system. Pickett said (via Oyefusi) that he is familiar with many of the Browns’ concepts and is more focused on learning the new terminology.
Rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders both have experience with RPOs and play action, but the vast majority of their college snaps came out of the shotgun. Their adjustment to the Browns’ under-center operation is another reason that neither is likely to win the starting job out of training camp.
Regardless of their move back to Stefanski’s previous scheme, the Browns will need better quarterback play on a fundamental level to improve their passing game, though more robust under-center rushing attack could certainly help take some pressure off of the air attack. Cleveland’s changes this year will also be subject to next offseason’s roster moves, which are expected to include an early quarterback selection in the 2026 draft.