What An Improved Cleveland Browns Offense Means For Kevin Stefanski

Kevin Stefanski gave up play-calling for the first time during his tenure with the Browns and plenty of questions follow

Oct 20, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski watches warmups before the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images / Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Everybody in Cleveland knew a quarterback change was coming for the Browns in Week 8. A debate over such an outcome had already gained plenty of momentum in previous weeks, but with Deshaun Watson out for the season, a switch was an inevitability.

What nobody expected was for head coach Kevin Stefanski to reveal that he was handing over the play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. Stefanski has been the sole proprietor of the Browns play-calling duties since his arrival in Cleveland in 2020. His offensive prowess is one of the main reasons he got hired in the first place. And even though Stefanski has shared that he flirted with this decision already during the offseason, he didn't ultimately do it.

That one was a stunner this week, for everyone. And now come the questions.

Why now, after Watson is lost for the season?

What does the decision mean for Dorsey?

Maybe most importantly though, what does it mean for Stefanski?

Taking on a "CEO role" isn't some new phenomenon in football. Plenty of coaches around the league give up their play-calling duties to pay more attention to the big picture things on game day. Perhaps it's a role that will produce the desired effect and be a spark the Browns offense desperately needs.

That's where the inter-workings of Cleveland's power structure come into play. If the offense looks better against the Ravens, it at least leaves some room for people to ask whether or not the offensive issues, if Watson's issues, were Stefanski's doing. If the blended offense he helped create with Dorsey just still wasn't the "perfect storm" the organization was looking to create for its embattled QB.

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If that's the case, perhaps it leaves the door open even just a crack to try one more time to return Watson to his top-five QB form. Even coming off of yet another serious injury. The amount of money left on his contract is enough to convince anyone inside the organization that it's worth one more shot, with or without Stefanski.

That's what's really at the root of all this. A question of whether or not Stefanski is part of the team's future or not. Giving up play-calling could certainly have been something he was forced to do and if that's the case, where does that leave him at the end of this tumultuous season?

In a perfect world, it would be absolutely asinine for the Browns to part ways with the two-time NFL Coach of the Year, who just signed a five-year extension along with general manager Andrew Berry. But the NFL coaching cycle is far from perfect. Coach salaries don't count against the cap, so it's a lot easier for team owners to eat that money and keep it moving.

As things stand today – even given how ugly things have been – it's hard to imagine Stefanski wouldn't be back in 2025. But Jimmy and Dee Haslam may want someone to pay for this team's shortcomings, both with the Watson experiment and overall with an ultra-talented roster that has underachieving embarrassingly.

Legendary voice of the Cleveland #Browns Jim Donovan lost his battle with leukemia at the age of 68 https://t.co/KRivgHhd3o

— Cleveland Browns On SI (@CLEBrownsOnSI) October 26, 2024

If the offense looks better under Dorsey's guidance, it may leave Stefanski caught in the crosshairs, with the powers that be asking whether or not he's that important to their success moving forward.

For the majority of these four-plus years with Stefanski at the helm he's been part of the solution rather than the problem. But when a team is 1-6 with 10 games still to go, anything is on the table.

From here it's all about evaluating everything. Stefanski. Dorsey. The QB room. The defense. How the team responds to a week rife with change could start to provide some clarity on a number of fronts.