Browns' Offensive Tackles Jedrick Wills, Dawand Jones Trending In Opposite Directions
You've heard the old cliché: games are often won and lost in the trenches.
Four weeks of data for the 2023 Cleveland Browns are suggesting two players in critical positions are trending in opposite directions. Starting left tackle Jedrick Wills has had a poor start to the season, while rookie right tackle Dawand Jones is playing extremely well.
If the Browns are going to make a deep run, they need to get the left side of the offensive line shored up - no questions asked.
Jed Wills - the team's first round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft - hasn't lived up to the hype so far.
For further context, the 18 pressures Wills has allowed are the same number he gave up during 15 games in his rookie season. I give him credit for playing through injury last year, but he hasn't been the same player in 2023.
“I think Jed would be the first to tell you that he hasn't played as consistently as he knows he's capable of playing and he's capable of playing better, he will play better,” Browns GM Andrew Berry said Wednesday morning of Wills' performance this year. “He's obviously going to be important piece for us moving forward.”
The biggest problem is that it's pretty much impossible to find an external replacement that would be an upgrade. Acquiring a starting-caliber left tackle mid-season is almost unheard of. The Browns need Wills to step up, no way around it.
Aug 17, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Dawand Jones (74) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
© Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
On the flip side, losing starting right tackle Jack Conklin so early in the season immediately thrust enormous rookie Dawand Jones into a starting role. Conklin is the kind of player that you almost forget about when you're watching a game, because he's so reliable in neutralizing anything that comes his way.
Jones had huge shoes to fill, and after a shaky minicamp and a lot of doubt about some of his off-the-field habits leading up to the draft, the 6-foot-8, 375-pound human shield from Ohio State looks like he might have been a steal in the fourth round last April.
“He's played some really good pass rushers and he's done well,” Berry said Wednesday. “The way he came into the organization with a lot of the, what I would say, anonymous criticism, kind of attacking his work ethic, his character, things like that—he really has been fantastic,” Berry said. “He's done a really, really nice job for us and he should be commended for coming in and being prepared when his number was called much earlier than any of us anticipated.”
Meanwhile, Berry joined Nick Wilson and Dustin Fox on Afternoon Drive on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland Wednesday afternoon and suggested that the difference between playing either tackle spot isn’t all that great anymore and that he won’t consider switching those two players to better protect Deshaun Watson’s blindside.
The Browns have certainly seen a couple excellent pass rushers through the first four games, so perhaps that has amplified Wills' struggles. Hopefully he can figure out how to get back to the best version of himself ... the team is counting on it.
