The Cleveland Browns went just 8-26 over the past two seasons and had the worst offense in the NFL over that span, so it wasn’t surprising at all to see them move on from two-time Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski this offseason. After an exhaustive 23-day search, the team landed on Todd Monken as its successor with the hope that he can get this offense going in the right direction and put the losing to an end.
Monken has his work cut out for him with four of the team’s starting offensive linemen hitting free agency and a major question mark at the quarterback position. After starting the final seven games of the 2025 season, one would expect Shedeur Sanders to have the inside track to the starting role in Week 1, but he also didn’t do quite enough to make that a sure thing.
During a recent episode of The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, Jason Lloyd discussed the 2026 season. He talked about what a successful season looks like in Year 1 under Monken, and he said that it depends on whether or not they can figure out the quarterback position, among other things.
“It is possible, in my mind, to have a poor record and still feel really good because they’re not going to solve, I said last year they’re not going to fix all their holes in one offseason. If a year from now, we’re sitting here and you feel good about one or two of their skill position players, you feel good about their quarterback, you feel good about one or two of their linemen, that is a huge success. I don’t care what the record says,” Lloyd said.
On the offense, Harold Fannin Jr. and Quinshon Judkins are really the only two pillars this front office can feel good about building around for years to come. Sanders emerging as the potential franchise QB could help change the course of the entire ream, but he’ll need a lot of help to get there.
Four offensive linemen are hitting free agency and the wide receiver room is in dire need of upgrades, which could come in the draft where the Browns will pick sixth and 24th overall. With Monken at the helm, it’s fair to expect both picks to be used on offense, ideally at tackle and receiver.
Lloyd is right in his assessment because the Browns likely aren’t going to the Super Bowl this upcoming season. They can, however, build upon an outstanding 2025 draft class and get themselves much closer to eventually playing in February.
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