The Cleveland Browns need someone to step up in the passing game.
Jerry Jeudy looked solid in his first season with the team, and he should be primed for another strong campaign this season.
However, the team doesn’t have a lot of guarantees – if any – besides him.
With that in mind, Zac Jackson of The Athletic predicts that they may have already set their sights on a potential sidekick for Jeudy.
In an article predicting a potential breakout wide receiver for every team, Jackson gushed about Cedric Tillman:
“Tillman’s surge in the back-middle of the 2024 season came out of nowhere. Not only had the Browns’ pass game been largely ineffective, but also Tillman was barely seeing snaps or targets early last season. When Jameis Winston took over and started throwing the ball downfield, Tillman became both a consistent target and a real threat. A concussion forced him to miss the end of last season, but Cleveland did not draft a receiver and has Tillman’s role as an outside wideout almost in ink, regardless of who wins the quarterback job. Tillman’s size is an asset, and he can complement the speedy Jerry Jeudy in the intermediate and vertical passing games,” Jackson wrote.
Tillman has always shown flashes of strong play, but he hasn’t found any sort of consistency, mostly due to the lack of playing time.
He did finish last season on a high note.
Tillman finished the year with 29 receptions for 339 yards and three touchdowns.
All things considered, he might be the Browns’ best and safest bet to have another reliable pass-catcher.
Diontae Johnson is a big question mark after so many stops in recent years, and there are also reportedly some character issues to keep an eye on.
Jamari Thrash is another potential breakout candidate, but Tillman should be ahead of him in the pecking order right now.
The Browns chose not to draft a wide receiver, meaning that they might feel like Tillman is finally ready to take his game to the next level after a rather timid start to his NFL career.
If that’s the case, this offense could silence a lot of people this season.
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