Cleveland Browns players who can join the team’s record list in 2024

July 5, 2024

The Cleveland Browns boast some notable names in the top 10 of various offensive categories on the franchise’s all-time list.

Brian Sipe, Otto Graham and Bernie Kosar are the quarterbacks with the most passing yards and touchdowns. Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly dominate the rushing statistics. Among the receivers, Ozzie Newsome, Dante Lavelli and Mac Speedie are familiar to most fans.

The problem, at least for today’s exercise, is that it’s been decades since many of the franchise’s best players played for the Browns. Such is the nature of a franchise that has gone through numerous forgettable players since 1999.

However, the current roster includes a handful of players who have worked their way up the lists and, with successful seasons, could move them to the edge of the top 10 in 2024 – and in two cases even into the top three.

The Browns need quarterback Deshaun Watson to stay healthy for the entire season and regain some of his previous momentum if the team wants to make the playoffs this fall. If Watson can last a full season, it’s not far-fetched to think he’ll pass for 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns for the second time in team history. If he reaches that mark, Watson would finish the season 12th on the list of career passing yards, just 866 behind Derek Anderson, and move into the top 10 career touchdown passes, again just behind Anderson.

Had he not suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 of last season, running back Nick Chubb would have already passed Mike Pruitt and Leroy Kelly for second place on the career rushing list. Right now, Chubb is only 29 yards behind Pruitt and 763 yards behind Kelly, so if Chubb returns midseason, he could still finish the season second on the list.

If tight end David Njoku reaches 1,000 yards as a pass receiver in the first year of his career, he will move to No. 9 on the franchise’s all-time list, knocking fellow tight end Milt Morin out of the top 10. And if Njoku repeats his 81-pass catch season, he would be No. 3 all-time in passes caught, just 18 passes caught behind Lavelli.

Of course, none of this necessarily means they’ll win, but the fact that the Browns finally have a core of talented players who will etch their names in the franchise record books doesn’t hurt. And it’s certainly better than seeing the roster turn into a revolving door of forgettable names year after year.