Browns offense and the need for speed

By STEVE KING

We’ve compared the Browns’ current situation to the one following their 1986 season, when the team also was coming off a tough postseason loss and a game it should have won.
But there is also a bit of 1985 with the Browns of today.
In that season 35 years ago — in the pre-1986 days —  the Browns made a ton of progress under Marty Schottenheimer, who was in his first full season as head coach, going from a very disappointing 5-11 record in 1984 to 8-8 and their first AFC Central championship in five years following the arrival of franchise quarterback Bernie Kosar.
The Browns were young and talented at most positions, including on offense, with players such as center Mike Baab and right tackle Cody Risien, running backs Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner, both of whom rushed for 1,000 yards, becoming just the third pair of runners in NFL history to have done so, and wide receivers Reggie Langhorne and Brian Brennam to go along with future Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome and Kosar.
Langhorne and Brennan were possession receivers, tough guys who specialized in running intermediate routes and catching the ball in traffic. What the receiving corps — and offense overall — lacked was a speedy wideout who could stretch the defense — take the top off it, as it were — by always being a threat to haul in long, back-breaking passes. It — that guy — was the missing piece to the puzzle.
The Browns had traded the top part of their NFL Drafts in both 1985 and ’86 to Buffalo to get the Bills’ No. 1 pick in the 1985 NFL Supplemental Draft, which they used to select Kosar. It was money — and assets — well spent.
But with that — with not having a first-round selection in 1986 — they wouldn’t be picking until the second round, at No. 43 overall. Browns Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Watfield, who was back working with the team in a variety of roles, was given a project. He was asked to spend the next year looking for a competent, speedy wideout who would fall through the cracks and be available to the Browns at that spot.
Warfield came back with the name of some kid from San Diego State named Webster Slaughter — perhaps you’ve heard of him — and the rest is history, as the Browns offense went from being good to great. With Slaughter outrunning defenses and making a slew of big plays, the Browns went to the AFC Championship Game three times in four years.
The current Browns offense is in the same boat. The only thing it lacks is speed at wide receiver. Even if speedy Odell Beckham Jr. recovers fully from knee surgery — and he should — the Browns need young, fast receivers to join him.
Speed kills. Speed makes a difference.
It did so from 1985 to ’86, and it would also do so from 2020 to ”21, taking a good Browns offense and making it great.
Let’s see if the Browns can find that man again