THE LINE ON THE LINE IS A TROUBLESOME ONE

By STEVE KING

My greatest fear with this year’s Browns – and perhaps your greatest fear as well because so much attention has been given to it for so long – has been realized.

It is that the offensive line is, by far, the weak link of this football team.

Oh, sure, there are parts of the club that are not as strong as others, the tight end position being first and foremost among that group, along with possibly the place kicking, though Austin Seibert finally seems to be in a good rhythm now. But the rest of the team for the most part seems to be pretty strong. In fact, some areas that appeared to be possible question marks heading into the year have been cleared up.

But the offensive line? Not so much. Do the eye test on the line in these games. It is not a terrible picture, but it is not a good one, either. In fact, it seems to lean closer to struggling than flourishing.

And that’s not a good thing, because for any football team at any level to have success, the line must be strong. It just has to be. It opens the holes for the running game and, more importantly, protects the quarterback. It makes the offense go, and the offense has to hum right along for the team to be successful overall. The NFL is an offensive game in many respects.

The entire success of the Browns is dependent upon their franchise quarterback, Baker Mayfield, who is everything to this team, remaining upright and having time to throw. That’s not happening like it should. As Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens said Tuesday, Mayfield is getting hit way too many times. Those hits eventually take a toll.

Indeed, if the 2020 NFL Draft were held tomorrow, then the line would be the No. 1 position of need. But it’s not tomorrow. It’s a long way off. The Browns have high hopes this season, so, no matter what it takes, this line has to work well enough to get them where they need to go.

Can that happen? Can the line keep Mayfield clean?

I’m holding my breath.