CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Saturday night we’ll find out if the Browns will add a 17th player to the Hall of Fame and if Kevin Stefanski sweeps the NFL Coach of the Year awards at NFL Honors.
After ending an 18-year playoff drought, winning 11 games in the regular season for the first time since 1994 and winning their first playoff game in 26 years, the Browns were the team of the 2020 NFL season.
With the league’s annual awards show ready to air prior to Super Bowl LV, it’s time for our awards: The Brownies, a tribute to the top contributors and moments of the 2020 Browns season.
The envelopes, please... and eat your heart out.
Rookie of the year: Jedrick Wills
So much for all that concern over moving from right tackle at Alabama to left tackle in the NFL for the No. 10 overall pick in the draft. Wills was steady protecting Baker Mayfield’s blind side allowing just 4 sacks according to Pro Football Focus in 957 snaps played. He was penalized 11 times but showed he’s more than capable of solidifying the left side of the Browns offensive line for years to come.
Offensive Player of the Year: Nick Chubb
Chubb was a wrecking ball with the football in his hands racking up 1,217 total yards from scrimmage, including 1,067 rushing yards. Chubb, who averaged 5.6 yards per carry during the regular season, led the Browns with 12 touchdowns, all of them on the ground.
Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett
Garrett’s NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidacy was derailed when he contracted COVID-19 that caused him to miss two games, and although he struggled to return to form over the final weeks of the season, his impact defensively was immeasurable. Garrett finished with a dozen sacks, four of them of the strip-sack variety, and he delivered 18 QB hits. Named to his second Pro Bowl and recognized as an AP All-Pro first teamer, Garrett also recovered a pair of fumbles and batted down two passes as well as finished with 10 tackles-for-loss.
Assistant Coach of the Year: Bill Callahan
Despite the depth of the offensive line being completely decimated by injury, Callahan’s unit kept Mayfield clean, cutting sacks from 40 in 2019 to 26 in 2020 and they cleared enough holes that allowed the Browns to rack up 2,374 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground. Right tackle Jack Conklin and left guard Joel Bitonio were named to the All-NFL team in voting conducted by members of the PFWA. Left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. was named to the All-Rookie team by the PFWA. Conklin was named to the AP All-Pro first team while Bitonio and right guard Wyatt Teller were named to the second team.
Play of the Year: Jarvis Landry 37-yard touchdown to Odell Beckham Jr. at Dallas
With the Browns and Cowboys scoreless, Stefanski went to the bag of tricks early in the opening quarter. Mayfield took the snap from the gun and pitched it back to Chubb, who ran to his right as Jarvis Landry ran in from the right side of the formation. Chubb flipped the ball to Landry as the two went in opposite directions while Odell Beckham Jr. streaked for the end zone. Landry stopped at the 43 on the left hashmark and unloaded in Beckham’s direction for the easy score. The Browns beat the Cowboys 49-38 to improve to 3-1.
Run of the Year: Nick Chubb – 59 yards in 10-7 Week 10 win over Texans
With the Browns clinging to a 10-7 lead on the Texans and facing a third-and-3 at their own 40 with 1:08 remaining, Chubb took the toss to the left from Mayfield on a sweep out of the gun, sidestepped a Texans defender and raced up the near sideline. Instead of scoring for the second time on the afternoon, he stepped out of bounds at the 1 to allow the Browns to take a knee and run out the clock.
Comeback of the Year: Oct. 25 at Cincinnati – Browns 37, Bengals 34
The Bengals and Browns exchanged lead-changing touchdowns five times in the fourth quarter with Baker Mayfield delivering the knockout punch after Joe Burrow gave the Bengals their last lead on a three-yard TD to Giovani Bernard with 1:06 on the clock and the score 34-31 Cincinnati. Mayfield quickly orchestrated a five-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 24-yard touchdown to rookie receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones with 11 seconds remaining for the win.
Performance of the Year: Baker Mayfield
After starting 0-5 with an interception in the first quarter at Cincinnati on Oct. 25, Mayfield’s lone incompletion the rest of the way came when he had to kill the clock in the final minute to preserve time for him to fire of the game winner to Peoples-Jones in the closing seconds. Mayfield shattered the franchise record for consecutive completions by reeling off 21 in a row. He completed 22 of 23 passes for 297 yards and tied a franchise record with 5 touchdown passes in the win.
Game of the Year: AFC Wild Card – Browns 48, Steelers 37
Playing in their first playoff game in a quarter century and being unable to practice for most of the week and without their head coach on the sideline, the Browns blew the doors off the Steelers early and sent them home for the winter. The first snap of the game sailed over Ben Roethlisberger’s head and was covered for a Browns touchdown. It was 28-0 at the end of the first quarter. Roethlisberger threw four interceptions and five Steeler turnovers resulted in 24 points for the Browns. Kareem Hunt bulldozed Steelers defenders on his two touchdown runs and Mayfield threw three TDs in the victory, which ended a 17-game losing streak at Heinz Field and was the most significant win for the franchise since it returned to the NFL in 1999.
Pandemic hair style of the year: Joel Bitonio's beard
Need we say more?
Cleveland Browns left guard Joel BitonioMatt Starkey-Cleveland Browns
Zoomer of the year – Rob McBurnett, Browns PR
McBurnett had the unenviable task of moderating the Zoom video conference calls for media availability throughout the season with players, coordinators, coach Stefanski and EVP/GM Andrew Berry and he navigated it all with ease. In fact the entire PR department – Peter John-Baptiste, McBurnett, Dan Murphy and Dominique Page as well as their seasonal interns – all deserve recognition for their efforts in assisting reporters covering the team under challenging circumstances.
MVP: Myles Garrett
Garrett turned the tide in wins over the Bengals, Washington Football Team, Cowboys and Colts early in the season with strip sacks in three straight games before registering a sack and a safety in the fourth to help the Browns race out to a 4-1 start to the season. Garrett finished the season with 12.0 sacks and four strip-sacks. Without his defensive contributions the Browns may not have been able to build the early season momentum that ultimately propelled them to their best finish in the expansion era.
