The quarterback position, the running back mess, the wide receiver room, the offensive line, the defense as a whole. Prior to Browns training camp starting next week, these are the areas of topic most concerning to the fans and the media. My concern is the Browns total lack of special teams play in 2024. To succeed in the NFL, a team must play well in all three aspects of professional football, offense, defense and special teams, 2025 is no different for the Cleveland Browns. Last year everything was a failure by the end of the season and many thought special teams coach Bubba Ventrone was going to be fired. Ventrone is entering his third season with the Browns, and the hope is this position group will at least return to where they were in 2023.

It all starts with the kicker. in 2023, Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins was set to break the team record in scoring held by Jim Brown. However, he pulled a hamstring late in the season and missed the final two regular season games and the playoff game. That season he was 33 of 36 in field goals, 24 of 26 in extra points and led the team in scoring with 123 points. he was 8 for 8 in field goals of 50 yards or more. In 2024, Hopkins struggled. He was 18 of 27 in field goals and was 17 of 20 on extra points. The Browns believe the hamstring injury he suffered in 2023 may have lingered into 2024. They also believe the problem is between his ears and not between the goalposts. He will be watched carefully during training camp.

The other area of concern with this group is the coverage teams. Week six the Browns allowed an opening game kickoff return for a touchdown against the Bengals. It was 7-0 in about ten seconds, and the Browns anemic offense never recovered. In 2025 the Cleveland roster is loaded with players who play special teams. Jackson Barton, Jerome Baker, Tony Brown, Devin Bush, Mohamoud Digate, Chris Edmonds, Myles Harden, Nik Needham, Damontae Kazee, Winston Reid, Nathaniel Watson and Michael Woods. Added to this list is second round pick Carson Schwesinger and URFA Adin Huntington. Special teams’ coverage and tackling has to improve for the Browns to improve.

There were some bright spots. Punter Cory Bojorquez has been a strong addition since signing with the Browns two years ago. In 2025 he punted 89 times for 4387 yards. He averaged 49.3 yards a punt and placed 36 punts inside the opponents 20-yard line. His longest punt was 84 yards. Long snapper Rex Sunahara took over for the injured Charlie Hughlett and played well. Hughlett was released and Sunahara will return for 2025. On kick returns, both running back Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong did well. Ford averaged 25.9 yards per return with a long of 59 yards and Strong averaged 23.2 yards per return with a long of 27 yards. Cleveland has tried and failed to find a dynamic return man to handle both punt and kickoff returns. Nyheim Hines, Jakeem Grant, Jojo Natson and James Proche were all failed experiments for one reason or another. This year the Browns signed wide receiver DeAndre Carter. Carter is an eight-year pro. For his career he has averaged 9.7 yards on punt returns and 23.5 on kickoff returns. Last year with Chicago, he returned seventeen punts for 158 yards (9.3 average) and he returned fifteen kickoffs for 479 yards (31.9 average) with a long return of 67 yards. He’s listed as a wide receiver but has only had thirteen receptions the last two years.

If the Browns are going to succeed in 2025 the offense has to produce more than 15.2 points a game and the defense has to stay fresh and get off the field. An average special teams can help both. Good coverage could give an opponent poor field position and allow the Browns defense to apply pressure, and good returns could give the offense a short field to work with. All three aspects of the game must work for the Browns to win in 2025.