Donovan Peoples-Jones highlights most intriguing Browns offensive players going into camp

BEREA — A little more than a month from now, the Browns will start training camp with eight practices at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. When they do, they'll be looking to take everything the accomplished during the last three weeks of their offseason program and add to it.

The Browns will also be adding something to the process that was noticeably absent during their OTAs and minicamp. That would be full contact or full pads, two not-unimportant parts of playing football.

There were still ways to glean impressions on individual players, even without the pads or contact. Certainly enough to leave one intrigued by some of those players and what they can do once training camp and, most importantly, the regular season start.

This is the first of two stories looking at those such players, focusing on the offense. On Tuesday, five intriguing defensive players will go under the microscope.

Jerome Ford, running back

It's clear the Browns have elected to, at this point, make Ford the No. 2 running back behind Nick Chubb. Their relative inaction at the position this offseason indicates their comfort level with the second-year back. Ford comes out of the offseason program having done nothing to dissuade that confidence. How much difference will a month make once the Browns get back on the field in training camp? We'll see in July.

David Njoku, tight end

Njoku talked a lot late last season about making his combination with quarterback Deshaun Watson into one that could challenge what the Kansas City Chiefs have with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Then once the Browns got back on the field for the voluntary offseason team activities, the tight end was absent. Njoku returned for minicamp last week, but the question remains if he can truly develop into the reliable target game in and game out. He showed flashes of that last season, regardless of who the quarterback might've been, but needs to continue to be consistent in his play to climb up the tight end rankings.

Donovan Peoples-Jones, wide receiver

The new additions at receiver have garnered a lot of attention. A potential addition, one not even certain to happen, has captivated the Browns fan base for the last two weeks. Making sure Amari Cooper is ready to go once training camp begins after a February surgery on a core muscle injury has generated conversation as well. Yet Peoples-Jones, coming off a career year and heading into a contract year, has been somewhat undervalued in a lot of chatter about the Browns. He certainly had one of the better offseason programs of all of the Browns. If Peoples-Jones continues to take a step forward, it's only going to make this receiving corps so much better.

Deshaun Watson, quarterback

The individual who, regardless of which side of the ball you're talking, holds the Browns' fortunes in his hands. Watson has looked sharp during open sessions of the Browns' offseason program. Yet even Watson has acknowledged it's not now, but once the regular season starts, that it'll be truly evident whether or not he's turned the corner toward a return to his former Pro Bowl form. If the signs that were there during the offseason program exist once the Browns reconvene for training camp, it will only bolster the feelings of optimism around the team.

Jedrick Wills Jr., left tackle

The Browns answered the biggest question, for now, about Wills in early May by picking up his fifth-year option for the 2024 season. What isn't answerable is what version of Wills they're going to get for the 2023 season. Is it going to be the one they got as a rookie in 2020, who showed all sorts of promise? Or is it going to be the player they got the next year, when injuries and inconsistency defined his play? The Browns, privately and publicly, believe last year was his best season yet. It's hard to gauge a lineman during the offseason program, when contact is eliminated. So that only elevates the intrigue surrounding Wills heading to training camp.

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Donovan Peoples-Jones tops most intriguing Browns offensive players