3 things about the wide receivers, What about the quarterbacks?, The other quarterbacks, Which rookie has the most pressure?

Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger could get on the field quickly for the Browns defense.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Watching the Browns run a four-person quarterback battle creates a prime opportunity to do more than just watch the quarterbacks. They have to throw the ball to someone, and the receiving corps took center stage along with their signal-callers.

Dillon Gabriel worked extensively with the first and second teams during the spring.

Spring offers little opportunity to watch the team, but minicamp offers the best look with three days in a row.

Gage Larvadain was part of one of the highlight plays of Browns minicamp.

Here are a few observations from Browns minicamp and the offseason program:

3 things about the wide receivers

1. Jerry Jeudy is very good

I was cynical of the Jeudy trade initially and even more cynical of the immediate extension GM Andrew Berry gave him. What started as a low-risk trade for an undervalued asset became much riskier with the extension.

Jerry Jeudy is looking to build on a strong first season with the Browns.

It paid off in a big way last season when Jeudy caught 90 passes for 1,229 yards.

Jeudy will have some drops — Pro Football Focus had him down for 10 last season, tied for second in the league. His drop percentage, however, was outside the Top 20.

Guess who else had 10 drops last season: Ja’Marr Chase, Davante Adams and Courtland Sutton, among others. So teams will live with drops if a receiver can produce like Jeudy, and those players produced.

Jerry Jeudy had a good week for the Browns at mandatory minicamp.

If there’s a player who looks ready to build on a strong season, it’s Jeudy.

2. Everything else is a crapshoot

Jamari Thrash showed some promise over the three days of minicamp. He was spending time with the first unit in the slot, which seems like a big ask, but it was a good start for the 2024 5th-rounder.

Cedric Tillman was off to the side the first two days of minicamp. The opportunity is there for him to be the No. 2 receiver but he needs to earn it in training camp.

DeAndre Carter is the next in the line of return specialists the Browns have brought in, and he’s vowing to prove there’s more to his game than just returning kicks.

Then there’s Diontae Johnson. He’s trying to save his once-promising career and the Browns have almost no obligation to him if they eventually decide it’s not worth their time to find out if he can do it.

Johnson turns 29 in July and is three seasons removed from his last 1,000-yard season, when he had 107 catches for 1,161 yards in 2021.

Still, you could see him move a little differently than some of the other non-Jeudy receivers. His feet were quick, and it’s the type of smooth athleticism that accompanies a receiver who accomplished what Johnson did in Pittsburgh, specifically in the three seasons between 2020 and 2022 when he had 2,966 receiving yards in 48 games.

Is it likely he finds that form again? Probably not.

Can the Browns get something productive out of him? Maybe. He has a lot of work to do, but there are enough questions in this group that he can work his way into the mix.

3. We might have our training camp star

Gage Larvadain has smartly become a favorite target of Shedeur Sanders, putting him on the receiving end of some nice throws. (We’ll get to the big one in a minute.)

Larvadain played two seasons at Southeastern Louisiana before spending a year at Miami (OH) University and last season at South Carolina. He had 42 receptions for 679 yards and six touchdowns during his one year with the RedHawks.

He was Southland Conference Freshman of the Year in 2021 and had 59 catches for 731 yards and two touchdowns in 2022.

He caught 19 passes for 223 yards last season at South Carolina but ran a 4.45 40-yard dash and jumped 38.5 inches at his pro day.

He’s 5-foot-8 and 171 pounds, so he’s small, but don’t be surprised if there are some highlight plays from Larvadain in training camp and late in some preseason games.

What about the quarterbacks?

There was another, less spectacular throw that stood out to tight end Tre’ McKitty on Thursday. Sanders delivered it high along the left sideline, too high for the defender covering McKitty, but perfectly placed where the 6-foot-4 tight end could reach up and snag the ball.

It was the type of ball placement and accuracy that stands out when you watch Sanders’ Colorado film.

It’s hard to fully judge Sanders in this setting because the concerns about him can only really be proven in real football games: How will he deal with pressure? Will he fall into bad habits and drift into trouble? Will he throw head-scratching interceptions? Did those things only happen because he had too much on his plate in Colorado, meaning a better line and better run game will help alleviate those issues?

Until we can really answer those questions, he’s going to keep delivering impressive throws like we saw throughout the spring and will hopefully earn some opportunities to work higher up the depth chart.

The other quarterbacks

Dillon Gabriel didn’t get much opportunity to breathe, getting thrown in the fire quickly going against the first and second team in most of camp. He looked his best when he moved down a level or two in competition, much like Sanders. Gabriel, on the surface, wasn’t better than Sanders, but it’s dangerous to overreact to offseason program performance either way, especially because we have a limited view of everything happening each day.

I recall Baker Mayfield struggling in his rookie year during the offseason program. Then he showed up to training camp and looked like a different player. So take it all with a grain of salt.

Kenny Pickett, like Gabriel, didn’t exactly put on a show. The case for starting Pickett is a team that protects the ball, leans on its run game and defense and tries to steal low-scoring slugfests late.

Joe Flacco is a pro and looked it. Unless the Browns are so scarred from last season that they can’t handle Flacco’s penchant for turnovers, he’s going to look impressive in camp and make a real push.

Much of this is based on preconceived notions, but the most interesting outcome to me is Flacco starting the season and Sanders taking over later. That might be the opposite of how the Browns see it.

And hanging over all of this are those two first-round picks, both of which could be high, and a chance to land another young quarterback with potentially more upside.

Which rookie has the most pressure?

The Browns will lean heavily on running backs Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson. Harold Fannin Jr. is the likely second tight end. Mason Graham should be a Day 1 starter.

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Second-round pick Carson Schwesinger, however, might be the draft pick they need to hit the quickest.

Minicamp offers some of the first opportunity to see full units on offense and defense, and seeing the first-team linebacker group this week was a reminder of how much this group will miss Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who is out for at least the 2025 season.

The Browns are relying heavily on Schwesinger and 32-year-old Jordan Hicks, who played well last season but has missed nine games the last two seasons. He’s a pro and will help Schwesinger.

After Hicks and Schwesinger, you start digging into players who have either played sparingly or are mostly special teams players. Nathaniel Watson could get more work in Year 2 while Mohamoud Diabate and Winston Reid could also get real time.

Devin Bush is also back for a second season. He is facing simple assault and harassment charges stemming from an alleged domestic dispute with his girlfriend. Much like Diabate, he was fine last season but is a player who could struggle if he’s overexposed.

None of those names makes you feel great about the state of the linebacking corps, but if Schwesinger can play early and often, it would help ease the strain on the depth pieces behind him and Hicks.

If it takes some time, this group is awfully thin.