Tag: Ronnie Hickman Jr.

Studs and Duds: Which Browns players put on a show in primetime vs. the Jets

Joe Flacco and Ronnie Hickman Jr. led the Browns to a win over the Jets. Who else stood out?

The Cleveland Browns secured a playoff berth in a 37-20 thrashing of the New York Jets. The game was a story of two halves. The team was laser-focused heading into the prime-time game.  

The Browns dominated the Jets across the board in the first half. In the second half, the team tried to secure their lead and protect their players from future injuries ahead of the playoffs.

Overall, the Browns played some of their best football on Thursday night. The offense was [anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]more explosive than ever, generating a lot of big plays for the unit. The defense continued its domination by shutting down the Jets for most of the game. The team is playing its best football of the season right before the playoffs. 

The Browns need to carry this momentum into the playoffs. The teams that win Super Bowls aren’t always the most talented. Sometimes, they’re the teams that play their best at the end of the season. Hopefully, the Browns can find themselves in that latter group as injuries have decimated a talented roster, but haven’t robbed the team of their fighting spirit.

Here are the Studs and Duds in the Browns’ win over the Jets.

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Browns, Jets trade pick-sixes in the first half

A pair of pick-sixes in the first half of the Jets-Browns game

There were points aplenty on the scoreboard as the New York Jets played the Cleveland Browns in the final Thursday Night Football game of 2023.

And, each team had a defensive TD, courtesy of a pick-six.

Ronnie Hickman returned a Trevor Siemian pass 30 yards for a score in the first quarter to give Cleveland a 20-7 lead.

The PAT failed.

Jermaine Johnson answered for the Jets, plucking a Joe Flacco pass and taking it 37 yards in the second quarter.

The score cut the Jets’ deficit to 27-14 after the PAT.

Undrafted rookie Ronnie Hickman Jr. gets first career pick 6 as Browns piling on Jets early

Thrust into action because of injury, Ronnie Hickman Jr. gives the Browns six with an interception return vs. the Jets

It was surprising when Ohio State safety Ronnie Hickman Jr. wasn’t drafted in this year’s draft. But the Cleveland Browns snatched him up as a free agent and that has paid off as of late. With more injuries to the safety room, Hickman was thrust into action and has earned playing time even with Juan Thornhill back against the New York Jets.

Playing deep free safety was not a strength of his when in college but under the Browns defensive coaches he has grown. After the Browns got up 13-7 the Jets looked to strike back but instead, Hickman decided he would add to the lead taking his first career interception back for a Browns touchdown.

That pushed the lead to 20-7 Browns in the first quarter of a game where if Cleveland wins they clinch a playoff birth. The Jets offense has struggled this year and now the Browns pass rush can be set free.

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UDFA rookie safety Ronnie Hickman Jr. brilliant in Browns’ win over Bears

What a performance from the rookie

With injuries piling up all over the roster, the Cleveland Browns have had to turn to young and inexperienced players at several positions. Down their top-three safeties, Cleveland turned to undrafted free agent rookie Ronnie Hickman Jr. to start at free safety against the Chicago Bears.

Hickman was ready for the moment and ended up PFF’s highest-graded rookie this week with an overall grade of 90.6. The craziest part about it is that he played all but four snaps Sunday and a majority of them were at free safety. In college that is where he struggled the most and most of his success came as a box safety playing closer to the line of scrimmage.

It continues to be a testament to how well-coached and prepared everyone is on the roster. The team continues to be nearly unfazed by the injuries and lives by the “next man up” mentality. General manager Andrew Berry continues to show how good of a roster builder he is with people stepping up all over the roster to keep the team in the playoff race.

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Jordan Elliott plays a ton, Sione Takitaki gets MIKE reps, and more snap count takeaways from Browns vs. Bengals

What were the biggest takeaways from the snap count totals from Browns vs. Bengals?

The Cleveland Browns are 1-0 for the second straight season after taking down the defending AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals by a score of 24-3 on Sunday. They now look to get off to a 2-0 start, and a 2-0 start in the division as well, as they are set to take on the banged-up Pittsburgh Steelers on national television on Monday night.

Before we turn the page to Steelers week, however, there is still more to review and analyze from this Week 1 beatdown. There is still all-22 to watch and breakdown, standouts to highlight, and in this article, snap counts to take a deep look at.

Snap counts have since been released for their win over the Bengals, and there are a few things that have caught my eye. Here are four takeaways that stood out from how the Browns used and rotated their personnel during the rainy Sunday affair against their interstate rivals.

Predicting 21 players the Browns will cut by Tuesday at 4 PM

The Browns have some more cuts to make.

The Cleveland Browns have already been busy as they have worked to get their roster down to 53 players. They have even made a trade to add a young running back to their room in Pierre Strong Jr. There is still work to be done, however, as players like defensive tackle Jordan Elliott and kicker Cade York hang out on the fringes of the roster.

They have already trimmed their roster to 76, but they still have to find 23 other players to cut before Tuesday’s deadline at 4 PM. Here are 21 players who will likely be cut in the process.

PFF’s 10 highest-graded Browns defenders against the Commanders

Who stood out the most according to PFF on defense for the Browns?

The second preseason game is in the books as the Cleveland Browns fell to the Washington Commanders 17-15 on Friday night in Cleveland. The starters that did play showed why fans are excited for the upcoming season. Overall the defense showed up both from a starter standpoint and some of the young depth pieces that saw playing time.

The biggest standout from the defensive side was undrafted free-agent safety Ronnie Hickman Jr. He received the highest grade on the defensive side from PFF. All in all the top 11 graded players on the defensive side received a grade of 70 overall or higher, here are the top 10 graded defenders for the Browns.

4 Downs: Starters shine, Dorian Thompson-Robinson stays hot, more takeaways vs. Commanders

What stood out in the preseason game against the Commanders?

While the Cleveland Browns lost in their preseason matchup to the Washington Commanders, there were plenty of reasons to feel positive about the product that was put on the field. We saw some unique usage of new wide receiver Elijah Moore, the first teamers play one series offensively (and a few more series for the defense), and the Browns even fought, scratched, and clawed back into the game to the very end.

This is a great thing to see from a morale and chemistry perspective even if it is second and third stringers on the field.

What were the biggest takeaways here? We break that down in this week’s edition of 4 Downs.