What's the Cedric Tillman Buzz from OTAs? | Cleveland Browns Podcast

Cedric Tilman just wanted to do a quick blurb on Cedric Tilman because he was a guy that one of the main dudes at OTAs I know obviously Amari wasn't there Elijah didn't come to the first session and Jerry Judy I think had a little bit of like a I think he already had like a little injury situation where he was I mean he was still out there running routs but I think it kind of limited him a little bit on some of the drills so Cedric Tilman was kind of like the top dude out there and you know he's out there building that rapport with DeShawn Wat in the chemistry we saw Tillman have some issues last year didn't really seem to be on the same page with the Playbook the play calls with the quarterback running his routes breaking stuff off not following through but there was no denying that when I mean the the dude made some grown ass man catches yes yeah uh to for me right now as we sit here it's it's crazy to think that he may be able to jump over like Elijah Moore on the dep chart but like physically if you look at those two Cedric Tillman is probably a half a foot taller and like 30 40 pounds heavier yes and dominant and like I I feel like he kind of brings like a mentality to his play you know what I mean like I I just he kind of just is so physical with everything and like he's a guy that I'd love for everything to go through cuz when we drafted him we were like hey maybe this is the new Amari you know I mean maybe this is our next number one and it just kind of never really got there he didn't really get the opportunities any of that but um physically I mean if if he can make the jump and he can beat out Elijah Moore on the depth chart my goodness could be could be huge especially if we're throwing around more my biggest argument with everybody either like Cedric Tillman is going to be you know a big time player this year I'm like he had a lot of trouble seeing the field you know he was just kind of buried on the dep chart until there was injuries and stuff like that but you're hearing about this offense we're throwing it all over the place going for wide so maybe he finally does get that opportunity to come in and if it all is clicking and he's picking up the Playbook better and finishing routes and all that stuff maybe there's something to this I think there is and I know um the the main kicker for this segment that you know made it onto the list for me was I was listening to a fantasy podcast earlier in the week and they were talking they just brought up Cedric Tillman randomly from the Cleveland Browns I'm like Cedric Tilman I mean they they didn't talk about Amari Jerry Judy Elijah I'm like why are they and they said that they were here in reports from whatever sources they had that Cedric Tillman was pretty much a locked to be a starting outside receiver for the Browns so it was going to be Amari Tilman and they were going to move Jerry Judy into the slot which I think I've been talking all the time that's perfect I want Judy in the slot I would honestly if Elijah Moore is going to play I want him on the outside he's better on the outside than he is in the slot so Cedric Tilman to me me I was so excited when we drafted him uh if you guys watched that draft Night episode I was I was like pumped that we got him I I think that he's got very good talent and very good potential Uh Kevin stefansky after the the OTAs and mini camps his quote which I thought you know there's coach speak and then there's you know you kind of read into some things but what he said about Cedric was interesting he said he was here every single day I don't know if that was kind of like a slight on the other guys but like hey look I don't know what these other guys are doing but I know Cedric was here every day that's kind of how I took but he said was here every single day I know he got better because of that I think he got better in the wait room got better in the meeting room and he definitely got better on the grass to me that's that's High Praise from the head coach from your coach yes so that was good to see um and again you know we had am Mar on Brown on the show last week I think whatever and uh you know he talked about Cedric Tilman a lot he said he's one of the main guys took the rookies under his wing showing them the ropes kind of helping them along and it's like I feel like Cedric Tilman is embracing this leadership role with these younger guys and and coming in as a rookie can be tough yeah you know especially like you said buried on the depth chart dpj was here you know they just traded for Elijah Moore you know and and then everything deshun Watson gets hurt they're rotating through quarterbacks the Run Nick chub gets hurt the the Run game's falling apart it was just like it was a mess last year the offensive situation was just a mess so I I'm excited to see what zedric tman can do this year absolutely isn't it kind of interesting too like like cuz it's not like he's like a Wy vet right he's a second-year guy he's still learning things like as far as like how to be a Pros Pro so I I do think it's very cool that like he's taking the rookies under you know his wing or whatever you want to say and kind of guiding them along but I you know he's not that far removed from that situation I think maybe that's part of it and I think it helps that he was you know he was a older rookie was 23 when he was drafted so he's a little more mature a little more grown up you would think than you know maybe like a 20-year-old kid coming in so it's just good to see and again like you mentioned the the physicality I me that block that he laid was at vany in Baltimore Baltimore yeah he had a couple blocks last year where he just laid some guys out and again just he made some catches and it went back to we saw in the preseason he was making hands catch just grab plucking that ball out of the air strong hands physical just coming through contact and everything it's like man that is a that's the type of receiver we need yes to kind of round out this wide receiver room so pretty excited to see what Cedric Tilman can do here in 2024 absolutely okay I just I I I saw some of the same things uh that you saw about how I heard stefansky talk about him said he's gotten better everywhere and on the grass y um I've heard some other things like he's been he looked really good in uh in OTAs and stuff Andy played well um so nothing what do you want me to do bro I can't just start busting up laughing yes you can uh so we're getting loose here you know know I was sitting over here the whole time not on mics and I'm just being want uh in terms of what kind of leap I expect to take from him I think it's all about opportunity I I know we're going to run more you know wide openen three four wide receiver sets the offense is going to be more pass happy and that kind of stuff so I would I would assume he's going to take a leap statistically as opposed to what he did last year you would think he's going to take that leap um but do I think he's going to come out and put up 8 00 yards in six or seven touch Downs I would don't know if I'd go that far as if he's going to be the the true number he's not he's the probably the four the number four I think I mean can we get 400 yards out of him you know two to four touchdowns yeah somewhere in there then I think maybe like we could consider that a successful season for Tillman and it at least gives you confidence in him that maybe he can move up to a three or a number three or number two receiver once you know like Amari Cooper is out uh not here anymore if Elijah Moore isn't here for a second time uh contract and that kind of stuff maybe it gives you a little bit of faith that he can step into that role if he he produces in a more limited role um I just don't think like you're not gonna sit Cooper Judy Mo you're not going to wa take away targets from David and joku to be getting Cedric tman the ball unless he forces your hand unless he really has gone from like you know what he was last year to just a guy like well there's he's making it so we can't keep the ball out of his hands like he's just playing that well then good for us but I just I think the opportunities are going to be limited in terms of where he is on the depth chart I think sometimes you know we talk about like running backs will get maybe some opportunities because they're good at pass Pro I think Cedric will get some opportunities just strictly because they need him on the field to block yeah but those are going to be run plays sure but you know then you get maybe some audible you know situations and things like that where they check out of it and go to a pass play out you know I think down around the Red Zone he is a big body guy and he we saw him last year he he made he he hand catches yeah he doesn't let the ball get on his chest like he goes up and plucks it out of the air so I do like him as a Red Zone Target um and I I liked Cedric Tillman's rookie year I know it like wasn't gudy statistically but he played tough and he might have made some mental mistakes you know as any rookie would but man I I thought he showed promise as a rookie especially as a rookie who let's be honest even though we got rid of dpj so he could step into that role what role was he taking from dpj a guy who had 98 yards it's not like dpj was you know getting so many targets and then uh so we got rid of him so Cedric tman can get those targets dpj wasn't getting targets either you know so um I do think he'll have more opportunity this year though just based on the offense we're supposed to run and by all accounts we have been running and it's actually different this year not the fake different that we got last year yeah the fake different we got last year was very disappointing but now we're hearing players actually talk about it so when players say stuff that means a little more than just media people talking about oh yeah it's going to be different or you know even coaches saying it like because the players are out there actually doing it so