The Cleveland Browns traded away Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills. The trade was centered around a third round pick that the Browns would receive. This was a great value for the team, especially when considering that Cooper was almost guaranteed to not be on the team moving forward after this year.
The primary beneficiary of the trade so far has been wide receiver Cedric Tillman. The big framed receiver is doing everything in his power to capitalize on the opportunity that is right in front of him.
Tillman's journey to the NFL has not been typical. He went to college at the University of Tennessee. Here Tillman put up solid numbers, but the program did not have the receivers run a very advanced route tree and the offense didn't utilize advanced concepts. This made him be a little bit behind developmentally last year, as evidenced with some of his miscommunications with Joe Flacco.
Even with his college offense not setting him up for the most success as the next level, there were several people who were big fans of the receiver. Steve Smith Sr. has gone on record saying that Tillman was one of his favorite receivers in the 2023 NFL Draft, citing his ability to separate off of press coverage and to fight for extra yards.
To his credit, Tillman has worked extremely hard and has done everything that he can to be successful. He had a very strong showing, being one of the top performers in training camp this year.
While Cooper was here, Tillman was not getting very many opportunities. After the trade though, Tillman is showing the Browns that they have a talented receiver.
The emergence of Tillman has been a welcomed sight. In the new offense led by Jameis Winston, he looks to continue this trend and to keep building off of it. He's looking to prove that he belongs and that the Browns can count on him in the future.
Tillman, Jerry Jeudy, Elijah Moore look to continue Week 8 success
Tillman wasn't the only receiver who shined in Week 8 against the Baltimore Ravens. Jerry Jeudy and Elijah Moore, who had been struggling to find consistent yards with Deshaun Watson under center, both finished up with over 75 receiving yards. That made for three receivers total who had caught for over 75 yards with Winston compared to just one receiver who had touched that number with Watson all season.
If there's any argument to be made for Winston to keep starting and be retained next season to either start or act as a veteran bridge between himself and whichever quarterback the Browns choose to draft, Week 8 is a perfect piece to that argument.
