Cleveland Browns training camp 2026: WR preview, Part 1 – Suddenly loaded with options?
Next up on our training camp preview is the wide receiver position. It was one of the most ridiculed positions on the team last year, with many saying it was the worst group in football. Heading into this year’s camp, though, we’re mostly debating who the No. 4 receiver should be. Is that a good thing?
1. Jerry Jeudy – Starting WR
Height: 6-1 | Weight: 195 lbs | Age: 27
Experience: 7 years | College: Alabama
Fans are setting low expectations for Jerry Jeudy after his disappointing 2025 season. It’s almost hard to believe he still accumulated 602 yards. Granted, that’s very low for a team’s No. 1 receiver who missed no games, but he was criticized so much and had so many glaring negative plays that it felt more like a 400-yard type of season.
It was alarming how poor Jeudy played last year, considering the career highs he set with Cleveland in 2023. I was there in Denver for that Monday Night Football game against the Broncos that season when he caught 9 passes for 235 yards and 1 touchdown. I had never seen anything like it with respect to the moves Jeudy was making and how often he was breaking wide open against what was a talented Broncos defense. With better quarterback play, he could have gone for 300+ yards that evening.
We’ve seen the good from Jeudy, and we’ve seen the bad. I tend to lean optimistically toward a player’s upside, especially with a new head coach in town and being able to start with a clean slate for 2026. But if Jeudy does end up making some of the same critical errors he did a season ago, it won’t be long before fans are calling for the rookies to take over the team’s No. 1 role.
Final Roster Odds: 100%
2. KC Concepcion – Rookie WR
Height: 6-0 | Weight: 190 lbs | Age: 21
Experience: Rookie | College: Texas A&M
With the 24th pick in the first round of this year’s draft, the Browns drafted KC Concepcion. I attended Day 1 of the draft in Pittsburgh this year to witness all the festivities (see video tour here), but I wanted to beat traffic for the late-night drive back to Cleveland. After the Browns selected Spencer Fano, I took the train back to my car, hoping that Cleveland would go through with the OT-WR combo. Just as I got to the car, the pick was in for Cleveland, and it was the guy we wanted — the speedy Concepcion.
Concepcion was still polishing his craft as he entered the NFL, but his draft stock shows the upside he has. He projects to be either a starting Z receiver to avoid the jams, or work out of the slot and letting his versatile playmaking ability shine through.
Here are some features our staff wrote up if you want to learn more about Concepcion:
- Why KC Concepcion makes so much sense in Cleveland (Matt Wilson)
- KC Concepcion, WR, Texas A&M stats, awards, and scouting report (Jared Mueller)
- Everything you need to know from childhood to NFL draft (Barry Shuck)
Final Roster Odds: 100%
3. Denzel Boston – Rookie WR
Height: 6-4 | Weight: 215 lbs | Age: 22
Experience: Rookie | College: Washington
With the 39th pick, in the second round of the draft, the Browns selected Denzel Boston. While some fans were skeptical of Concepcion’s NFL-readiness, an overwhelming 80% of fans graded the selection of Boston as an “A.”
He was known as a perimeter receiver in college and has great size, great hands, and knows how to use his frame against defenders to pull the ball out of the air. It’s a contrasting style than what Concepcion offers, but they have the ability to complement each other well. With 20 touchdowns in the past two seasons at college, imagine teams trying to defend the size of both Boston and TE Harold Fannin in the red zone.
Here are some features our staff wrote up if you want to learn more about Boston:
- NFL Draft Profile: WR Denzel Boston, Washington (Matthew Wilson)
- Denzel Boston, WR, Washington stats, awards, and scouting report (Jared Mueller)
- Everything you need to know from childhood to NFL draft (Barry Shuck)
Final Roster Odds: 80%
4. Cedric Tillman – Backup WR
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 215 lbs | Age: 26
Experience: 4 years | College: Tennessee
When the Browns drafted Cedric Tillman in the 3rd round of the 2023 draft, they were hoping he’d have the upside to become a solid starting receiver, and a guy who could replace Donovan Peoples-Jones.
After three years in the NFL, though, he has averaged 277 yards and 2 touchdowns, with a few injuries being mixed in. It’s been so uneventful that it seems like the type of career trajectory to where if the Browns were to cut him, I honestly don’t think he’d be signed to another team’s 53-man roster.
With Cleveland’s two draft picks, in a best-case scenario, Tillman has fallen to fourth on the depth chart. For him to stick around, he’s going to need to have a really good training camp and preseason. Otherwise, if it’s just an average type of season, then the team would rather keep guys who are younger, have more potential, or punt return ability.
Final Roster Odds: 60%
5. Isaiah Bond – Backup WR
Height: 5-11 | Weight: 180 lbs | Age: 22
Experience: 2 years| College: Texas
Isaiah Bond was projected to be a Day 2 draft pick in 2025, before some off-the-field headlines plummeted his stock and he went undrafted. In mid-August, he signed with the Browns and debuted a few weeks later, with the staff seeming to prefer his potential immediately over Tillman.
Bond finished the season with 18 catches for 338 yards (18.8 yards per reception). His speed makes him a deep ball threat, and he showed some intriguing things as a rookie that warrant a further look. Bond caught a deep ball in Shedeur Sanders’ first start against the Raiders last year, and he caught another deep ball from Sanders earlier this offseason:
Final Roster Odds: 90%
6. Malachi Corley – Backup WR
Height: 5-11 | Weight: 215 lbs | Age: 24
Experience: 3 years | College: Western Kentucky
Malachi Corley was taken at the beginning of the 3rd round in 2024 (No. 65 overall), but was waived by the Jets last offseason during final roster cuts. By the end of September, he was on the Browns’ roster.
Since he wasn’t with the team in training camp, fans didn’t get a good look at what he could do, and his reps on gameday were fairly limited. When he did play, though, it seemed like he was utilized rather heavily. For the season, he caught 11 passes for 79 yards. The crazy part of his game is that while not much worked offensively for Kevin Stefanski last year, every time he dialed up a jet sweep to Corley, I swear it went for 14 yards every single time. Corley had 13 rushes for 127 yards (9.8 YPC) and wasn’t too far off from being the team’s second-leading rusher.
Corley had a nice, shifty nature to his game. Since he did begin on the Browns’ practice squad last year, it’s not too far fetched to say he might begin there again, if he doesn’t make the roster. And with Todd Monken as the team’s new head coach, he may not even have the same thought of, “Hey, this guy knows what to do on these jet sweeps, let me get him the ball.” Those plays might just go to a guy like Concepcion. Corley was also one of the Browns’ return men last year, having 21 returns for 492 yards (23.4 yards per return). That did include one dumb play in which he fielded a kickoff around the 5 yard line that was headed out of bounds.
Final Roster Odds: 50%
In our poll question below, we’re asking which wide receiver you think will be penciled in at No. 4 on the depth chart.
