Written by Thomas Moore

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The Cleveland Browns open training camp this week in Berea with a new outlook on the offensive side of the ball.

But unlike the defense, which will we cover tomorrow, the changes on offense come not from an influx of new players but from one key area – offensive coordinator Norv Turner.

We’ve been intrigued to see what Turner will bring to the field ever since the Browns hired him. Even before the team has played a single game or held a real training camp practice, Turner is clearly the best offensive coordinator the Browns have employed since ... well, probably Lindy Infante. From Maurice Carthon, who hasn’t had an offensive coordinator position since being fired in Cleveland; to Brian Daboll, who has had head coaches fired in Cleveland, Miami and Kansas City; to Pat Shumur, who is now getting coffee and sandwiches (allegedly) for Chip Kelly in Philadelphia, Browns fans have been witness to some of the worst offensive minds in the NFL over the years.

A quick look at Turner’s coaching career shows some pretty interesting highlights:

• Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman goes from throwing 36 interceptions in this first three years to just 10 in his three years in Turner’s offense.
• Washington’s passing attack moves from 26th in the NFL to 11th in Turner’s first year in charge – and that’s with Heath Shuler at quarterback.
• Oakland moves from 27th to eighth in the NFL in passing in Turner’s first year as head coach.

Turner’s offense is based on a consistent running game, an accurate passing game that takes chances downfield and utilizing the tight end as an offensive weapon. That philosophy should maximize whatever skills the Browns possess on offense, particularly those of quarterback Brandon Weeden (the accuracy part still needs work) and running back Trent Richardson. (The Browns are still working on the tight end part; can’t fix everything at once, after all.)

One aspect of Turner’s offensive philosophy that we really like is his willingness to fit his game plans and play calling around the talent of the players, rather than forcing the players to fit a pre-conceived notion of how an offense should look. (Hello, more shotgun for Weeden.)

“I don’t think it’s hard to be innovative with your play calls, but it’s hard to make sure that the guys you have are comfortable running those plays,” Turner wrote in an NFL.com article from a few years ago. “The key is to make sure you have a group of plays that your team can execute and then find a way to make them look different to the defense. That was the key to this system when Don Coryell put it together years ago. He made it very player friendly. You can give the defense a lot of different looks while running basically the same plays.”

Turner is also not stuck on the need to script plays, rather emphasizing plays that he knows he will want to call on Sundays and then using them accordingly.

“We do try to script the 12 first- and second-down plays that we’re really looking at using. We use it mostly for the teaching and preparation aspect,” Turner wrote. “We don’t script as much as other people, and we don’t script third downs because it’s just too hard to predict the down-and-distance situation. But the 12 plays we look at are ones you’re definitely going to call on Sunday and probably call early. If you get too caught up in a script and they completely change up the defense, then it’s really hard to get out of that mentally and pull something up.”

The player who should benefit the most from that approach is Weeden. As we noted numerous times last season, there has to be something there with Weeden, you don’t just put up the type of numbers he did in college (even if it was against Big 12 defenses) unless there is a talent level not possessed by the likes of Brian Hoyer (just saying). Turner has been around successful quarterbacks long enough to know what to look for and how to maximize Weeden’s skills.

“I think (Brandon’s) got more of a sense of urgency, and I think he’s playing faster,” Turner told the team’s website. “That comes with doing the same things over and over again, and that comes with having a little bit better understanding of what he’s doing.

“The way I’ve always looked at it, and the way (coach Rob Chudzinski) and I have always talked about it, is everything we do in the offseason is to get ready to go to camp. I think Brandon and all our guys have done a good job preparing to go to camp.”

Turner’s influence seems to be rubbing off on Weeden, who appears to realize that time is not necessarily on his side.

“I’m going to go out there with confidence. I’m not going to be timid. I’m going to go out there and play hard and leave it on the line and take the chances I did and always have,” Weeden told The Beacon Journal. “(I’m going to) throw the ball and throw the ball in tight windows and trust my arm. It’s hard to play this position when you are aiming throws and second-guessing throws. You have to play aggressive and be aggressive at all times.”

Simply put, the job is Weeden’s to lose. Having Jason Campbell on the team as a backup is nice as he can help Weeden learn what it takes to be an NFL quarterback in terms of how to prepare during the week, but if Weeden fails and the Browns have to turn to Campbell or Hoyer for any extensive time, it’s going to be a longer year than many are expecting.

Other than Turner, the best thing to happen to Weeden (and by extension the Browns) is the return to health of Richardson.

At first glance, Richardson’s numbers from his rookie season may not look very good, but he was also misused in Shurmur’s offense and played a large part of the season with broken ribs. But he still managed to rush for 11 touchdowns, showing he knows how to find the end zone.

Turner clearly knows how to use running backs, most notably LaDainian Tomlinson and Emmitt Smith.

Turner arrived in Dallas for Smith’s second season and the running back rushed for 1,563 yards in Turner’s offense – a 67 percent increase from his rookie season. He followed that up with 1,713 and 1,486 rushing yards before Turner left the Cowboys to take over as head coach in Washington.

The impact on Tomlinson’s career is not as prominent as he had already played six seasons before Turner came in as head coach in San Diego, but Tomlinson had his last big season in 2007, averaging 4.7 yards per rush – the third highest number in his career – under Turner.

It would be easy to argue that Tomlinson and Smith were going to be highly successful not matter what, but coaching had to play some role in their success.

Turner likes to use a variety of alignments and play-action in his offense, and Richardson’s health and ability to pick up the system is going to be a key to any success the Browns find on offense this year. If Richardson can make opposing defenses really have to worry about him that can only make Weeden’s job that much simpler.

The one thing the Browns need to do during training camp and in the friendlies leading up to the regular season is not over-work Richardson. After missing time last season with injuries and having more issues this spring, Richardson is going to be over-eager to get out on the field and it’s up to the coaching staff to make sure he knows that the team needs him when the games matter.

“I don’t think (Trent will) take a beating at all in our training camp practices,” Turner told The Plain Dealer. “I think coach (Chudzinski) and our trainers and our doctors have put together a really good plan for Trent. I think he’s going to get as much work as he needs to get ready and then we’ll make sure he’s fresh and healthy, but he’s going to get his share of the work in this camp like every player. When I started this thing off, you have to put a lot of time in. It takes a lot of work to be ready to play in this league. He needs to go through the same process everyone else does.”

It helps that the Browns have a surplus of running backs in Montario Hardesty, Brandon Jackson, Dion Lewis and Chris Ogbonnaya that can take some of the load of Richardson as well as provide the coaching staff with additional opportunities to evaluate them.

As for the rest of the offense, barring an injury there seems to be very little intrigue over who the starters will be.

At wide receiver, Greg Little, Josh Gordon (once he comes back from his two-game suspension) and Davonne Bess are the likely primary receivers, with Little (6-2, 220) and Gordon (6-3, 225) being the type of big wide receivers that Turner likes in his offense.

The influence of Bess, entering his sixth season in the league, can’t be underestimated. Just like Campbell can help Weeden, Bess can help a receiving group where Little, entering his third season, is the elder. Bess is also a reliable receiver, one who has 130 receptions on third down in his career, second best in the league during that time, and showing that he is a receiver that knows to run eight yards on third-and-seven. Knowing that Bess is there for him on third down can only make things easier, again, for Weeden.

Travis Benjamin will certainly see time (the Browns need someone to stretch the field even once Gordon returns) and, once he returns to health, David Nelson is someone who should be able to provide depth and help in the passing game.

Tight end is another story. After presumed started Jordan Cameron there is just Kellen Davis (47 career receptions in four years) and second-year player Brad Smelley (one career reception for three yards).

The Browns selected Cameron in the 2011 draft and have brought him along slowly as he has mostly sat the past two years behind the since departed Ben Watson and Alex Smith (when Smith wasn’t taking handoffs in the backfield, that is). If Cameron is going to turn into a productive player, then this is the offense to do it in.

NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks even went as far as to write that Cameron would be the most improved tight end in the NFL this season, predicting that Cameron would finish with 55 receptions and nine touchdown receptions on the season.

Seeing as how former Browns tight end Ozzie Newsome only caught nine touchdown passes once in his Hall of Fame career that may be a bit of a stretch, but Brooks does make a case for Cameron having an impact this season, writing that:

“The arrivals of head coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner ensure the tight end will be featured prominently in the Browns’ passing game. As disciples of Ernie Zampese – who was greatly influenced by Don Coryell – Chudzinski and Turner both boast distinguished reputations for transforming developmental tight ends into premier playmakers.

“Chudzinski, a long-time NFL tight ends coach, has tutored some of the finest tight ends in the NFL to the most productive seasons in their respective careers. In Antonio Gates’ four seasons under Chudzinski’s direction, the perennial Pro Bowler averaged 72.3 receptions for 991 receiving yards and 9.3 touchdowns. In Gates’ six years without Chudzinski, those averages drop to 58.8 caches for 726.1 yards and 7.7 touchdowns. Kellen Winslow enjoyed the best season of his career with Chudzinski’s help in 2007, tallying 82 receptions for 1,106 yards and five touchdowns. Most recently, Greg Olsen posted career bests in receptions (69) and receiving yards (843) under Chudzinski’s guidance last season.”

Hey, works for us.

No matter who is calling the plays, the offensive line should once again be the team’s strength after finishing last season ranked as the league’s fifth-best by Pro Football Focus.

Left tackle Joe Thomas is one of the best in the league, center Alex Mack is without question the best in the division (even if the Browns front office does not realize it yet) and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz is one of the best draft picks former general manager Tom Heckert made while in town.

The one uncertainty is at guard, although it seems likely that John Greco will grab one of the starting positions now that the team has signed him to a new contract. The Browns are hoping that they can somehow combine Shaun Lauvao (the line’s weakest link) and Jason Pinkston into something serviceable at the right guard spot.

For the first time in a long time this should be an interesting training camp and preseason for the right reasons. We won’t have to endure a Brady Quinn vs. Derek Anderson quarterback battle (where the losers were the fans), or hear about Colt McCoy’s intangibles and weak arm.

Instead, the Browns can focus on getting players healthy and getting everyone the proper amount of reps so everyone is ready when the regular season starts on Sept. 8 against Miami. You know, like a real NFL team.

Whether or not that translates to on-field success this fall remains to be seen, but for now we are putting our hope into one simple phrase:

In Norv We Trust.

(Norv Turner photo courtesy of USA Today)

(Brandon Weeden photo courtesy of Getty Images)

(Davonne Bess photo courtesy of the Associated Press)

(Joe Thomas photo courtesy of US Presswire)