Sure, receiver Dwayne Bowe underachieved after signing a market-value contract in Kansas City. Yeah, he missed the first game of the 2014 season due to an off-field incident involving a leafy substance the NFL inexplicably still cares about. Right, he enters 2015 needing only one touchdown reception to exceed his total from last season.
Regardless of those things, Bowe upgrades a receiving corps in Cleveland that badly needed one. And coach Mike Pettine has noticed the difference through the offseason program.
“The thing about Dwayne, we wanted to make sure that we had pretty good variation, diversity in the skill set in that room and a bigger body guy that can still be covered but has a good catch radius, strong hands and can make the contested catches,” Pettine told reporters on Wednesday. “He’s proven he can do that throughout his career. Throughout the spring, he’s shown us time and time again examples of why we brought him here.”
Bowe hasn’t had more than 1,000 receiving yards in a season since 2012, and he hasn’t had more than five touchdown receptions in a season since 2011, when he snagged 15. But the ninth-year player, who turns 31 in September, surely has gas in the tank; the challenge will be getting him the ball.
If quarterback Josh McCown plays like he did in Chicago two years ago (and I think he will), that shouldn’t be an issue.
