3 Browns Players Who Need to Step Up Immediately

Odell Beckham Jr. needs to play more like the Cleveland Browns' No. 1 wide receiver. 

Beckham's struggles in the main receiving categories are one of the reasons why the Browns are mired at the bottom of the AFC North with a 4-4 record. 

Cleveland has not played well in the last month. It has lost three of its last four games and its only victory was earned by Case Keenum over the Denver Broncos. 

The Browns failed to take advantage of a three-game home stand, and now they have to hit the road to face the Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens in three of the next four contests prior to their Week 13 bye.

If Beckham and others do not turn their play around, the Browns could be closer to a top-10 pick in the 2022 NFL draft pick than a playoff position heading into the bye week. 

Beckham has the second-most receiving yards on the Cleveland roster, but that is not an achievement worth bragging about. 

Cleveland's No. 1 wide receiver has 232 receiving yards, and he has caught 50 percent of the 34 targets thrown at him over six games. 

Beckham has two games with more than 70 receiving yards, and one of them came in his first appearance of the season in Week 3. 

Since that game, Beckham has averaged 31 yards per game. He hit a new low in Week 8, as he caught one ball for six yards in the loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Beckham's production is far from good enough for a team that has dealt with a ton of injuries and has little margin for error in a competitive AFC North. 

Cleveland fans have to hope that Sunday's miserable outing from Beckham is the rock bottom he can bounce back from, but it is hard to believe that will happen since he has not played well all season. 

Blake Hance is expected to fill in at one of the most important positions on the field over the next few weeks. 

Hance should take over for injured right tackle Jack Conklin, who is expected to miss multiple weeks with a dislocated elbow, per ESPN.com's Jake Trotter. 

Hance, who started in place of Conklin earlier in the season, will be the target of opposing pass-rushers with Jedrick Wills Jr. healthy and back on the left side of the offensive line. 

Cleveland's pass protection has been questionable during the losing run. Baker Mayfield was taken down nine times in his last two starts. 

The Steelers got to Mayfield on four occasions on Sunday. The Arizona Cardinals sacked the quarterback five times and forced a pair of fumbles in the Week 6 matchup in Cleveland. 

If Hance brings stability to the right side of the line, the Browns could move in the right direction offensively. 

Some members of the Cleveland secondary have played well, but Ronnie Harrison needs to play better to match the output of Denzel Ward, Greedy Williams and others. 

Harrison has given up the most passing touchdowns in coverage of any Browns player through eight games. He has conceded five scoring plays, and opponents have a 14.7 yards per completion rate against him. 

Additionally, Harrison has allowed 95 yards after the catch, which is the second-highest total on the Cleveland roster. 

All of Harrison's advanced defensive metrics are worse than the totals he produced a year ago over 11 games. 

Opposing quarterbacks have a 64.7 completion rate against Harrison, and it's already been noted that he is a liability in red-zone situations. 

Harrison has not been penalized much, but he did commit a stupid unnecessary roughness foul with Pittsburgh in the red zone on Sunday.

If Harrison cleans up his play, the Browns secondary could be one of the best units in football, but until then, opponents could target the team's weak link at a high rate.

Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.