Although Josh Gordon originally was suspended for the entire 2014 season after failing another drug test, that punishment was cut to 10 games and officially ends later this month.
Some believed that a Browns offense without its best receiver would be a complete mess -- and it was hard to argue with that theory -- but in reality, quarterback Brian Hoyer has played better than most of us would have expected.
But now that Gordon is preparing to return for the Nov. 23 game vs. the Falcons, it's not difficult to imagine that Gordon immediately would be proclaimed once again as the team's offensive savior.
Or maybe not.
"Do you disrupt what you do offensively just to make sure that you throw the ball to Josh Gordon?" general manager Ray Farmer said, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I don't know if that's really the right way to operate. Is he a phenomenal talent? Sure I'd tell you that he is a talented young man and he can do a lot of good things.
"But do you kind of disrupt what you are to just make sure that one person gets the ball? I think that teams win. Talent doesn't. It's really about building a team and people have to find a way to fit into the team and I think that's what we're looking for here is a championship-level team."
After beating out first-round pick Johnny Manziel for the right to start at quarterback, Hoyer has performed relatively well, racking up a quarterback rating of 90.3 and leading the Browns to a 5-3 record. It's better than we might have expected, and though Cleveland doesn't have a legit No. 1 receiver without Gordon, the Browns have gotten help from Andrew Hawkins and a somewhat-resurgent Miles Austin.
Of course, completely ignoring Gordon, last year's NFL receiving yards leader, seemingly would be foolish.
"I know this may get painted that I'm trying to point at Josh," Farmer said. "I'm not pointing at Josh. Everybody on our football team has to play a role. They've got to fit into what we want to do. ... This is more of everybody that comes through our football team, it's not based on talent, it's based upon can you fit into what we're going to do short and long term."
