Sampson on IR Removes the One Offensive Player Who Could Do Two Things

Dylan Sampson is on injured reserve with a knee injury, and the Browns' offensive planning just got noticeably harder. Last season he was the one back who could carry the ball and line up in the passing game with some reliability — 175 rushing yards and 33 catches for 271 yards across 15 games. Not a star number, but a useful one, and in this offense useful has been hard to find.

The receiving corps was already the thinnest part of this roster heading into 2026. Jerry Jeudy is the only wideout who logged real playing time in 2025, and the depth behind him — Tylan Wallace, Malachi Corley — has no production on record. Harold Fannin Jr. led the team with 72 catches for 731 yards and six touchdowns, but he's listed at tight end on the depth chart, not receiver. Sampson was one of the few names who could have absorbed some of that slack out of the backfield. Now he's not available.

The backfield depth chart currently runs Benny LeMay, Jaleel McLaughlin, and Raheim Sanders. None of them have a receiving profile in the grounding that suggests they can fill what Sampson was doing. That's not a knock — it's just the situation. The Browns have been managing one injury cascade after another since August, mostly on the defensive side, and now it's crossed to offense.