Cleveland Browns Have Assembled an Impressive Defense
By Erik Lambert
The Cleveland Browns are coming off the worst season in franchise history and tied for the worst season in NFL history. So it’s hard to find optimism.
Going 0-16 doesn’t account for much wiggle room. Yet even amidst that horror show in 2017, there were warning signs that something might be on the horizon for the Browns defense. Gregg Williams, love or hate him, actually got a halfway decent performance out of his unit last year. They were 7th in the NFL against the run and never allowed more than 40 points in a game despite playing with the worst scoring offense in the league.
Myles Garrett only played 11 games but he racked up seven sacks, showcasing that awesome potential that made him a #1 overall pick. Over the past two offseasons, it’s now becoming clear that despite all the screwups they might actually have something going on that side of the ball. It wasn’t until this offseason where the picture really began to come into focus. Thanks to their early free agent run, a strong draft and a late score on Sunday it’s hard not to feel some excitement.
Mychal Kendricks joins an already impressive front seven
Garrett of course is locking down the primary edge rush position with the underrated Emmanuel Ogbah across from him. It might be the linebacking corps though that opponents will come to fear. Cleveland already has Pro Bowler Joe Schobert at middle linebacker with the athletic Jamie Collins and Christian Kirksey flanking. Somehow that group is about to get better with the arrival of veteran free agent Mychal Kendricks, recently released by Philadelphia.
#Browns and LB Mychal Kendricks have agreed to a one-year deal, with a max value of $3.5 million, per source. Kendricks will start from day one for Cleveland.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) June 4, 2018
Kendricks brings reliability and Super Bowl-winning experience with him. He’s a solid player they should be able to move around wherever needed. Yet it might be the secondary that isn’t getting enough love. It was the absolute weak point of the defense last season and they set about flipping that script. The sheer array of big moves they made the past couple of months is staggering. The result? Pretty impressive, at least on paper.
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Damarious Randall arrived to shore up the safety position via trade from Green Bay. E.J. Gaines, who had a standout year at corner for Buffalo last year arrived as a free agent. This was brought home by the arrival of athletic Ohio State corner Denzel Ward, their #4 overall pick in the draft. Suddenly the pass coverage of this team looks upgraded across the board. Couple that with a more diverse front seven and things are getting interesting for sure.