Handicapping the Cleveland Browns Edge Rushers - Sports Illustrated Cleveland Browns News, Analysis and More si.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from si.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Jan 27, 2021
The Cleveland Browns approach the offseason with an obvious need at defensive end and this year s Senior Bowl has a nice collection of players that could be at least part of the solution.
To this point, the Browns have favored going with longer, heavier defenders on the edge to be able to prevent opponents from getting outside of them while also having the necessary heft to avoid being overpowered.
When Joe Woods was with the Denver Broncos, they opted for standup edge rushers, so it s not impossible they could go that route with the Browns, but every defensive end they ve brought in has been bigger. Even with Olivier Vernon s unfortunate Achilles rupture, the Browns have Adrian Clayborn, who is around 280 pounds. Cameron Malveaux and Joe Jackson are on the bigger side as well.
Browns final defensive player grades: Who was elite, average and replaceable in 2020?
Updated Jan 21, 2021;
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Browns led the NFL in takeaways over the first half of the season, totaling 14 through seven games. They had just eight the rest of the regular season but bounced back with five against the Steelers in the wild card round.
That was the highlight for a defense that struggled in multiple ways through the 2020 season. The Browns gave up the 11th-highest average of passing yards against (247.6) and their 26.2 points per game against was ranked 12th.
Also, opponents converted 43.9 percent of their third downs against the Browns, the 10th-highest conversion rate.