Given Available Options, Browns Most Likely Address Slot Defender in Draft
The one need on the roster the Cleveland Browns have yet to address and likely won't until the NFL Draft is slot defender. Ryan Neal, a safety that could fill that role, has unexpectedly come available, but the Browns right now are reportedly not pursuing that option, which raises questions as to how the organization plans to address a key position in their defense.
Over the past few seasons, the Browns have used both corners and safeties in that role when Joe Woods was the team's defensive coordinator. Ronnie Harrison played the position as a safety. Troy Hill played it as a corner. The most success the Browns had in that role might have been the second half of 2021 with M.J. Stewart manning the position, nominally as a safety.
It's not clear what Jim Schwartz's preference is at this point if he has one. The Browns signed Mike Ford, a corner, who does experience in the slot, but the fact he only played 83 defensive snaps with the Atlanta Falcons last year would suggest he's a depth signing who will have a chance to prove himself on defense, but his appeal is mainly special teams.
Looking at the AFC North, utilizing a safety to play that role is often prudent. With the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers boasting talented tight ends, they can line up a safety head up to jam and carry or play off and run with them. However, the Cincinnati Bengals and Tyler Boyd as well as several other teams in the AFC might make a corner a better fit for those matchups.
It's possible the Browns could still look to someone already on the roster to fill in the corner part of this role. Last year, Greg Newsome played that role and while he had his share of struggles, he improved over the course of the year. Newsome hasn't been shy about inferring his preference to stay on the outside, but if the Browns are putting teams in obvious passing situations consistently, that could be the best 11 they can put on the field. The biggest issue for Newsome was never coverage, but being a willing run defender. Newsome was often a contentious objector when teams wanted to run at him in 2022. Righteous, but has yet to produce results.
A.J. Green has some experience in the slot as well, but still has plenty to prove before the Browns can bank on him for the season. Looking at the roster, the Browns seemingly have room for another corner. Denzel Ward, Newsome, Martin Emerson Jr., Green, Ford with a tender still on Thomas Graham Jr. make up their current crop of corners. Graham has been a slot corner in the NFL, but the Browns only activated him in case of emergency in 2022 and still didn't use him.
They could simply keep those six and move forward but corner is a premium position and this draft class is absolutely stacked with talent. The Browns will take the best player available as illustrated by starting last year's draft with Emerson. If they draft another, they could end up selecting another corner that should stay outside like Emerson if that's where the talent is, but ideally they'd get someone who can slide inside and balance out the group as well as provide more options for how the Browns want to defend against opponents. If that player can hit the ground running like Emerson did, the Browns would be in great shape.
This draft class is not great for safeties, but the Browns currently need two of them. Being able to sign one of them in free agency, where there are still good options to back up Juan Thornhill at the free would be helpful.
The potential slot safety not only gives them help at that position, but could end up backing up Grant Delpit at strong. In the event Delpit were to leave in free agency after this season, that player could be in position to take over the strong safety spot, but they would then need to find another slot player. Likewise, if the drafted player is a great fit in the slot, the Browns may not want to move them and find an alternative to step in at strong safety.
The mere fact the Browns are depleted at safety and haven't done more to address the position already might be reason to tap the brakes on assuming Delpit is out the door after this season. The Browns could theoretically extend him this summer along with wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones. If Delpit doesn't agree to the organization's price, much will depend on how he performs this next season. He's certainly talented but hasn't put together a consistently good season to this point.
Delpit's contract situation adds one more variable to the safety equation. It provides additional incentive to draft a safety that can function in the slot with an eye toward the future, but that only works if the Browns select a player that has enough talent to warrant the selection. It might also put pressure on the Browns to select that position earlier in the NFL Draft.
For example, Alabama safety Jordan Battle could be a decent option, but the Browns might have to grab him in the third round. Battle has been productive for the Crimson Tide and has experience in the slot role. He also has good straight line speed, but has some other athletic question marks.
If the Browns wait until day three, some other interesting prospects could be enter the conversation. Ohio State safety Ronnie Hickman did a little of everything during his time in Columbus. He was at his best playing forward, functioning almost an extra linebacker which could help him in the slot. Playing backwards, unfortunately, has produced some of some the worst moments of his collegiate career. Hickman has been unable to do athletic testing due to an injury and arguably the biggest concern with Hickman is his athleticism.
The player I will be keeping an eye on is Chamarri Conner out of Virginia Tech. His athletic testing is outstanding with the exception of his shuttle. He did his agility at Pro Day while weighing 209 pounds. It's also important to note that while he tested at a high level, he doesn't always play to it. Nevertheless, there's plenty to work with athletically.
Additionally, what jumps out about Conner is the role he played for the Hokies. Per PFF, Conner played a combined 1,830 snaps in their slot position over the past four seasons. How the Browns might want to play the position might differ greatly from how the Hokies did it, but they have an extensive amount of tape to break down and project to their defense.
They should at least feel confident evaluating how he plays in space, his coverage capability and his willingness to come down hill. If they like feel like it's a good match, Conner would have more experience at that position than virtually anyone else the Browns could find. At that point, it's largely a matter of adjusting to the level of competition in the NFL. Not to be taken lightly, but far different than asking someone else to learn a new position.
Particularly for someone that could potentially be had on day three, perhaps the fifth or sixth round, it's difficult to expect someone else that could step in and provide as much impact as Conner. He also has plenty of experience on special teams which only add to the ways he could contribute to the team.
Drafting a corner and a safety not only gives the Browns the opportunity to cobble together a complete player to defend the slot in a multitude of situations, it provides them two opportunities to at least ensure they can hit on one of them. They can figure out a stop gap measure for the other if that becomes necessary.
The cupboard looks largely bare in free agency, so unless the Cleveland Browns make another trade, their only path forward to try to address the slot position in their defense is through the draft. The state of their roster further suggests that's their plan of attack and it's just a matter of seeing which players they add to try to fill the biggest remaining need on the defense.
