Raiders Game Exposes Harsh Reality of Browns Defense - It Stinks
Going into the 2020 season, it was understood that the Cleveland Browns defense was going to be a work in progress largely dependent on the defensive line to hide the warts of the rest of the unit, but when that doesn't happen, the defense is simply awful.
The defensive line has not lived up to the hype for the second year in a row, save for Myles Garrett. He has singlehandedly been making up for a number of problems on the defense with his ability to cause turnovers and change games. But in a game against the Las Vegas Raiders where he only played 45.8 percent of snaps, it stuck out like a sore thumb when he wasn't on the field because the rest of the defense was truly abysmal.
The bye week comes at a good time and it might help heal some lingering injuries, but some of the trends on this team have been going on since the beginning of the season.
Olivier Vernon played well against the Raiders, recording two sacks and disrupting plays through the game. He won't be on the team in 2021.
Whether it's suffering in silence as he has in years past, gutting it out through injury, Larry Ogunjobi has been struggling as of late and he's going to be a free agent. Will he be back? Difficult to say. Coming out better after the bye will be critical.
Kevin Johnson is a solid corner and slot player. Free agent.
Malcolm Smith is the best linebacker on the team, despite really only being useful in coverage. Free agent.
B.J. Goodson has been okay? He's a free agent.
Mack Wilson might be the worst linebacker who has ever played for the Browns. He still has no idea what he's looking at when reading plays, can't shed a block to save his life and almost never makes a positive impact on the field.
According to PFF, Wilson is grading out at a 29.1 overall, 29.9 against the run and 35.7 in pass coverage in 166 snaps (I did not know PFF grades went this low). Amazingly, there is one linebacker grading out worse than Wilson in Elandon Roberts of the Miami Dolphins. On the plus side, Wilson has deflected one pass this season.
The Browns are missing rookie Jacob Phillips with a knee injury. They haven't put him on injured reserve, so maybe they hope he can be back after the bye. He'd have to thread an impressive needle to be worse than Wilson. The Browns also added Eiljah Lee off of waivers. Primarily signed to play special teams, he might be better than Wilson too.
It's amazing to think that Wilson was insulted at the idea that people were saying the Browns had the worst linebackers in the NFL entering the season. They wouldn't be if they simply took him off the field.
Andrew Sendejo isn't as bad as Wilson, because he's not Elandon Roberts, but he is similarly positioned relative to safeties, third to last. The problem for Sendejo is he has played 553 snaps this season, because the Browns have so little there with the injury to Grant Delpit before the season.
With two weeks before their next game, perhaps Sheldrick Redwine can wrest the starting job from Sendejo, but he has to tackle when he's in there. He's a massive upgrade in coverage, but he has to do more than throw a chicken wing at ball carriers.
As bad as free safety is, strong safety is a pleasant surprise. The addition of Ronnie Harrison has been great. He's under contract for next season and he adds so much to this defense, because he has pretty good range and his size can be a real asset in coverage against tight ends. For the low price of a fifth round pick, the Browns may have their starting strong safety for the foreseeable future and part of their defensive nucleus heading to the offseason.
The rest of that group includes Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward and Sheldon Richardson and with Richardson, it's with the understanding he's going to be inconsistent, because that's who he is. Adrian Clayborn will be back, which is good. The Browns should have Andrew Billings next year as a run stopping nose.
Maybe the Browns opt to re-sign some of these free agents, but unless they can get someone like Kevin Johnson to stay at a reasonable rate, they are probably better off letting them all walk and targeting players that fit what they are doing with a year of results to work from.
The good news is the Browns do have Myles Garrett, who is the best defensive player in football. And despite all of their problems, they are still 5-3. They will also be approaching the offseason with plenty of cap space and picks to acquire premium talent in addition to going in heavily on the defensive side of the ball in this year's NFL Draft.
They have Grant Delpit and Jacob Phillips, who have largely had their rookie seasons wiped out. If they come back healthy next year and fully recovered from the Achilles' in the case of Delpit (fingers crossed), that would be a big boost. Jordan Elliott is wearing down as happens to a rookie defensive tackle who plays with power. He should be better next year.
The defense is a train wreck at the moment, but the Browns will have any number of avenues to upgrade the unit. Continue to build up a young defensive line, add more pieces to the secondary and mix in more options at linebacker until they can find a few that can perform a limited role. If that happens and the offense grows, the Browns can be a contender next year.
