Browns Defense: What They Have, What's Missing
The Cleveland Browns had what could prove to be a landmark performance on the defensive side of the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals, showing just what this secondary could do when performing at a high level, so while there are areas that continue to grow, the team does have some issues that won't solve themselves.
The combination of Denzel Ward, Greg Newsome II and John Johnson III against the Bengals was everything the Browns hoped for when they assembled that group in the offseason. Troy Hill was also a key contributor in a few key blitzes. Hill is scheduled to be a free agent after the season, so the Browns will have to decide if they want to keep him another year.
Ronnie Harrison was terrific in 2020 and looked poised for a monster season with more talent around him. At least halfway through 2021, that hasn't happened and unless he's going to turn it around in the second half, he may have hurt his potential bargaining power in free agency. That might allow the Browns to keep him on a one-year deal as he tries to rebuild his value, but he still might get a decent contract offer elsewhere.
Should that happen, the Browns have Grant Delpit, who they really like, but will need to continue to attack that position. M.J. Stewart has proven a nice find for this team as a role player and they have rookie Richard LeCounte III. Given how important the position is in the scheme Joe Woods wants to run, it should still be a relatively high priority and this year's draft class appears loaded with talent.
The Browns find themselves at a position of strength on the boundary at corner. Greedy Williams will be entering the final year of his rookie deal in 2022 and has been incredibly valuable this year while A.J. Green has shown potential to be a long term contributor, even if it's just as depth.
The combination of Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney is doing a significant amount of the heavy lifting on defense. They are so dominant when it comes to attacking edges, both rushing the passer and stopping the run that it's covering up weaknesses on the interior.
Clowney has been everything the Browns hoped he would be, justifying the two-year pursuit for his services. He is scheduled to be a free agent again and the Browns don't have an answer in sight. Free agency doesn't look promising and the draft, while critical to the health of the defensive line, is unlikely to be able to produce someone that can do near the amount of work Clowney has been on that side in 2022.
Presumably, since the Browns signed Clowney to the one-year deal he's currently on, the two sides have talked about what happens next. Clowney loves playing with Garrett. He's happy with his usage within this defensive scheme and he believes he can win a Super Bowl in Cleveland. He has plenty of incentive to stay, but the Browns have to decide if they can make the money work for another year or two. So long as he can stay healthy, it's the most prudent play for the Browns.
The interior of the defensive line has been pretty poor after a promising start to the season. Malik McDowell has hit a wall, which shouldn't be terribly surprising given his path to the starting lineup for the Browns. He was in jail not all that long ago, unable to prepare for the season in a traditional manner and while still powerful and promising, he's not as explosive as he had been to start the year.
Andrew Billings, unfortunately, has been nothing short of unplayable this year. Maybe he can offer more in the second half, but for someone who was so promising when the Browns signed him coming off a great year for the Bengals, he has provided the impact of a 320 pound bag of mulch.
Despite the less than stellar play this year, the Browns may have their answer at nose for the foreseeable future on the current roster. McDowell should improve with the experience for the rest of the year and a normal offseason. Meanwhile, the Browns have been quietly stashing 22-year old rookie Tommy Togiai this year. Between the work he's getting in practice on his technique and another offseason to continue improving his physique, McDowell and Togiai could be a nice rotation at the nose.
The three-technique is a different situation. Malik Jackson is clearly laboring through injury. He appeared to be playing largely on one leg against the Bengals. Jordan Elliott is better than his rookie season, but he's still a rotational option that has occasional flashes. It can take until year three to really see the work pay off due to the demands of the position, so it's not likely the Browns have any interest in giving up on Elliott.
The effectiveness on the edges is covering for the issues in the middle. Teams are largely forced to run in between the tackles, so they are at least predictable. Even if the Browns are limited in their talent, they make up for it with numbers. The linebackers have less space to cover and it allows them to be more effective. Anthony Walker had a productive game against the Bengals in no small part because he was predominately working guard to guard, racking up 12 solo tackles and a sack.
Maybe the Browns extend Jackson another year and draft a player that can take the spot Togiai is operating from this year, inactive, but developing. There's not an obvious answer to this issue, but it's certainly an area the Browns would like to improve.
Even if the Browns get a deal done to keep Clowney, they will be active looking for defensive end help and could pull the trigger as soon as the first round.
Takkarist McKinley is scheduled to be a free agent. He's been effective when on the field while not doing enough to really move the needle on a potential contract after the season. He may be cheap once again. Improving their defensive end spot through the draft gives them more options as well as cheap talent.
Given the challenge of finding quality defensive tackles in the current landscape, the Browns may simply want to continue to specialize, focusing on adding stouter players to stop the run while investing premium assets to bigger bodies with versatility and athleticism to attack the passer with similar builds to Joe Jackson and Ifeadi Odenigbo, but with more talent. It gives them depth and potentially an answer to life after Clowney, McKinley or both.
Speaking of players being put in positions to succeed, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah represents the present and the future at the linebacker position for the Browns. They've gotten unlucky with injuries in that group, but they have a number of options. JOK is getting ready to come back from a high-ankle sprain and they have Jacob Phillips that at least teased he might be ready some time in November after tearing his bicep in August. Tony Fields II has yet to see the field as a linebacker this season, but has been utilized on special teams.
The Browns should continue to draft linebackers day three of the draft to keep up the level of competition and potentially catch lightning in a bottle. There's no reason to make any further major investments at that spot, short of an incredible value falling to them akin to JOK.
So much of the Browns defensive outlook relies on Jadeveon Clowney to stay healthy, which is precarious to say the least. Should that happen and the Browns are able to keep him on the team for at least one more season, they can dramatically improve their defensive line depth in particular, but keep bringing in talent to fuel the defense for the next few seasons at least.
