Early look at the Detroit Lions 2017 opponents: Cleveland Browns

Edge Defenders

The Cleveland Browns edge rushers could be the most terrifying or least effective unit in football. The top three of their rotation on the edge are young players that are still establishing themselves in the league.

Last year’s second and third round picks Emmanuel Ogbah and Carl Nassib had up and down rookie years. Both struck me in their draft years as prospects that could develop in to “the other guy” manning the edge across from a dominant player to the tune of 8-9 sacks a year. Cleveland did not have one of those, so doubling down on that type of player seemed like an off choice.

Enter Myles Garrett, the 2017 draft’s first overall pick. He checked off all the boxes in the pre-draft process. He was dominant in college, and he wowed scouts. His workouts and interviews were excellent. The Browns will be relying on him to face teams best blockers, and draw the double teams that free his teammates up. That is a tall task for most rookies. The Browns pass rush will likely depend on his ability to do so.

The Browns also have Nate Orchard on their roster, who will likely fill a rotational pass rusher role. He has some pop off the edge but lacks the sand in his pants to hold up against the run in Greg Williams‘ defense.

Interior Defensive Line

Danny Shelton is a stout run defender but he is unlikely to ever provide much pass rush.  He has not been a bad player for the Browns, but his selection at number twelve in the 2015 draft was a bit of a head scratcher. He had gone from being regarded as an elite defensive tackle prospect to getting exposed by Laken Tomlinson at senior bowl practices. Behind Shelton is Jamie Meder, who is a similar type of player, stout against the run and a ghost on passing downs.

Rookie Larry Ogunjobi and veteran Desmond Bryant will fight it out for the three technique spot. The rookie set every school record you can think of in college, but can he translate that to pro success? The veteran had six sacks from the 3-4 defensive end spot last year. I would suggest that Bryant will hold the role to begin the season, but the kid will eat more snaps as the season goes on. By the time they are playing the Lions the browns could have two capable defensive tackles on passing downs.

Linebackers

The Browns traded for Jamie Collins last year, and that has been a good decision for them. How He will deploy remains to be seen, particularly on third down. Collins holds the same distinction as Clay Matthews in Green Bay. Whether the team is using him as a pass rusher, or in coverage, he is likely their best linebacker for the role. It is likely that the Browns will play Christian Kirksey as

It is likely that the Browns will play Christian Kirksey as their other linebacker in nickel packages. The Lions will need to be aware of which side he is on at all times because that is the area of the field they need to target. Kirksey is a liability in coverage, and will only claim the role because the rest of the Browns linebackers are even worse.

It is also possible that James Burgess finds a role as the team’s “Moneybacker.” He has all the athletic traits one could hope for in that role, but he failed to register a statistic in his rookie 2016 season. The Opportunity will be there, as the Browns middle linebacker candidates are all terrible in coverage. Tank Carder and Joe Schobert are the types of players that Theo Riddick and Ameer Abdullah will exploit. The Browns may need to tap into their safety group, skipping nickel defense entirely and moving on to dime.