The Land on Demand

Which Browns Defenders Have A Gripe With The Espn Nfl Player Rankings?

John Johnson III at 2021 Cleveland Browns minicamp/Rob Lorenzo ESPN CLEVELAND

John Johnson III at 2021 Cleveland Browns minicamp/Rob Lorenzo ESPN CLEVELAND

Which Browns defenders have a gripe with the ESPN NFL Player Rankings?

Danny Cunningham

As of Friday, July 16, 2021

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 Over the last two weeks, ESPN has been releasing its player rankings for the NFL as determined by various scouts, general managers, and other league executives and compiled by Jeremy Fowler. The Browns found many players on the list, but it still leaves the question of which players could’ve been ranked higher, lower, or didn’t find themselves on the list.

This week, we focus on the defensive side of the football, and next week we will tackle offense.

Myles Garrett – No. 1 among edge rushers

It’s hard to argue against Garrett being the best of the best. Last season is was in the running for the Defensive Player of the Year award before he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and missed two games because of it. Despite that, he still finished with 12 sacks and four forced fumbles on the season.

Garrett was named as a first-team All-Pro and has cemented himself as one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. There may be others in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Chicago that have a gripe Garrett is first above the likes of T.J. Watt, Joey Bosa, and Kahlil Mack, but there won’t be an argument here.

Jadeveon Clowney – Not mentioned

Clowney probably didn’t deserve to be in the top 10, but that isn’t where the argument stops. The fact that he wasn’t mentioned as one of the best at his position seems a bit off. The injury issues do exist, but when Clowney is on the field, he’s a very productive player, even if his sack numbers don’t always reflect that.

Last season, Clowney didn’t record a sack in eight games for Tennessee, but did register four tackles for loss in his abbreviated season. Despite his numbers being a bit lackluster, Clowney posted a 74.9 grade on Pro Football Focus last season, good enough for 19th in the NFL. The year before his grade was 80.8, and in 2018 he graded out with an 87.2. While he didn’t deserve to be in the top 10 this year, if all goes well in Cleveland, Clowney could be on this list next season.

Linebacker – No mentions

The Browns didn’t have a player mentioned in the top 10 or the others receiving votes categories, and they didn’t deserve to, either. Last season, the linebacking play was abysmal for the Browns and a clear weak spot on the team. The closest would have been both Malcolm Smith and Sione Takitaki, but neither of them were among the NFLs best.

Denzel Ward – No. 8 among corners

Ward is pretty appropriately ranked amongst this group. There’s little doubt he belongs in the top 10 amongst this position group, and the only argument is that he could have been one spot higher or one spot lower. When that’s the case, it means he’s right where he belongs to be.

Since coming into the NFL, the only gripe about Ward’s game is his ability to stay on the field. He’s missed at least three games in each of his three seasons. But when Ward has been on the field, there has been little to complain about. To date, Ward’s best season has been his rookie year when he made the Pro Bowl and graded out at 78.9 on Pro Football Focus. If he returns to that level of play, he’s only going to climb up this list in the coming years.

Troy Hill – No mention

Hill is in a bit of an odd situation, because he’s a slot corner instead of the traditional outside corner that the list was filled with. With that, he probably didn’t belong on the list, but his knack for finding the football bears at least a mention in this column.

John Johnson III – No. 8 among safeties

Johnson probably could have actually been a little bit higher on the top 10 list than he was. His No. 8 ranking certainly is nothing to be upset about, but he’s had three outstanding seasons in the last four years, and his PFF grade of 85.3 was third among all safeties in 2020. That’s on top of finishing seventh among safeties in 2018 and 12th in 2017.

The safety position is admittedly a loaded one in the NFL these days, but it’s hard to believe that there are seven guys in the NFL better than Johnson is.

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