Jadeveon Clowney was the First of the Dead Ends Cleveland Will Part Ways With This Offseason
Jadeveon Clowney was the first of the excess the Cleveland Browns will part ways with this off-season. Issues still remain on a defense that is going to look a lot different by the time that training camp rolls around for next season.
Losing Clowney is going to give Cleveland options, they can tackle the off-season for another starting-caliber edge rusher. Or they can continue to develop their own, potentially platoon the position with rookies Alex Wright, Isaiah Thomas, and a 2023 NFL Draft pick.
Cleveland built their defense last year, for the most part in complete what they had hoped for. This season unfortunately the defense was never really seen long as a whole. Anthony Walker went down with a season-ending injury against Pittsburgh on Sept. 22, issues piled up from there, and they never left the linebacker room.
Just this season, the linebacker room has seen Walker, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Jacob Phillips, Sione Takitaki, and Jordan Kunaszyk have their seasons cut short. Players such as Deion Jones, Tony Fields, and Reggie Ragland have done a fine job shaping up. Fields will be back next season, while Ragland has made a case to at least be brought back to camp.
Linebackers were often sabotaged by poor interior line play on the defense this season. Giving up 134 yards a game on the ground, Cleveland ranked near the bottom of that category in 2022. The defensive tackles just didn't get it done and it's headlined by Jordan Elliott, who in his third year may have his best numbers, but he's been blown off the ball all year in the run game.
Elliott may be just one that doesn't have his name etched in plans. Through year three Elliott has had hits shots for the Browns, he even transformed his body to better play the position he's asked. It hasn't worked as the Browns still lack a quality defensive tackle.
The rise of Grant Delpit across the back half of the season has been a bright spot for this team. Delpit looks like the best safety on the team, perhaps the one you want to lead the room. Cleveland can part ways with John Johnson III since has never lived up to his contract and be on the lookout for a free safety. Delpit has strong safety locked down for the future.
The defense had issues as a whole from the start of the season. In the secondary, it came about that there were communication issues, that will only lead back to one person. Defensive coordinator Joe Woods' seat is probably about as hot as it gets despite the second-half turnaround to this defense.
For the second straight year, the defense got off to a slow start on the season. They're responsible for some of the early season struggles when you think about the success the offense has with Jacoby Brissett leading it.
Cleveland will be looking for a new coordinator this off-season, amongst other spots on the defense that need to be overhauled. The plan for the defense just hasn't worked to this point. Some weaker spots need to be beefed up, while Cleveland just may be better off with some fresh faces and a new leader.
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Brandon Little is a writer for Sports Illustrated’s Browns Digest website and you can follow him on Twitter @BrandonLittleFB here. You can follow Browns Digest on Twitter here.
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