Cleveland Browns: 5 players feeling the most pressure in 2016
By Thomas Moore
With general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine, the two men responsible for drafting him, no longer in the building, no one (at least on the defensive side of the ball) may be facing a bigger season in 2016 than cornerback Justin Gilbert.
Outside of one play against the Indianapolis Colts in 2014, Gilbert has done nothing on the field to warrant his selection with the eighth overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has done plenty off the field, however, to raise questions about whether or not he truly wants to be an NFL player.
Jackson and defensive coordinator Ray Horton have given Gilbert, along with everyone else, the proverbial clean slate and have gone out their way to praise the work that Gilbert has done while working with the first team defense as Joe Haden is still recovering from off-season surgery on his ankle.
Related: Browns saying the right things about Justin Gilbert
“When I first got here, we sat down (and) we mapped out a plan,” Horton said at the close of minicamp. “He has goals and I have goals. What we are going to do is do everything we can in our power to get him to reach his goals. He has done everything that we have asked. He has been attentive in meetings. He has been very productive on the field. He’s been amenable to the techniques that we have asked him to play, and he’s been successful in that area. Hopefully, that will continue.”
The problem is that Gilbert has always talked about wanting to get better, and his athleticism will always stand out when the players are in shorts and helmets. It is when he lines up for real that the bad habits and lack of production come out.
Gilbert has a dead-cap hit of just a little more than $7.5 million this season, so he’s going to be on the opening day roster. But if he can’t become more than the league’s highest-drafted special teams player, then this will surely be his final season in Cleveland.
Next: Paul Kruger and Barkevious Mingo