Cleveland Browns: Top 5 pass rushers Browns will face in 2017
By Joel W. Cade
4. Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa
The Los Angeles Chargers have a more traditional pass rush approach. Employing a 3-4 scheme, they rely on confusing looks and blitzes to create pressure. But anchoring the pass rush attack are two extremely effective pass rushers in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram.
Melvin Ingram is not a household name to those who do not regularly watch west coast football. Last season he had 8.0 sacks after posting 10.5 the year before. His play as an edge rusher made him a wanted commodity this offseason before the Chargers rightly placed the franchise tag on him.
But Ingram was rated as Pro Football Focus’ top available free agent this offseason. This is what they had to say about him:
"The Chargers will likely try and keep Ingram around, but they don’t have a huge amount of cap space and have a second stud edge rusher in 2016 rookie Joey Bosa. After a slow start to his career, Ingram has developed into a dominant edge rusher, posting 72 total QB pressures in 2016 after recording just 83 over the previous two seasons. He was PFF’s sixth-ranked edge rusher overall this past season, slotting in just behind Bosa. Ingram posted solid grades in every facet of the game PFF measures, and his pass rush, in particular, has been improving year over year since his disappointing sophomore season that saw him play just 241 snaps. Ingram would upgrade most team’s pass-rush unit immediately."
Every dominant player has a partner in crime. For Ingram, that player is former Ohio State Buckeye Joey Bosa. He held out most of training camp over offset language and when bonuses are to be paid out.
But when he did show up to the team, he arrived up with a bang. Bosa finished his rookie campaign with 41 tackles and 10.5 sacks. He is a well-rounded player who can speed rush, power rush and has a complement of moves that makes him extremely dangerous.
Together, this duo could create pressure on the Browns’ offensive tackles to hold the edge. The Browns will certainly need to prepare for this pass rush tandem come December.