Cleveland Browns: Top 5 pass rushers Browns will face in 2017

1. Jadeveon Clowney and J.J. Watt

The best pass rush the Browns will face this season will undoubtedly be the deadly duo of J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney. This pair comes from the Romeo Crennel 3-4 scheme.

Making these two dangerous as a pair is the fact that they will line up all over the defense. On any given play, both Clowney and Watt could be defensive ends, defensive tackles or linebackers. When one player is versatile in this way it is extremely hard for an offense to handle. But when two of them are this versatile? All I can say is that the Browns quarterbacks need to pray come October 15.

J.J. Watt was named AP Defensive Player of the Year three out of his first five seasons in the league. He has led the league in sacks twice. He has had over 20 sacks in a regular season twice. The list goes on.

What Watt has missed is an effective rusher opposite him. In a scary (for the Browns and the entire NFL) turn of events, former first overall pick Jadeveon Clowney rebounded from injuries to become an imposing presence for the Houston Texan defense.

After Watt went down with an injury, Clowney picked up the slack and became an effective rusher. His final end of the year stats does not do justice to the level of play Clowney exhibited at the end of 2016.

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Next year both Clowney and Watt should be healthy. A healthy Clowney and Watt would be an absolute nightmare for the Cleveland Browns next season.