Cleveland Browns: Don’t forget about Howard Wilson
With the whirlwind of new draft picks arriving in Cleveland, it’s easy to forget some of the players already in the orange and brown. Second-year cornerback Howard Wilson looks to come back from injury this year, and debut in his second season.
The Cleveland Browns have greatly improved their secondary in this past off-season. Additions of E.J. Gaines, T.J. Carrie, Terrance Mitchell, Damarious Randall, and No. 4 overall pick Denzel Ward have completely reshaped how the Browns’ defensive backfield looks and operates.
With general manager John Dorsey spearheading a furious tornado of moves, it is sometimes all too easy to forget just who is making up this Browns roster. Especially at the cornerback position, where the Browns have a surplus of at least two or three extra players.
But through all of this, I implore you — do not forget about Howard Wilson. He may have suffered a season-ending injury last year, but his rookie debut still looks to impress the Dawg Pound come the fall of next year.
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The uber-athletic Wilson comes in at 6-foot-1 and 184-pounds. In college, he averaged one interception for every 15 targets, coming up with a total of nine in his last season at Houston. Wilson just takes the ball away, no matter who he’s defending.
Hopefully, his knee injury from last season does not derail his athleticism, and he comes back the same player as he was in college. This isn’t Wilson’s first knee injury either, so it will be interesting to see just the player Cleveland gets in 2018.
The other gripe on Wilson is that he has limited experience in college due to injuries and his lower level of collegiate competition thanks to Houston’s conference. He had to sit out most of the 2015 season with an ACL injury, but still shined the next year and made himself a fourth-round pick.
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If Wilson can stay healthy and learn on the job, he should be able to greatly help this Browns secondary. In a crowded room of cornerbacks and safeties, it’s easy to get excited about how the Browns could play this lineup. But let’s not forget about Howard Wilson.