The Cleveland Browns have made plenty of moves this offseason to improve their secondary. So who will be their safeties in 2018 and what will their roles be?
If Cleveland Browns fans ever mentioned what the safeties were doing in their defense, the first thing that any Browns fan would mention was how far Jabrill Peppers was playing off the line of scrimmage.
Even Peppers would admit that him playing 25 to 30 yards off the ball as the free safety was the wrong place to play him. But Gregg Williams and the Browns had to play him as the free safety out of necessity.
Last season, it seemed that the one area of the team that had a huge lack of quality NFL talent was the safety position.
Last year’s starters were Peppers at free safety and Derrick Kindred playing strong safety. When Cleveland needed their backup safeties to play, those players were Ibraheim Campbell and Kai Nacua.
However, neither of those backup safeties are on Cleveland’s roster anymore. So who did new Browns new general manager bring in to help fill out the safety position?
Let’s take a look at the Cleveland Browns safeties and what roles they will likely play in 2018.
Jabrill Peppers
Peppers was the second of the three first round picks the Browns had in 2017. He brought value to the Browns because of his versatility, as he could play as a safety or a linebacker.
But the Browns rarely used him in the box last season as they did not have any other player that could resemble a free safety. And the results of him playing deep were not good. He often would take awful routes that led to busted coverages or would put him out of position to make a tackle.
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On the season, he recorded 57 tackles, one interception, and three pass deflections.
But after an injury to Derrick Kindred at the end of the season, Peppers played the last two weeks of the season playing closer to the line of scrimmage. That is when Peppers showed his potential in the NFL.
In those two games, he only recorded seven tackles, but he looked much more comfortable making plays to stop the run.
He also recorded his only interception of the season when he was playing closer to the line of scrimmage in the box.
With the moves that Dorsey made this offseason, Peppers is going to be able to play closer to the line of scrimmage for most of the 2018 season.
Playing in a position that he is more comfortable in should help him have more of an impact on the team’s 2018 defense.
Damarious Randall
The Browns traded for Damarious Randall to become the teams starting free safety. Although he has only played cornerback in the NFL, he will likely be much more comfortable playing at safety.
When Randall was drafted by the Packers, he was coming from college as a safety and was moved to cornerback.
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In Cleveland, he will be allowing Peppers to move to strong safety and play closer to the line of scrimmage.
Randall will thrive as a ball-hawk free safety that can range from sideline to sideline. He has shown in his NFL career that he excels at making plays on the ball with ten career interceptions, including four last season.
With the Browns expected to play more man coverage than they did in 2017, having a player like Randall that has excellent ball skills playing deep middle third will help create turnovers for a team that registered only seven interceptions last season.
Derrick Kindred
Derrick Kindred was the starting strong safety for the Browns last season before he was injured at the end of last season.
Kindred played well last season, compiling 55 tackles, ten tackles for loss, one interception, and six pass deflections in 14 games.
It appears that he will be playing as the rotational third safety. He does not have the best coverage skills, so it will be hard to play him as the free safety. But he has shown that he can play well closer to the line of scrimmage as the strong safety.
It is even possible that he enters training camp in a competition with Peppers for the starting strong safety job. But with the first round investment in Peppers, it would be hard for Kindred to win the competition.
Derron Smith
The Browns signed Derron Smith off the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad in November of last year. The move was because of an injury to Campbell and the Browns needed to add depth to the position.
He appeared in seven games for the Browns, mostly on special teams. He made four tackles and has a career total of 17 tackles in three seasons in the NFL. For him to make the Browns roster, he has to show his value on special teams.
Justin Currie
Justin Currie was initially signed to the Browns practice squad in December of 2016. But after multiple transactions with him and the team in 2017, he appeared in three games for the team.
Currie is another Browns safety that prefers playing in the box more than playing as a deep safety. He compiled five tackles and one sack for the team in 2017. But with Kindred and Peppers already on the roster and likely to be locks to make the roster, it will be hard for Currie to make the roster as safety. The Browns do not have the best depth at linebacker, and he could try to steal a roster spot from one of the more true linebackers.
Briean Boddy-Calhoun
Briean Boddy-Calhoun has been a solid slot corner for the Browns. But after the Browns added six cornerbacks this offseason, Boddy-Calhoun might not see a lot of time at cornerback. Adding him to this part of the list is because his spot at cornerback is not guaranteed, but if he becomes a versatile defensive back, he has a better shot of making the roster.
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During OTA’s Boddy-Calhoun has been working at safety. It makes sense for both sides. The Browns do not have great depth of coverage safeties and Boddy-Calhoun would be solid depth if something were to happen to Randall. And for Boddy-Calhoun, being able to do more is better with the amount of turnover that has happened in the secondary.