Cleveland Browns: PFF disrespects Browns in pass-rush ranking

The Cleveland Browns are expecting big things from their defensive line in 2018, but Pro Football Focus doesn’t share the enthusiasm

If Pro Football Focus was drafting at No. 4 for the Cleveland Browns, they may have pulled the trigger on North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb. We all know Cleveland took Denzel Ward, the corner from Ohio State, but that’s because they felt better about their front line than PFF did.

Cleveland cited their strength at the position as a reason they left Chubb on the board and took Ward, which means they believe they’re strong with Emmanuel Ogbah and Myles Garrett.

PFF doesn’t necessarily agree. In a recent ranking of all 32 teams pass rushing in 2018, the Browns got an incredibly low ranking of just No. 28 in the league.

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Analyst Gordon McGuinness explains his reasoning in the following quote:

"“Much is expected of the 2017 first overall draft pick Garrett, and after an impressive rookie season as a pass-rusher, he will need to carry the Browns pass-rush hopes as far as he can in Year 2. Opposite him is likely to be third-year man Ogbah, who has produced 10 sacks, 13 hits and 44 hurries through two seasons, but at this point it hasn’t come in more than flashes. On the interior, the top candidates to even make a small impact as pass-rushers are Ogunjobi and Brantley, but they combined for just two sacks, three hits and 13 hurries last year.” — McGuinness, Pro Football Focus"

Behind the Browns were only the New York Giants, Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills and the last-ranked New York Jets. What’s crazy about those rankings is it wasn’t too long ago the Giants, Bills and Jets all had fantastic defensive lines.

Their drop shows how quickly things can change in the NFL. As for the Browns, they believe this season will see a change for them, but in a positive way.

The reason they were ranked so low is because much of their hype is based on potential. Both Garrett and Ogbah have yet to truly break out and they’re both still incredibly young — as is defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi.

2018 will be better for the Browns than PFF is expecting, with the one caveat being the health of their defensive line. Having said that, it’s hard to argue too much against their ranking since so much is based on potential rather than statistics.

Next: Predicting the Browns 2018 starters

That doesn’t mean the Browns weren’t disrespected though, and it’s almost time for them to get on the field and prove these rankings wrong.