Cleveland Browns: Pro Football Focus continues to disregard the Browns
In recent weeks, Pro Football Focus has thrown a wet blanket over the Cleveland Browns offensive and defensive lines. The most recent object of their disrespect…our secondary.
What in the name of Sashi Brown is going on?
Pro Football Focus, a favorite of the analytics set, is raining on the Cleveland Browns hype parade. Last week, they ranked our pass rush 28 out of 32 teams. This week, the target is Cleveland’s secondary, which was given a ranking of 30 out of 32 by Pro Football Focus’ Michael Renner. Only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts were ranked lower than the Browns.
Despite drafting Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward with the fourth overall selection, PFF had this to say about the Browns secondary:
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"Talent-wise, the Browns are night and day from where they were at this point a season ago. They brought a couple of free agents coming off career years in Gaines (86.1) and Carrie (84.3). Cleveland also traded for Randall (70.9) and then drafted Ohio State’s Ward with the fourth overall pick. That’s a good start for a team that was almost completely bereft of talent heading into the offseason, but it remains to be seen how the pieces will mesh in Greg Williams’ defense. – Senior Analyst, Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus"
There is no question the Browns have a lot of new pieces that are going to have to fit together. But so do some other teams that are ranked ahead of the Browns. Ward is a rookie, but other teams in the rankings have more than one projected first-year starter.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the ranking was the Browns’ safeties. Damarious Randall received a grade of 70.9 from Pro Football Focus. However, that grade was based on his performance last year when he was primarily playing at cornerback. This year, Randall will be going back to his preferred position of free safety.
Jabrill Peppers received the lowest grade among projected starters with a 45.8 grade from Pro Football Focus. I guess this would have to be equivalent to receiving a grade of incomplete. Because playing the “angel” position in Gregg Williams’ defense last year gave Peppers few chances to make an impact on the game. I suspect he’ll have more opportunities to have an impact in 2018.
What I took away from this ranking was that the Browns will face five out of PFF’s Top 10 secondaries, including Baltimore (No. 4) twice.
Next. Browns 53-man roster prediction ahead of training camp. dark
With the infusion of talent from free agency and the draft, it’s inconceivable that this defense, which statistically was not terrible last year, won’t be even better, including the secondary. The first two weeks the Browns will play the Steelers and the Saints. Then we’ll see who has the last laugh.