Cleveland Browns: Briean Boddy-Calhoun has no role on defense
By Dan Justik
One of the better defensive players for the Cleveland Browns in 2017, Briean Boddy-Calhoun seems to have no role in the defense this season.
The Cleveland Browns reconfigured their secondary this off-season, and the new talent has forced defensive back Briean Boddy-Calhoun into not having a role in Gregg Williams’ defense.
Entering the regular season opener against the Steelers, Boddy-Calhoun played a significant portion of the game. The defensive back primarily played in the slot before being moved to safety at the end of the game. Against the Steelers, Boddy-Calhoun played 62 defensive snaps.
When Boddy-Calhoun was in the slot, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger seemed to have his eyes keyed on who Boddy-Calhoun was defending. Those match-ups led to multiple big gains for Pittsburgh, as Boddy-Calhoun was beat often.
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Following the poor Week One performance, Boddy-Calhoun has practically no role in the Browns defense.
Against the Saints in Week Two, Boddy-Calhoun played only five defensive snaps, as the Browns played T.J. Carrie more in the slot, while also giving Derrick Kindred more snaps. The negative trend for Boddy-Calhoun continued into Week Three, as he played zero defensive snaps Thursday night against the Jets.
Since losing his role on defense, Boddy-Calhoun has become a special-teams player only for the Browns. Boddy-Calhoun played 27 special teams snaps against the Saints, which accounted for 90 percent of the special teams snaps.
Since taking over for Boddy-Calhoun in the slot, Carrie has played well in his new role. If Carrie can continue to play well, it will be hard for Boddy-Calhoun to retake the slot corner job. And even if Carrie starts to struggle, Williams may decide to put E.J. Gaines in the slot before giving either Boddy-Calhoun or Carrie another shot.
It seems that with the talent the Browns have in the secondary, Williams is not going to be afraid to make changes immediately if a player struggles. Knowing that he has talented players throughout the entire depth chart, he has the ability to make those kind of personnel changes.
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With Boddy-Calhoun being benched, it certainly is a disappointment for the defensive back. He had a strong preseason, and was hoping to have another good season to cash in on a solid contract this off-season as he enters restricted free agency. But with this change happening early in the season, he might need some luck to fall his way in order to crack the lineup again.