Dawg Pound Daily
FanSided

5 Cleveland Browns with the most to prove this season

By Randy Gurzi

TAMPA, FL - OCTOBER 21: David Njoku #85 of the Cleveland Browns runs after a catch during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on October 21, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - OCTOBER 21: David Njoku #85 of the Cleveland Browns runs after a catch during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on October 21, 2018 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 07: Christian Kirksey #58 of the Cleveland Browns celebrates defeating the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 7, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns won 12 to 9. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 07: Christian Kirksey #58 of the Cleveland Browns celebrates defeating the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 7, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns won 12 to 9. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

2. Christian Kirksey, Linebacker

In a twist of fate, linebacker Christian Kirksey stood on the draft stage in Nashville and called the name Sione Takitaki out of BYU. The reason for the irony is that the Browns wanted to upgrade the linebacker position and Kirksey called out the name of someone who will come in and challenge him for snaps.

Kirksey, who along with Joel Bitonio, is the longest-tenured player still on the team— as they came into the league in 2014. He’s clearly done a good job to stick around and racked up 143 tackles in 2016 and 138 in 2017. Then this season, he managed to play in just seven games due to a hamstring injury.

In those seven games, Kirksey saw a decline in his play. He struggled against both the run and pass and was given a grade of just 46.1 by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) which ranked him 85th in the NFL at his position.

Heading into 2019, Kirksey is eighth on the team in salary, with a cap hit of $8.2 million this season — according to OverTheCap.com. In 2020, his cap hit jumps to just under $10 million, but it becomes much more affordable to cut him as the team would save $7.55 million doing so. Kirksey will have a lot to say about whether or not that happens. He should enter this year as the starter but he will have to keep Takitaki, and potentially Mack Wilson, at bay.

For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe to PFF’s EDGE or ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.

Home/Browns News