Analyzing the Cleveland Browns depth chart at defensive tackle
By Randy Gurzi
Looking ahead to the 2019 season, we take an in-depth look at the different position groups for the Cleveland Browns. Here is a glance at defensive tackle.
Last year, the Cleveland Browns had their fair share of struggles on defense. While former defensive coordinator and eventual interim head coach Gregg Williams did a good job stressing the importance of creating turnovers, his unit fell flat in many other areas.
According to NFL.com, the Browns defense finished 30th in total yards surrendered, giving up 393 per game. 135.2 of those yards came on the ground, which landed them at No. 28 in the NFL.
Understanding that wasn’t going to be good enough, general manager John Dorsey set out to improve the defense as a whole. One of his big trades included landing Olivier Vernon to play defensive end.
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He also signed tackle Sheldon Richardson and safety Morgan Burnett. Then in the draft, Dorsey targeted even more defensive players, landing a cornerback and linebacker early in Greedy Williams from LSU and Sione Takitaki out of BYU respectively.
Cleveland wasn’t done trying at that point as they dipped their toes in the Gerald McCoy waters as well when the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle became available. The Browns were one of the three finalists for his services but he ended up landing with the Carolina Panthers.
Adding him could have shaken up the defensive tackle lineup, but too much talent is never a bad thing. It ended up not happening but the Browns are still in much better shape this season than last on the defense as a whole.
Here, we will dig into the men in the middle as we break down the defensive tackle depth chart for the Cleveland Browns, starting with their big addition.