5 Former Cleveland Browns who would thrive on 2019 roster

In 2018, the Browns defense wasn’t good. They finished 21st overall in scoring and 30th in yards surrendered according to NFL.com. There wasn’t any one area in particular where they struggled as they were in the bottom tier in both pass and rush defense. In short, they need a lot of help.

This was evident by the way John Dorsey attacked the offseason. Their biggest move was landing wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. but almost everything else they did was focused on improving the defense. They traded for Olivier Vernon and then signed Sheldon Richardson, Adarius Taylor, and Morgan Burnett in free agency.

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Their moves in the draft were also heavily focused on the defensive side of the ball. Their first pick was cornerback Greedy Williams which was followed by linebacker Sione Takitaki and safety Sheldrick Redwine. They also landed Mack Wilson out of Alabama in the fifth as they continued to add to the linebacker corps.

With our move here, those new additions at linebacker would have a hard time finding the field. Clay Matthews, Jr. is arguably the best linebacker to ever wear the orange and brown. He played 16 seasons in The Land and finished with 1,430 tackles, 62 sacks, and 14 interceptions. He was also a key figure in their 1989 AFC Championship run as he picked off a Jim Kelly pass as they knocked off the Buffalo Bills.

Matthews has twice been a Hall of Fame semifinalist (who deserves to be voted in) and could find his bust in Canton one day. His addition would surely fix a lot of the problems on the Cleveland defense should he be on the 2019 roster.