Cleveland Browns: 3 most important defensive players

1. Myles Garrett, DE

Myles Garrett was able to record 13.5 sacks in 2018 but there wasn’t a whole lot of help outside of him. Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi was second on the team with 5.5 sacks and rookie Genard Avery had 4.5, but the team finished in the bottom tier of the league with just 37 total sacks as a team.

The Browns made a trade for Olivier Vernon as a way to try and help Garrett create pressure, which will be a great addition for the defense. However, that doesn’t negate the importance of Garrett and his ability to get after the quarterback.

The simple truth is defense is easier when you can force the ball out of the signal caller’s hands. Cornerbacks don’t have to cover as long, receivers can’t get as deep, and the ball doesn’t come out as clean. With some impressive quarterbacks such as Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson, and Tom Brady on the schedule, this makes Garrett and his ability to generate pressure incredibly important.

He also seems to think this can be a big year for him. When looking ahead to the coming season, Garrett says he has more freedom after being limited to just two moves by his former defensive coordinator and interim head coach Gregg Williams.

"“I hopefully have more freedom to be the player I want to be,” Garrett says via Dan Pompei of Bleacher Report. “[Former defensive coordinator and interim head coach] Gregg [Williams] was more like: ‘You win with these two moves. I don’t want to see anything else out of you.’ It’s kind of hard with two moves."

With Steve Wilks now calling the shots on defense, there’s a lot of faith that Garrett can take the next step in his progression.

Should he do that, he will prove to be the most important player on their defense in 2019.