Cleveland Browns: Pre-training camp 53-man roster prediction
By Randy Gurzi
Defensive Line (10): Myles Garrett, Larry Ogunjobi, Sheldon Richardson, Olivier Vernon, Chris Smith, Chad Thomas, Anthony Zettel, Wyatt Ray, Trevon Coley, Brian Price
Understanding that the defensive line had some issues last year, the Browns went out and made two huge additions during the offseason. One was done through a trade with the New York Giants as they added Olivier Vernon in exchange for Kevin Zeitler. His addition was seen as a way to add another strong edge rusher opposite Myles Garrett.
In 2018, there wasn’t anyone else who provided consistent pressure off the edge. Garrett, the former No. 1 overall pick out of Texas A&M, took his next step as a pro and had 13.5 sacks but as a team, the Browns had just 37 total sacks. Vernon, who made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career in 2018 should help them increase that total.
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Their other addition was Sheldon Richardson, a free agent signing who was with the Minnesota Vikings last season. A former first-round pick, Richardson is strong against the run but can also generate pressure up the middle. He lines up next to Larry Ogunjobi who is coming off a breakout season that saw him record 52 tackles and 5.5 sacks.
On the bench, Cleveland goes with four reserve defensive ends. Chris Smith is the veteran, Chad Thomas is the former third-round pick they’re still grooming and Anthony Zettel is actually a player who can fill in on the edge and slide inside on third downs if needed.
Wyatt Ray makes the roster in this prediction as he has some upside as an edge rusher — although, he could be the player in danger should they decide to keep a third quarterback or a specialist in the run game.
As for defensive tackles, Carl Davis loses out to Brian Price and Trevon Coley based on the fact that Davis was on the team in 2018 and hardly anyone noticed.