5 Best Cleveland Browns fourth round draft picks since 1999
By Joseph Cantz
2. Wali Rainer, LB, 1999-2001
Wali Rainer was a part of the new Cleveland Browns inaugural draft class. Originally selected in the fourth round out of Virginia, the former Cavalier turned out to be a serviceable player during his time with the Browns.
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He never reached Pro Bowl heights, but he was consistently near the top of the league in tackles. Rainer’s rookie year saw him place third overall in the league for tackles with 107.
His production did begin to decline a bit after that effective rookie year. Still, Rainer proved to be a decent piece of the new Browns defense. He paced the team in tackles during his tenure in Cleveland before he was traded to Jacksonville for the 76th pick in the 2002 draft.
Rainer ended the Cleveland portion of his career with 334 tackles, 3 sacks, and 1 interception. He didn’t stick around in Jacksonville, deciding to sign with the Detroit Lions for 3 years after just one season with the Jaguars.
He wasn’t much of a factor in Detroit and left for Houston, but he never ended up playing a snap for them. As an interesting aside, Wali Rainer was the Browns’ Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nominee in 2001.