Countdown to 2020: Best Cleveland Browns player to wear No. 51

Who is the best player to wear number 51 for the Cleveland Browns?

The countdown to the 2020 NFL season is upon us. With 51 days remaining until the Browns season opener, we continue the countdown by celebrating the best Cleveland Browns player to ever wear number 51: Eddie Johnson.

Eddie Johnson was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 1981 NFL draft out of the University of Louisville. He began his collegiate career at Louisville as a defensive back, but Johnson transitioned to linebacker before his junior year. The move to make Johnson a linebacker proved to be the correct call.

When Johnson arrived in Cleveland, it was evident that playing time was going to be hard to come by. Even though there were two starting inside linebacker spots, with the Browns running Marty Schottenheimer’s 3-4 defense, those roles were already claimed by Dick Ambrose and Robert Jackson. Johnson was going to relegated to special teams and backup spot duty early in his career.

Johnson’s opportunity to prove he was a starting-caliber player came in the 1984 season. The fourth-year linebacker seized the moment and made it impossible for the Schottenheimer to take Johnson off the field. In his first season as a full-time starter, Johnson led the Browns in tackles.

He continued his success the following season and the Browns’ defense began to play with an edge that Johnson embodied. Johnson’s style of play earned him the nickname ‘the assassin’. With the way that he fired himself through ball carriers; Johnson quickly became a fan favorite.

After two seasons of patrolling the middle of the field with Tom Cousineau, the Browns moved Anthony Griggs into the starting spot at right inside linebacker. The move away from Cousineau put Johnson into more of a leadership role. The defense responded by becoming more opportunistic.

The Browns finished the previous season next to last in the league in turnovers generated, the 1986 Browns defense finished 12th in the NFL in the same category. Team success followed as the Browns played complementary football, and the franchise made their first deep playoff run since the 1960s.

The Browns once again switched out the starting spot next to Johnson and put Mike Johnson at right inside linebacker. The defense flourished, with Johnson and Johnson both playing fast and effectively, and the unit turned in their best season in decades. The defense finished second in the league in points allowed with 239, and once again team success followed with the Browns once again making the conference championship.

However, after a disappointing injury-plagued campaign in 1988, which included the elder Johnson, the Browns made a coaching change. With that change came a new defensive philosophy and the Browns moved to a 4-3 defensive front. With room for only one starting linebacker, the Browns chose to go with the younger Johnson and Eddie Johnson’s time as a starter came to an end.

Johnson spent two more seasons in Cleveland playing as the backup middle linebacker but continued to be a team leader. He retired from football after the 1990 season and spent the rest of his life in Cleveland. After a two-year battle with colon cancer, Johnson passed away in 2003 at the age of 43.

Johnson was inducted posthumously into the Browns Legends Program in 2018 and was the best player to ever wear number 51 for the Cleveland Browns.

Honorable Mention: Dale Lindsey.