Cleveland Browns: Ronnie Harrison is starting to make his imprint

Ronnie Harrison is hitting his stride for the Cleveland Browns

It appears that the Cleveland Browns are starting to get Ronnie Harrison on the field for defensive snaps more, which has been a relief. Harrison was acquired via trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars shortly before Week 1, and for much of the season thus far, he’s been mostly a special teams contributor.

Fortunately for us Browns fans, though, Harrison’s been getting more of an opportunity with the defensive unit in recent weeks.

In a Week 5 win against the Indianapolis Colts, Harrison flashed at times, and he had a game-changing interception which he ran back for a 47-yard touchdown while breaking on the ball, which showed how he can make things happen when out there. Granted, Harrison had more of a chance then due to Karl Joseph missing the game then due to a hamstring injury, but he made an impact in that time.

It was of course a tough bit of luck that Harrison missed the following Week 6 matchup at the Pittsburgh Steelers, a game in which the Orange and Brown were blown out 38-7, because of a concussion. Albeit he did get another key opportunity in Week 7 at the Cincinnati Bengals.

And though the Browns pass defense had their overall head-scratching moments as Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow had a whopping 406 yards and four touchdowns, Harrison did make his presence felt.

Harrison, while some of them were not exactly impact plays, did still have a team-high nine tackles, and he had an outstanding fumble recovery that led to Cleveland getting on the board with a field goal. Now again, Joseph missing two of the last three games and only playing 16.0 percent of the defensive snaps at Cincy opened the door for Harrison (who missed the Pittsburgh game).

That said, the former Jaguar, when given chances, has looked to be a productive safety to have in the rotation.

Harrison is starting to make his imprint on games for the Browns

It’s no secret that the Browns pass defense, at least in terms of coverage to a large degree, has been sub-standard. Now, some of that has had to do with injuries, and in a non-biased way here, that’s had some to do with it.

Would us Browns fans like to have the Grant Delpit patrolling the back end and/or making a difference at times, perhaps, as a blitzer? Unequivocally, that’s a yes.

And that’s even more so with how inept Andrew Sendejo, whose conceded a perfect passer rating of 158.3 in his primary coverage in 2020, has been, and has likely played so much more than he would’ve had Delpit not torn his Achilles before the season. Sendejo’s had a missed tackle rate of 15.6 percent, too, which is far from exceptional.

In any case, the way Harrison has played when he’s registered a considerable amount of defensive snaps has been very encouraging for Cleveland. DPD’s own Sam Penix, also of Pro Football Focus, recently demonstrated how effective the 6-foot-3, 214-pound Harrison has been when he’s been given legitimate opportunities in coverage thus far, too.

Plus, as far as the tackling side of things, while the opportunities have again been fairly limited on formal defensive chances, Harrison having a missed tackle rate of just 6.7 percent so far is impressive.

While we’ll have to see as far as Harrison’s snap counts looking onward against the Las Vegas Raiders upcoming on Sunday and after the bye, it’s good to know that Harrison is starting to make his imprint for the Cleveland Browns. From my perspective, his recent performances should only help his case for more defensive snaps, and perhaps if that’s via three-safety/hybrid linebacker looks more, then that should play out.

If the Browns were to make a move to acquire another safety via trade by the upcoming deadline, of which Penix suggested could be the case for the Minnesota Vikings’ Harrison Smith and/or seemingly Anthony Harris, though, one couldn’t fault them for it. That’s especially with injury concerns/Sendejo’s problems.

But either way, it’s been a pleasure to have seen Harrison hitting his stride when the chances for him have arisen, and he’s beginning to make his case for more and more defensive snaps.

Him seeming to be so grateful for being a member of the Orange and Brown, as a local fan, has been awesome to see, too, on an unrelated note.