Dawg Pound Daily
FanSided

Cleveland Browns bye week report cards: Defensive line

By Sam Penix

Oct 11, 2020; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) after the game against the Indianapolis Colts at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2020; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) after the game against the Indianapolis Colts at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

Adrian Clayborn – C

Adrian Clayborn has been one of the league’s best rotational EDGEs for a while now, and had a great 2019, ranking as one of the 10 most disruptive pass-rushers per NFL Next Gen Stats. The two-year $6 million contract he signed with the Browns was thought to be a bargain, but Clayborn seems to have begun to show his age (32).

After generating 48 pressures in each of the past two seasons, including an impressive 14.9 percent pressure rate in 2019, he’s logged just four over 101 pass-rush snaps this year, for a rate of under 4 percent. It’s been three games since he’s generated a pressure, and hasn’t had more than one in a game this season. He’s playing only about 70 percent of the snaps that he saw with the Atlanta Falcons, but if anything, that should allow him to be more efficient. For what he was brought in to do, Clayborn has been a disappointment to this point.

Porter Gustin – B

Porter Gustin showed some promise towards the end of 2019, and beat out 2018 third-rounder Chad Thomas for the fourth EDGE spot on the roster this season. Due to injuries to both Vernon and Clayborn, he’s played perhaps more than defensive coordinator Joe Woods envisioned, but he’s been better than Clayborn, and given his role, he’s been just fine.

He’s registered a pressure in only two games this season, but was very good against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2, and looked like the Browns best defensive player in Week 8 against the Raiders. He has plenty of athletic potential, and because of how Clayborn has performed, Gustin should continue to get playing time over the second half of the year, just to see what the team has with him.

Home/Browns News