Cleveland Browns: 5 2021 Pro Bowl snubs

5. Olivier Vernon, EDGE

Olivier Vernon caught a lot of flak from the fanbase last season for his injury issues, and the same thing happened early this year. His performance suffered because of it, and he wasn’t making the kind of impact he needed to, especially given the attention that Myles Garrett draws on every play. That is, until Vernon finally got healthy.

Since Week 8, he’s totaled seven sacks and nearly 30 pressures, significantly more than Garrett in both departments. He also sets the edge extremely well, and has been one of the NFL’s top run defenders for quite a while now.

The NFL refuses to acknowledge the EDGE position, so the defensive end and linebacker position groups for the Pro Bowl are quite jumbled. Matthew Judon of the Baltimore Ravens was voted in, despite having a major down year. Had Vernon been healthy the entire season, he would have likely been a shoo-in. Still, what he’s done over the past seven games is more deserving than what Judon has done overall. Judon is more well-known than Vernon, though, and thus gets in over him.

Vernon has certainly played his way to a new contract with Cleveland, and if that happens, he should have a chance to make next year’s Pro Bowl, which would be the second of his career.