Do the Cleveland Browns really have the NFL’s best roster?

Kansas City Chiefs

RB – Good

Clyde Edwards-Helaire had a solid rookie campaign, and is one of the shiftiest players in the league. Darrel Williams is a solid backup.

WR – Great

There isn’t a ton behind him, but Tyreek Hill is good enough to significantly elevate this group. He’s simply impossible to cover. Mecole Hardman has yet to meet expectations, but his speed opens things up nonetheless. Demarcus Robinson is a solid depth player, and Byron Pringle doesn’t offer much.

TE – Elite

Much like the wide receiver group, the tight end room is anchored by an elite player. Travis Kelce is just fantastic, and makes the fact that backups Nick Keizer, Ricky Seals-Jones, and Deon Yelder don’t a lot irrelevant.

OL – Poor

Apparently, the Chiefs saw Patrick Mahomes get pressured 44 times in the Super Bowl and thought “let’s take that even further”. Tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz along with center Austin Reiter are gone.

The team did spend big on guard Joe Thuney, and brought Kyle Long out of retirement. Mike Remmers, Martinas Rankin, and Darryl Williams are currently slated to start, which is far from ideal. Austin Blythe was brought over from the Los Angeles Rams, but that’s not exactly encouraging.

DT – Great

Khalen Saunders barely played in 2020, even after he was recovered from injury. Undrafted free agent Tershawn Wharton proved to be a quality backup, and Derrick Nnadi is a good run-stuffing one-tech. The group is headlined by Chris Jones, the most dominant defensive tackle in the league not named Aaron Donald. The recent signing of Jarran Reed gives Kansas City a formidable interior.

EDGE – Poor

At the moment, only Frank Clark, Mike Danna, and Taco Charlton are the main players under contract in this room. Charlton barely played in 2020 and has been a disappointment since he was a 2017 first-rounder. Danna played a rotational role as a rookie and was decent.

Kansas City gave up a 2019 first-rounder, and 2020 second-rounder, and swapped third-rounders in 2019 with the Seattle Seahawks to land Clark, and then extended him for more than $105 million over five years.

He’s logged 22 sacks over two seasons, but is far from the consistent disruptive force that one would expect for a price that high – Kendall Lamm and Blake Hance played left tackle in the Divisional Round playoff game, and Clark was invisible.

LB – Poor

Willie Gay Jr., Anthony Hitchens, and Ben Niemann comprise a subpar linebacker corps. It isn’t good, but it also doesn’t matter a whole lot.

CB – Poor

Charvarius Ward is decent, Rashad Fenton is a good slot, and L’Jarius Sneed proved to be a fourth-round steal, but the Chiefs lack a corner that other teams would be comfortable deploying as their first or second option.

S – Good

Juan Thornhill provides solid play as a free safety, and Tyrann Mathieu roams the box well, as the Browns know all too well. There is minimal depth here and Mathieu has never been the most consistent player on a year-to-year basis.