Cleveland Browns add another CB with injury issues in Greg Newsome at No. 26
By Randy Gurzi
The Cleveland Browns needed help at cornerback and Greg Newsome II offers that. Unfortunately, he also has a concerning injury history to worry about.
The Cleveland Browns are on the heels of their best season since returning to the NFL in 1999. They were able to win 11 games last season and even scored a playoff victory — on the road — against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
They also were able to celebrate their head coach, Kevin Stefanski, winning the NFL Coach of the Year honors while also seeing general manager Andrew Berry garnering praise from all over the league.
But with that success, the Browns found themselves in a weird spot as they were on the clock at No. 26 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft — which was a major change from their constant barrage of top-10 picks in recent seasons.
This draft ended up falling nicely for the Browns as they had their pick of several solid players and took one that might have been a bit of a gamble. Cleveland took Northwestern cornerback Greg Newsome II, who has a lot of talent but also comes in with something they didn’t need — an extensive injury history.
Newsome missed eight games in 2018 with an ankle injury and three games in 2019 and another three this past season 2020. He also missed the Big Ten Championship game with a groin injury.
That’s troublesome since the Browns already have major concerns with Greedy Williams missing 20 games so far in two seasons and Denzel Ward missing 11 in three seasons.
In the end, Newsome makes this secondary better and considering the issues they had stopping the bass — and the run and pretty much everything — in 2020, it makes sense that they went for a defensive back. And if Newsome remains healthy, he will surely help the team.
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The hope is that Newsome can prove that his injuries during his collegiate days are behind him and if that proves to be the case, this defense will be much better as he joins John Johnson, Jadeveon Clowney, Troy Hill, Malik Jackson, and Anthony Walker.