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Cleveland Browns: 3 veterans who will have reduced roles in 2021

By Randy Gurzi

Dec 6, 2020; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Rashard Higgins (82) and Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku (85) celebrate after a touchdown during the first half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 6, 2020; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Rashard Higgins (82) and Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku (85) celebrate after a touchdown during the first half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Cleveland Browns
Linebacker Mack Wilson. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

2. Mack Wilson, Linebacker

Anthony Walker was one of the more underrated signings this offseason for the Browns but he wasn’t the only linebacker added. Cleveland also drafted Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the second round before adding Tony Fields II from West Virginia in the fifth.

JOK comes in as more of a hybrid player who spent his time lined up somewhere between safety and linebacker for the Fighting Irish, which makes him a perfect fit for the 4-2-5 scheme that defensive coordinator Joe Woods wants to run.

Fields is also a solid fit and should get time in the rotation but the primary linebackers will still be Walker, Owusu-Koramoah, and most likely Jacob Phillips who was a third-round pick last season and showed he could get the job done when he was on the field.

All that leaves a former starter on the outside looking in. Mack Wilson has 22 starts in 29 career games for the Browns but that’s likely to change this season. Once the vocal leader of the group, he now will have to fight for snaps behind several other players who were brought in after him by this regime.

For Cleveland, this isn’t a terrible thing at all. Having someone as a reserve linebacker with the experience Wilson gained over the past two seasons can only make a defense stronger.

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