Which Cleveland Browns rookie will have the biggest impact in 2021?

Andrew Gribble of the Cleveland Browns official website picks which rookie will have the biggest impact in 2021, but couldn’t narrow it to just one

Cleveland Browns fans are living the life right now. Their team has finally turned a corner and while there were times in the past where it felt as though they were about to shake the loser label, this time it finally feels real.

Not only are they getting love as one of the most complete — if not the most complete — rosters in the NFL, but it’s also hard to answer simple questions such as ‘which rookie will have the most impact this season?

In the past, you could usually just point to the first-round pick and hope to be correct. But now with Andrew Berry running things, there have been multiple rookies to get excited about. It’s also made it impossible to narrow down such a question, which led to ClevelandBrowns.com writer Andrew Gribble giving us two players when asked that very question by a reader.

"“The Browns essentially landed two first-round players when they took CB Greg Newsome with the No. 26 overall selection and then moved up to nab LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah midway through the second round,” Gribble said in response to the question about which Browns rookie will have the biggest impact this season. He then added: “They’re my 1A and 1B answers to this question”"

While Gribble was unable to narrow it down to one player who will have the most impact on the team in his first season, it’s also hard to blame him. Both Newsome and JOK play positions of major need and they both come in with a high pedigree.

Newsome was one of the top cornerbacks in the class and it was apparent for roughly a month before the draft that he was on the Browns radar. He should be able to start quickly in the NFL and give them a formidable duo across from Denzel Ward.

However, there’s an argument to be made that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was the better talent leading up to the draft. The problem with JOK was that he was more of a hybrid player and while Cleveland liked him, the need at corner likely pushed Newsome ahead of him.

What was unexpected was that they were still able to land him in the second round. There were some reports that a heart condition hurt his stock but JOK has said that it won’t be an issue in the league and he was fully cleared to play.

The Browns have several solid rookies to watch this season, but Gribble is spot on that these are the two who should contribute the most in 2021.