Cleveland Browns Garrett, Chubb, Johnson named to PFF Top 50 list

Pro Football Focus selected three Cleveland Browns for their list of the best 50 players in the NFL for 2021: Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb and John Johnson III.

The Cleveland Browns have had three players named to the Pro Football Focus PFF50 list of the best 50 players in the NFL for 2021. They are defensive end Myles Garrett, at No. 25, running back Nick Chubb at 37, and newcomer safety John Johnson III at 41.

There could not be anyone more deserving than Garrett. The young superstar tore up NFL offenses despite being double-teamed much of the time.

Garrett seems to have perfected the strip-sack, in which he circles behind the quarterback, grabs his arms, and yanks downward to rip them out of the shoulder socket. Garrett saved the game on more than one occasion in 2020 by creating a turnover that was crucial to producing a win for the Browns. As a result opposing offenses doubled teamed Garrett constantly.

The Browns often resorted to the unorthodox tactic of rushing Garrett from the left side, allowing Olivier Vernon to rush to the quarterback’s blind side with only single-team blocking. That allowed Vernon to be much more effective. He had a great year, producing nine sacks before going down with a season-ending Achilles tear.

Garrett’s selection was not a surprise, as he is no stranger to post-season honors. The friendly Texan with the big smile made First-Team All-Pro last season, along with right tackle Jack Conklin. Left guard Joel Bitonio and right guard Wyatt Teller were named Second-Team All-Pro. However, Quenton Nelson of the Colts was the only guard to make PFF50.

There are no centers on the list at all. Apparently, all those tubby gentlemen who hike the ball are kind of the same, in PFF’s estimation, and no one truly stood out to them. Sorry, guys. Just for the record, however, it says here that J.C. Tretter is my personal MVP of the NFL. The season might not have been played were it not for him, as head of the NFLPA, patiently working with hardheaded owners who did not see the need for a Covid-19 policy last year. Of course, saving the season is not necessarily a criterion for making PFF50, unfortunately.

Around the AFC North, Pittsburgh and Baltimore each had two players make the list, while Cincinnati was shut out.

For Pittsburgh, T.J. Watt was ranked No. 11, and Cameron Heyward 31. The Steelers had a bad flame-out last season, but there are still some serious ballplayers out there where the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers meet. Browns fans are entitled to question the relative ranking of Watt and Garrett, but Watts deserves the greatest of respect also.

Heyward is still a mean SOB at age 32, but is it my imagination, or is his production down ever so slightly from the previous year? He had four sacks versus nine in 2019; 54 tackles versus 8; seven tackles for loss versus 11 the previous season. Perhaps because the Steelers are playing more four-man fronts than they used to, with Heyward becoming more of a 4-3 defensive tackle rather than a 3-4 defensive end.

Over in Baltimore, cornerback Marlon Humphrey was selected at 29, and offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley, returning from a season-ending ankle fracture, was chosen at 46. Ravens fans are mad that Lamar Jackson was not chosen for the award, but they may as well be aware that not everyone on Pro Football Focus likes Jackson, possibly because he is so difficult to compare to a classic pocket passer. This is probably not fair, but since it’s Baltimore, we probably should not care much.

But for now, let’s turn our attention to Nick Chubb, who was the fourth running back on the PFF50 list, behind Derrick Henry, Dalvin Cook, and Christian McCaffrey.