Cleveland Browns: Malik McDowell shows why team had faith in him

Malik McDowell finally made his NFL debut for the Cleveland Browns, and played great

It was 1,751 days since Malik McDowell had last played in a football game, but you wouldn’t have known that by watching him.

Yes, it came against the New York Giants second and third-string offensive line, but McDowell was flat-out dominant on his 25 snaps, earning a 91.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. It was the best performance a Cleveland Browns defensive tackle has had in any game, preseason or regular season, since the 1999 return, for what that’s worth.

A former elite prospect, McDowell had attitude issues in college, and dealt with injuries and legal issues that tanked his NFL career before it had even begun. After being cut by the Seattle Seahawks in March of 2019, McDowell received a tryout with the Miami Dolphins in October of 2020, but that was all the NFL interest he received until the Browns signed him in May of 2021, after “months of research into him” according to general manager Andrew Berry.

It was a move that carried zero risk for the team beyond some negative headlines about McDowell’s character, but he’s stayed out of trouble and his work ethic has been praised by players and coaches; this could very well have been his last chance at football, so he’s had no choice but to give it his all.

The potential reward was tantalizing given McDowell’s natural talent, but he faced an uphill battle to make the roster in a crowded DT room that featured starters Malik Jackson and Andrew Billings, veteran Sheldon Day (initially thought to be just a camp body, but that has changed), and young guys Jordan Elliott, Tommy Togiai, and Marvin Wilson.

The quantity over quality approach that the Browns took hasn’t worked out too well thus far. Billings is in no danger of losing his spot, but has struggled during the preseason. Elliott finally showed something against New York, but neither Togiai nor Wilson has really done anything, which puts Day and McDowell in serious contention for roster spots.

All of a sudden, Cleveland sort of desperately needs McDowell to pan out, because if he doesn’t, that DT room looks super weak. He needs to be given a chance to play meaningful snaps early in the game against the Atlanta Falcons to prove he can keep up his high level of performance (or even decent to solid) against players who will be on a roster this season.

It would also be great to see McDowell take some snaps as an EDGE, something he had a lot of success doing in college. Takk McKinley is back with the team, which is good, but the depth behind him is not. McDowell doesn’t have to play there full-time, but having the versatility to play that role in certain sets would be quite valuable.

He hasn’t locked up a roster spot yet, but Malik McDowell is well on his way to doing so, both because of his performance and his teammates’ lack thereof. It would be a great comeback story to see him hit rock bottom and then finally get his career kick-started. Oh, and he just turned 25, and still has Hall of Fame talent. Just saying.