Cleveland Browns aggressively early 53-man roster prediction for 2022
By Randy Gurzi
Cleveland Browns roster prediction: Linebacker (5)
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Anthony Walker
Jacob Phillips
Sione Takitaki
Tony Fields
As mentioned earlier, Chase Winovich plays a bit of a hybrid role and can serve as a linebacker and EDGE. That’s why Cleveland is able to keep just five players on the active roster — with an undrafted free agent likely on the practice squad for emergencies.
The top linebacker entering this season is hands-down Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. A second-round pick that had no business falling to Round 2, JOK was all over the field as a rookie. And the more comfortable he got at the NFL level, the more we saw his athleticism shine through.
In the middle will again be Anthony Walker. He was a leader of the defense in 2021 and it really wasn’t a huge surprise Cleveland re-signed him.
The third starter should be Jacob Phillips, provided he can stay healthy. He’s an incredibly athletic linebacker but through his first two seasons, he’s played in just 13 games.
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Fourth is Sione Takitaki, a third-round pick out of BYU back in 2019. Takitaki is a quality player who has 132 tackles in three seasons. He simply does his job and very rarely misses tackles.
The final linebacker to make the list is Tony Fields, a fifth-round pick from 2021. Fields played in 10 games but had just four tackles. He’s slightly undersized at 6-foot and 222-pounds but was a tackling machine in college and could be a surprise contributor this season.