Browns OTAs: 4 Things to watch during practices

Browns OTAs storyline No. 2: Chase Winovich’s spot in the defense

The Cleveland Browns made a couple of splash moves this offseason. We all know about their trades for quarterback Deshaun Watson and wide receiver Amari Cooper. Fans even got excited when they re-signed Jadeveon Clowney recently.

But there’s one move that has been largely overlooked — the trade for Chase Winovich. Cleveland sent linebacker Mack Wilson to the New England Patriots in exchange for Winovich who was listed as a linebacker with New England.

In Cleveland, he should be used more on the EDGE. The 6-foot-3, 250-pounder had 11 sacks in his first two seasons with the Patriots but fell down the depth chart in year three. He wound up playing in just 13 games and had 11 tackles with no sacks.

Since joining the Browns, he has been fully embracing the new opportunity. He had fans vote on his new number and chopped off his golden locks — making him look like a completely different person.

Now that he’s in Berea, the question will be where he actually does line up and how far down the depth chart he is. It seems likely he would be the primary reserve rusher, taking on the role Takk McKinley had in 2022. If so, he could re-discover the pass rush he had early in his career, which would be exactly what this defense needs from him.