The Cleveland Browns defense should be a formidable unit and it will, especially if these four players are able to have better stats in 2022.
The defensive unit of the Cleveland Browns has a chance to be top-tier in the 2022 season. There are a ton of playmakers who will be playing together for a second-consecutive season. The defense will have to step up in a big way should quarterback Deshaun Watson be suspended for any amount of time.
The Browns enter the season returning seven defensive starters which is vastly different than a season ago when they had nine new faces on that side of the football. It took them a good bit of the first half of the season to gel, but they were a middle-of-the-pack defense, that really shined at times.
Cleveland gave up the fifth-fewest yards per game in the NFL in 2021 at 311.5. However, the defense allowed 22 points per game, which isn’t bad per se, but often times the offense couldn’t hold up their end of the deal.
The defense will need to generate more turnovers as they had only 19 last season; 21st in the league. These four players can force turnovers and get to the quarterback even better than they did a season ago.
Cleveland Browns Player That Will Have Better Stats in 2022 No. 4
Chase Winovich – EDGE
The Browns acquired EDGE rusher Chase Winovich earlier this offseason when they sent linebacker Mack Wilson to New England. I believe that this trade will benefit both the players and the teams. It gives each player a chance at a fresh start with a change of scenery and each team a new player to plug into their respective defenses.
Winovich was drafted in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Patriots. He had a stellar first two seasons in New England, racking up 5.5 sacks in each season. He also had 74 combined tackles, 50 being solo, and 10 for a loss. He had 22 quarterback hits in those first two seasons as well.
In Year 3, he found himself in head coach Bill Belichick’s doghouse and his stats diminished heavily. He did not register a sack and only 11 tackles while playing in just 14 percent of the defensive snaps. Belichick also deployed Winovich at the linebacker position, which is not his normal EDGE position.
In Cleveland, Winovich can be used to either provide relief for recently re-signed EDGE rusher, Jadeveon Clowney or alongside Clowney and opposite Myles Garrett. He could even be used on the interior at times, much like Clowney could do. With the Browns pretty thin at the defensive tackle position, that could be an opportunity that Winovich can take advantage of.
It is easy to think that Winovich will produce at least one sack and the Browns would be elated if he could replicate the 5.5 sacks from his first two seasons.
Cleveland Browns Player That Will Have Better Stats in 2022 No. 3
Greg Newsome II – Cornerback
The 26th overall pick from last year’s NFL Draft had a pretty big role in 2021. In 2022, cornerback Greg Newsome II could be even better than he was as a rookie.
The Browns surprised some people last season when they drafted Newsome at 26 out of Northwestern as many didn’t think the team needed another cornerback, but now, I’m sure nobody is complaining. Newsome had a solid rookie campaign and seemed to get better every week.
Newsome played in 12 games, making 11 starts for the Browns in 2021. In those 12 games, Newsome compiled 37 tackles, 33 being solo and had nine passes defended. In pass coverage, he allowed 39 receptions on 62 targets (62.9%), surrendering 383 yards and just one touchdown. He played in 89 percent of the defensive snaps in games that he played in.
Last year, Newsome was used primarily outside, which is where he played in college. This year, Newsome could very well be the slot corner as he has been positioned there in OTAs. This will allow Greedy Williams to be utilized on the outside opposite Denzel Ward. The move to the inside is something Newsome is embracing and a move that will benefit him.
"“I think it’s a benefit toward me,” he said Wednesday at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. “I’ll be able to be around the ball a lot more. I’m definitely liking the inside. It’s going to be fun. I think I’ll be able to make some more plays, get some sacks and things like that.”"
This could be a very special season for the Browns and Greg Newsome can be a big part of that. A year of NFL experience will do wonders for the second-year cornerback out of Northwestern.
Cleveland Browns Player That Will Have Better Stats in 2022 No. 2
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah – Linebacker
We are going to hop back on the 2021 NFL Draft train and talk about how Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah -arguably the steal of the draft – is primed to have an even better sophomore campaign compared to his rookie year.
Cleveland drafted JOK in the second round with the 52nd overall pick. The fact that a player of his caliber was able to drop to 52 should have had general manager Andrew Berry sprinting to the phone to make the pick. The Browns traded up from 59 in order to take JOK and it was a move that will benefit them for years to come.
Owusu-Koramoah is a unique player as he is somewhat of a linebacker-safety hybrid as he can make plays all over the field and has amazing speed. A lot of teams decided to pass on JOK in the 2021 NFL Draft due to reported issues with his heart, but that has not been an issue for him.
The Browns were easing JOK into the lineup last year so they didn’t over-expose him in year one. He played in 14 games, missing three due to injury, and made 10 starts, playing in 65 percent of the defensive snaps. He finished his first professional season with 76 tackles (49 solo), three for a loss, four quarterback hits, four passes defended, two forced fumbles, and 1.5 sacks.
JOK will turn just 23 in November, so the sky is the limit for him in 2022 and beyond. His workload will likely increase this season, which makes it a little easier, per se, to have even better statistics than he did in his rookie season.
Cynthia Frelund of NFL.com says that JOK is the Browns most underappreciated player on the roster. This is due to JOK being in the top-10-win share percentage among his draft class in stopping the run and in pass coverage.
Cleveland Browns Player That Will Have Better Stats in 2022 No. 1
Myles Garrett – EDGE Rusher
Is it even possible for a player like Myles Garrett to get better? It absolutely is and that should be a very scary thought for all opposing quarterbacks.
Garrett set the bar for himself incredibly high a season ago, but in 2022, those numbers could go even further up as he is on the verge of making Browns history. Garrett is four sacks away from setting the franchise record, currently held by Clay Matthews with 62. Garrett enters the 2022 campaign with 58.5 sacks, and he’s done that in just 68 career games, which is wild to think about.
Last year, Garrett set the single-season record when he recorded 16 sacks. He had 4.5 of those sacks in one game back in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears, when Justin Fields made his first career start. For as impressive of a feature that is, Garrett only recorded two sacks in his final five games. I feel he can and will have more in crucial moments down the stretch of the season, especially if the Browns are in playoff contention.
Not only did Garrett rack up 16 sacks, he had a career-high in pressures with 52, which allowed someone like Jadeveon Clowney to get to the quarterback more. Clowney finished with nine sacks a season ago and decided to re-sign with the Browns a few weeks ago, after a ton of public encouragement to do so from Garrett.
Garrett has compiled double-digit sack totals in four straight seasons and likely would have had double digits in his rookie season had he played in more than 11 games (seven sacks). If history is any indication, we will see Garrett surpass his franchise-record 16 sacks in a season in 2022.
Every even-numbered year in the NFL, Garrett has surpassed his sack total from the previous year. In his first year, he had seven sacks, but then in year two, he had 13.5. In year 3 Garrett racked up 10 sacks and then a year later, he had 12.
If that trend continues, Garrett will not only break the all-time franchise record, but also his own franchise single-season record.