No. 1: Sione Takitaki, LB
We’ll begin with the obvious: Sione Takitaki’s name is one of the cooler names in the NFL. That should be worth the watch on Sunday just to hear his name called out.
The linebacker is now in his fourth season with Cleveland and his production continues to grow every year. In the last game before the bye against the Cincinnati Bengals, Takitaki had an impressive 13 tackles that included a strip-sack of Joe Burrow.
There have been injuries to linebackers Jeremiah Owusu- Koramoah and Anthony Walker this season and that’s thrust Takitaki into the middle of the linebacking crew. He has had some nice moments over the previous three seasons. Back in 2020, he had a memorable pick-six against the Indianapolis Colts that helped the Browns win an important game on their way to the playoffs.
He always works hard and puts forth a lot of effort when you watch him play. His tackling and skill set continues to be impressive. As the Browns have gotten better on defense this season, part of that improvement has to do with Takitaki coming in and helping clog up the middle of the defense. He’s helping to create problems for the opponent, and he’s been able to get it in the backfield a few more times of late like he did when he had that strip sack on the quarterback
The Browns will likely put pressure on Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa Sunday and more than likely we’ll hear Takitaki’s name called a time or two in his attempt to get an important tackle or even another sack.
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