Cleveland Browns: Is Tyvis Powell A Starting Caliber Player?

Could a long-term answer in the Cleveland Browns’ secondary already be on the roster?

The Cleveland Browns are a young team. With their ongoing rebuild, the approach has been building through the draft and taking low risks on players from other teams.

As the Browns continue to add talent, eventually they contend again. When that day comes, they will have a number of younger players who will have had ideal playing experience. One of those players that may fit such a description could be recent safety pickup Tyvis Powell.

Powell is a former Ohio State player who played for the Seattle Seahawks before coming back to Ohio. In fact, Powell is not only coming back to Ohio but he is also coming to the area he grew up in, as he is from Bedford, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb.

Powell was a talented player in college and in the NFL game has the versatility of playing both free and strong safety. The second year veteran was unable to showcase what he could do often because he had limited playing time in Seattle behind their excellent defensive group.

Due to the depth a both safety positions for the Browns, at the moment Powell could be in line for a significant increase in playing time. However, it is after all very early in the offseason still. It is just a matter of time more players are added.

Even though that is inevitable, the versatility Powell has should be shown this fall and it is a nice thing to have for the Browns’ sake. The last consistent safety regardless of position Cleveland could rely on was T.J. Ward and to some degree Tashaun Gipson. Powell has some potential, but he is not going to become the next Ward.

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It would be great to see Powell come back to Cleveland and make a name for himself. Maybe he will, but it will not be because he is starting safety.

Powell does provide the Browns a nice option to use on special teams and for depth purposes. There is just too much he has to work on in general to think otherwise.

Among the aspects I question is his ability to go sideline to sideline to make plays, while also being unable to keep up with fast wide receivers like Washington Redskins’ DeSean Jackson. His tackling ability meanwhile is not an issue. Now not every scheme will display Powell’s holes in his game.

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The good thing actually is that in Cleveland’s numerous defensive schemes, they should be able to hide some of Powell’s flaws. He is a developmental player but he can certainly contribute. Instead of Powell starting, expect Cleveland to start someone either in the draft, a possible free agent signee like Los Angeles Rams’ T.J. McDonald, or second year DB Derrick Kindred.

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