Cleveland Browns: 3 defensive players who could have big years

Denzel Ward

A former Pro Bowler starts off the list. Denzel Ward showed all sorts of talent in his rookie season and matched up well against most of the opposing wideouts. Yet in his sophomore season, he slumped a bit. By no means is anyone saying he’s garbage and the team should just move on, it’s just being said that by his own standards he didn’t reduplicate his rookie season in year number two.

Ward should be helped however by new safeties playing over the top of him. Whether it’s Karl Joseph, Grant Delpit, or Andrew Sendejo, Ward will have two (at times three) new safeties playing behind him to help cover up any holes in the secondary. The hope is those homerun passes that torched the Browns on occasion the last few years are a thing of the past. Part of making that a reality, however, is making sure Ward’s corner-mate Greedy Williams isn’t a liability. He could easily be a guy who doesn’t improve at all.

If there’s a weak side of the defensive secondary, then it won’t matter if Ward returns to form. Hopefully, that’s not the case.

Another reason why Ward should have a better 2020 is the fact that the Browns had improved the defensive line some, but one of their big additions opted out of the year. With Everson Griffen now in Dallas, and Jadeveon Clowney primed to start the season unsigned, there’s not a lot of options at defensive end that can help bolster the team. Should the Browns reverse their feelings on Clay Matthews III or actually pull off a trade for Yannick Ngakoue, then maybe the pass rush is enough to take significant pressure off of the secondary. Those moves seem unlikely, however.

Additions to the defense should see Ward return to form and if Andrew Berry does in fact live up to his promise of trying to improve the team no matter what point of the season it is, then Ward could get some late-season help still.

Ward should be back to his Pro Bowl ways in 2020.