Cleveland Browns: 3 defensive players who could have big years

Olivier Vernon

The Browns shouldn’t just expect a big-bounce-back year from Olivier Vernon, they need Vernon to step up. The Browns re-worked his deal so that he’d have a guaranteed contract for 2020, and in doing so gave him their faith. Is that faith deserved, however? Not if 2019 is a sign of things to come. The Browns expect Vernon to be healthy and if he’s healthy, they expect him to be productive.

He may very well be. A healthy Vernon has been a Pro Bowl-caliber talent in the past and the hope is that he can return to that former glory in 2019. The problem is, there isn’t anything to look to on this team that would make someone scream “yes, he’s going to have a huge year!”  There’s no positional improvements around him or coaching change that hints that the player will see big plays in 2020.

All there is to this pick is hope. Hope that the front office has more than just a gut-instinct about Vernon. Some measurable evidence, practice performances, or offseason workouts that made head coach Kevin Stefanski salivate about the possibilities of Vernon in this system.

Maybe the possibility of running more three-safety dime packages make Vernon, a player who can play linebacker as well as a defensive end, an attractive commodity. He is highly versatile and with Joe Woods’ desire to run more multi-safety packages, a guy like Vernon may be a necessary component for those schemes.

You know, in theory.

If Vernon doesn’t have a big year, it will be his last year, at least with the Browns.