Browns: 5 best defensive players halfway through the season
By Chad Porto
#4 – DL Porter Gustin
In a lot of ways, Porter Gustin is the Chris Hubbard of defense. He’s not supposed to be this high and if other guys were playing better, he wouldn’t be. That said, Gustin has shown time and time again that he has the versatility and ability to play defense in the NFL.
He’s got 18 total tackles so far for the Browns while playing in only about half of the snaps on defensive. He’s also made most of his efforts by getting two tackles for a loss and a QB hit.
His versatility and agility have been key to his performances. Gustin has lined up a number of times inside at a tackle spot while also lining up opposite Myles Garrett on most occasions. While he only plays about 50% of the defensive snaps on the team right now, he’s shown to be a more consistent player than Olivier Vernon, who is starting to develop a reputation of half-assing plays. Gustin might be like Sendejo to some degree, a guy who’s good enough to start this year but not next.
If that’s the case or not is up in the air, as he’s someone who needs consistency in the lineup to prove one way or another. Right now with the injuries to the team and the lack of productivity out of several of the bigger names, Gustin has proven that he deserves more time. Maybe he can cement himself as a starter for this team, or maybe he can just fill the gap until some help arrives, whenever that is.