Browns: 3 positional groups that have the most to prove this year
By Chad Porto
Safety
The 2020 Browns squad had issues at safety but had more issues at cornerback. The team’s corner situation looked much like the Indians starting rotation in 2021; a lot of guys who shouldn’t be in the spots they were in. The Browns went all-in on the corner and there’s far more who believe they’re improved than not. As for the safeties, the Browns addressed this by adding two-hybrid linebacker-safety types in the draft in Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Tony Fields, while also adding pure safety Richard LeCounte in the later rounds.
More than likely one of these men will turn out to be something special and if the Browns are really lucky, maybe all three. They join a returning group that features Sheldrick Redwine, Grant Delpit, and Ronnie Harrison Jr., as well as free-agent pickup, John Johnson III.
Delpit, while a second-year player, will unofficially be a rookie in 2021. He missed all of the 2020 season with an Achilles injury, a move that is often hard to come back from. He’s expected to get the green light for 2021 and his debut is still being seen as an addition for 2021.
The position did get battered around, mostly against the deep pass, but that was their only glaring issue in 2020. A glaring issue that hurt the team a lot, nonetheless.