Sione Takitaki leads the way with Cleveland Browns with rising stock
By Chad Porto
Sione Takitaki’s stock rose with the Cleveland Browns’ recent win over the Cincinnati Bengals
The Cleveland Browns saw many people step up on Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals in an early “must-win” game. The Browns are fighting for their playoff lives and sit at just 3-5 going into the second half of the season. Luckily for them, they have a bye week right at the midway point, and the team should have a chance to rectify some of their standing issues.
The schedule isn’t going to get any easier for the Browns, who have had a variety of issues on defense and consistency issues on offense, but the bye week should at least give them a chance to get healthy and get correct.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, the Browns will be playing must-win games for the rest of the year. Every game is going to be done or die for the Brownies, but at least the win over the Bengals on Monday Night Football should give this team some confidence. Especially on defense.
Deion Jones’ involvement may help stabilize the defense to some degree, but the team still has lingering issues on the defensive front that now involve Jadeveon Clowney. We’ll have to see how stable the defense becomes in later weeks as he slowly integrates more and more into the defense.
On a quick note, Jones and Nick Chubb aren’t on this list for two reasons; we’re still getting a feeling of what and where Jones is at this point. So to judge him positively or negatively wouldn’t be fair at this point.
As for Chubb, he’s the best player on the team, and we say that every week. His stock can’t rise any further as he is the benchmark offensively for everyone else. The same goes for Myles Garrett on the defensive front. While he does have room to improve, unlike Chubb, Garrett is still the flag bearer for the unit.