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Top 5 Cleveland Browns of the 21st Century according to Chris Simms

By Chad Porto

Dec 17, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) is introduced before the game between the Browns and the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 17, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) is introduced before the game between the Browns and the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Who are the top five Cleveland Browns of the 21st Century?

The Cleveland Browns haven’t always had the best stars over the last 20+ years. Some years the team’s best player was a left tackle. That’s no longer the case, thankfully, as the team boasts three current All-Pro caliber players in Nick Chubb, Myles Garrett, and Joel Bitonio. Yet, are any of these three men on Chris Simms’ Top 5 list for the Browns in the 21st Century?

Speaking with Ahmed Fareed for NBC Sports, Simms and Fareed looked at the top players since the 21st century and were forced to whittle them down to five. This was made a bit more difficult as Phil Dawson is an all-time great kicker, and Josh Cribbs made the All-Decade team for the 2000s.

It wasn’t an easy list to pair down.

  • Nick Chubb
  • Joe Thomas
  • Joel Bitonio
  • Alex Mack
  • Myles Garrett
  • Joe Haden
  • Josh Cribbs
  • Phil Dawson

Who did Chris Simms pick as the Cleveland Browns’ five best players of the 21st Century?

You could make an argument for every player on that list above, and some of them have every right to be in that argument, but to be honest, I think Simms got it right. While I love guys like Cribbs, Haden, and Dawson more than others on the list, I think Simms’ picks were the right ones.

But who were the five that Simms and his co-host Fareed picked? They picked Hall of Famer Joe Thomas, future Hall of Famer Alex Mack, hopeful Hall of Famers Myles Garrett and Joel Bitonio, and “here’s hoping Hall of Famer”, Nick Chubb.

Thomas, Mack, Garrett, Bitonio, and Chubb are easily, at least in my opinion, the five best players the Cleveland Browns have had since 1999 bar none. Now, the original idea behind the list is that it excluded all quarterbacks, and while for teams like the Colts and the Chiefs, that might be hard, for the Browns, it didn’t even factor in.

Because, even if you did include Baker Mayfield, Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb, and yes, even Deshaun Watson, none of them deserve to be in the Top 5 over any of those other men.

Next. Are the Cleveland Browns a Top 10 roster heading into the 2023 season?. dark

  • Published on 06/15/2023 at 02:00 AM
  • Last updated at 06/15/2023 at 02:00 AM
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