3 Browns Rookies on Thin Ice After Their First Season

2. Siaki Ika, DL

Whenever a player is drafted on Day 2, expectations tend to be higher. That was the case when the Browns used the 98th overall selection last April to select defensive lineman Siaki Ika out of Baylor.

Ika was a beast during his four-year college career. The Salt Lake City native won a national title with LSU in 2019, was named the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year when he transferred to Baylor in 2021 and also earned first-team All-Big 12 in his last two seasons.

But even with a résumé like that, Ika didn't see much playing time as a rookie due to the team's stacked D-line. He was deemed inactive in each of the Browns' first 13 games, not making his debut until Week 14. Even when he did play, he didn't make much of an impact, tallying one defended pass and one pressure across 100 defensive snaps.

Even though it's a small sample size, Pro Football Focus gave Ika a 29.5 defensive grade for his efforts, which ranked dead last on the Browns. His 31.3 run defense grade also ranked second-worst. on the team.

Unless Ika has an incredibly strong training camp and preseason, his outlook doesn't look too promising.