Who Is Best Browns Defensive Player Since 1960?

Sometimes arguments between friends make their way into what we right about. A group of our friends were talking about the Cleveland Browns’ defensive prospects this season under new coordinator Jim Schwartz, and the thought arose did the Browns ever have a dominant defense?

Since we talked following the team in 1965, we would say the closest were the defenses of the mid 1980’s, led by cornerbacks Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield. Unfortunately, those defenses really didn’t have a great front seven. It was good, but they weren’t dominant.

The 1987 squad finished second in the NFL in points allowed but were just 20th in sacks. The ’94 Browns allowed the least points in the league, but 7th in yards allowed and sacks. But that was kind of a one-year thing, they finished 17th in points given up in ’93 and 20th in ’95.

That morphed into this question: Who is the best defensive player the Browns have had? We mentioned Len Ford and Bill Willis, both of whom played in the early 50’s, and since no one had seen them play, the inquiry became who is the greatest defensive player Cleveland has had since 1960?

The great offensive players the franchise have had roll off your tongue: Jim Brown, Paul Warfield, Ozzie Newsome, Leroy Kelly, and of course, one of this year’s inductees, Joe Thomas.

Of course, in the fifties, you had Otto Graham, Mac Speedie, Marion Motley, and Dante Lavelli among others.

If you go strictly by Pro Bowl appearances, the leader would be Michael Dean Perry, who made five (1989-1991, 1993-94). Perry ranks 7th all-time on the club’s sack list, and played with the team from 1988-94, before finishing up with Denver and Kansas City.

Seven defenders made four Pro Bowl appearances (we know what people think about that “event” now): Chip Banks, Minnifield, Jerry Sherk, Bill Glass, Jim Houston, Clay Matthews, and current Brown Myles Garrett.

As we said before, Minnifield and Dixon were shutdown cornerbacks, and opposing passers did not want to throw anywhere in their direction. Neither had a lot of interceptions when they played (Dixon had 26, 10th for the franchise, and Minnifield had 20, 13th)

Sherk was known as one of the best tackles in the game before a staph infection derailed what was shaping up to be a dominant career. In addition to the Pro Bowls, he was named first team All Pro by the Associated Press in 1976.

Glass is the all time franchise leader in sacks according to Pro Football Reference (at least for now) with 77.5, done in 94 career games.

Matthews made four straight all star appearances (1985-89) and is second in Browns history in sacks with 75.

Garrett is still compiling numbers. In terms of AP First Team All-NFL, his two honors (’20 and ’21) tie Perry and Dixon among Browns defenders. And barring injury, he will become the franchise’s all-time sack leader this year as he is three behind Glass’ total.

And although there is no Pro Bowl game anymore, no doubt he will continue to add to his appearances, and if he gets to six, he will join Thomas, Brown, Kelly, Lou Groza, Gene Hickerson, and Dick Schafrath with that total. (NOTE: Likely Joel Bitonio as well, he has five currently)

So, what is the answer to the question of who is the Browns’ best defensive player since 1960? Right now, it’s up for debate, but in a year or two, there will be no doubt that it is Myles Garrett.

Why Do The Browns Get Most Of Our Sports Love?

We have said many times that our favorite sports are baseball and basketball, making us a minority in a city that presents itself as a football city.

That doesn’t mean we don’t follow and root for the Browns, we certainly do, and find it crazy that there are people in town who are die-hard followers of the brown and orange, but pay no attention to the Guardians or Cavaliers.

We are lucky to live in a city with three major league professional franchises and we don’t take that for granted.

Our question though is why do the Browns get so much love and loyalty in northeast Ohio, and do they deserve it?

For older fans like us, it could be because the Browns were the only winning team in our youth, that being the late 60’s. The Cleveland Browns were one of the premier franchises in the NFL from the time they entered in 1950 until basically 1970.

At that time, there were no Cavaliers (started in 1970-71) and the Indians were just starting a malaise that lasted from 1960 through 1993.

After pretty much a dormant period in the 70’s and early 80’s (excluding the Kardiac Kids season of 1980), the Browns reemerged as Super Bowl contenders in the late 80’s, led by Bernie Kosar, Hanford Dixon, Frank Minnifield, etc., coming up just short in some of the most excruciating ending to seasons you could imagine.

However, if you were growing up in the 90’s, the Guardians and Cavaliers have been far more successful than the Browns have since returning to the league in 1999.

And maybe that’s it. Perhaps the loss of the team for a few seasons has created a fear that if people aren’t zealous in their support of the Browns, they will move again.

Or maybe we are just grasping at straws.

Since 1995, the Indians/Guardians have made 12 post-season appearances (likely to become 13 with this season) and have played in the World Series three times, losing twice in heartbreaking circumstances.

That shouldn’t be held against them, see our earlier comments about the Browns of the late 1980’s.

The Cavaliers have played for the championship of their sport five times in this span, and cashed in 2016, the only professional title in a major sport the city has seen in the last 58 years.

The Browns? They made the playoffs twice since 1999.

That’s why we don’t understand the undying loyalty of sports fans in this area.

What about ownership? We understand baseball fans here don’t like the Dolan family because they rarely go “all in”, but it’s not like the Haslams or Gilberts are on the same par as Bill Veeck.

Haslam has had business issues and is very impulsive. How many regime changes have the Browns gone through since he bought the franchise? Gilbert inherited LeBron James, but he did everything he could to bring a championship to the city.

We understand the midwest is by and large a football haven. The NFL has it’s roots right in Canton, which is why the Hall of Fame is there. High school football is a big deal in Ohio, so the leaning toward the pro football team is understandable.

Again, we aren’t saying to not root for the Cleveland Browns. We would love nothing more than a Super Bowl berth for them. But, they certainly don’t give fans here a great deal to be proud of, instead they have given us a tremendous amount of anguish.

We guess the heart wants what the heart wants, even if it doesn’t make a great deal of sense.

Browns Put Emphasis On Defense In Draft.

It would seem that the way to beat the spread offenses which have become the rage in the National Football League is to do it with speed. And it would appear that Cleveland Browns’ GM Andrew Berry would agree.

The overwhelming take away from this year’s selections is all of the defensive players taken by the Browns, and they took five of them, can run and cover the field.

Obviously, the two players everyone is excited about are the team’s first two choices, CB Greg Newsome II and LB/S Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Both were expected to be picked in the first round, so Berry had to love it when the latter was still available with the 52nd pick, and the Browns moved up to take them.

We look to history, and the last time the Browns had an excellent defense was in the late 1980’s. spearheaded by cornerbacks Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield.

Now, we certainly aren’t comparing Denzel Ward and Newsome to that duo, but having two solid corners makes it tougher on today’s pass-happy offenses, not to mention it allows Myles Garrett and his friends more time to get to the quarterback.

Owusu-Koramoah (JOK) was the Butkus Award winner last season as College Football’s top linebacker, and should be a perfect fit in the defense coordinator Robert Woods likes to play, which is a 4-2-5.

If Grant Delpit can return from his achilles’ injury, and with Ronnie Harrison and free agent signee John Johnson III as well, Woods has players at that position that can defend the pass and also can come up and stop the run.

The emphasis on speed didn’t just stop on the defense, either. Cleveland’s third round pick was WR Anthony Schwartz from Auburn, who may be the fastest player in the draft. If the Browns can develop him, he could wind up being the deep threat the offense needs. Make no mistake, the offense needs speed at the wide receiver spot.

And we still contend either Jarvis Landry or Odell Beckham Jr. are playing their last season in a Browns’ uniform, so this could be a case of Berry thinking about the not-to-distant future of the football team.

We also love the pick of DT Tommy Togiai in the fourth round. We saw some draft sites with him getting picked earlier. Togiai seemed to get better this season as it went along, and if he keeps developing, he could be in the rotation this season.

The best things we can say about this draft is none of the picks seemed to defy logic. The Browns didn’t pick anyone a lot higher than projections, and they actually chose players who were projected to go a lot higher, like Owusu-Koramoah.

They also looked at players who may not be impactful this season, but there will be able to get on the field in 2022.

Berry has earned the trust of the fans, because of players they picked a year ago in the later rounds, like Harrison Bryant, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Nick Harris. All three were taken after the 100th pick in 2020, and all were contributors in the playoff season.

If Newsome and Owusu-Koramoah can produce as the front office thinks, the Browns’ defense will be much improved. And if that happens, there could be big things coming at First Energy Stadium in the fall.