Cleveland Browns 2015 Profiles: Randy Starks

In an effort to beef up a front seven that contributed to a run defense that allowed 4.5 yards per carry last season and had just one player who hit five sacks, the Cleveland Browns signed veteran 4-3 defensive tackle and 3-4 defensive end Randy Starks this offseason. At two years and $6.5 million overall with a $1.25 million signing bonus, according to Spotrac.com, Starks’s deal is cheap.

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Even though his signing bonus is evenly split between both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, his mildly escalating base salary ($1.75 million to $2.5 million) and roster bonus ($468,750 to $500,000) make him relatively easy to cut after one season if he fails to impress.

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Starks is currently penciled in as the team’s starting right defensive end as a three-tech with pass-rushing specialist Desmond Bryant, who had five sacks last season to come second on the team behind outside linebacker Paul Kruger, lined up on the left side and as a five-tech. The Browns official depth chart has Phil Taylor sandwiched in between them at nose tackle, but the perennial under-performer should be usurped by the more talented and disruptive Danny Shelton.

The first-round pick out of Washington has already been impressing observers this offseason with his play, and it’s hard to see what Taylor brings to the table over Shelton other than experience, which should be meaningless from the Browns perspective.

Unlike Taylor, Starks isn’t facing fierce competition from someone behind him on the depth chart, though John Hughes is an underrated run-stuffer who will deserve snaps behind the current starting defensive end duo. But the Browns signed Starks for a reason, and they are hoping that the former Miami Dolphins star can get back to his 2013 form after suffering a minor down year in 2014.

Last season, Starks recorded just 27 tackles, and he clearly wasn’t himself in the running game with the third-worst Run Stop% among 48 qualifying defensive tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s always been a solid interior pass rusher, though, which is why the Browns plucked him up less than a week after the Dolphins made him a cap casualty with news of the Ndamukong Suh signing.

If Starks can play closer to his 2012 and 2013 levels, then the Browns run defense could get a massive boost. Regardless, the Browns pass defense’s ability was kicked up a notch or two by adding Starks, whose work in the passing game will only be more important now that he’s in the Browns 3-4 scheme under Mike Pettine.

Even though he’s been in the league since 2004 and seems like an ancient relic of the old Dolphins days (you know, back when Pat White and Cleo Lemon were on NFL fields), but the crazy thing is that he’s “only” 31 and won’t be 32 until mid-December.

Last season’s struggles in the running game and good-but-not-his-usually-great pass rushing work taught us two things about Randy Starks. Firstly, we learned that it’s the beginning of the end for a once-great interior defender. Secondly, we learned that he still has something to offer to an NFL team, and the Browns needed to bring in a player with his ability to collapse the pocket.

In Starks, Bryant, and- please let him start- Shelton, the Cleveland Browns could have three defensive lineman who can make life extremely difficult for quarterbacks with Kruger and Barkevious Mingo coming off the edge. If Starks can have a good year, Shelton can have an immediate impact, and Mingo can take that next step, then the Browns front seven will be scary in the passing game. They still have question marks about their run defense, and those concerns will need to be dispelled by the play of the nose tackles, though Starks can help in that regard if he reverts to his 2013 form.

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