Cleveland Browns: 3.5 games not enough

Three and a half games is all the Cleveland Browns will have gotten out of the team’s brightest spot.

The Cleveland Browns have invested significant capital into their defensive line and it appears to be paying off handsomely. Unfortunately, injuries have conspired to make it so first overall pick Myles Garrett and last year’s 32nd overall pick Emmanuel Ogbah have only played 3.5 games together. For a team currently 0-11 team that can use all the good news it can, it’s a disappointing result, but those 3.5 games were extremely promising.

The first thing that stands out is their presence in the running game. Teams struggle to get outside of them. Ogbah combines a strong initial punch to change the line of scrimmage while getting outside leverage. He has not only created plays for himself, but he’s been able to setup teammates for a lot of plays as well. Ogbah has become a dominant run defender and does a fantastic job forcing opponents inside to his teammates.

Meanwhile, once per game, opponents seem to need to see if Garrett can deal with an option play to his side, testing the ankle that kept him out of the first four games of the year. He’s more than equipped to deal with that particular play, often in impressive fashion. Garrett has also gotten much better at squeezing the tackle when he gets up field to play the run, but he’s not as consistent in this area of the game as Ogbah.

When the two are on the field together in this capacity, it limits opponents so much in what they can do to attack the perimeter. There are examples where opponents have gotten to the outside, such as the Detroit Lions, but when it goes wrong, it becomes a big play for a loss and potentially kills the drive.

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Ogbah as a pass rusher has been far more inconsistent. He’s still strong at the point of attack, but tends to have some trouble when it comes to shedding, which makes him slower to the quarterback. He’s had some flashes and moments where he’s been a force, such as the Cincinnati Bengals, but it’s too hit or miss at this point, which was to be expected with how he came out when he was drafted.

Where Ogbah does shine is as someone who comes up and knocks down passes. He’s knocked down an impressive six passes this year in addition to the four sacks and six tackles for loss this year. This was always going to be a work in progress for Ogbah, but he had been improving in this area before breaking his foot, showing far more comfort. With another productive offseason, he should be able to figure out what it takes to shed blocks and take the next step as a pass rusher.

Garrett, on the other hand, is a really impressive pass rusher right out of the box. He’s incredibly quick off the ball, has strength and agility that enables him to give opponents a lot of different looks. Running the arc, slipping inside or using a bull rush, Garrett shows so much talent for attacking the quarterback.

Garrett has to improve his hand usage, so he can make it easier to get off blocks, be in more control and attack the football when he gets to the quarterback to potentially cause turnovers. As good as he is, which is outstanding, he’s going to get better and better.

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The combination of Ogbah and Garrett on the edge in the pass rush has been remarkable. Garrett causes so many problems that it makes Ogbah a far more dangerous player. Much of this is caused by the fact that Garrett is so good at getting the quarterback off their spot to evade him and since the man blocking Ogbah can’t see where the quarterback is going, Ogbah can take advantage and finish the play for the sack.

Likewise, because Ogbah is so stout and is able to collapse the pocket, he takes away an escape route for the quarterback, which makes it easier for Garrett to track them down. Having those two players on the outside makes it difficult for any quarterback to get comfortable. Then, they can do things like put Garrett at the 3-tech, giving them a dynamic inside rusher with Ogbah closing down the strong side.

In the three and a half games the two were on the field together, they produced a combined six sacks; four from Garrett and two from Ogbah. The team as a whole has 23 sacks for the entire season, so those two getting six in 14 quarters is pretty good. Ogbah’s four and Garrett, currently with five account about 40 percent of them.

It’s unfortunate that Ogbah’s broken foot will require surgery that will keep him on the shelf the next couple months. Hopefully, Garrett’s injuries are behind him and he can make the most of the remaining five games for the Browns. To this point, he’s been everything the Browns could have hoped for from the top overall pick of the draft, though some still criticize him for what they believe is underperforming. It’s going to be exciting to see just how good he can get.

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There are any number of reasons the 2017 season has been disappointing for the Cleveland Browns and only getting three and half games with Emmanuel Ogbah and Myles Garrett is near the top of the list. At the same time, they have a young pair of players that legitimately show reason to believe they can be stars, anchoring one of the best, young defensive lines in the league. Certainly, Garrett is enough reason to watch anyway as he’s incredible, but there is a feeling of just getting to the offseason so the discussion can move to this tandem headed to year two.