Cleveland Browns 2018 NFL Draft Targets: Taven Bryan, Florida

The Cleveland Browns appear to be looking to continue to upgrade and evolve their defensive line and Florida’s Taven Bryan could be right in their wheelhouse.

Florida defensive tackle Taven Bryan has had a number of lofty comparisons thrown his way and, while he’s not the next J.J. Watt, he is a player with a remarkable amount of talent that could fit in really well with the Cleveland Browns defensive line.

Let’s dive into the 2018 NFL Draft prospect.

Age, Measurables

Age: 22 (Born March 11, 1996)

Height: 6-5
Weight: 291 lbs
40 Yard Dash: 4.98s
Broad Jump: 9’10”
Vertical: 35″
3-Cone: 7.12s
Shuttle: 4.48s
Bench: 30 reps

Bryan is a great athlete. He’s explosive and he’s got the flexibility for his size that teams covet. Bryan has multiple viable options on how to win on the line of scrimmage.

Production 

19 solo tackles (5.6 percent), 6 tackles for loss (8.3 percent), and four sacks (17.3 percent) this past season.

His production is fine for this past season, but he’s been playing longer than that and the production has been pretty poor. And his technique and how he plays the game cause some of the problems, perhaps doing what he’s coached to do.

General Traits

Bryan is attractive as a prospect because he’s so explosive off of the snap and is almost always attacking. For teams that want to get up the field, like the Browns, it’s easy to see where he fits in their defense and hoping they can coach up some of his weaker points.

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Bryan is remarkably athletic on tape, light on his feet and shows pretty good functional strength. His hand usage has a lot of work to do, but he flashes some real ability there, but needs to get far more consistent and reliable.

Run Defense

Bryan’s run defense is woeful and it comes down to technique. So often, Bryan fires out low trying to get up the field. It sounds good, but he’s doing it with no expectation of keeping his feet, basically requiring the offensive lineman to keep him up right. When he’s unblocked, Bryan is often going to the ground and if the ball carrier is near him, he’s trying to swipe at ankles.

When he is blocked, he is upright, but so often he’s turned and giving up his hands in the process. So offensive linemen can easily control him and stop him or turn the momentum and drive him into the turf. Bryan is basically left trying to keep driving his legs and collapse the pocket with no hope of coming off and making a tackle for himself. First, he can’t see the ball and second, he’s largely unable to move his arms.

There are situations when Bryan does it right. He fires out, keeps his feet under him, maintains the ability to use his hands and can properly take on or shed a block and make a play on the ball. He has to unlearn a lot of bad habits and replace them with better ones.

His lower body explosion is outstanding, but he has to be under control, able to utilize his upper body so he can fight blockers. Bryan also needs to get better at shedding blocks when he’s engaged, because all too often, when opponents get into his body, Bryan’s toast. Much of his block shedding amounts to avoiding the block in the first place, slapping the hands away and winning with speed.

Pass Rush

Bryan is a significantly more effective pass rusher than he is run defender at this point in his career. He’s just under far more control, trying to stay on his feet. Bryan uses his hands far more better to try to avoid getting blocked and at least gives himself a chance to fight through blockers.

Bryan’s incredibly quick off the snap, gets into the backfield and often puts opponents at an immediate disadvantage, forcing them to react to him. A lot of his game is predicated on speed at this point, but when he’s able to catch a guy with his bull rush, he can collapse the pocket and limit escape routes for teammates. Bryan also flashes a push pull move, but needs to continue to get better with his hands.

Bryan can get around opposing blockers, though it does result in getting pushed past the quarterback more than it should. He’s agile enough to make opposing guards nervous in that respect, but needs to be able to use his hands better to get off of those blocks and put himself on line to get to the quarterback. Nevertheless, if quarterbacks try to go backward or run away from Bryan, he is more than athletic enough to chase them down.

Usage for the Browns

For the Browns, Taven Bryan comes in as a 3-technique defensive tackle and could see himself featured as a nose in pass rushing situations. They don’t need Bryan to be a ‘starter’ or an every down player at least in the immediate. Trevon Coley is a good run defender at that spot for example. Bryan needs to develop that part of his game, but his immediate value is rushing the passer.

On a team with guys like Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah, wherever they are rushing from, more players being able to get into the backfield is only going to make them better. Likewise, the attention they draw creates opportunities for someone like Bryan who has a tendency to end up in the backfield and could get some clean up sacks.

Bryan has flaws, but part of the thinking behind a Browns selection of him might be based in the idea that the talent on this defensive line will cover some of them up and just the reality they don’t need him to be a finished product right away. If he’s a disruptive pass rusher who can make a mess up the middle of the field and develop from there, he’s exactly what they want.

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Draft Projection as it relates to the Browns

It seems as though Taven Bryan is likely to go early, based on how much scouts love his traits. Defensive line coaches may not be nearly as excited given the amount of work he requires to fix his technique, but the front office tends to win out in this argument. As a result, if the Cleveland Browns want Bryan, who stands out as someone defensive coordinator Gregg Williams could fall head over heels in love with, they’ll probably have to take him at 33 or 35 even though his value is closer to 64th.