Cleveland Browns: 3 Early breakout candidates for 2019 season

2. Larry Ogunjobi

Taken in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns knew that they would need at least a little bit of time to develop defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi as he came from the Charlotte 49ers. Thus, he didn’t see the field all that often in his rookie season. That, however, stands in stark contrast to his second year in the league when Ogunjobi hardly left the field up front.

In the 2018 season, Ogunjobi played 79.01 percent of the snaps at defensive tackle, the highest among any player on the roster at the position (next closest was Trevon Coley at 52.17 percent). With that uptick in his snap count by a wide margin, Ogunjobi showed that he can be productive as he amassed 5.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 15 quarterback hits and 52 total tackles.

As good as Ogunjobi was throughout the season, even better on film than the stats show, the big issue with his performance was not his fault at all. One area where Cleveland struggled mightily in the 2018 season was in terms of the defensive line depth. Subsequently, while the second-year tackle was disruptive, he would show signs of wearing down from seeing the field too much.

That, however, will be less of an issue in the 2019 season for this Browns defense. Not only has Cleveland signed Sheldon Richardson this offseason, but they could add another body before the season begins (Gerald McCoy, perhaps). Either way, the depth will be much improved along the defensive line and that should lead Ogunjobi to really establishing his presence on the defense.