CBS Ranks Their Top-Ten Defenses... There's good news and bad news...
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The Good News... we're ranked #3 behind only WSH and TB.
3. Cleveland Browns
As high a hopes as I have for the Ravens, they are even higher for the Browns. They should be the most improved defense in the league. John Johnson III might have been the best free-agent signing of the offseason, a perfect match of skill set and team need. He'll diversify the team's coverages with his ability to play center field and rotate into two-high looks, and to make plays on the ball. Cleveland also added both Troy Hill (in free agency) and Greg Newsome II (in the draft) to Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams at corner, plus they have Grant Delpit coming back from injury and Ronnie Harrison for a full season. They signed Jadeveon Clowney and Takkarist McKinley to supplement Myles Garrett on the edge, and brought in Malik Jackson and Tommy Togiai to work with Jordan Elliott and Andrew Billings up the middle. Throw in linebacker Anthony Walker and jack-of-all-trades Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, and this might be the most versatile group in the NFL.
The Bad News... The Ravens' are ranked 4th and Steelers 5th.
4. Baltimore Ravens
Yes, they let Matt Judon walk in free agency. No, they still have not really replaced the top-end talent of Earl Thomas at safety after releasing him last offseason. But this was a top-10 unit last year (seventh in yards, second in points, ninth in DVOA), Don Martindale is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league, and the Ravens are still absolutely stacked everywhere. Calais Campbell, Derek Wolfe, and Brandon Williams up front. Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison up the middle. Marcus Peters, Marlon Humphrey, Jimmy Smith, and Tavon Young at corner. DeShon Elliott and Chuck Clark at safety. Oh, and they added Odafe Oweh and Daelin Hayes in the draft to supplement Pernell McPhee and Tyus Bowser on the edge. They drafted Shaun Wade -- one of the nation's best slot corners in 2019 before he got torched as an outside corner in 2020 -- in the fifth round and landed diminutive ball-hawk Ad'Darius Washington as an undrafted free agent. Once again, this should be a high-floor, high-ceiling unit.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers
Losing Bud Dupree hurts, but Alex Highsmith did a solid job filling in last season, and the Steelers picked up Quincy Roche in the sixth round, and he should help as well. He was underrated in the pre-draft process due to his being the third-best University of Miami edge guy in this class. Pittsburgh is also still just loaded with talent at all three levels, with T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, Stephon Tuitt, Tyson Alualu, Devin Bush, Vince Williams, Joe Haden, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds, Cameron Sutton, and Justin Layne all returning from last year's team. The only real concern here is second unit depth, which has been sapped by the team's cap constraints over these past few years.
The AFCN is gonna be a war zone.
"When you have a shared vision it is a lot easier to make unpopular decisions." - Paul DePodesta "When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less." - Paul Brown Complete 2017 Browns Board Mock: http://thebrownsboard.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46196
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