[From our friend and fellow Dawg Pounder, Stephen Gillenwater]
Hi Browns fans! During the offseason and preseason, the Browns added 24 new players via free agency, the draft, and waivers. To help you get familiar with these new players below are brief profiles of the newcomers.
Who Are These Guys – So to get you ready for the season it’s time to take a look at the new Browns players and what they bring to the team. (note PFF is the player’s Pro Football Focus grade. The staff at PFF grades every player on every play on a scale that ranges from 0-100. Players with scores of 100-90 are elite, 89-85 equals Pro Bowler, 84-70 equals starter, 69-60 equals back-up and 59-0 equals replaceable)
Matthew Adams #40 LB. Adams is a 6th year veteran who played for the Bears in 2022, he played in 10 games starting 3 games. In 2022 he had 26 tackles with 2 tackles for loss (TFL). For his career, he’s played 68 games and started 12 with 81 tackles and TFL. He has no career sacks. His PFF for 2022 was 69.6.
Jordan Akins #84 TE. Akins is a 6 year vet who played for Houston in 2022 where he played in 15 games, 3 as a starter. Last season he caught 37 passes for 495 yards with 5 TD’s. For his career he’s played in 73 games, starting in 26 with 151 receptions for 1,755 yards and 8 TD’s. He’s caught 70% of passes thrown to him and his 2022 PFF is 72.4.
Mohamoud Diabate #43 LB. Diabate is one of 3 undrafted rookies who made the team this year. He played in 54 snaps in the preseason earning a PFF of 76.9.
Mike Ford #28 CB. Ford is a 6-year veteran who spent 2022 with the Atlanta Falcons. In 2022 he played in 17 games, starting 2 with 15 tackles and 1 TFL. For his career, he’s played in 61 games with 9 starts and collected 70 tackles with 2 TFL and 4 passes defensed.
Marquise Goodwin #3 WR. Goodwin this will be Goodwin’s 10th season in the NFL and in 2022 he played for Seattle where he played in 13 games, starting 2 and collecting 13 receptions for 387 yards and 4 TDs. For his career, he’s played in 102 games starting 44 with 187 receptions for 3.23 yards and 18 TDs. His 2022 PFF was 64.5.
Kahlef Hailassie #25 CB. Hailassie is the second undrafted rookie to make the team this season after being waived by the Chiefs. During the preseason he played on 31 snaps with 1 interception. His preseason PFF was 69.9 while his pass coverage PFF was 73.0.
Shelby Harris #93 DT. Harris is starting his 9th season having spent 2022 with Seattle where he started 15 games with 2 sacks 5 TFL 4 passes defended. For his career he’s played in 99 games, starting 65 with 24.5 sacks 1 interception 40 TFL, and 29 passes defended. His 2022 PFF was 74.8.
Ronnie Hickman #33 Safety. Hickman is this season’s third undrafted rookie on the team. In the preseason he played 40 snaps with 3 interceptions and earned a PFF of 64.6 and a coverage PFF of 68.9.
Dustin Hopkins #7 Kicker. Hopkins is a 10-year NFL veteran kicker who joined the Browns late in the preseason after Cade York was waived. Hopkins spent 2022 with the LA Chargers where he played 5 games before getting injured. In his 5 games, he connected on 9 of 10 field goals with a long of 43 yards and 12 of 12 extra points. In his 109 career games, he’s converted 90.1% of his field goal attempts of 49 yards or less and 94.4% of his extra point attempts. He is only 15 of 30 on field goal tries of 50 yards or more. His 2022 PFF was 70.2.
Maurice Hurst #90 DT. Hurst is a 5 year vet who didn’t play in 2022 and spent 2021 with the SF 49ers where he played in 2 games. During his 5 year career, he’s played in 42 games starting 17 with 8 sacks 7 passes defensed and 1 interception.
Siaki Ika #62 DT. Ika is a rookie the Browns drafted in the 3rd round. During 40 snaps in the preseason, he collected 1 sack and a PFF pass-rush grade of 59.4.
Dawand Jones #79 OT. The Browns drafted Jones in 4th round despite questions about his commitment to playing football that caused him to drop in the draft. Jones is huge (6’8” 374 lbs.) and during the preseason he played 223 snaps, more than any other Browns player. He gave up 0 sacks and allowed only 3 QB pressures with 3 penalties. His preseason pass blocking PFF was an excellent 84.9 while his overall PFF was 71.7.
Isaish McGuire #57 DE. The Browns drafted McGuire in the 4th round and during the preseason he played 115 snaps with 8 QB pressures and a PFF pass rush grade of 63.7.
Rodney McLeod Jr. # 26 Safety. McLeod is a 12-year veteran who played for the Colts in 2022. McLeod started 15 games and played in 17 in 2022 with 2 interceptions, 1 TD, and 8 pass defenses. For his 12-year career, he’s played in 156 games, starting 138, and collected 18 interceptions with 60 pass defenses and 1 TD. His 2022 pass coverage PFF was a Pro Bowl level 85.3 and his overall PFF was 80.1.
Cameron Mitchell #29 CB. The Browns drafted Mitchell in 5th round and during the preseason he played 85 snaps earning a preseason PFF of 75.0.
Elijah Moore #8 WR. Moore came to the Browns after spending 2 seasons with the Jets. In 2022 he played in 16 games starting 9. Last season he had 37 receptions for 446 yards averaging 12.1 yards per catch with 1 TD. For his career, he’s played in 27 games starting 15 with 80 catches for 984 yards and 6 receiving TDs and 1 rushing TD. His 2022 PFF was a disappointing 57.5 which was partially attributed to conflicts with the Jet coaching staff.
Ogbonnia (Ogbo) Okoronkwo #54 DE. Okoronkwo (I’m still working on correctly pronouncing his name) is in his 6th year and played for Houston in 2022 where he started 8 games and played in all 17 games. In 2022 he collected 5 sacks, 9 TFL, and 2 pass defenses. For his career, he’s played in 50 games starting 8, and collected 9.5 sacks with 14 TFL. His 2022 PFF pass rushing grade was 81.9 and his overall grade was 75.1.
Za’Darius Smith #99 DE. Smith is entering his 9th year and came to the Browns from Minnesota to join Myles Garrett as 2 of the NFL premier edge rushers. In 2022 Smith started 16 games for Vikings and collected 10 sacks and 15 TFL while forcing 3 fumbles and 5 pass defenses. In his 8 years in the NFL, he’s played 107 games starting 64 while collecting 54.5 sacks, 68 TFL, and 12 pass defenses. His 2022 pass rush PFF was an outstanding 84.7.
Pierre Strong Jr. #20 RB. Strong is entering his 2nd year after spending his rookie year with New England who traded him the Browns at the end of the preseason. In 2022 he played 52 offensive snaps in 15 games for the Patriots rushing 10 times for 100 yards and 1 TD while catching 7 of 7 passes thrown to him for 42 yards. He also played 143 special team snaps and his 2022 PFF was 80.5.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson #17 QB. The Browns drafted Thompson-Robinson in the 5th round and after a surprisingly good preseason where he connected on 63.8% of his 58 passes for 440 yards, 2 TD’s, and 69 rushing yards he was promoted to the back-up QB position. His preseason PFF was 79.1 which was starter level.
Juan Thornhill #1 Safety. Thornhill, a 5-year veteran, joined the Browns in the offseason after playing for the Chiefs in 2022 and earning a Super Bowl ring. In 2022 he started 19 games for the Chiefs including the playoffs where he collected 3 interceptions and 12 pass defenses. For his career, he’s played in 65 games starting 52 plus 9 playoff games starting 6 of them while snatching 8 interceptions with 1 TD. His 2022 PFF was 67.1.
Cedric Tillman #19 WR. The Browns drafted Tillman in the 3rd round and during the preseason he caught 7 passes for 115 yards averaging 16.4 yards per catch during 85 snaps. His preseason PFF was 63.5.
Dalvin Tomlinson #94 DT. Tomlinson is entering his 7th year and played for Minnesota in 2022 where he started 13 games and had 2.5 sacks and 3 TFL. For his career, he’s started and played in 93 games collecting 13 sacks and 26 TFL along with 7 pass defenses. His 2022 PFF was 77.0 and his pass rush PFF was 79.1.
Luke Wypler #56 C/G. Wypler was a 6th round draft choice of the Browns who played both center and guard during his 198 preseason snaps during which he gave up no sacks and only 3 QB pressures with 1 penalty. His preseason PFF was 76.4 and his run-blocking PFF was 81.4.
Overall of the 12 veterans joining the Browns in 2022, 8 earned starter PFF grades in 2022, 3 had back-up PFF grades and 1 had a replaceable PFF grade.