There are roughly 1,696 active roster players in the NFL during any given season.
Landing top-50 among that crop means that one is in the 98th percentile (or better) among active players.
Fortunately, the Browns have three players in the 98th percentile or better.
That’s according to Pro Football Focus, which has been fast at work delivering team and individual rankings for every set of positions heading into the new season.
The Browns’ offensive line and defensive secondary already earned high praise this summer, as did individual performers along the defensive front and backfield.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that PFF’s 2022 Top-50 Players List features Browns players from those positions.
Myles Garrett, Joel Bitonio, and Nick Chubb all earned a spot.
Garrett’s Game
Coming in at No. 12 overall, Myles Garrett is the highest-rated Brown on PFF’s list.
He’s also the second-highest rated player in the AFC North, behind Pittsburgh’s TJ Watt at No. 7.
Obviously, Garrett is a phenomenal talent.
He’s recorded 58.5 career sacks and 116 quarterback hits.
Here’s what the folks at PFF had to say about Garrett:
“Very little separates Garrett from T.J. Watt as the best edge rusher currently in the NFL. Over the past two seasons, Garrett has the best pass-rush win rate (22.6%) among edge rushers, narrowly ahead of Watt. He also leads the league in pass-rush wins that never developed into pressure because the quarterback got rid of the ball beforehand. Garrett is simply a dominant force on Cleveland’s defensive line.”
But perhaps Garrett’s value can be narrowed to one word: consistency.
Since being taken No. 1 overall back in 2017, Garrett has been a mainstay in Cleveland.
He’s seen just about every phase of this team’s recent history.
Left Guards with the highest run blocking grades since 2020
1️⃣ Joel Bitonio: 90.4
2️⃣ Ali Marpet: 86.4
3️⃣ Quenton Nelson: 82.4
4️⃣ Laken Tomlinson: 80.3 pic.twitter.com/k4y1c6RQjD— PFF NY Jets (@PFF_Jets) April 20, 2022
Garrett was present in 2017 when the team went 0-16 en route to the No. 1 pick again in 2018.
He saw the rise of Baker Mayfield, who helped guide the team to a postseason run in 2020.
Garrett was also there for Mayfield’s fall from grace, headlined by the trade for Deshaun Watson and Mayfield’s subsequent trade to the Panthers.
The Texas A&M product was around for Hue Jackson, Gregg Williams, Freddie Kitchens, and now Kevin Stefanski.
And yet through it all, he’s maintained a level of talent and consistency that’s made him a leader in the locker room.
Offense Taken
The Browns feature two more players on PFF’s list: offensive lineman Joel Bitonio (No. 18) and running back Nick Chubb (No. 44).
Both are excellent at their individual positions, with PFF noting that Bitonio cranked up his game last season:
“Bitonio has been an excellent player for his entire NFL career, but he took things to a different level in 2021, posting a 93.6 overall PFF grade while allowing 17 pressures in 17 games for the Browns. His pass-blocking grade came in above 85.0 for the fifth straight season, and his run-blocking mark finished at 92.5.”
And Chubb, to his credit, is easily one of the league’s best running backs.
Earlier in the summer, PFF rated Chubb as the second-best back in the NFL, behind only the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor.
.@NickChubb21 is stronger than you. 😳💪
610 pound squats. Wild. (via @DrCOACHStrong) pic.twitter.com/3BoXWyGkx8
— NFL (@NFL) July 22, 2022
But on this list, Chubb finished third among runners, behind Taylor and Vikings back Dalvin Cook.
It’s a successful showing for the Browns as a whole; only the Los Angeles Chargers had more representatives (four) in the AFC than the Browns.
Further, there are several names who were likely left just on the outside looking in, including Amari Cooper, Denzel Ward, and Wyatt Teller.
The fact that those names didn’t make it is less a testament to their game and more so a sign of the league’s fantastic depth.
With three of the top-fifty, though, the Browns have a solid cadre of top-end NFL talent.
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