Myles Garrett is one of the few first-round picks the modern-era Cleveland Browns can look at and feel good about. He was the No. 1 overall pick, has racked up six All-Pro selections and six Pro Bowls, won a DPOY award, and his 102.5 sacks since being drafted rank second over that span. Unfortunately, he hasn’t played on many great defenses, aside from that league-leading unit he led in 2023. But will his 2025 group change that?
Advertisement
In 2023, the Browns had put together arguably the best defensive unit since the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers. They led the league in total defense, allowing just 270 yards a game—including just 164.7 pass yards a game—and fielded three different Pro Bowlers. That number would surely have been higher if this were a more marquee brand than the Browns.
However, despite that elite group just two years ago, one Browns pundit, Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show‘s Mike Lucas, believes that the upcoming 2025 edition of the Browns’ defensive front will be the best Myles Garrett has seen in his eight years in the league.
“On paper, at a minimum, a defensive line of Myles, alongside a healthy Mike Hall, a top-five overall pick in defensive tackle Mason Graham, and either Alex Wright or JTS, the former first-round pick they signed. In theory, that could be the most talented front he’s played with,” Lucas said.
The addition of Mason Graham out of Michigan with the No. 5 overall pick will definitely benefit Garrett. As Lucas pointed out, Garrett is double-teamed as much as any player in the NFL, and bringing in a guy who wreaks havoc like Graham into the middle of the line is huge.
“We’ve seen all the advanced analytics … Myles gets double-teamed more than any other team in football. If some of those other guys, not all of them, but 2/3 or 3/5, however you wanna parse that up, if they can generate relative, consistent pressure, it should open up so many more opportunities for Myles to attack 1-on-1.”
However, taking a look at the group Garrett is playing with apart from Graham, it’s hard to see how Lucas came to this conclusion. Graham will probably turn out to be the best player Garrett has played with on the defensive line so far, but beyond him, it seems like more of the same.
In 2023, Graham’s spot was held by proven veteran Dalvin Tomlinson. The other edge was manned by established pass rusher Za’Darius Smith, though he finished with just 5.5 sacks that year.
Right now, 2023 fourth-round pick Isaiah McGuire is listed as the other starting end. He has just 3.5 career sacks. Neither Joe Tryon-Shoyinka nor Alex Wright has ever recorded more than 5.0 sacks in a season. There’s also 2024 second-rounder Michael Hall, but he played only eight games last year.
As Lucas’ co-host, Adam the Bull, pointed out, every name that we’ve mentioned apart from Garrett is completely unproven at the highest NFL level.
It’s fine for Browns fans to get excited. But reporters and analysts like Lucas have a responsibility. They should probably try to come up with more reasonable and valuable insights than this one, which feels like pure speculation with little to no supporting evidence.
