After a down year, only four members of Cleveland’s defense make the cut at their respective positions.
The Cleveland Browns defense took a step backward in 2024.
After helping to lead the team to the playoffs in 2023 by finishing second in DVOA, Cleveland fell all the way to No. 25 last year, contributing to the rubble of the 3-14 season.
It was not all the defense’s fault, of course, as they were tasked far too often with trying to clean up the mess left by a historically bad offense. That strain, along with the season-ending injury to linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, tackling issues in the secondary, an inability to get off the field on third downs, and a lack of turnovers, contributed to the defense not performing at a consistently high level.
Given all that, it should come as no surprise that only four members of the defense – two of which may come as a surprise – are part of Pro Football Focus’ various rankings of the Top 32 players at each position along the defense.
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The most obvious choice came at defensive end with Myles Garrett, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, coming in at No. 1:
Garrett finished as the NFL’s top pass-rusher for the third consecutive season, leading the league in PFF pass-rush grade (92.8), total pressures (83), pass-rush win rate (23.1%), and pressure rate (18.1%). The future Hall of Famer also became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 100 career sacks and remains the only player to record 14 or more sacks in four straight seasons.
The first surprise comes at linebacker, with Jordan Hicks checking in at No. 20 in his first season in Cleveland:
The Browns‘ linebacking corps was marred by injuries in 2024, and Hicks was no exception. Despite missing five games, he played a pivotal role on the team’s defense following the injury to Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Hicks earned his highest PFF overall grade (77.4) since leaving Philadelphia in 2018, and he will now again play a crucial role in Cleveland in 2025.
The lone cornerback to make the list is Denzel Ward, coming in at No. 10:
Ward is another player who has struggled to stay healthy but, when at full strength, is one of the best in the NFL. In 2024, Ward was on a torrid forced-incompletion-rate pace until he faded at the end of the season. He still led the NFL with 17 forced incompletions, and his 80.4 PFF coverage grade in man and zone-match coverage was tops in the NFL.
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The final surprise comes at safety, as Ronnie Hickman Jr. is ranked at No. 24:
Durability has been a concern for Hickman, who has played only 785 snaps over the first two seasons of his career. However, when he is on the field, his ability warrants his inclusion on this list. Hickman’s 77.2 PFF overall grade in 2024 ranked 13th among safeties, similar to his 81.7 PFF run-defense grade.
General manager Andrew Berry did some work in the offseason to rebuild the defense, most notably with the selection of defensive tackle Mason Graham and linebacker Carson Schwesinger in the NFL Draft and signing Joe Tryon-Shoyinka in free agency.
If the new guys can contribute, and a few of the incumbents get back to form, then the defense can be closer to the 2023 unit and help take some pressure off an offense that may still be finding its way in the opening weeks of the regular season.