Cleveland overhauled their defensive front this past offseason, but could they look to add some more help?
The past few years have seen the Browns experience some difficulty in finding some consistent help on their defensive line. Attempts were made with Olivier Vernon and Adrian Clayborn in addition to the mixed results yielded from two years of the Jadeveon Clowney experience. After those attempts did not lead to a long term answer, Cleveland went out and brought in some pass rush help in the forms of Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Za’Darius Smith. But could they add another in Yannick Ngakoue?
Ngakoue is someone that has been linked to the Browns before and he does have some appeal. The 28-year old has been a consistent force in getting after the quarterback. Ngakoue has 65 career sacks in 110 games, including 19.5 over the past two years in Las Vegas and Indianapolis. On the surface it seems like a no-brainer, but it is not that simple.
Interestingly enough, this is very similar to the situation involving Cleveland’s wide receiver situation and free agent DeAndre Hopkins.
It would be on thing if Cleveland did not already invest in Okoronkwo and Smith in free agency. Additionally, the Browns drafted Isaiah McGuire in this past draft and still have some intriguing young options in Alex Wright and Isaiah Thomas to work into the mix. Barring any sort of injury, there really is not any avenue in which Ngakoue could take that would result in significant playing time in Cleveland.
While the proposition of Yannick Ngakoue as a situational pass rusher is intriguing, it just does not make sense currently. Things change in the NFL rather quickly, so this is not necessarily a permanent decline of Ngakoue. If Cleveland suddenly needs a pass rusher and Ngakoue is still available, that no changes to a yes almost immediately. But until then, it is a pretty firm no as they should look at their internal options before pursuing any of the external variety.
