It hasn’t been all bad for the Cleveland Browns over the past 20 years. While it has been mostly bad, there have at least been a handful of players that Browns fans and the organization can hang their hat on and be proud to have cheered for.
This week, Pro Football Focus released each NFL team’s “All-PFF” team, and Cleveland’s is actually formidable. It certainly isn’t the best team in the league, but there are a handful of Hall-of-Famers mixed in with some very high-quality players.
Cleveland’s All-PFF Roster, depending on which Baker Mayfield showed up each week, would be appointment television.
On offense, the group was obviously led by Mayfield, who is head and shoulders the best signal caller that Cleveland has seen since the return in 1999. While it wasn’t always perfect, Mayfield had a spark and electricity to his game that was fun to watch, and when it was going well, it was so good. The bad, we don’t need to think about the bad.
In the backfield, it is none other than the fan favorite Nick Chubb. Chubb is going to go down as many fans’ favorite Brown of all time. He came to work every single day and was one of the best backs in the league.
The pass catchers, when at their most elite stage, are actually awesome. It’s the trio of Josh Gordon, Amari Cooper, and Jarvis Landry as the wide receivers and David Njoku and Gary Barnidge as the tight ends. That’s an incredibly formidable skill group because they all complement each other very well.
Up front, it would honestly be one of the best offensive lines in football. Joe Thomas at left tackle, Joel Bitonio at guard, Alex Mack at center, Wyatt Teller at guard, and Mitchell Schwartz at tackle are a very strong bunch up front.
On the defensive side, it starts in the secondary, which would be a lockdown bunch. How do Joe Haden and Denzel Ward at cornerback sound with TJ Ward and the surprise, Brodney Pool, on the back end?
The linebacker core would be some combination of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, D’Qwell Jackson, and/or Carson Schwesinger after he gets more games under his belt.
The defensive line would be anchored, obviously, by Myles Garrett on one side, Jaball Sheard on the other, and Danny Shelton with Ahtyba Rubin at tackle.
This All-PFF team is just a simple reminder of the skill that Cleveland has had throughout the years, which simply never matched up. When they had elite offensive linemen, the rest of the team stunk; their wide receivers never benefited from good quarterback play, and so on.
Being good in the NFL is a combination of many things. You have to bring in the right people, follow a good process, and pray to the football gods that everything times out just right.
For Cleveland, it simply never has.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Cleveland’s 20 Year All-PFF roster would be a must-watch football team
Reporting by Anthony Moeglin, Browns Wire / Browns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Anthony Moeglin, Browns Wire | USA TODAY Network
