Written by Jeff Rich

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There aren’t really that many nice things to say about the 2011 Cleveland Browns, but a conversation about the performance of one Phillip Taylor could be a pleasant one for Browns fans.  Sure, we’ve all had our moments of frustration with the big guy from Baylor, especially an enroachment call at Baltimore in December.  Personally, I did not even know who he was when his name was called on Draft Day (not that I'm blaming Taylor at all for my ignorance), but anyone who followed the Browns closely enough in 2011 to know such things agreed the man can play this game.  With a full season under his belt, no one thinks he’s exactly a superstar, but to say genuine First Round Talent would be a fair evaluation of the 24 year-old Defensive Tackle.

Unfortunately, anyone excited to see what he’s going to do next is going to have to be patient after news broke last week of a torn pectoral muscle that will likely sideline him for all of 2012.  This is a big blow to the Browns, who probably weren’t Super Bowl contenders, but promised to grow as team in their second year under Defensive Coordinator Dick Jauron.  While Taylor obviously isn’t selling many jerseys outside of Northeast Ohio, he could and should be considered the anchor of a Browns defense that was actually decent inside and outside of the numbers in a positively dreadful overall season.

By building with Taylor and fellow 2011 rookie Jabaal Sheard to make the transition from a 3-4 to 4-3 scheme, there were some growing pains to be expected, but they were actually pretty minimal.  Thos two combined for more than 12 sacks, 77 tackles, and 6 forced fumbles in their first 16 games for a team the finished in the Top Ten in Scoring Defense and Points allowed.  Veteran Ahtyba Rubin came as advertised on the inside with another solid, but not stellar season, while Jayme Mitchell was disappointing in every way imaginable playing at the Right Defensive End position opposite Sheard.

The Browns were #2 against the pass a year ago, but that’s a very misleading statistic.  They were #30 defending the run, at least when it came to yards allowed, but that ranking might be equally misleading.  They had their own share of shortcomings on defense, but they were often hung out to dry by an inept offense; some say the best offense is a good defense, but Colt McCoy was the ring leader of an offensive group that could force a 4-12 record on to a decent defense.  Teams often ran the ball late in games against a much winded Browns Front Seven to roll the clock to zero.

As easy as it would be to indict an offense that finished towards the bottom of the league in First Downs, I can’t put the fatigue factor completely on Pat Shurmur’s Keystone Cops Offense.  Speaking of fatigue, how many Browns fans are tired of hearing about their lack of talent from the national media?  Now, I like to praise the players on defense and even Jauron’s aggressive approach with the blitz packages, but I can’t duck or deny the fact that the criticism has merit.

Forgetting about Jayme Mitchell, which was also an easy task for opposing coordinators and quarterbacks, you could argue that the rest of the Front Four was serviceable and bordering on pretty good, but that’s just the starters.  If you want to talk about depth, you’re searching for puddles in the kiddie pool with the 2011 Browns.  After the starters, the sideline is filled with names like Brian Schaefering, Scott Paxon, Emmanuel Stephens, and Derreck Robinson.  Actually, Robinson hasn’t been with the Browns since 2010, but what’s the difference?  Would it have changed the complexion of the Browns depth had I accurately named John Sanford or Kiante Tripp in that group?  Pick your poison, either leave the bread winners in for too many snaps or get your ass kicked with players that aren’t good enough.  This sort of dilemma is probably par for the course when you’re dealing a 4-12 team.

Maybe the 2012 NFL Draft solved some of these problems, and I’d feel better about things with a healthy Taylor out there terrorizing Flacco, Dalton, and What’s His Name in Pennsylvania, but we have to live in the real world here.  Browns fans know about the pec tears from the saga of D’Qwell Jackson, and if the precedent is correct, Taylor is seemingly light years from his next NFL snap.  The contingency plan was addressed last month with the selections of John Hughes (Cincinnati) and Billy Winn (Boise State), but both come with question marks.

April’s draft was all about adding offensive playmakers and book-ending the offensive line.  A more competent offense will certainly help keep some legs fresh on defense, but we know Rome wasn’t built in a day, and shouldn’t expect rapid strides from this young group of playmakers.  General Manager Tom Heckert added some depth on the other side of the ball with the late round selections of Defensive Linemen, but I’m sure neither was projected to start immediately. 

Hughes comes tagged with “work ethic” issues, and Winn may be a bit of square peg/round hole as a Tackle in the 4-3 versus his natural position of End in the 3-4.  You may recall the underwhelming performance of Corey Williams being forced out of his comfort zone at End in the 3-4.  Fortunately, it’s only speculation, and there’s a chance that Winn could be the same diamond in the rough that former Sixth Round pick Ahytba Rubin panned out to be.

Any way you look at it, this Taylor situation is bad.  Unless both Winn and Hughes make an immediate impact, the Browns are right back where they were before the Draft in the defensive trenches.  A well-constructed piñata may be considered an upgrade over what Mitchell gave them a year ago, but the Free Agent additions of Frostee Rucker and Juqua Parker would have made them better across the board on that Defensive Line.  The rookie additions were only supposed to shore that up, not back-fill an unexpected void of an impact player, but these are the breaks.  It's like buying canned food just to have it, then coming home to find out your fridge stopped functioning and all of your food is spoiled.

On the bright side, D'Qwell's case is a wonderful precedent if we're patient enough with Taylor.  We’ll see Big Phil back on the field in 2013 or 2014.