I understand analytics and the important value of them in today’s NFL, but they’re not needed to gauge just how great Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is.
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Indeed, simply do the eye test when you watch him play.
Teams can’t block him. It’s nearly impossible. He is so big, strong, fast, experienced and determined that no matter what blocking scheme is employed, and with whom, he beats it, and them. Most times, he’s past the offensive tackle before the latter turns to engage him. The Green Bay Packers used three — three! — players to block him, and he still made plays.
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It’s like an optical illusion, or as if you’re watching something staged, or a cartoon. The only other Browns player in history like this was running back Jim Brown, the greatest pro football player ever. Just as no one can block Garrett, no one could tackle Brown, or catch him. Fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik, a Philadelphia Eagles middle linebacker who faced Brown and the Browns twice a year, summed up the late great No. 32 the best, saying, “Jim Brown is the closest thing to Superman there has ever been on a football field. He’s stronger, faster, and more powerful than everyone else, and he’s virtually indestructible.” In a lot of ways, the same can be said now of Garrett.
If there were a Mount Rushmore of Browns defensive ends, it would include, along with Garrett, Hall of Famer from the 1950s Len Ford and two guys who played together, including as anchors on the 1964 NFL championship team, in Paul Wiggin and Bill Glass.
The Mount Rushmore of Browns defensive linemen overall includes, in addition to Garrett and Ford as the ends, Jerry Sherk and Michael Dean Perry at tackle. Tackle Bob Gain also gets strong consideration, as does Walter Johnson. Those four would be the Mount Rushmore of tackles.
Hall of Famer Bill Willis played middle guard on a five-man line, so it’s hard to fit him into a modern 4-3 defensive alignment. But he’s certainly a Mount Rushmore lineman.
Making up the Mount Rushmore of Browns linebackers are Clay Matthews, Jim Houston, Walt Michaels and Chip Banks. You could also include Galen Fiss, Charlie Hall and Vince Costello.
The Mount Rushmore of Browns defensive backs overall are cornerbacks Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield and safeties Thom Darden and Ken Konz. Include Eric Turner and Felix Wright among the safeties, and Clarence Scott among the corners, if you desire.
For cornerbacks alone, the Mount Rushmore includes, in addition to Dixon, Minnifield and Scott, Denzel Ward. Warren Lahr and Tommy James are possibilities, too. And for safeties, along with Darden, Konz, Turner and Wright on the Mount Rushmore, there’s Junior Wren, Stevon Moore and Don Rogers.
Steve King
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