The Browns secondary had a pair of players picked for the Pro Bowl in safety Tashaun Gipson and cornerback Joe Haden and safety Donte Whitner was added to the game as a replacement for players who didn’t play in the game.
That group included Gipson, but that doesn’t change the fact that the team has a lot of talent in their defensive backfield. The same could be said of the departure of cornerback Buster Skrine since the Browns signed longtime Packer Tramon Williams to round out a group that also includes cornerback K’Waun Williams and 2014 first-rounder Justin Gilbert. The sum total of the group leaves defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil with high hopes for how the group will play this season.
“I think we have the potential to be the best secondary in the NFL,” O’Neil said, via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan.
There are several teams that likely have designs on the same spot in the league’s pecking order, including the Seahawks and Jets, but it’s hard to argue with O’Neil about the potential of the unit. Wherever they rank against the pass, though, the team needs to rush the passer and stop the rush more effectively for the defense as a whole to rank among the league’s best. With O’Neil feeling good about the secondary, that should leave him plenty of time to focus on those areas.