In a corresponding move to placing WR Jarvis Landry on injured reserve, the Cleveland Browns signed defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo to their active roster. The team was able to add Odenigbo to their initial practice squad after 53-man rosters were set at the end of the preseason.
His addition wasn’t the team taking a chance on a young player who hadn’t produced in the league. Instead, Odenigbo had a breakout year in 2019 with the Minnesota Vikings and followed it up by starting 15 games for the team in 2020.
While his sack total dropped from 7.0 in 2019 down to 3.5 in 2020 some of that was due to Danielle Hunter, the Vikings’ top pass rusher, missing all of last year.
Odenigbo is a Centerville, Ohio native who was once claimed by the Browns but never saw the field in a regular-season game. While he may never be a full-time starter in the NFL, his production in two seasons with Minnesota showed some quality play:
All of Ifeadi Odenigbo’s sacks from the last 2 seasons
Some come from the inside, some as an EDGE…some are coverage sacks
Odenigbo lined up 944 times as a 4i-t or outside over the last 2 seasons and 137 inside
He’ll attempt to carve out a role in a now crowded EDGE room pic.twitter.com/oUNcdbBOHb
— Nick Falato (@nickfalato) May 21, 2021
As you can see, Odenigbo won with a variety of moves off the edge while showing a good motor to keep pursuing the quarterback.
So far in 2021, Cleveland hasn’t gotten after the quarterback much at all. The team has combined for a total of three sacks despite the additions of Jadeveon Clowney, Takk McKinley, Malik Jackson and Malik McDowell to the defensive line that already included Myles Garrett.
One of those sacks belongs to Joe Jackson who was able to get after Patrick Mahomes late in the third quarter of Week 1. Unfortunately for Jackson, that sack was one of only 18 plays that he has seen on defense. While Garrett and Clowney have had over 90 snaps each and McKinley has over 50, the team hasn’t found a use for Jackson much.
Could Odenigbo, who was with Kevin Stefanski during his best season in 2019, provide some relief to the top edge rushers and keep them fresh? Will defensive coordinator Joe Woods find a way to have three or four of those guys on the field more often to try to create pressure?
Odenigbo proved in 2019, with Hunter rushing the passer with him, that he can get after the quarterback. The Browns would love to see some of that in Cleveland sooner rather than later.