2023 Pre-Season Rank #34, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #53, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #99, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #144.  Peak Period: 2019-23

Over the last few years, it has felt that the Browns were on the cusp of greatness, and Myles Garrett was a large part of that optimism.  Cleveland has disappointed, but Garrett has not, going to five Pro Bowls and earning three First Team All-Pros in his seven years of service.  Two years ago, Garrett was fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting, won it last year, and could win it again.  Garrett also led the NFL in Approximate Value (20).

Notably, Garrett enters 2024 with a six-season streak of at least 10 Sacks.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #71, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #81, 2021 Pre-Season #78, Rank 2020 Pre-Season Rank #84.  Peak Period: 2019-23

In 2023, Amari Cooper was chosen for his first Pro Bowl since 2019 (and fifth overall), and his 1,250 Receiving Yards and 17.4 Yards per Reception are his best to date.  Cooper did this without a full year of DeShaun Watson and lower-tier QBs for the rest.  Despite the Pro Bowl, it went undervalued through the NFL

This season, Cooper should break 10,000 Yards (514 to go) but needs a lot more to gain Hall of Fame traction.  A ten-TD season would also help.

2023 Pre-Season Rank #73, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #70, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #52, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #83.  Peak Period: 2017-22*

Oh boy.   We had Watson pegged as a future Hall of Fame inductee, and even though he was leading a team in Houston that did not have the supporting cast to win a Super Bowl, nobody pointed the finger at Watson for that not happening.  Since then, Watson has been beset by scandals that cost him the entire 2021 Season and the first 11 Games of 2022, which may not be over yet. Watson was injured in 2023, and he will have to perform at an elite level for an extended period to alleviate the stench around his name.  

He has the talent and can put up the numbers, but this is one hell of a mountain to climb.  We try to make these lists on stats, as we think that is usually the deciding factor, but there are always extraordinary circumstances, and honestly, we don't know quite how to factor that in.  If this were any other sport, we likely wouldn't bother to rank Watson, but this is not any other sport.

*Watson missed the entire 2021 Season.

Undrafted out of Louisville, Frank Minnifield quickly found a home in the USFL, where he played for the Chicago Blitz and the Arizona Wranglers briefly before he sued his way out of the league to play for the Cleveland Browns.  

One can argue that Jim Ray Smith missed his window to be known on a higher level as he arrived in Cleveland one year too late and left two years too early, as the Browns would win NFL Championships before and after his arrival, but this was no reflection on the playing ability of Jim Ray Smith.

Bob Gain was drafted 5^th Overall in 1951 by the Green Bay Packers, but that year he elected to play in Canada with the Ottawa Rough Riders instead.  

In terms of notoriety, there are few on the defensive side of the ball that can match Lyle Alzado.  Known for his anger and ferocious play on the gridiron, Alzado debuted in 1971 with the Denver Broncos and in the season after he would lead all players in Fumble Recoveries.  Alzado played predominantly at Defensive End, and after missing most of the 1976 season due to blowing out his knee, he would come back and help the Broncos and the mighty Broncos' defense reach their first Super Bowl.  A contract dispute saw him traded to the Cleveland Browns, and he would later be traded to the Los Angeles Raiders where his popularity rose, and he would help them win Super Bowl XVIII.

A member of the Cleveland Browns for the duration of his career, Gary Collins was the 4^th Overall pick in 1962, and as a rookie, the Wide Receiver wasn't targeted that much but was used as the team's Punter, a role he would have for six seasons.  In his sophomore season, he was integrated into the Browns offense, and he would finish atop the leaderboard in Touchdown Receptions with 13.  After helping the Browns capture the NFL Championship in 1964, Collins would have a two Pro Bowl streak with trips to the game in 1965 and 1966.  In both of those years, he had at least 880 Yards and 10 TDs.

An exceptionally popular player during his days in Cleveland (the local McDonalds franchises even had a sandwich named after him for a time), Michael Dean Perry was a defensive beast who, while with the Browns, was one of the leaders of a strong defense.  MDP would go to five Pro Bowls as a Brown (his sixth coming with Denver), and he was a First Team All-Pro and Second Team All-Pro twice.  He was also named the AFC Defensive Player of the Year in 1989.  Not to bad for someone considered a little undersized, but nobody doubted his quickness off the snap was unquestioned.

Erich Barnes came out of Purdue when the Chicago Bears drafted him in 1958.  The Cornerback played there for three seasons and went to the Pro Bowl in 1959.  After that, Barnes had the best run of his career where he played for the New York Giants for four years and was named a Pro Bowl in each of them while also making First Team All-Pro honors in 1961.  Barnes would later earn his sixth Pro Bowl with the Cleveland Browns.  Barnes would be known for his physical style of play, and ability to come back for run defence.

It is hard not to consider Clay Matthews Jr. as part of football royalty.

How can you not? 

One of the main roles of an Offensive Lineman is to create holes for Running Backs.  The Cleveland Browns of the 1960s had some of the best runners and Dick Schafrath was a big reason that they found as much opportunity to run as they did.