General manager Andrew Berry and the Cleveland Browns have been pretty spot-on with their middle-round picks over the last two seasons. A year ago, they hit on cornerback Martin Emerson Jr., who immediately became a starter for them as a rookie. This year, offensive tackle Dawand Jones is already taking over the right tackle job after the injury to Jack Conklin and looked good in his NFL regular season debut.
If these two young players can continue to ascend for the Browns, it will make their long-term cap health much healthier (yes, their current spending model is sustainable). And Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire took notice of their Week 1 performance as he has named them both to his weekly Secret Superstars article.
Buy Browns TicketsHere is what Touchdown Wire’s Farrar had to say about Jones and Emerson Jr. after their Week 1 performance against the Bengals.
OT Dawand Jones
“Jones, the massive (6-foot-8, 375-pound) fourth-round rookie from Ohio State, came into Sunday’s game against the Bengals riding high on an impressive preseason in which he showed better movement skills than you might expect from a man his size, and he was then thrown into the fire when starting right tackle Jack Conklin was lost for the season 22 plays in with a torn ACL and MCL. Jones responded by refusing to allow a single pressure on his own 52 overall snaps, 20 of which came in the passing game.”
CB Martin Emerson Jr.
“The Browns’ defense was another that kicked the crap out of its opponent (the Bengals, in this case) in Week 1, taking away a 24-3 win. We’ve already discussed the diabolical fronts Jim Schwartz brought to the table; now, let’s talk about the coverage. Specifically, let’s talk about what Emerson, the second-year third rounder from Mississippi State, did in this game. He allowed just one catch on six targets for six yards, four yards after the catch, and an opponent passer rating of 39.6. Tee Higgins had no catches on eight targets, and Emerson was responsible for four of those blanks.
Perhaps most impressive was Ja’Marr Chase’s line when Emerson was on him — no catches on two targets. This coverage against Chase’s fade to the boundary early in the first quarter put Emerson about half a foot away from an interception in bounds.”
