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Updated 1:25 PM; Today 1:00 PM
Oilers quarterback Warren
Moon is sacked by the Browns defensive end Anthony Pleasant during a game in
1990. Plain Dealer photo.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – We’ve reached the end of
our rankings of the best Browns to wear each jersey number. The series
concludes with numbers 96-99, highlighted by edge rushers and defensive
linemen.
The rankings are below.
NOTE: Rankings consider how players performed while wearing a specific number, not their careers as a whole. The goal is to rank five players at each number. However, some numbers are low on impactful candidaes.
To get caught up the numbers so far, check out:
Denver Broncos quarterback
John Elway (7) tries to elude Cleveland Browns defender Reggie Camp during the
AFC Championship game in 1987.AP
96. REGGIE CAMP, DE
Years: 1983-87.
Others: Kenard Lang, DE/LB
(2002-05); James Jones, DT (1991-94); Dave Bowens, LB (2009-10); Don Shula, DB
(1951)
A third-round pick in 1983, Camp stepped
right into a starting role and started every game over his first four seasons.
A knee injury in 1987 limited him to six games, and he was waived before the
next season.
But before he left, Camp had 35 sacks,
including 14 in 1984, a total that is second-most in a single season for the
Browns.
Lang, a first-round pick of the Redskins in
1991, signed with the Browns as a free agent. He had 22.5 sacks over four
seasons, along with 209 tackles. The Browns tried to convert him to linebacker
in 2005, resulting in just five starts and two sacks. He was released shortly
after the season ended.
Jones, a third-round pick, started every
game for the Browns in his first two seasons, and 49 of 62 games over four
seasons before leaving in free agency. He had 13.5 sacks and 165 tackles in
Cleveland.
Bowens was a nine-year NFL vet when he was
signed as a free agent in 2009. He returned two interceptions for touchdowns in
2010 and had six sacks and 111 tackles over two seasons.
Shula, the Hall of Fame head coach, was a
ninth-round pick of the Browns in 1951 and wore No. 96 for his rookie year. He
started six games and had four interceptions that season. In 1953 he was one of
10 players sent to the Colts in a 15-player deal. The Browns received Hall of
Famer Mike McCormack in the trade, along with Don Colo. Both players claimed
jersey numbers earlier in our rankings.
Cleveland Browns outside linebacker Jabaal Sheard (97)
fights off Detroit Lions center Travis Swanson (64) during a preseason game in
2014.AP
97. JABAAL SHEARD, DE/LB
Years: 2011-14.
Others: Alvin McKinley, DL
(2001-06); Robert Banks, DE (1989-90).
Sheard was a second-round pick and had an
immediate impact, totaling 8.5 sacks as a rookie. He was moved to outside
linebacker in a 3-4 defense his final two years with the team. After 15 sacks
in his first two seasons, he managed 7.5 over the next two and left in free
agency in 2015.
Still, Sheard’s 23 sacks, 190 tackles, 27
tackles for loss and 92 quarterback hits are enough to top the rankings at No.
97.
McKinley, claimed off waivers from the
Panthers after his rookie year, didn’t become a starter until his final two
seasons with the Browns. He had five sacks and 68 tackles in 16 starts in 2005.
Banks, the best of the rest, had four sacks
in 1989 and started 24 games over two seasons.
Houston Oilers quarterback Chris Chandler (12)
throws a pass as Cleveland Browns lineman Anthony Pleasant (98) reaches for it
during a game in 1995.AP
98. ANTHONY PLEASANT, DL
Years: 1990-95.
Others: Sheldon
Richardson, DT (2019); Phil Taylor, DT (2011-14); Ebenezer Ekuban, DE (2004);
Jamie Meder, DT (2015-17).
A
third-round pick, Pleasant was a full-time starter over his final four seasons.
He had 11 sacks in 1993 and an NFL-high six forced fumbles in 1995.
His
final numbers included 33.5 sacks, 297 tackles and nine forced fumbles.
Richardson’s one season with the Browns so
far propelled him to second place in our rankings. He had three sacks, 62
tackles and three forced fumbles in 2019.
Taylor, the 21st pick in 2011, started all
16 games as a rookie, totaling four sacks, but injuries became a staple of his
career. A chest injury in 2012 limited him to eight games, and a knee injury in
2014 idled him for 11. He had seven sacks and 109 tackles over four seasons
before being released.
Ekuban, signed as a free agent, played one
season with the Browns, totaling eight sacks in 11 starts. He was traded to the
Broncos a year later in the deal that brought Reuben Droughns to Cleveland.
Meder sneaks onto the
rankings as a 15-game starter in 2016. He has just two career sacks, but one of
the biggest blocked field goals in recent Browns history, allowing the Browns
to defeat the Chargers for their only win in 2016.
Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Orpheus Roye stretches
during a training camp practice in 2007.AP
99. ORPHEUS ROYE, DL
Years: 2000-07.
Others: Paul Kruger, LB
(2013-15); Bill Boedeker, HB (1947-49); Keith Baldwin, DE (1982-85); Corey
Williams, DE (2008-09).
Roye completes our rankings by easily
claiming the No. 99 jersey. Signed as a free agent after four seasons with the
Steelers, Roye was a mainstay along the interior of the defensive line for
eight seasons.
He started 102 of 113 games, had 9.5 sacks
and 387 tackles. His most productive season might’ve been 2005 when he had 88
tackles and three sacks. A knee injury hampered his final season (2008), and he
was released.
Kruger turned his nine sacks in a limited
role with the Ravens in 2012 into a five-year, $40-million deal with the Browns
in 2013. He had 18 sacks over three seasons with the Browns, with 11 coming in
2014. He was released in 2016 as part of the Browns’ roster rebuild.
Boedeker was an example of the depth the
Browns had in the AAFC. He rushed for 717 yards and eight touchdowns and caught
32 passes for 783 yards and five touchdowns (averaging 24.5 yards per catch)
over three seasons.
Baldwin, a second-round pick, had 4.5 sacks
in 1984, his one season as a full-time starter.
The Browns traded a second-round pick to
the Packers in 2008 for Williams, who was coming off two straight seasons with
seven sacks. He signed a six-year deal worth $38.6 million, then had 4.5 sacks
and 81 tackles over two seasons. The Browns traded Williams (along with a
seventh-round pick) to the Lions for a fifth-round pick in 2010.
