New defensive end just wants to ‘get after quarterbacks’
One of Ogbonnia Okoronkwo’s conversations since he signed with the Browns was more important than most.
That would be the one he had with his new teammate: All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett.
“Yeah, we’ve talked, we’re just excited to go, just get after quarterbacks,” Okoronkwo said during his introductory Zoom call this week. “He’s watched a lot of my game and I’ve of course watched a bunch of his games. We’re just ready to play with each other and learn what each other likes and how to play off of each other. So yeah, we’re just excited to just get going.”
There was one big reason the Browns sought out Okoronkwo to be a key piece in new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s scheme. It was to put the former Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans edge rusher opposite the record-setting Garrett and let them loose.
Garrett is coming off back-to-back 16-sack seasons. Okoronkwo is coming off his best season since being drafted in 2018 out of the University of Oklahoma, recording five sacks for the Texans.
“I think that his speed off the edge is amazing, it’s second to none,” Okoronkwo said. “His bend is also second to none. I think where I can complement him is, I think a lot of people talk about my spin moves, but I think my long arms and my ability to crush the pocket and disrupt the pocket is one
of my biggest attributes. So I think as he’s rushing the edge, flying off the edge with all that speed, as I crush the pocket and just make the quarterback uncomfortable and have to escape in ways that he is not used to, I think that will just open it up for Myles more.”
While Okoronkwo saw time during his four seasons with the Rams, including 59 defensive snaps during their run to the Super Bowl championship two seasons ago, it was more a handful of snaps a game. Last year with Houston, he was used much more regularly, including on
more than 50% of the defensive snaps over seven of the final eight games.
During that stretch, Okoronkwo recorded all five of his sacks, including one of new teammate Deshaun Watson during his Dec. 4 return to the field against the Texans. He also recorded 25 tackles, seven tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits and a forced fumble.
“I think the most challenging thing I had to overcome was just waiting my time, waiting for my opportunity,” Okoronkwo said. “I think that it made me a better player because it just
showed me how to make the most out of my opportunities when I was getting about five to 10 snaps. What can I do in those five to 10 snaps instead of complaining about why I’m not getting 20 to 30. I feel like it just made me more of an efficient player.”
Okoronkwo’s role changed as much as his snap counts did in Houston. With the Rams, he played as a 3-4 stand-up outside linebacker/ edge rusher, often being asked to drop into coverage.
The Texans made him more of a true hand-inthe-dirt defensive end. It’s
a similar way to how the Browns will ask him to play in Schwartz’s scheme.
“I think it was a little easier,” Okoronkwo said. “We’re playing defensive end. All you need to know is what direction you’re going versus what coverage you’re in. So I feel like it was easier. I was able to play fast immediately from day one. So the transition wasn’t hard at all.”
Receiver joins fold
Marquise Goodwin will be signing a one-year deal with the Browns, a league source confirmed.
The deal gives the Browns a pair of additions at wide receiver this week. They acquired Elijah Moore on Wednesday in a trade with the New York Jets, sending their second-round pick in next month’s draft (No. 42 overall) to get the former 2021 second-round pick as well as the Jets’ third-round pick this year, No. 74.
The additions of Goodwin and Moore substantially add production to a receiving corps that had little outside of No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones, who just finished his third season in the league. The remainder of the receiving corps was either rookies such as David Bell or Michael Woods II, or players who had little NFL production.
Goodwin has played in 102 career NFL games since being a third-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2013 out of the University of Texas. He has 187 catches for 3,023 yards and 18 touchdowns on 362 career targets.
Last season, Goodwin played for the Seattle Seahawks. He had 27 catches for 387 yards and four TDs on 42 targets in 13 games.
Goodwin spent four season with the Bills from 201316, then another three with the San Francisco 49ers from 2017-19. After being traded to the Eagles, he opted out of the 2020 COVID season.
The decision to opt out tolled the contract and the trade, sending Goodwin back to the 49ers after that season. After San Francisco released him when the 2021 league year began in March, he signed with the Chicago Bears, with whom he played 14 games last season.