The Cleveland Browns are continuing to make moves in free agency and have decided to add depth to the defensive line. It is no secret that the status of Jadeveon Clowney is up in the air and whether he decides to come back to Cleveland or not, the Browns need to add more depth to the defensive line.
In an effort to add more veteran bodies to the line, Cleveland signed Stephen Weatherly, who was a seventh-round selection by the Minnesota Vikings in 2016 out of Vanderbilt. Weatherly spent the end of last season with the Denver Broncos, but the majority of his NFL career was spent with Minnesota from 2016 to 2019 and again for the first portion of the 2021 season, but that’s enough of his past, let’s take a dive into what he can bring to the Browns.
Positives
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Weatherly started the 2021 season with the Vikings and was projected to be the starting defensive end in their 4-3 scheme but didn’t live up to that projection. Instead, he was traded to the Broncos to play a role in their outside linebacker rotation in their 3-4. I felt that Weatherly was actually a better outside linebacker than defensive end, but his scheme versatility should be seen as a plus.
The story of Weatherly’s career is that he is just a notch below starting material and shows flashes and checks some boxes that keeps NFL teams intrigued. At the very least, Weatherly can play a vital role on special teams as he did early on in his career.
Weaknesses
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As stated above, Weatherly has shown flashes of being a capable starter throughout his career, but he just lacks enough explosiveness to be a real force off the edge.
Weatherly has had a few opportunities to be a starter including when the Carolina Panthers signed him to a two-year deal before the 2020 season and they ended up releasing him after one season after he suffered a season-ending injury. His play was not ideal up to that point regardless.
He was expected to start for the Vikings in 2021…