Ogbonnia Okoronkwo wants to get after quarterbacks with Myles Garrett
There’s been a lot of conversations for Ogbonnia Okoronkwo since he signed with the Browns. There was one, though, more important than most of them.
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 Wednesday. “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 why 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 on opposing quarterbacks.
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Garrett is coming off back-to-back 16-sack seasons for the Browns. Okoronkwo is coming off his best season since being drafted in 2018 out of the University of Oklahoma, recording five sacks for the Texans.
The sack totals may not be the same right now. However, Okoronkwo sees plenty of similarities between he and his new teammate to think the pairing could blossom into a terrorizing thought for opposing offenses.
“I think that his speed off the edge is amazing, it’s a 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 arm 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.”
Okoronkwo, though, realizes he’s not near being the finished product as Garrett, who came into the league one year before he arrived. Part of that is the amount of time it took for him to get to a point where he finally became more of an every-down kind of edge rusher.
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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.
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The Texans made him more of a true hand-in-the-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.”
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