Sheldon Richardson is poised to join the Cleveland Browns once free-agent signings become official on March 13. The defensive tackle agreed to a three-year, $36 million contract to leave the Minnesota Vikings and join the Dawg Pound.
Here are a few tidbits about the newest Browns defensive tackle.
Former Defensive Rookie of the Year
The Jets got serious bang for their draft buck when they made Richardson the No. 13 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. The Missouri product earned the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
Richardson started 15 games as a rookie, racking up 77 tackles and 3.5 sacks. He made 12 of those career-high tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Playing next to Muhammad Wilkerson and with strong veteran Calvin Pace to his outside, Richardson was an impact player right away for the 8-8 Jets under Rex Ryan.
At his best rushing the passer
His best attribute is Richardson’s ability to generate pressure between the tackles. With the Vikings last season, Richardson ranked 17th out of 76 defensive interior players in pass rush efficiency per Pro Football Focus. By way of comparison, Larry Ogunjobi came in at No. 59 with the Browns.
Even in his one year in Seattle (2017) where he managed just one sack, Richardson was still in the top half of the league in pass rush efficiency in PFF’s grades. His worst season as a rusher came when the 2016 Jets decided to try him more as a stand-up rusher. That’s not his game, nor will he be asked to play that role in Cleveland.
Some questionable decisions have dogged him
Richardson has been suspended by the NFL twice.
The first was in 2015, when he was forced to miss four games as a result of violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
His other suspensions came a year later, missing the 2016 opener for violating the personal conduct policy. From the NFL.com write-up of that incident:
The suspension comes in response to Richardson’s July 2015 arrest for driving a 2014 Bentley Silver Spur at speeds up to 143 mph on an interstate highway near his offseason home. The one-time Pro Bowler avoided jail time after pleading guilty in January to reduced charges connected to last summer’s high-speed police chase in suburban St. Louis.
Richardson was accompanied by a 12-year-old relative and two male passengers when he was stopped. Police say they found a loaded semi-automatic handgun under a floor mat and detected a strong marijuana odor.
He has not been in trouble since that 2015 incident.
History of dominating the Ravens
If you play with the IDP option in fantasy football, you might want to tab Richardson in the two games the Browns play the Ravens. He’s owned Baltimore in his career.
In two career games vs. the Ravens, Richardson has two sacks, seven TFL, 16 total tackles and three QB hits. He hasn’t faced them since 2016, but that’s still really impressive domination in a small sample size.
He’s durable
Richardson played all 16 games in 2018 for the Vikings, and that was not a fluke. The 295-pounder has missed seven total games in his six-year NFL career.
Keep in mind that five of those seven games missed were the result of suspension and not injury. That’s a strong history of staying healthy. Ironically, he struggled with some injury issues in college at both the College of the Sequoias and at Missouri, battling shoulder and wrist surgeries during his undergrad days.
He’s an accomplished talker
Richardson had a rep for being a trash talker when he came out of Missouri. He continues to be a good talker, enough that the Vikings featured him in a “Wired For Sound” segment last season.
One thing is for sure, Richardson is not bashful…
If nothing else, training camp just got more entertaining
