On Friday, it was announced that the Browns have signed the USFL Defensive Player of the Year Chris Odom.
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Odom practiced with the Browns earlier this week, and that must’ve been enough for the Browns to sign him. Last year when he was on the Houston Gamblers in the USFL, Odom had 41 tackles, 12.5 sacks, four blocked kicks, six forced fumbles, and eight tackles for losses.
Were the Browns the Only Team Interested in Odom?
The Browns were not the only team to be interested in him. In fact, Odom’s agent Louis Bing said he had three workouts scheduled for NFL teams back in July.
3 workouts scheduled for @Chrisodom98 today. The calls are starting to come in fast for the USFL Defensive Player of the Year.
— Louis Bing (@AgentLouisBing) July 6, 2022
It was said that he was working out with the Chiefs, Bengals, and the Saints. But, it seems that those teams weren’t too impressed. So, the Browns came in and are hoping that he can perform at the same level in the NFL.
Can He be as Good as He Was In The USFL?
If his skills can be similar when he is with the Browns, this will be a huge win for Cleveland. But, it won’t be easy.
Odom has played in the NFL before, but he was never particularly great. Odom played for the Packers in 2017, and then he played for the then Washington Redskins in 2019. He played in 7 games with the Packers, totaling six tackles and one tackle for loss. But when he was with Washington, he was a bit more productive with fewer games played. He played in four games, he got 16 tackles, two sacks, two tackles for losses, two QB hits, and one forced fumble.
But if he does struggle a little bit, he’ll have his former high school teammate Myles Garrett to teach him some things. It obviously won’t be easy for him to adjust to the NFL, but we’ll see if he can perform at a similar level.