Browns Martin Emerson lauded all over the place this offseason, underrated no more?

The 2024 season is almost upon us. In seven weeks, training camp will begin.

For the Cleveland Browns, the offense is basically the same with WR Jerry Jeudy the only new starter. The defense has several new faces including MLB Jordan Hicks, outside linebackers Devin Bush and rookie Bookie Watson, and fellow rookie DT Michael Hall, Jr.

MEET UP! MEET NEW CORNERBACK MYLES HARDEN

The defense last year was an elite group. Continuity and consistency with essentially the same group of players will be key for DC Jim Schwartz’s side of the ball. GM Andrew Berry re-signed some key defenders such as defensive tackles Mo Hurst and Shelby Harris, safety Rodney McLeod, and DE Za’Darius Smith (ZDS). Berry also did not trade CB Greg Newsome as rumors depicted.

The elite star of the defense is the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.

But the defense also has its share of stars on its own such as Denzel Ward, who owns three Pro Bowls, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (JOK), DE Ogbo Okoronkwo, safety Grant Delpit, Hurst, and ZDS.

This is a defensive unit that is on the cusp of some very talented players who currently are not household names outside of Cleveland.

These are athletes who should be named to their first Pro Bowl this upcoming season. Names such as Delpit, JOK, and one you might not consider, or maybe you have: CB Martin Emerson, Jr., who goes by M.J.

Many believe Emerson was snubbed from the Pro Bowl last year. He is probably the most underrated player on the Browns’ defense right now.

Emerson came to the Browns crowded DB room

Denzel Ward is a first-round draft pick. So is Greg Newsome. Starters Grant Delpit and Juan Thornhill are second-round selections for the safety position.

That is a lot of high draft picks dedicated to Cleveland’s defensive backfield.

Ward is the starting left cornerback while Newsome is listed as the slot or nickelback. Emerson is starting on the right side.

Terrance Mitchell manned the cornerback spot opposite Ward before Newsome was taken in the 2021 NFL draft. Newsome struggled as a rookie. The Browns did not have a first or second-round pick in the following draft. In Round 3, Berry selected Emerson, Jr. out of Mississippi State.

He impressed in preseason immediately including a pick and a defensive touchdown in his very first NFL contest. By mid-season, Emerson was starting. Despite being taken in the first round and paid first-round money, Newsome was regulated to being the third cornerback and coming in when the defense would feature the 4-2-5 with five defensive backs on the field.

Newsome had signed a rookie deal worth $12.75 million. Emerson’s rookie deal was for $5,471,289. Quite a bit of difference with one starting for less pay and the other taking every snap and making plays each and every game.

The Browns picked up Newsome’s fifth-year option as expected instead of trading him during the draft as many had expected.

Emerson’s beginnings

Emerson grew up in Pensacola, Florida, and began playing football in the first grade. He had good speed, so his coaches put him at receiver. He grew up playing Madden and wanted to be quarterback Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons.

He was raised by his father Martin Emerson, Sr. who gained parental custody at age four while his grandmother Delorise became the mother figure who kept the family together until he was 12 years old due to her passing away. Today, he sports a tattoo of her over his heart. Emerson, Sr. made him into a man with tough love and taught him to look someone in the eye when speaking off the field and bring physicality while on the turf.

If you meet M.J., which stands for “Martin, Junior”, you see that he is a calm person, polite, instantly will call you sir or ma’am, and seems to be smiling most of the time.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski gave his thoughts to Doc Louallen of clevelandbrowns.com about Emerson:

“I think MJ is a guy (who) continues to get better because he’s a young player, but has always had the right mindset. I mean, from day one, when he stepped foot on campus, he had the right mindset. And playing that position, you better have that mindset. So, he plays physical. He loves the challenge, so excited for where he is.”

One day his coach at Pine Forest High School, Jerry Pollard, moved him to cornerback in his final year, an area they were short on players. Emerson balked at being moved to an unfamiliar position and leaving a position he loved.

In his first game, an opposing receiver got past him for a touchdown. Pollard then spent time with Emerson so that would never happen again. In his sophomore year, he began to take football seriously. Upon graduation, he was named Pensacola News-Journal All-Area.

He was recruited by 25 colleges. The first school to show interest was Mississippi State. Emerson was recruited by Terrell Buckley, who played for six NFL clubs and won the Thorpe Award in 1991 as the nation’s best defensive back. Emerson had versatility in that he could be lined up at cornerback or safety. The University of Miami went hard for Emerson, but his final decision was to attend Mississippi State and be close to home.

That college defensive backfield featured Emerson with Emmanual Forbes and was known as one of the best in college football. Forbes was drafted by the Washington Commanders with the 16^th overall pick in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.

For his college career, Emerson had 152 total tackles, six tackles for loss, one interception, one forced fumble, and 15 pass defenses, with zero sacks. His 11 pass defenses in his sophomore campaign ranked him #1 in the SEC.

An article in Sports Illustrated had Emerson going in the first round at pick #21 in the 2022 NFL draft. Yet, the first round came and went. The second round also concluded, and still no phone call.

In that draft, the Browns did not have a first or second-round pick. In Round 3, seven cornerbacks and five safeties had been selected including Sauce Gardner and Kyle Hamilton.

Four picks into the round, Cleveland was expected to take a wide receiver or a body to help the defensive line because the roster already had Ward and recently extended his contract, Greedy Williams, Troy Hill, and just drafted Newsome. Instead, Berry took Emerson.

LINK: MARTIN EMERSON GETS THE CALL

He was heralded as a draft steal.

The talk originally was that Emerson would be forced to fit into the slot. Not one media source was saying, “Well, he could eventually start opposite Ward.” The chatter was on how Williams was going to fit, if Newsome could improve after a decent rookie season, or what to expect from rookie A.J. Green.

The thought process was to throw Emerson into the cornerback room and he can wait his turn. Williams was a second-round pick while both Ward and Newsome were drafted in the first round. Surely, a third-rounder will not ascend into a starting role, right? Much less a rookie.

Berry’s penchant for drafting young and athletic prospects pushed them to Emerson in a plan that was likely to continue to reveal itself. The Browns were obviously drafting for the future.

Emerson was considered a good-sized athlete with length, toughness, and coverage awareness that would translate well to the next level. Though he was able to jam at the line and be disruptive from press, he lacked ideal pedal fluidity and change of direction in man coverage and struggled to make up the lost steps when overaggressive.

The Browns’ top five cornerbacks from the year before were all slated to return. How was Emerson going to fit in?

To be factual, the pick was questioned. The thought process of “you can’t have enough quality cornerbacks” is always true, but really, the defensive back room was already full. And the first pick for Cleveland is another corner? Really? What was the point in drafting a guy in the third round just to play special teams?

It was noticed that in college, opposing quarterbacks did not test Emerson much. His cover work was decidedly regarded as his grades on Pro Football Focus were graded highly in both 2020 and 2021. In 2021 alone, he played 641 snaps with just 28 completed receptions. That is a ridiculous number.

Most underrated Cleveland Brown going into 2024?

Last year, it was astonishing to many that Emerson did not make the Pro Bowl. This season, that should change.

The media is all over Emerson’s talent and the fact that he is close to a breakout season.

Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire:

“Overall last season, regardless of scheme, Emerson gave up 36 catches on 73 targets for 498 yards, 161 yards after the catch, one touchdown, four interceptions, nine pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 53.3 — the fourth-lowest in the NFL among cornerbacks playing at least 50% of their snaps.”

Cory Kinnan of Browns Wire:

“As the Browns look to repeat as the best defensive unit in the NFL, they will need to see continued standout performances from all of their cornerbacks, including Emerson Jr. And something tells me he’s up to the task. For now, however, some still underestimate him. That may be due to Cleveland playing three cornerbacks at all times and there may be some confusion about Emerson Jr.’s status as a starter.”

Matt Wilson of DawgsByNature.com:

“Emerson Jr. has turned out to be an above-average player for the Browns at field corner and his overall size and length are incredibly valuable in the AFC Conference. He’s only going to get better with experience so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Emerson get closer to a Pro Bowl-type season sooner rather than later.”

Gennaro Filice of NFL.com:

“The defensive trend, which combats the quick passes that spring from RPO concepts, further underscores the talents of universally lauded cornerbacks like Sauce Gardner, Pat Surtain II and L’Jarius Sneed. But it also puts a deserved spotlight on Emerson, a key cog in Cleveland’s top-ranked total defense this past season. A third-round pick out of Mississippi State in 2022, Emerson has emerged as a press-man savant, thanks in large part to his pterodactyl wingspan. Standing a smidge under 6-foot-2, Emerson’s tall for a corner, but it’s his extraordinary arm length (33 1/2 inches) that really allows him to stymie receivers at the line of scrimmage and clog passing lanes down the field.”

Brandon Little of A to Z Sports:

“A part of that defense is second-year cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. Emerson is giving up a completed pass just about a quarter of the time. That number leads the Browns and the entire NFL. Not too bad for a third-round pick, right? Emerson’s physicality and ability to work like a glove with opposing offensive players has boosted his stock early on in the NFL. Currently, quarterbacks aren’t having much success targeting him and that bodes well for Cleveland. He’s yet to have his first career interception but you just know it’s going to come before long.”

Pro Football Focus:

“Emerson played a significant role for the Browns all season, as he finished the year with the seventh-most snaps among first-year cornerbacks. And he also quietly put together an impressive season. He earned a 72.5 PFF grade, which ranked 23rd among cornerbacks, and he forced an incompletion on 20% of the passes into his coverage, the ninth-best rate at the position.”

Chad Porto of Factory of Sadness:

“So when they sit here and say that Martin Emerson is the “most surprising player” for the Cleveland Browns in 2022, I have to chuckle, because no. He wasn’t. See, Emerson had a nice PFF grade. That’s neat. He was also the team’s third or fourth corner at times, and in nine of the 17 games, played less than 50 snaps in a game. Usually against the opposing team’s team’s third or fourth receiver. He played as well as you’d expect from a third-rounder to play. Maybe that’s so a novel of an idea because most of the Browns’ 2nd and 3rd rounders since Andrew Berry took over have been so average or flat-out bad, but Emerson played like you’d want someone to in his position. Maybe I had higher expectations for him, but I wasn’t surprised he did as well as he did.”

Aaron Becker of the YardBarker:

“Emerson played a significant role for the Browns all season, as he finished the year with the seventh-most snaps. Emerson is part of an already talented cornerback room that includes Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II, but it may be Cleveland’s defensive front that helps him make the leap. Cleveland certainly has high expectations, but it will take a combination of players, including Emerson, to reach those aspirations.”

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What are your expectations for Emerson this year?