Two years removed from becoming the sixth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, Barkevious Mingo is fighting for a starting job in Cleveland.
Browns defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil said as much on Thursday, talking up the play of Scott Solomon, a from-the-wilderness outside linebacker who has turned heads this offseason.
"Scott is very quickly becoming one of my favorite players," O'Neil said Thursday, per the Akron Beacon Journal. "The offense calls him 'Bloodbath.' He's like a heat-seeking missile coming off the edge."
Said O'Neil, per The Plain Dealer: "It's going to be a car accident when Scott Solomon meets a pulling guard or a fullback."
A seventh-round pick by Tennessee in 2012, the 6-foot-3, 262-pound Solomon has floated between the Titans, Jets, Bucs and Browns. With zero career starts, he's hardly the guy anyone pegged to steal snaps away from Mingo, who was never the same last season after injuring his shoulder on the second play of the year against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"When we came out of training camp last year, we thought Mingo was one of our best outside backers," O'Neil said, "We all know about the injury he suffered in play two of last season. He is going to have to compete for playing time on early downs. He's going to have a role in our sub-packages. No one is guaranteed anything on the defense."
The Browns also have Paul Kruger and Armonty Bryant at the position, putting plenty of pressure on Mingo to show that he's grown.
Our biggest concern about Mingo is how slender he looks in pads. The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder's "ability to put weight" has been mentioned before by Browns coaches, who used the final days of the offseason program to send a sharply worded message to the young pass rusher.
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