Why Barkevious Mingo Has Everything to Prove in Cleveland Browns Training Camp

The Cleveland Browns begin their full 2015 training camp on Wednesday, and it's easy to argue that every single player taking the field has a lot to prove this year. But there may be no bigger prove-it player in camp this year than outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo.

Mingo, the team's 2013 Round 1 draft pick, has yet to live up to the hype surrounding him in the predraft process. In 30 games played and 14 starts, he's totaled 55 solo tackles and 84 combined, as well as seven sacks. It was encouraging that his starts increased from three as a rookie to 11 in 2014, but the results weren't very impressive.

Granted, Mingo played all of 2014 with a torn labrum that he had surgically repaired in the offseason, something that should result in better on-field production. But questions linger about exactly how many on-field opportunities he will get this year without a strong training camp.

Year	Games	Starts	Solo T	Comb.T	Sack	PD
2013	15	3	29	42	5.0	3
2014	15	11	26	42	2.0	4
Total	30	14	55	84	7.0	7

That's not only because the team drafted another outside linebacker this year, Nate Orchard in Round 2, though that certainly is something that could affect Mingo in 2015. But it's also because of the impression made on the Browns coaching staff by Scott Solomon, as well as their plans for Armonty Bryant in the pass rush. 

Solomon was signed by the Browns late in the 2014 season and saw playing time in the team's last two games, stepping in for the injured Mingo. He totaled seven combined tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in those two contests, and then carried that momentum into the offseason. 

Solomon filled in for the still-rehabbing Mingo during the team's OTAs and minicamp earlier this year, and defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil took notice, saying to the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram's Scott Petrak that, "[Solomon] is very quickly becoming one of my favorite players on the defense. He embodies everything we talk about when we say 'Play Like a Brown.' I think the offense calls him 'Bloodbath' because it's like a heat-seeking missile coming off the edge."

As such, O'Neil had a message for Mingo: 

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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. You're going to have to earn playing time. We're deep in every position group. Mingo is going to have to come back ready to go, and he's going to have to earn it... Guys are going to have to earn it. We don't care where you were drafted, when you were drafted, how much you're getting paid; the best 11 guys and the guys who earn their roles are the guys who are going to play.

"

O'Neil continued, "We're going to see where [Mingo] is when we get back to training camp and the pads come on of how he is at outside backer setting the edge, how he is as a defensive end rushing the quarterback and that kind of stuff." And if Mingo cannot handle those duties, then Solomon and Bryant most certainly will.

That doesn't mean there won't be a role for Mingo—as O'Neil said, he'd be in the sub-packages and would also get work on later downs, because, "Right now, he's by far our best outside linebacker in coverage."

But Mingo wasn't drafted in Round 1 two years ago to be a coverage specialist and play a small percentage of the Browns' defensive snaps. Their intent was to use him as an every-down player and now, it doesn't look like the coaching staff is all that confident he can do so—otherwise they wouldn't be so high on Solomon, so intent on moving Bryant around and wouldn't have viewed Orchard as a must-have player back in May.

It's hard to call Mingo a "bust" after just two years in the league—especially when his most recent year was marred from the beginning by his injured shoulder. But now, at full health—Mingo expects to be completely ready to go in all drills at the start of camp this week—he needs to prove he has what it takes to play the whole outside linebacker position, and not just parts of it.

Additionally, Mingo is accepting of the competition he will be in this summer, saying "We've got to compete for our jobs day in and day out. We have to compete on the field on game days to win the game. I wouldn't expect anything less. I'm ready as soon as I can get out there." He's also aware that his role may not be exactly the one he wants to play, adding, "My role was altered when these coaches came and I accepted that role. It's about being unselfish and doing what's asked of us to help the team win games."

But the bottom line is that Mingo is in danger of being pushed to the margins of the Browns defense, rather than being one of its centerpieces. Mingo must prove that he can be a well-rounded linebacker and not a one-trick pony, especially with three capable players gunning to take his job. Training camp is a high-stakes period for Mingo's NFL future.