Xavier Cooper

Xavier Cooper likely to start for Browns at defensive end

Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Xavier Cooper will start at defensive end, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto expects.

What It Means:

Desmond Bryant's season-ending pectoral tear opened up a huge hole along the defensive line. A third-round pick last year, the pass-rushing specialist Cooper should get the first crack at filling it, but he will likely share time with rookie Carl Nassib.

Prior to his injury news, our algorithms had projected Bryant for 70.91 tackles and 7.85 sacks in 2016. Cooper will now take on most of that projection, but lose some time to Nassib.