CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Cleveland Browns will be well represented at the Pro Bowl Games this year with five players being selected – three as starters and six more were named alternates.
Defensive end Myles Garrett, cornerback Denzel Ward, left guard Joel Bitonio, receiver Amari Cooper and tight end David Njoku were selected with Garrett, Bitonio and Cooper being named starters.
Six more Browns were named alternates – safety Grant Delpit, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, center Ethan Pocic, right guard Wyatt Teller, kicker Dustin Hopkins and punter Corey Bojorquez.
Garrett, a Defensive Player of the Year candidate who led fan voting in the AFC at his position, leads the Browns with 14 sacks this season while adding 30 QB hits, 17 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and three pass breakups this season, was named to his fifth Pro Bowl. That ties Garrett with former defensive tackle/nose tackle Bob Gain and nose tackle Michael Dean Perry for the most Pro Bowl selections by a Browns defensive player in franchise history. Garrett is the only player in the NFL to record at least 14 sacks in each of the past three seasons and he is the only player to record at least 10 sacks in each of the past six seasons.
Bitonio was voted to his sixth straight Pro Bowl and is now tied for the fourth-most selections in team history trailing Pro Football Hall of Famers Joe Thomas (10), Jim Brown (9) and Lou Groza (9). Bitonio is the first Browns guard to be named to six consecutive Pro Bowls since Pro Football Hall of Famer Gene Hickerson made six straight from 1966-71.
Cooper, who leads the team with 1,250 receiving yards – the third-most by a Brown in a season, was selected to his fifth career Pro Bowl and first as a member of the Browns. Cooper is the first player in Browns history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons and he joined Hall of Famer Mac Speedie as the only players to do it twice for the franchise. In Week 16, Cooper set a franchise single-game record with 265 receiving yards and he is the first Browns receiver to make a Pro Bowl since Jarvis Landry in 2019.
Ward was selected to his third career Pro Bowl. He has two interceptions, 11 pass breakups and a forced fumble this season while helping the Browns defense lead the NFL in several categories including passing defense with an average of 165.9 yards allowed per game. Ward joins Frank Minnifield (four) and Hanford Dixon (three) as the only Browns cornerbacks to make at least three trips to the Pro Bowl.
Njoku leads the Browns with 81 catches this season, the fifth-most by a Browns tight end in a season and is tied for the eighth-most by any Browns player. This is the first career Pro Bowl selection for the 2017 first round pick who also leads the team with a career-high six receiving touchdowns. Njoku is the first Browns tight end to make a Pro Bowl since Gary Barnidge in 2014.
The Browns are 11-5 this season and have secured the No. 5 seed in the AFC as the top Wild Card team with one game to play. It marks the second time in four years Cleveland qualified for the playoffs and the 11 victories are tied for the second-most in the regular season in franchise history.
The 2024 Pro Bowl Games will be a multi-day AFC versus NFC competition culminating on Sunday, February 4 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
