Last season, it was very exciting news when former USC Trojan and undrafted rookie linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold was able to make the Cleveland Browns ' roster. He battled it out, showed promise as a special teams player, and has since built on an encouraging rookie season.
Easton Mascarenas-Arnold was named a starting linebacker for a young and promising Cleveland Browns. The Browns no longer have a generational defender in Myles Garrett, but they have young, promising players all over the defense. Easton Mascarenas-Arnold is one of those players for the Browns this season.
In his final season at USC, when he was a starter and anchor of the defense, he had a team-high 95 tackles, 5 tackles for loss of 20 yards, and 3 sacks. He was also productive in pass coverage, as he recorded 2 interceptions and 1 pass break-up.
Arnold is hoping to have that same type of impact on the Browns' defense this season and further become one of their building blocks for the future. If he continues to follow his trend of continuing to get better each season, he should be in for a great year. His versatility will be a great complement to defensive rookie of the year Carson Schwesinger's game.
The Browns' pass rush will definitely take a step back this season after the departure of Garrett. However, their linebacker room could end up being a sneaky bright spot this season.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Former Trojan Easton Mascarenas-Arnold named starting LB for Browns