Cleveland Browns rookie Barkevious Mingo shines in preseason debut

There hasn’t been a lot of talk regarding Cleveland Browns’ first-round pick Barkevious Mingo. The rookie linebacker out of LSU was thought to be a lock for a starting job after the Browns made him the No. 6 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.

That doesn’t mean he’ll be given a job, even on a Browns team in desperate need of a pass-rushing stalwart. Thus far into training camp, Mingo has lined up with the second-team defense. He’s battling veterans Paul Kruger and Jabaal Sheard to be one of the two as starting outside linebackers.

"“He was impressive,” Browns Head coach Rob Chudzinski said after the game. “It seemed like he was around the quarterback a lot.  He played hard and he did a really nice job on special teams as well, so he showed up well. I think the biggest thing for him is just continuing to improve from a technique standpoint and from an understanding standpoint. The more experience he gets, the better he’ll be.”"

The 6-foot-4 Mingo is a long, lean player who needs to bulk-up in an NFL weight room, but after registering 16 tackles-for-loss and seven sacks in the past two years at LSU, there’s little doubt he’ll find a way to make an impact sooner rather than later.