New Browns DT Ralph Holley, Jr. plans to bring ‘mojo,’ pass rush ability to NFL

25 questions with another young defensive tackle

Going into the 2025 NFL season, the Cleveland Browns are in need of quite a bit.

There isn’t a starting quarterback and, in fact, a backup signalcaller either. The safety room just released Juan Thornhill while veteran Rodney McLeod retired. DE Myles Garrett has asked to be traded, which could mean the defense might be without its best player. Last year’s kicker, Dustin Hopkins, struggled, while 10-year veteran long snapper Charley Hughlett was suddenly released while both the tight end and running back rooms need some attention pronto.

RELATED: BROWNS SIGN INTRIGUING DT PROSPECT FROM CFL

And while all of these situations need some new bodies with talent, the group with the greatest need is the defensive tackle room.

This group has been mostly aging veterans in the past three seasons, with reclamation projects such as Malik McDowell, Taven Bryan, and Malik Jackson, to name a few. Recently, this group has been occupied with Maurice Hurst, Shelby Harris, and Dalvin Tomlinson. All are seasoned veterans who have had their share of success or injury.

In the 2024 NFL draft, GM Andrew Berry selected DT Mike Hall, Jr. from Ohio State in the second round and then Cincinnati DT Jowon Briggs in Round 7. Both players missed games as Briggs was cut, signed to the practice squad, then elevated to the main roster, while Hall had legal issues that landed him on the Commissioner’s Exempt List.

During the off-season, Berry nabbed a future star from the Canadian Football League (CFL): DT Ralph Holley, Jr.

Holley, age 26, grew up in West Bloomfield, Michigan, and attended St. Mary’s Preparatory High School in nearby Orchard Lake, Michigan, which is a northern suburb of Detroit. There, he played basketball, won three State Championships in football, and was a two-time state champion in shotput participating in track. He was named to the Detroit Free-Press First Team All-Area Team (football) and voted to the Top-25 Detroit Area Team.

He had several college offers and decided upon Western Michigan University, two hours west of Detroit in a straight shot along I-94. Instead of being redshirted, he played as a freshman, and in his sophomore year, he started 11 games and was named Academic All-Mid-American Conference. The pandemic shortened the 2020 season, which would have been his senior year, to which he was granted another year of eligibility.

During Holley’s duration at Western Michigan, the Broncos played in four bowl games. In his senior season, they went 8-5-0 and beat Nevada in the Quick Lane Bowl 52-24.

His college career totals: 35 starts, 50 games played, 138 total tackles, 45.5 tackles for loss, 20.5 sacks, five batted passes, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Holley had six sacks in both his sophomore and senior years. He recorded a Pro Football Focus pass rush rating of 90.6, tops on the team, and ranked 12th nationally among all defensive linemen. He was invited to play in the Hula Bowl.

Holley’s scouting report on NFL Draft Buzz coming out of college:

Strengths:

• Excellent hustle-and-chase tackler, good closing speed with change of direction to corral mobile quarterbacks.
• Plays with leverage at the point of attack, whether inside or outside. Keeps eyes in the backfield when inside and moves linemen to either side with strong hands.
• High-effort, thickly built defender with good strength and the leverage to create a pile.

Weaknesses:

• Not overly flexible or loose. Limited, predictable pass-rush arsenal. Struggles to locate the ball at times and needs to do a better job with his read-and-react skills.
• Limited range.
• Average straight line speed and tight hips. Not a natural bender.
• Not a quick-twitch player.

Despite a good college career, he went undrafted in the 2022 NFL draft. He was invited to attend the Chicago Bears rookie minicamp in early May and was one of 36 unsigned rookies to attend, taking part on a tryout basis hoping to earn a contract. After the three-day event, Holley wasn’t signed to a training camp contract.

From there, he played for the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL to which they made the playoffs with a 6-4-0 record. In the divisional round, the Stars defeated the New Jersey Generals 19-14, which sent them to the USFL Championship Game. They lost 33-30 in a game that went back and forth.

The Toronto Argonauts of the CFL then signed him. The Argos are North America’s oldest continuous pro football team, founded in 1873. The Arizona Cardinals (NFL) began in 1898. The Argonauts have won 19 Grey Cups and played in the championship game 25 times.

Toronto placed Holley (6’-1”, 285 pounds) on their practice squad but elevated him to their main roster in Week 3 against the Edmonton Elks. Just a rotational player at first, but he then claimed one of the starting defensive tackle positions and started 13 games. At season’s end, he was tied for total sacks in the league with eight despite missing four games languishing on the practice squad.

He was part of a defensive front that terrorized the league. Toronto’s defense led the CFL with 48 sacks.

The Argos just missed winning their division but defeated Ottawa and Montreal in the playoffs before facing off against Winnipeg in the Grey Cup, the CFL’s championship game. Behind 10-9 at the half, Toronto pounded their opponent in the second half to win 41-24.

After the Grey Cup win, Holley was still under contract with Toronto for the 2025 season. However, he was able to sign with an NFL club this offseason through the clause provided in all CFL player agreements. He then worked out with seven NFL clubs before signing with Cleveland on January 6.

So, Holley has already won six championships: three in high school football, two in high school track, and one in professional football. One attribute about Holley is that he is a very intelligent person. He finally had a great season to prove he belongs in this league and will bring his game to Browns training camp.

One thing is certain: the defensive line group needs all the help it can get.

Holley hasn’t landed in Northeast Ohio quite yet but is moving into a place soon. He is a Christian and unmarried. Around the house growing up, instead of his mom Melonee calling out “Junior” she just calls out “Ralph” to which both Ralph, Jr. and his dad, Ralph, Sr., figure out which one she wants. Everyone else has called him “Ralphie” or “Little Ralph” although there is nothing small about him any longer.

His X handle is @HolleyRalph if you care to follow him.

Dawgs By Nature’s Barry Shuck caught up with Holley between training sessions to find out why he chose to sign with the Browns when six other NFL clubs wanted him, what his go-to moves on the interior are, and how much the actual Grey Cup weighs.

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DBN: You had success early in your football career, winning three consecutive state championships in high school. Which is more difficult: winning a state championship or getting back to the state championship game?

Holley: Getting back, only because now you have a target on your back. You are the team to beat, and they play harder against the champs from the previous year.

DBN: You were a standout basketball player and had success in track. When did you decide to pursue football over basketball?

Holley: My dad played basketball through his high school years and played with Dominique Wilkins. They remain friends today. My dad wanted me to be a basketball player. I told him in my sophomore year that basketball just wasn’t my sport. Those guys were divas. I was just too physical and fouled out almost every game. That just wasn’t for me. I just couldn’t play physical like that on a basketball court. I feel I would’ve liked hockey better. That sophomore year was my last in basketball, and I started to take football seriously.

DBN: You won back-to-back shotput state championships. Tell us about the moment you won your first state title.

Holley: I wasn’t all in with track at first and ran the 200, too. My track coach, Mrs. Kelly, told me I had incredible technique. I only had one move, and it was straight power: the power slide. A lot of smaller guys have to spin and have a lot of different techniques. I had one technique, and that was just to throw that thing. It was awesome. We had a lot of great runners on that team who contributed to that title at the state meet in Clarkston, Michigan. I had three throws, and they posted all the numbers from each throw, and your best throw of the three is the one that counts. I beat a smaller kid who was explosive and fast, but I put my all into it.

DBN: You had quite a few college offers. What inspired you to sign with Western Michigan?

Holley: At the time, the head coach was P.J. Fleck, who is now the head coach at the University of Minnesota. They only lost one game, and that was to Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl. They were beating Power-5 opponents. It was close to home, and I loved the atmosphere in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The fans were amazing, the education was great, and I found a place that’s far enough away from home but close enough in case of an emergency, and my parents could come see me play. I was grateful for that. Two hours straight interstate – sometimes I made it in one-thirty.

DBN: In your college career, you had 19.5 sacks, including six in your sophomore year and six in your senior season. Most sacks don’t usually come from the interior of the defensive line. What are some of your best moves?

Holley: I pride myself on my get-off the ball. My explosiveness. All of my moves are predicated on my get-off in different ways. How fast I can get off the ball and engage with my opponent. My D-Line coaches really catered to my play style. It just helped me to be dominant from that standpoint. I get off the ball like I am an edge rusher, but attack the man like I’m on the interior.

DBN: In your senior year, you had 39 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and six sacks, yet the 2022 NFL draft came and went for you. You then signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent. How many teams called you right after the conclusion of the draft?

Holley: One team. I was surprised. I didn’t sign any type of contract; they just invited me for a mini-camp. They said they would see what I was about. I understand this is a business, so I never took it personally. Took it and learned and realized I had to get better.

DBN: What was your experience like in the USFL?

Holley: It was very interesting and I met great people and made great relationships there. When I first got there, I came in the middle of the season. We lost in the championship game to the Birmingham Stallions. It was a good game. I was just happy because it was my first professional playoff experience, and I was getting paid. I was just grateful that God had put me in that situation and I made money to play the game. I was looking forward to my second season, where I had earned a starting position. And I was doing very well. In the second game, I dislocated my right elbow. I was out for the rest of the regular season but came back for the last game. I came back in just six weeks. I was grateful for a great rehab period and that I could come back from that injury.

DBN: The Toronto Argonauts called and owned your rights. At this point, you were probably contemplating between Canada and playing in the new UFL. What was going on during this time?

Holley: Our team was disbanded when the USFL and XFL merged, and I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I didn’t hear from any of the other teams. That was a really hard time for me because it was like, is this the end of my career? I was a substitute teacher at my old high school and training and was the defensive coordinator at another local high school. I was training in the morning and at night every day while trying to make a living and trying to keep all my skills just in case I got any type of call. And God willing, Toronto called me. They said they would give me an opportunity; they loved my college tape and said they loved the type of guy I was. They took a chance on me. They were very straightforward and told me it was a stacked room. In training camp, I just put it all on God and put it all on my craft. I made the team when they put me on the practice roster for about three games. I waited my turn and trusted the process.

DBN: You grew up in Michigan and went to a Michigan college, so the cold weather is normal to you. Is there much of a climate difference in the Ontario Province? What are taxes like there?

Holley: It’s literally the same weather. I felt like I was at home while playing. The taxes were crazy, especially with me being an American. The conversion rate is astronomical. Being on the practice roster, I wasn’t making any money at all, the Ontario tax is the highest rate in Canada.

DBN: The Argos are one of the most successful CFL franchises ever, with 19 Grey Cup wins in their 151-year history. However, all of Canada has a love affair with hockey. What are Boatmen (i.e. Argonauts) fans like?

Holley: They are crazy. In a good way, I love Boatmen fans. They absolutely support their team. When I started to come into my own up there, I had kids coming up and doing my sack dance with me and asking for autographs, saying how grateful they were for me to be there. I didn’t want to tell them how grateful I was just to be there.

RELATED: GET TO KNOW RALPH HOLLEY, JR.

DBN: What was your first Argos training camp like?

Holley: That was tough. For one, it was me getting adjusted to the rules of the different style of play that they have. The yard off the ball was something to adjust to. My get-off is my attribute and now I am three feet away from an offensive lineman, which takes away that advantage for me. It challenged me to get off the ball faster. The competition was tough because our roster had a lot of really good defensive linemen.

Editor’s note: In the CFL, the defensive line is one yard back from the offensive line before the ball is snapped.

DBN: In the CFL, there is a wider neutral zone. What is that like beginning each play a yard off the ball? Do you like it, and is it an advantage for the offensive line or the defensive line?

Holley: That is different. I am used to being right up on my opponent. Then, I was rushing from a defensive end standpoint. I started to like how that was set up, but I prefer to be close to my opponent. In the end, I didn’t mind it and adjusted. It really helps the O-Line, especially with double teams. They can have two men in motion and would have a tight end get a full head of steam off the snap where they would come and block you.

DBN: The Argos had you on their practice squad to begin the season, and once you started playing, you began to rack up all these sacks and finished with eight, which tied for the league’s most. That was just in 13 starts. If the coaching staff had played you for all 18 games, how many sacks do you feel you could have finished the season with?

Holley: I would have had 10-plus easily. I already had two sacks that were taken away because of pass interference penalties. Understand that in the CFL, they don’t have any half-sacks. So, whoever gets to the man first gets the credit, even if you were the player who actually got the man to the ground. And that happened to me multiple times – but that’s the rules.

RELATED: 2024 CFL DEFENSIVE STATS

DBN: The CFL game is different than American Football in some regards. What did you learn from playing there that can give you an edge?

Holley: The thing that I really learned in the CFL is the sizing of the field because it is so much bigger, and the CFL has a lot of running quarterbacks. That equipped me to have more pursuit and not to give up on your man. It makes you have to get after the quarterback. It gave me a different mindset of how I can rush.

DBN: There are several CFL rules that are different. If you could bring a CFL rule to the NFL, which one would it be?

Holley: That’s tough. I would say the rouge. You can get one point after missing a field goal if the other team’s return man can’t get the ball out of the end zone. Same with punts. And a team can score a rouge if the ball goes through the end zone and out of bounds. It makes both teams have to run it back. We once won a game by missing a field goal and scoring the rouge.

DBN: In the Grey Cup, your team was behind 10-9 at the half. What was the attitude like in the locker room at halftime, and what adjustments were made?

Holley: There was no reason why we beat this team twice during the season, and now we are losing this game and in the position we are in. Was it the fans, bad calls, or the neutral site? We were acting like it was just another game, but it was not. It was a game that we needed to dominate. We came out in the second half and did what we did the last 11 games and started pressuring the quarterback. One thing that changed the game was their quarterback smacked his hand on my helmet pretty hard. It was this throwing hand. I felt it, too. Broke his finger. With our pressure and his injury, he threw three picks in the second half; one was a pick-six.

DBN: After the win, we saw the cup ceremony. All of the players were standing behind a barricade, and when they brought the cup up on stage, all of y’all rushed the stage like it was lunchtime at the buffet. You know Ralph, you see guys winning a championship and are up on the podium holding up the Stanley Cup or the Lombardi Trophy or the Grey Cup. What was that like? Did you kiss it? How heavy was the Grey Cup?

Holley: It was a surreal feeling. It was my first professional championship that I won. It was crazy. You see everyone around you that works so hard. The CFL season is 18 games and is a long season. That’s a lot. To get what everybody has been talking about and working so hard for, I was crying in the locker room, reminiscing about my own personal story. Look how far I had come. My parents were crying and it was just a great feeling. At one point I was thinking I wouldn’t be playing football again much less winning a professional football championship. And of course, I kissed the cup. Sure. It may have been heavy, I don’t remember. It was just a moment I will never forget.

DBN: After the Grey Cup win, you had tryouts with the Vikings, Saints, Falcons, Titans, Bengals, and Steelers. Why did you choose the Browns?

Holley: I saw the Browns really take care of their players. The GM and the coaches that I talked to they have a plan for me. I am going to have to earn my spot, of course, but the type of attack defense they run speaks to me personally. They trust that I can come in and make a difference. I am a person who has always had good stats because my game is being a productive defensive tackle. They told me they needed interior pressure. They got good pressure out of Myles, and if I could provide that interior element, that would be a great match.

DBN: Were you surprised by the number of teams that called you for a workout?

Holley: Yeah, I was. I went from not being wanted by anybody to being a hot commodity. I had some more teams call; I just couldn’t fit them all in for a workout. It shows how God works for his faithful to help your cause. I just trusted God and was in my Bible and in my playbook. It is just crazy to go from not being wanted to being needed. Except for that short time with the Bears, it was my first time walking into NFL facilities.

DBN: Your position coach, Jacques Casaire, played in the NFL for nine years. He came into the league as an undrafted rookie – just like yourself. What is he like, and what do you expect to learn from a guy who has gone through the same stuff?

Holley: We talked. I met some of the strength and conditioning coaches. Coach has grit. Now, it’s a different type of grit that I went through, but he has the experience of going through what I want to go through. Of course, I have grit, but it’s a different type of determination that he has, being undrafted and being in the league with longevity. That is nothing but hard work and determination. I am not the prettiest, and I am not the biggest – but I have grit, and I have heart. I pride myself on that. I don’t give up on plays easily and play with a lot of anger because of how I have been looked down upon. He’s too small, he’s too short, he can’t do this…so it’s good to be in company with another undrafted player that had success. It’s great to have a coach who literally has been in my footsteps. I honestly can’t wait to learn from him.

DBN: What is your off-season conditioning schedule like? Diet?

Holley: I am training at Hammer Smith Sports in Georgia. I am working with Dez Simpson, who is the pass rush coach. On Mondays, I get my pass rush training, then speed/agility, and then get my lifts. Tuesdays, I do speed/agility and lifting. Wednesday is my day off. Thursday and Friday, speed/agility and lifting. On weekends, I go to physical therapy and Bikram yoga. I have a chef here who has me on a standard diet. I eat high-protein meals with carbs so I can maintain my weight. It consists of a lot of vegetables so I can stay energized. Then, I take a vitamin supplement that has essential vitamins in it.

LINK: HAMMER SMITH SPORTS

DBN: What do you believe to be one of your weaknesses, and what are you doing to improve it?

Holley: I have my eyes in the backfield too much. The coaches will tell you not to take the candy that the offense is showing you. I am so gung-ho on getting into the offensive backfield that sometimes you have to slow down what you see.

DBN: Which strengths do you believe you have that make you a great athlete?

Holley: My pass rush repertoire. The different pass-rushing moves I have and how aggressive I am. That is why I love Cleveland so much is because the way they teach being aggressive off the ball is how I learned how to play. Back in high school, they taught us that if you can’t do anything, you better get off that ball. I always took that to heart, and it is my biggest propeller for my career.

DBN: You are coming to a Browns team that has a huge need for talented defensive tackles. The room is a mix of seasoned veterans and young guys like yourself, Jowon Briggs, and Mike Hall, Jr. What is it going to take for you to make the final roster?

Holley: Show them how I play. They wanted me for a reason. The aggressiveness that I have and the style that I play. And how to be an asset to this team.

DBN: You are just 26 years old, and yet you have won three high school football championships, were a State Champion in the shot put two times, and now have won a Grey Cup. That is six championships you have been a part of. Is all that winning mojo that you have going to rub off with you being a Cleveland Brown?

Holley: My mom told me that everything I have been a part of has won championships or been in the championship. Cleveland deserves a Super Bowl. They deserve a playoff run. I’m praying I bring my mojo and everything I can to help be successful.

Thomas Moore contributed to this article