Cleveland Browns: Chris Kirksey is Good

As bad as the Cleveland Browns defense is, and it is, there are a few bright spots and none better than third-year linebacker Chris Kirksey.

Chris Kirksey recorded 10 solo tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the Cleveland Browns’ loss to the New York Jets. With increasing regularity, Kirksey is showing he can impact plays as a run defender, behind the line of scrimmage and in coverage. He also plays on special teams. Maybe the most exciting part about Kirksey is that he’s still just 24 years old.

Kirksey was the 71st pick of the 2014 NFL Draft (my evaluation). An overachiever at a young age, Kirksey was a two-time captain for the Hawkeyes. That trait is starting to carry over to the Browns, which is hugely important with how young this defense is and how it will continue to evolve.

The linebacker was serviceable in his first two seasons. Largely a coverage specialist, he was not a great run defender. He did his best work working inside out and being able to chase down plays going to the sideline. The question entering the season was whether Kirksey would be a truly good starting linebacker or if he would be more of a role player.

Halfway into the 2016 season, Kirksey has answered emphatically that he can do it all and do it effectively. The biggest improvement has been in his how impactful he can be between the tackles and making plays in the backfield.

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The addition of Ray Horton as defensive coordinator combined with the growth of Danny Shelton have certainly benefited Kirksey’s improvement. He is kept clean more often and able to just locate and flow to the football. Kirksey also may have benefited from the presence of Karlos Dansby, now with the Cincinnati Bengals. Dansby was the best linebacker on the Browns for the past two years. Having that type of influence in his first two years in the league may have helped Kirksey understand the game better and see what he needed to do in order to be great.

Over the past month, there seems to be at least one play per game where the opponent tries to run the ball to the outside and Kirksey is able to knife into the backfield and make a big tackle for loss almost without breaking stride. These are the type of plays made by Sean Lee of the Dallas Cowboys and Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers.

Kirksey has already matched most of his production from each of the past two seasons this year. Some of this is merely due to getting more opportunities to make plays, but he has a commanding lead in solo tackles over the rest of the team. He’s also leading the team in tackles for loss with four and has 1.5 sacks on a team where no one has more than three.

What’s more, Kirksey is also getting better as the season progresses, so his best football this year may be yet to come, let alone going forward. He’s gained a substantial amount of confidence because what he’s doing is working, so he’s going to believe what he sees more often and attack.

Next year is the last on Kirksey’s rookie contract and the team should have plans to sign him to a long term deal. At 26 years old, the Browns would be able to handsomely reward him for his play to this point, pay him like the leader of the defense and get what should be the prime of his career.

With the understandable focus on the 0-8 record and the statistical misery that this defense is producing, it can be difficult to see the improvement with some of these players. This unit needs a significant influx of talent in the next year or few, but the development of players like Chris Kirksey, Danny Shelton, Emmanuel Ogbah and Carl Nassib have been fun to watch. Kirksey has shown to be a foundational player for this defense and the Cleveland Browns need to find more like him for this defense to be successful in the future.