Cleveland Browns: 2018 Linebacker preview

With the talent the Cleveland Browns have and improvements defensively overall, there’s no excuse not to get a great year from the linebacker group in 2018.

The Cleveland Browns return a talented group of starting linebackers with Jamie Collins, Chris Kirksey and Joe Schobert. This year, they’ve also done more to upgrade depth, which was an issue in 2017, drafting Genard Avery and signing Mychal Kendricks. The initial confusion with where guys were going to play seems to have been cleared up, but the group as a whole needs to perform far better than it did in 2017.

The most proven group on the Browns defense in 2017, this group underperformed relative to efficiency and expectations. Both Collins and Kirksey signed contracts in the offseason, giving them $100 million in new money. Their efficiency was the worst of their respective careers and while some is on the players, much of it goes to the defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, and his scheme.

A lot of what went wrong defensively can be pinned on trying to hide the lack of talent in the secondary. Playing a free safety 20 yards down the field because he had never played the position before and having corners lining off and playing soft to try to avoid getting beat deep, exposing linebackers to a ton of space in the middle of the field. This is somewhat defensible given the circumstances.

The problem is Williams personally lobbying for Jamie Collins to stay in Cleveland, even having him come visit the Senior Bowl (Collins lives nearby) to try to sell on signing, then used him backwards. Collins is a good coverage linebacker that can be physical at the line of scrimmage and blitz the A gap really well. That is how the New England Patriots utilized him and he was one of the best linebackers in football.

Williams decided to not really let him jam opponents, would play him as a declared edge and blitz the outside, where Collins hasn’t had a ton of success. In essence, Collins was good at A, B and C and Williams instead asked him to do D, E and F. Then his season ended due to injury.

If that is truly how Williams wants to use Collins, then he his evaluation of his skillset was terrible. The hope is this year with far more talent in the secondary, Williams will use Collins more in line with what he has done well since he got into the league and his own familiarity with the defensive scheme will help him do that.

Joe Schobert came on big in his second year, was an outstanding run and chase linebacker that was an impressive run defender that could make plays behind the line of scrimmage. He had a good season and was named to the Pro Bowl as an alternate, replacing Ryan Shazier.

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In year three, Schobert has to take further ownership of the defense and become more confident in pass coverage. This is something he’s shown the ability to do in college and the hope is he will make that a big focus heading into year three, where he’s the guy at MIKE linebacker.

Chris Kirksey had a good year and the case can be made he was every bit as deserving as Schobert for that spot in the Pro Bowl. However, Kirksey had the worst year of his career in pass defense while being good at most everything else. Again, this seems to be mostly because of the scheme creating so much space, but Kirksey can’t be happy with that drop in the pass game.

When the Browns drafted Genard Avery, they initially said he’d start as a backup middle linebacker, but could play other spots. The first day at minicamp, he played exclusively on the outside at SAM, which is a significantly better fit for what he does well.

Avery was a productive outside linebacker who could rush the passer at Memphis, which is not unlike what Joe Schobert did at Wisconsin. For the Badgers, Schobert looked more suited to kick inside and after a frustrating rookie year as an edge, which has been great for him. Avery is the opposite, has the athleticism to play the edge while having enough strength to hold the point of attack.

Avery should be a base SAM that might find some opportunities to play as either a blitzer or just a declared edge – effectively what Jamie Collins was doing last year. The hope is that Avery can be more effective coming off the edge to attack the quarterback, giving the Browns an extra player to help off the edge, where they are quite thin.

The signing of Mychal Kendricks was full of mixed messages, jumping the gun and confusion. After some were suggesting Kendricks would immediately come in and start when they had three good starters, the Browns came out and said he’d be the backup WILL behind Kirksey, but they had some package ideas to get him on the field with other guys. This is something they did last year with James Burgess before Collins got hurt.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – FEBRUARY 04: Mychal Kendricks #95 of the Philadelphia Eagles hits Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots after a pass during Super Bowl Lll at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Eagles defeated the Patriots 41-33. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

So, in the event of an injury to Kirksey, Kendricks is the WILL. If there’s an injury to Schobert, Kirksey would go to MIKE and Kendricks would play WILL. Avery and Burgess are competing to backup Collins. It’s certainly possible that if Collins went down, they would likely have Kendricks move over there.

The packaging part is where things could get interesting, for better or worse. Last year, again because of Williams’ lack of confidence in the secondary, the Browns had some packages where the Browns were running a 4-4 look with just three defensive backs on the field. Burgess was the extra man that came onto the field.

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There are very few scenarios where a 4-4 is remotely viable in college, let alone the NFL With so many teams adopting at least some spread looks into their offenses, this makes the defense slower to cover a bunch of receivers, even if they have athletic linebackers as the Browns do. The hope is Williams will trust this secondary enough where they aren’t afraid to put players on the field.

If anything, Williams used too many packages with three linebackers on the field last year. The Browns and Carolina Panthers ran a true 4-3 more than any teams in the league, because nickel is more typical most of the time.

What the Browns could do and might want to look into doing is using more 3-4 looks, taking one of their defensive tackles off the field, their weakest unit. This would be used in obvious passing situations or in an attempt to cross up the offense and give them a different look. They would not need to find a 330-pound guy to play a true 0, since they are rushing the passer.

They could put a guy like Larry Ogunjobi or even Chris Smith at the nose, have Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah flanking him anywhere from the 3 to 9-tech and then having four linebackers on the field. Kendricks would come in and play a true WILL and slide Collins inside next to Schobert. A guy like Genard Avery might find himself a spot in this package attacking from the edge.

This would give the Browns three guys up front that can generate a pass rush, having four linebackers and four defensive backs, one of which is likely to be Jabrill Peppers. At this point, Williams could blitz one or more of those linebackers and Peppers, allowing him to attack from any number of different angles without having to drop a defensive linemen into coverage.

The Browns would have a ton of speed on the field and have any number of ways to mix up their attack to pressure the quarterback and try to force turnovers. In long yardage situations, they could even go with a 3-3 look, get another defensive back on the field, maybe someone like Derrick Kindred, another player that can blitz, and again, just more options.

Williams has too much talent to be dropping nose tackles into coverage. He’s also got enough talent in the secondary where they can shrink holes in the coverage, force the quarterback to hold onto the ball longer and create more hits on the quarterback. By all means, Williams can blitz from all angles while having a far more credible defense on the field around them.

The Browns appear primed to keep six linebackers this year and versatility is key in allowing them to keep the six best for what they want to do. Kirksey can play inside and out. Kendricks can play both outside spots and potentially even inside. Collins can play a few different spots.

Kirksey, Collins, Schobert and Kendricks are obvious. Avery isn’t a lock, but his ability to contribute as a linebacker and potentially an edge player is valuable, so he should be in a good spot to be kept. The last spot is where things get interesting. Based on what he did last year, the easy answer is James Burgess and he might well take that sixth spot, but special teams could be the deciding factor.

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B.J. Bello, Justin Currie and Jermaine Grace are a few of the names that fit this mold. Bello played for the Browns last year. Currie is a linebacker that can do some safety things, but has been waived a few times due to injuries and then brought back, so he seems to do something they really like. Grace is new this year, but an athletic player like Bello that could viable as well.

The Cleveland Browns are far better insulated from a significant injury. There are a number of reasons to have pressure on Gregg Williams to get far more out of this unit than they did last year, not the least of which is the fact his son is their position coach. They need to be far more efficient than last year and show why the Browns spent so much money on the unit, having three guys with Pro Bowl talent. The Browns and this defense need to play like it.

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