Cleveland Browns corners are becoming a problem for opponents, causing six turnovers in three games, but the key is how they’re doing it and what that does for the rest of the defense.
One of the biggest differences between the Cleveland Browns defense this year compared to last year has been the play at cornerback. Not only does Gregg Williams trust them more and allow them to play tighter coverage, but they also are significantly better tacklers.
Every corner the Browns added in the offseason, be it drafting Denzel Ward fourth overall or signing Terrance Mitchell, T.J. Carrie or E.J. Gaines, they were all players who were aggressive, willing tacklers.
Last year due to a lack of talent, the Browns played a ton of Cover-3 with the corners giving receivers a ton of cushion in an effort to keep everything in front of them and avoid getting beat deep. Naturally, teams would throw short passes and let the receivers make plays after the catch. That’s where the Browns would get gashed as they would be unable to make the tackles to keep opponents short of the sticks.
For much of the season, Jason McCourty and Jamar Taylor were effective enough in coverage. They just couldn’t consistently get receivers down after the catch. Both were traded in the offseason and the Browns specifically targeted corners that tackle.
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Mitchell won the hotly contested corner spot opposite Ward in camp and he’s been huge for the Browns. He’s not been some lockdown cover corner, but he puts guys on the ground, as does Ward. Through three games of the season, teams have tried to throw underneath passes to highly touted receivers and Mitchell and Ward have not only been up to the task of tackling them, but they’ve punished them for it.
In addition to a team-leading 15 solo tackles from Mitchell and 11 from Ward, the two have forced three fumbles on those plays and the Browns have been able to recover all three of them. A team that suffered some of the worst luck with fumbles last year, only recovering 20 percent of them is getting all of the bounces this year.
So now teams have to be wary that if they try to go with those short, quick passes underneath, they may not only get stopped, but the Browns may simply take the ball.
As that reputation builds, it should only make their jobs easier in coverage. If teams are afraid to go short because of the Browns ability to not only short circuit plays but take the ball, they won’t have to cover quite as many routes. Simply by being good tacklers, it should improve their effectiveness in coverage. The two of them have three interceptions already and it can help create more opportunities for them to make plays on the ball and create takeaways. It’s a snowball effect.
That will only help the pass rush of Myles Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi and create more opportunities for the linebackers and safeties to make plays of their own. Joe Schobert, as an example, had two opportunities to intercept Sam Darnold passes and capitalized on one of them.
The entire defense gets better all because the corners tackle well. And as much as the defense has improved by virtue of player development and adding players like Damarious Randall to the mix, that’s been the most notable difference from last season. Gregg Williams looks like a smarter defensive coordinator and if his message to John Dorsey this offseason was specifically to get corners that tackle better, it’s warranted.