Cleveland Browns: 3 Vital statistics for 2019 season

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There’s a new defensive coordinator in Cleveland as Steve Wilks takes over for Gregg Williams. The latter is now with the New York Jets. Wilks joins the Browns after a disappointing season as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. He inherits a lot of talent with his latest team and a club looking to reverse a few things on this side of the ball.

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Only the Chicago Bears (36) forced more turnovers than the Browns (31) this past year. It was quite the reversal of fortunes for a team that came away with only 13 takeaways in each of the previous two seasons. Cleveland came away with 37 sacks — more than one-third of those from second-year defensive end Myles Garrett (13.5).

But the club also allowed the third-most total yards in the league and finished 28th vs. the run. That impressive takeaway total was offset by the fact that Williams’ unit allowed 41 offensive touchdowns. This unit played better during the second half of 2018 but there’s some work to be done.

The signing of veteran defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson should help in the trenches and the acquisition of end Olivier Vernon should make Garrett even more dangerous. General manager John Dorsey used five of the team’s seven draft choices in April on this side of the ball. It’s time for this group to make a move.