In Browns Defense, Linebackers are Role Players, Not Featured Stars
When head coach Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry took over the Cleveland Browns, they defunded the linebacker position, opting to save both money and prime draft assets for more important defensive positions and after an 11-5 season with a win in the playoffs, they have no reason to alter course.
Jason Tarver, the linebackers coach, has talked about how the scheme keeps it simple for their linebackers and defensive coordinator Joe Woods has said he aspires to be able to run a base dime with three corners and three safeties. It's simply not a high priority in this defense nor should it be.
The AFC playoffs this year have only highlighted how difficult it is for linebackers to make an impact in the current landscape.
The Browns played the Kansas City Chiefs and still no one has a clue who any of their linebackers are. Their corners and safeties carried the day. The Chiefs only used one linebacker for the vast majority of their defensive snaps against the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills linebackers were utterly useless against the Chiefs. They tried to have players like Tremaine Edmunds, who is a really talented player, cover Travis Kelce with help, only to be woefully inadequate. Kelce caught 13 passes on 15 targets for 118 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Some may be quick to credit the Bills linebackers in aiding them in stopping the Ravens offense. Much of that was due to their corners, including All-Pro Tre'Davious White, being able to take away the Ravens receivers, enabling the rest of the defense to focus on the line of scrimmage and Lamar Jackson. The Bills have made investments at linebacker, so that's what they have. It was more a product of numbers than any particular position.
The Los Angeles Chargers famously shut down the Ravens offense in the playoffs without using linebackers, relying entirely on safeties.
The Ravens, the Bills and the Chiefs are the teams the Browns will have to find a way to defeat if they are going to make the Super Bowl. Linebacker does almost nothing to help them stop Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, Marquise Brown or Mark Andrews. So why would the Browns want to spend a first or second round pick on a position that doesn't help them win these games? The same would be true against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers.
Further, why would the Browns want to spend a first or second round pick on a position they view like running back, where they don't want to end up spending premium dollars on a second contract? Nick Chubb is currently on pace to be a pretty devastating decision for the Browns. If the Browns are fortunate enough to hit on a star at linebacker, arguably a more difficult feat, it would almost certainly present the same issue.
And like running backs, the stakes are equally high when it comes to missing. Perhaps Ravens rookie Patrick Queen will have a great sophomore season. But as people continue to try to shine his turd of a rookie season into something it wasn't, he was a massive liability on defense all season. Teams that attacked him consistently had success.
If the Browns are looking to improve their chances on defense against these teams, they need corners, safeties and pass rushers. Players that either never come off the field or are always relevant to what opponents are doing.
They want to minimize their reliance on the linebacker position already, because it's a sub package position in their defense. This isn't to say that linebackers don't matter, but how they matter has simply changed.
The Buccaneers have gone the other way. They have impactful linebackers at the expense of their secondary. Is it a viable strategy? Clearly, it's enabled them to get to the Super Bowl. The Browns have made it clear they are prioritizing the secondary. It's really difficult to do both.
There's also at least a correlative relationship between the defensive line and linebacker play. Save for a special few, like Bobby Wagner of the Seattle Seahawks, good defensive line play is a key to effective linebacker play. If the Browns can play well up front, it will increase the chances of finding productive linebackers without a significant investment.
The fact that the Browns view linebacker largely as a sub package position also provides a level of freedom. Since they don't need to find three down players that can do everything, they can opt for extremely specialized options.
Sione Takitaki is an excellent run defender. For teams that want to try to pound the football, Takitaki can come in and provide a hammer at the line of scrimmage. He's made a couple of key plays against the passing game, but to this point in his career, he's not a good coverage option.
The opposite is also true. They can find a linebacker that does nothing but run fast and help in coverage. Malcolm Smith functioned in that role this past season. He was dreadful in games that consistently asked him to make plays near the line of scrimmage, but he did a good job as an undersized coverage player at a low cost.
So rather than try to find one player that can do everything, which are increasingly difficult to find and expensive because of how insanely athletic offenses are becoming, they can focus one player on one job. Anything beyond that is a huge bonus.
For teams that want to be a heavy run focus like the Tennessee Titans as an example, the Browns should have Andrew Billings back along with a big defensive line and a player like Takitaki come in and deal with that threat. Those teams are few and far between.
Their base defense still must focus on the bigger threat; the passing game. The Browns want to be faster and have their money players and draft picks designed for that expressed purpose.
The Browns have also invested heavily in the offense to carry this team. In any number of games, the defense was struggling to protect leads. Teams weren't coming back on the Browns by running the ball. It was picking apart an undermanned defense through the passing game.
The Browns should look to improve the linebacker position on the margins, but short of striking gold on a late round pick or free agent that could force them the scheme to adjust to their talent, their best players should be defensive linemen, corners and safeties, which is exactly what Joe Woods has suggested he wants to do.
It doesn't mean the Browns couldn't pick a linebacker in the first few rounds of the NFL Draft, but it strongly suggests if there's a comparable option at just about any other position on defense, they will take the other option.
