Three Big Things Mike Rutenberg Needs To Do With Cleveland Browns Defense in 2026

The Cleveland Browns have officially brought in a new defensive coordinator to replace Jim Schwartz, who left the team on sour terms.

Mike Rutenberg takes over the defense now, and he’ll have some big shoes to fill. Schwartz had the defense ranked as one of the best in the league.

Here are three big things Rutenberg needs to do with the Browns defense if he’s going to keep the defense elite.

Play to the team’s coverage strength

The Browns secondary is designed to shine in man-to-man coverage, with limited moments playing in zone.

Rutenberg was the Atlanta Falcon’s defensive pass coordinator. This needs to be his bread and butter, and the strength of the defense.

Denzel Ward is specifically one of the best corners in the league in man. He has perfect technique and timing to make any receivers job a nightmare when Ward is shadowing them.

The Browns went out and got Tyson Campbell because he was a better man coverage corner than Greg Newsome. Add in the fact that both Ronnie Hickman and Grant Delpit can handle themselves in man or can play support deep, and this team is built for man.

When the team has been forced to play zone, they are known to make a mistake and blow a coverage. If Rutenberg wants to maintain Cleveland’s success, he has to play to the secondary’s strength.

Be creative with the blitz and stunts

Rutenberg will have the best defensive player in the league who just set an NFL record 23 sacks in Myles Garrett.

It’s his job to make sure Garrett can still do that this season, even when every team in the league is going to be trying to slow him down.

The easiest way to get him going is blitzing and stunting. Get creative and have some fun, there are a lot of guys on this defense who possess the ability to get home.

Carson Schwesinger looked good when blitzing last season, but only had a limited number of attempts. Delpit broke out as a great option blitzing from his safety spot. Maybe let a corner come flying from time to time, bait-and-switch with Delpit and Hickman, or something that the average person wouldn't even think of.

The more threats to rushing the passer there are, the easier it’ll be for Garrett.

As for the stunts, getting Garrett in different positions is a great way to get him home. Allowing him to loop with Mason Graham or Mike Hall, or allowing Alex Wright to come flying up the middle can get an offensive line confused.

The more confused and unconfident they are, the easier Garrett’s job will be. This is really where Rutenberg can show off his ability to lead a defense. Can he get Garrett to his 25 sack goal this season?

Keep linebackers playing downhill in the run game

Under Schwartz, both Schwesinger and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah developed into some of the best linebackers in the league.

Even Devin Bush, who the Browns will hopefully bring back from free agency, had a career year in Cleveland.

They are at their best playing the run, when they are looking to play fast, downhill and trying to make the big play. Schwesinger and Bush combined for 18 TFLs last season, and Owusu-Koramoah had 20 in his last healthy season with the team.

Rutenberg needs to be able to trust his linebackers will be in the right spots to make plays, and allow them to continue developing. He’s getting the opportunity to inherit some young and talented linebackers, he can’t let it go to waste.