Browns: 3 players who need to step up against the Ravens
By Chad Porto
Myles Garrett
Obviously, right? The defense doesn’t have anyone fast enough to spy on Lamar Jackson. They don’t have anyone skilled enough to match up one on one and stick to him like a fly. So instead you’re going to want to keep Myles Garrett near Lamar Jackson as much as possible.
The problem with that is that Jackson isn’t a lateral runner. See some quarterbacks will run for the boundary and then turn upfield. That’s what Michael Vick and Josh Allen do, they just try to beat a guy to the edge, and if/when they do, that’s when they go lateral. That’s not what Jackson does. Very similar to Cam Newton, Jackson will find any hole and go for it. Turning upfield extremely fast.
That’s when he has time to let things develop, however.
As mentioned before, the Ravens offensive line is not very good and they’re not the same running team they used to be. That means Jackson isn’t getting time to let things develop around him. That means the Browns can get to Jackson. Especially if Garrett isn’t the only one getting depth.
The Browns are going to need to scheme Garrett to high heaven. We’re not just talking bull rushing or cutting inside with a rip move. We’re talking about letting him take one step back and letting Garrett spy every so often. That’s only if the Browns can get pressure on Jackson without Garrett. If Porter Gustin, Olivier Vernon, Sheldon Richardson, and others can actually get pressure on Jackson, you can afford to drop Garrett back into coverage. Since Jackson likes going with shorter throws, the flats are going to be where he throws a lot of the time. If you can surprise Jackson once or twice with Garrett leaping up at the line of scrimmage then you might just be able to get a pick or two.