Browns: 3 positional groups that have the most to prove this year
By Chad Porto
Linebacker
The safeties got a bad rap, the linebackers were just bad. They walked out several guys for most of their season with Mack Wilson, Sione TakiTaki, Elijah Lee, Jacob Phillips, Malcolm Smith, and recently departed player, B.J. Goodson. The corp as a whole played poorly but despite issues tackling and covering, a lot of blame has been landing on the shoulders of the defensive coordinator, Joe Woods.
Traditionally, football teams will run three or four linebackers out for a majority of the game depending on their defensive line figuration. Woods, however, usually runs out two linebackers, while playing an extra corner or safety. This has led to the defense getting gouged from time to time by teams electing to rush the ball. Now, Woods does run three linebackers out during games, it’s just not the formation the team uses most.
The Browns, with the heavy secondary formation in mind, elected to find guys who could play both linebacker and safety, drafting guys like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Tony Fields who would be hybrids in the system. The Browns also got traditional and went with a standard middle linebacker in Anthony Walker, a former leader on the Colts defense.
Walker, unlike Jadeveon Clowney or John Johnson III, is not seen as being a truly great player at his position, hence his one-year deal worth just over $2 million. The linebacking corp does have returning players, but a lot of people think Wilson, Smith, and/or Lee could be cut this year. So it’s not exactly like the guys returning were world-beaters.