3 things we hope Jim Schwartz does with the Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns have brought in Jim Schwartz to be the defensive coordinator but what can we hope from him?

The Cleveland Browns seemingly got their man, as they brought in Jim Schwarz to try and salvage this version of the team. The Browns are coming off their second-straight losing season, and general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski’s jobs are now on the line. A third straight losing season sinks this era of Browns football.

Schwartz is coming in to help prevent that. The Browns’ defense wasn’t so bad this past season, with Stats Reference having them 20th in the league. Good enough to win with, not good enough to win by. Basically meaning the Browns’ defense wouldn’t cost you many games, but they wouldn’t win you many games either.

Schwartz is looking to make the latter a more recurring idea. After all, if the Browns’ defense was more effective, maybe the team has a winning record. Though, to be fair, if the Browns’ offense was more effective, they would’ve had a winning record too. So there’s a lot to fix on this squad.

So what do we hope Schwartz brings to the team to improve things?

Three things we hope Jim Schwartz brings to the team in 2023

4-3 base defense

Jim Schwartz does not historically run a 4-2-5 but your standard 4-3. Now, he’ll do his nickel and dime packages as any other coach does, but you can expect more three-linebacker sets with the Browns. Not only that, but you can expect some size to return to the defense as well. The Browns need some girth in the center of the defense, and it would make sense to re-sign Anthony Walker and Sione Takitaki to play outside while drafting or acquiring a heavier, stronger, middle linebacker. This will give the Browns some size and power to help hinder opposing defenses.

Using Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah as a strong safety

Ideally, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah would play safety going forward all game long, giving the Browns an ability to do a 4-4 at times if need be against the run, as well as being able to have Owusu-Koramoah take away the center of the field, on pass plays. The only issue with him playing safety, however, is that while he’s a fast linebacker, his speed is pretty average as a safety. So you’ll really need to find someone opposite of him who can play deep as a free safety.

Retooling the tackles and safeties

Taven Bryan and John Johnson III are the only two players who should come back, but Perrion Winfrey and Grant Delpit may make the cut as well. But outside of those four men, the entire lot of tackles and safeties have got to go. In order for Schwartz to do what he does best, he’s going to need more traditional safeties. A heavier, strong safety he can use against the run in first and second downs, and a speedier free safety to drop back on second and third so that no one gets behind the defense. The tackles are going to need to be heavy and strong, a departure from what the team has been rolling out.