The Cleveland Browns have revamped their offensive line, but will it be enough to keep these pass rushers from disrupting the passing game?
The Cleveland Browns will face several lethal pass rushers this upcoming season. The schedule includes several teams with outstanding pass rushers. Along with great individual players, there are several teams who can scheme pressure on the quarterback.
If the Browns are to protect whoever is under center, it must be a team effort by the entire offense. The offensive line lacked vital elements of communication last year as the center position was the black hole of death. The wide receivers were young lacking NFL experience to find holes in zones and beat man-to-man coverage. If all the stars aligned and an opportunity did arise, the quarterbacks ended up holding onto the ball way too long.
Which is to say, stopping the pass rush should be a major area of emphasis for the team this offseason. Hue Jackson talks as if he has made the best adjustment by returning to his roots by emphasizing a downhill rushing attack. Taking control of the game by running the ball effectively should take the opposing pass rush out of the game.
However, inevitably the Browns will face a pass rush. It is important to note that the best pass rushing attacks are never done by a single individual. Rarely can one player affect the game with their play alone. Pass rushers always come in groups. For every J.J. Watt there is a Jadeveon Clowney.
Let’s take a look at the top five pass rush attacks the Browns will face this season.
5. Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap
The first dynamic duo on this list comes from the in-state rival Cincinnati Bengals. This pick is a little unconventional.
Conventional wisdom states that the best pass rushers usually come from the edge. But there is a reason the Browns doubled down on guards this past offseason. More teams are looking to gain pressure up the middle as it is the shortest path to the quarterback.
The mechanics of this style of pressure is simple. First, the edge rushers create pressure to force the quarterback to step up in the pocket. Second, linebackers or defensive tackles break through up the middle to record the sack. This process is more effective than the traditional edge rushers beating an offensive tackle around the corner.
One team who is exceptional at this style of pressure is the Cincinnati Bengals. With Carlos Dunlap, depending on which Carlos Dunlap shows up, the Bengals have a dynamic defensive end who can pressure the quarterback from the edge.
Geno Atkins is a dynamic defensive tackle for the Bengals. Playing primarily in the 3-technique, he is able to penetrate up the middle on quarterbacks creating sacks, pressures and hurries.
Together this pass rush duo is one to be feared. They can attack from up the middle and off the edge.
4. Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa
The Los Angeles Chargers have a more traditional pass rush approach. Employing a 3-4 scheme, they rely on confusing looks and blitzes to create pressure. But anchoring the pass rush attack are two extremely effective pass rushers in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram.
Melvin Ingram is not a household name to those who do not regularly watch west coast football. Last season he had 8.0 sacks after posting 10.5 the year before. His play as an edge rusher made him a wanted commodity this offseason before the Chargers rightly placed the franchise tag on him.
But Ingram was rated as Pro Football Focus’ top available free agent this offseason. This is what they had to say about him:
"The Chargers will likely try and keep Ingram around, but they don’t have a huge amount of cap space and have a second stud edge rusher in 2016 rookie Joey Bosa. After a slow start to his career, Ingram has developed into a dominant edge rusher, posting 72 total QB pressures in 2016 after recording just 83 over the previous two seasons. He was PFF’s sixth-ranked edge rusher overall this past season, slotting in just behind Bosa. Ingram posted solid grades in every facet of the game PFF measures, and his pass rush, in particular, has been improving year over year since his disappointing sophomore season that saw him play just 241 snaps. Ingram would upgrade most team’s pass-rush unit immediately."
Every dominant player has a partner in crime. For Ingram, that player is former Ohio State Buckeye Joey Bosa. He held out most of training camp over offset language and when bonuses are to be paid out.
But when he did show up to the team, he arrived up with a bang. Bosa finished his rookie campaign with 41 tackles and 10.5 sacks. He is a well-rounded player who can speed rush, power rush and has a complement of moves that makes him extremely dangerous.
Together, this duo could create pressure on the Browns’ offensive tackles to hold the edge. The Browns will certainly need to prepare for this pass rush tandem come December.
3. James Harrison, Bud Dupree and Cam Heyward
The Pittsburgh Steelers are known for their blitzing defense they like to call Blitzburgh. The Steelers run the 3-4 zone blitz scheme invented by Dick LeBeau. The idea behind the zone blitz is to drop a defender into the zone where the blitz is coming from.
The schematic genius of the zone blitz comes from its usage of football jiu-jitsu. Quarterbacks are usually taught to throw the ball into the direction of the blitz. The thought is that the blitzer will leave a hole in the defense. LeBeau’s genius was to drop a lineman into the hole left behind by the blitzing player. The result was a confused offensive line and defensive lineman with interceptions.
The current Steelers continue down this path. They feature some formidable blitzing linebackers. The seemingly immortal James Harrison continues to be their most effective blitzer coming off the edge. Bud Dupree is Harrison’s complement to the other side. As a tandem, they provide speed and power off the edge. Harrison is most effective as a power rusher while Dupree is most effective as a speed rusher.
Up the middle, Cameron Heyward creates significant pressure. The same concept applies, the edge rushers force the quarterback to step up into Heyward’s waiting arms.
The Browns see this scheme twice a year. They should be prepared for the Steelers or any other team who may be running the scheme.
2. Brian Orakpo, Derrick Morgan and Jurrell Casey
The Tennessee Titans currently employ the man who invented the Steelers defense – Dick LeBeau. It is safe to say the Browns will see the zone blitz scheme when they face the Titans in October.
Over the past two offseasons, the Titans have been adding talent to their defense. One major addition was outside linebacker Brian Orakpo. Orakpo has delivered on his four-year deal. He immediately became captain of the defense. Last season he had 10.5 sacks, 46 tackles and four passes defensed. His presence has helped transform this defense.
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Playing outside linebacker opposite Orakpo is little celebrated Derrick Morgan. Morgan recorded 9.0 sacks, 33 tackles with 1 pass defensed. The underrated part of Morgan’s game is the hurries and pressures he creates on the quarterback. With Orakpo on the other side, Morgan has been productive beating one-on-one blocks to cause disruption.
The presence of Jurrell Casey in the middle is the icing on the pass rushing cake. He can collapse the pocket from the top down. Casey is able to complement Orakpo and Morgan’s edge rushing with pressure up the middle.
The Browns has seen this scheme and should be prepared for the challenge. The additions at the interior line positions will help greatly when it comes to the zone blitz scheme.
1. Jadeveon Clowney and J.J. Watt
The best pass rush the Browns will face this season will undoubtedly be the deadly duo of J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney. This pair comes from the Romeo Crennel 3-4 scheme.
Making these two dangerous as a pair is the fact that they will line up all over the defense. On any given play, both Clowney and Watt could be defensive ends, defensive tackles or linebackers. When one player is versatile in this way it is extremely hard for an offense to handle. But when two of them are this versatile? All I can say is that the Browns quarterbacks need to pray come October 15.
J.J. Watt was named AP Defensive Player of the Year three out of his first five seasons in the league. He has led the league in sacks twice. He has had over 20 sacks in a regular season twice. The list goes on.
What Watt has missed is an effective rusher opposite him. In a scary (for the Browns and the entire NFL) turn of events, former first overall pick Jadeveon Clowney rebounded from injuries to become an imposing presence for the Houston Texan defense.
After Watt went down with an injury, Clowney picked up the slack and became an effective rusher. His final end of the year stats does not do justice to the level of play Clowney exhibited at the end of 2016.
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Next year both Clowney and Watt should be healthy. A healthy Clowney and Watt would be an absolute nightmare for the Cleveland Browns next season.