Cleveland Browns: Gregg Williams will have the safeties blitzing
Gregg Williams will bring an aggressive style of play to the Cleveland Browns’ defense, which will include more safety blitzes in 2017.
Ray Horton’s name was not one spoken of in kind tones during the 2016 season. Cleveland Browns fans watched his defense get torched on a weekly basis, although he was at the disadvantage of using a lot of inexperienced players.
Alas, he was let go in favor of Gregg Williams, most recently the defensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams.
Williams will also be dealing with younger players, but names like Jabrill Peppers and Myles Garrett instill quite a bit of confidence in fans.
Peppers is set to play safety after doing it all on defense at Michigan, and his athleticism allows Williams to use him in several different ways. A recent tweet from Pro Football Focus explains one way Williams will utilize his rookie phenom.
There's a reason the Browns drafted Jabrill Peppers in the first round, and his name is Gregg Williams pic.twitter.com/hfevPvdF4D
— PFF (@PFF) July 21, 2017
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First, let’s assume Peppers signs a contract soon and doesn’t begin a holdout. Because if that happens, well, let’s just wait until training camp starts before worrying about that.
With that assumption, fans can expect to see Peppers racing into the backfield a lot during the 2017 season, according to Williams’ history of play-calling.
Any number from last season is tough to judge based on how bad the Browns were, and how games were often over well before the final whistle.
However, the Rams haven’t been too great either and it is clear Williams enjoys sending his safeties streaking toward the quarterback.
It will be a nice change, even if the heavy blitzing backfires at times. Browns fans are sick of seeing the team blow leads when playing what essentially amounts to a prevent defense, so hopefully Williams’ defensive calls can play a big part in turning this team’s fortunes around.
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He also has the benefit of working with Myles Garrett and Jabrill Peppers, so Williams should have a fun time working in Cleveland this season.