Cleveland Browns: Mychal Kendricks addition creates interesting story line

The Cleveland Browns reportedly agreed to terms with free agent linebacker Mychal Kendricks, creating one of the most interesting position battles to follow during training camp.

One of the biggest concerns for the Cleveland Browns this offseason was the lack of depth at the linebacker position. General manager John Dorsey has addressed most of the Browns needs this offseason, and signing Mychal Kendricks fills the Browns need for linebacker depth.

But Kendricks is a starting-caliber linebacker while the Browns already have three established starters. Yahoo! Sports Insider Jordan Schultz reported that Kendricks will be starting from day one for the Browns.

If it is true that Kendricks is starting from day one, the other three linebackers battling for the other two starting positions will be a very interesting story line to follow. Kendricks can play all three linebackers position, so he could start in place of any returning Browns linebacker.

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The Browns will be returning all three starters from last season, and they all have backgrounds that could make it hard for them not to be starters. Christian Kirksey and Jamie Collins both received contract extensions under Sashi Brown while Joe Schobert was the Browns’ only representative at the Pro Bowl last season.

Collins is just returning to the practice field after he tore his MCL in his right knee last season, which ended his season. When healthy, Collins has game changing abilities because of his athleticism. In 14 games with the Browns, Collins has totaled 100 tackles, three sacks, and one interception. But he looked much more comfortable in Gregg Williams’ defense compared to the Browns defense in 2016.

Kirksey is the leader of the Browns defense and has started in every game the past two seasons. Last season, he totaled 138 tackles, including 3.5 sacks, but has struggled in pass coverage. As vocal as he is on the field, it would be hard to see him on the sidelines that often for the Browns.

In his first season at middle linebacker, Schobert tied for the most tackles in the NFL last season, earning his way to the Pro Bowl. He has excellent instincts when stopping the run, which helped dramatically improve the Browns run defense. He has shown that he has a lot of potential in the center of Cleveland’s defense.

Finding the player that Kendricks will replace is hard to do. But there is also the possibility that the Browns attempt to use all four linebackers, as first noted by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Williams tends to be creative in his defensive scheme, so it is very possible that he creates packages to give significant playing time to all four linebackers. But in a league where defenses usually only have two linebackers on the field as they mostly play in nickel defense, having all four linebackers on the field could create problems.

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Signing Kendricks will be a huge boost for the Browns. But adding him to a group with three starting caliber players will create potentially the most intriguing position battle until the regular season. And even after the starters are figured out, how they will be used during the season will be another story line to follow.