Cleveland Browns linebacker roles diminished in 2019

It looks as though linebackers won’t be as important for the Cleveland Browns in 2019

The Cleveland Browns opening game unveiled defensive coordinator Steve Wilks’ 4-2-5 defense which features only two linebackers and five defensive backs. Analyzing the snap counts for each player confirms that the two linebacker formation will be extensively used, much like Wilks’ Arizona Cardinals team of last year when he as their head coach.

Linebackers Joe Schobert and Christian Kirksey played all 61 snaps on defense versus the Tennessee Titans. Third linebacker Adarius Taylor got in all of three snaps. That was it. No other linebacker got into the game except on special teams. That is proof positive that the 4-2-5 is for real.

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Rookie Mack Wilson got in 24 special team snaps and Malik Jefferson got in 20 special teams snaps, but neither set foot on the field as part of the defensive unit.

For that matter, Genard Avery, considered an up-and-coming star linebacker or hybrid defensive end, was a healthy scratch on Sunday. This came as a surprise, but is understandable based on the desire to use only two linebackers.

The Browns now list him as a right defensive end,rather than a linebacker,  based on his pass rushing ability. At 6-foot-0 and 250 lbs, he is perhaps not the ideal size for stopping the run for a 4-3 defensive end.

In the defensive backfield, more often than not the Browns used five defensive backs, usually two cornerbacks and three safeties. Strong safety Morgan Burnett was on the field for all 61 of the team’s defensive snaps.

Cornerback Denzel Ward, and free safety Damarious Randall each got in 60 of 61 snaps, or 98.4 percent of the total defensive snaps. Greedy Williams (40 snaps), Terrance Mitchell (18 snaps)   and T. J. Carrie (15 snaps) shared the second and slot corner responsibilities. Jermaine Whitehead (35 snaps), Eric Murray (11 snaps) were used as an extra free safety on many plays.

This is a significant departure from the brilliant but eccentric attacking style of Gregg Williams. Williams loved to dial up blitzes from his linebackers and also enjoyed unorthodox techniques, such as playing Jabrill Peppers in deep centerfield, and limiting Myles Garrett to two simple moves for pass rushing.

Williams’ mentor Buddy Ryan was the fabled architect of the Chicago Bears 4-4-3 defense, with an extra quarterback-killing linebacker in place of a defensive back. Of course, all of these defenses are unbalanced, but the idea is to sack the quarterback before he can identify the mismatch in coverage.

Wilks, on the other hand, is more similar to Marty Schottenheimer‘s style in that he likes to blanket wide receivers with defensive backs, emphasizing tough disciplined football and not necessarily gambling on blitzes for a living.

In Arizona, where Wilks was the head coach the team had 1,115 plays on defense. Linebackers took 2,401 total snaps meaning that on average there were 2.15 linebackers on the field. In other words, the vast majority of formations involved two linebackers, with an extra linebacker used infrequently. This pattern will be continued in Cleveland.

The use of extra defensive backs probably makes sense in today’s NFL, given that there are more multiple wide receiver formations in use now than at any point in history. The 4-3-4 was designed fifty years ago when the “pro set” was in vogue.   It consisted of two wide receivers, a tight end and two running backs, one of whom was usually a big blocking back. Later that personnel group evolved into the “West Coast” formation.

Nowadays, defenses are much more likely to face three and even four wide receivers with a single back or even a tight end in place of the running back.  The defense is going to have to cover a wide receiver with a linebacker if they stay with the traditional 4-3-4. Hence the substitution of an extra defensive back in place of a traditional linebacker may be better.

The Browns currently have six linebackers on the roster, or seven if you wish to include Genard Avery. Avery is now listed as a defensive end, as mentioned earlier. Given that they will play a  4-2-5 base defense, they probably only need five roster spots for linebackers. However, the Browns really do feel stacked talent-wise at the linebacker position, especially with their young rookie linebackers. In some cases the hype about Browns depth is overrated, but the linebackers may be the real deal.

The organization is really high on Sione Takitaki, Mack Wilson and perhaps even recent pickup Malik Jefferson. The Browns are believed to also like Willie Harvey on the practice squad.  He might be the first one promoted if the Browns figure out why Jefferson was let go by the Bengals.

It also means that Wilks and the Browns believe that Christian Kirksey is going to rebound from a sub-par 2018 season in which he was banged up.  For now, he is an every-down linebacker again despite the presence of Adarius Taylor and the young linebackers.

It would not be a shock if the Browns find a way to trade a linebacker for a starting offensive lineman, given that the offensive line has looked disastrous during the summer and versus Tennessee in the opener.

In any case the Browns are committed to the 4-2-5 this year, for better or worse.  That is good news for young defensive backs looking for playing time, but it makes the linebacker position even more competitive.