Cleveland Browns: Christian Kirksey injury allows Mack Wilson to step up

Cleveland Browns linebacker Christian Kirksey is officially out for the year following chest surgery. In his absence, rookie linebacker Mack Wilson will have every opportunity to step up for the Dawg Pound.

Cleveland Browns linebacker and team captain Christian Kirksey is officially done for the season, after a torn pectoral muscle warranted surgery for the 27-year-old St. Louis native. As one of the longest-tenured Browns, Kirksey arrived in Cleveland in 2014. With two season-ending injuries in a row now, many fans suspect that Kirksey has played his last snaps of football in the orange and brown.

Kirksey’s injury leaves a gaping hole not only in the hearts of Browns fans, but on the field at the linebacker position as well. Joe Schobert, who has been stellar this season, has lost his partner in crime in the middle of Cleveland’s defense. Although Schobert may be one of the NFL’s best inside linebackers, someone else has to step up. That someone should be rookie linebacker Mack Wilson out of Alabama.

As Cleveland’s fifth-round pick this offseason, Wilson came in with low expectations. Some rumblings that he could have and should have been taken higher rolled through the Dawg Pound, but Wilson was still largely an unknown. That is, he was unknown until his performance in Week 1 of the preseason, which included an interception return for a touchdown against fellow rookie Dwayne Haskins.

Wilson’s promising performances continued into the regular season where, through the first quarter of the season, he has recorded 16 tackles. With 12 of those tackles coming in his first two starts against the Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Ravens, Wilson has shown consistent promise since being drafted. But in order to fill the shoes of Christian Kirksey for Cleveland, the rookie must continue this trajectory.

Whether or not Mack Wilson is ready, he will be the second linebacker in Steve Wilks’ 4-2-5 defensive base. Alongside Schobert, Wilson will have one of the best mentors in the league as the 21-year-old continues to learn the game at the professional level.

Despite all the top-flight draft picks on both sides of the ball, Cleveland’s primary linebackers came into the league through the third and fifth rounds. Mack Wilson and Joe Schobert as Cleveland’s linebacking duo perfectly encapsulate the Browns’ chip-on-the-shoulder, “please count us out” mentality.

To replace Christian Kirksey, Mack Wilson has a lot of learning to do. But things are already looking up for the rookie through four games.