Cleveland Browns: 3 goals for Mack Wilson’s 2020 season
By Dan Gilinsky
Wilson’s No. 1 goal: Leading the Cleveland Browns in tackles, having less than 9.0 percent missed tackle rate
Wilson played a ton for a rookie fifth-round pick in 2019. Now, he did have his share of mistakes in the run game and took some poor angles/didn’t fill gaps at times. For a rookie, though, that was understandable.
Even so, Wilson did have 82 tackles in 2019, which ranked second on the team, per Pro Football Reference. Factoring in that, with the departure of Joe Schobert to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the first goal for Wilson is leading the Browns in tackles.
Wilson’s responsibilities will likely grow more this season, and sans Schobert, Wilson leading Cleveland in tackles doesn’t seem especially lofty.
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Perhaps even more importantly, though, Wilson needs to be a more sure tackler. He missed a bunch of stops as a rookie. Albeit he gets somewhat of a pass for that.
Still, Wilson did unfortunately have a missed tackle rate of 13.7 percent in 2019. That number will have to be trimmed down in his second year, whether that’s in instances in base defense as an outside backer or in sub packages.
Wilson would be making his presence felt more if that missed tackle rate was capped at 9.0 percent.
With him more comfortable in his assignments and with hopefully better defensive line play in front of him, Wilson being a more sure tackler is priority number one. That suggested missed tackle clip doesn’t seem too out there, really, either.