Cleveland Browns: 3 keys to a win vs Washington
By Grant Puskar
No. 1: Can Mack Wilson re-energize the LBs?
Looking at the negatives so far this season, losing Mack Wilson was a pretty tough blow to the Browns defense. In terms of a group as a whole, the linebackers have been pretty disappointing so far this season to say the least. Sione Takitaki has been decent in everything but coverage.
B.J. Goodson has been miserable so far this season. Malcolm Smith has just been an extra body. Can Mack Wilson be the spark this group needs to finally get it going?
While Wilson only had an overall grade of 41.8 last season and had a 44.2 grade in coverage, he notched a 60.6 grade in pass rush. Wilson finished 35th in solo tackles and had one interception last season.
Don’t get me wrong, Wilson still has a ton of work to do in the league and is clearly still developing. That said, he is by far the best linebacker that the Browns have. When your best player in a specific group is returning and that group has been struggling so far all season long, you have to look for positives and things to take from this.
Again, who knows if Wilson will be on a snap count or be limited on what he can do. He came back from injury at god-speed.
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That said, if Wilson can just simply boost the morale of these linebackers and get them going, it will make all the difference in the success of this Browns defense.