Cleveland Browns bye week report cards: Linebackers

Giving out mid-term grades for the Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns enter their bye week with a record of 5-3, and since they’ve played half their season, it’s a good time to give out mid-term report cards for each of the position groups. Next up are the Browns linebackers, a position group that is in the process of being marginalized, but still stands out in each game, and not always for good reasons.

B.J. Goodson – C+

B.J. Goodson has been about as advertised in Cleveland; he’s a reliable tackler, but lacks the instincts to make big plays. Most of his tackles come five or more yards downfield as the ball comes to him, as opposed to Goodson sniffing out the play and making the stop at the line of scrimmage. He struggles in coverage and doesn’t have the athleticism needed to make up for his lack of feel in that area.

Goodson is the quarterback of the defense and at the very least knows what he and the other 10 players are supposed to do. He calls out the plays and barks out signals to his teammates, just as Joe Schobert did over the past three seasons. He may not be very good, but there is value in knowing a player knows what his assignment is, and defensive coordinator Joe Woods relies on that fact.

For what he’s making (about $3.5 million), Goodson has done fine. No one expected him to be an upgrade from Schobert, and he shouldn’t be on the team in 2021, but as a cheap stop-gap, he hasn’t given many reasons to complain.