Browns: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Anthony Walker headline deep linebacker room

This group of linebackers is the toughest from top to bottom that the Browns have had in years.

The Cleveland Browns often play only two linebackers, but there are eight capable currently on the roster. The top two consist of Jeremiah “The Joker” Owusu-Koramoah, and veteran Anthony Walker, Jr. as the base linebackers. The Joker was regarded as a top-10 NFL linebacker even at the age of 21 after a stellar career at Notre Dame.

There was some question about whether he would be a linebacker or safety in the NFL, but make no mistake, he is a linebacker with safety speed and quickness. His Pro Shuttle of 4.15 seconds was top among linebackers in the 2021 draft.

He’s listed on the small side at 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds. He posted 36.5 inches in the vertical jump but didn’t run the all-important 40-yard dash due to a hamstring tweak, which may have disappointed some potential suitors. He also broad jumped 10-feet-4-inches and posted 6.81 seconds in the 3-cone drill. Bottom line is that we think he is fast in a straight line, but he is blazing fast when changing directions.

There was some concern that a heart anomaly might knock him out of the draft, but this proved to be unfounded. He should have been a first-round draft pick, but slid to the Browns in the second round, 52nd overall.

He wound up finishing second on the defense team with 76 tackles including three tackles for a loss and accumulated four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and 1.5 sacks. He’s still only 22 years old (he’ll be 23 on November 4 if any of you fans would like to bake a cake). The guy is a star now, and he will get better as he progresses in the Joe Woods defense. He could very easily wind up representing the Browns in the Pro Bowl one of these years.

His counterpart is Anthony Walker, Jr., who came to the Browns from the Indianapolis Colts. All Walker did was lead the Browns with 113 tackles, including 69 solos and one sack.

When the Browns play three linebackers, Walker normally occupies the center spot, and Sione Takitaki plays on the outside. Takitaki had the reputation as a dominant run stopper but earned very high grades from Pro Football Focus as a pass defender in 2021.

There’s zero doubt that these three are the starters going into the season. The only way they will not make the 53-man roster is if there is an injury. Now, what about the rest of the linebacker room?

Tony Fields II and Jacob Phillips are likely to retain their spots

Youthful veterans Tony Fields and Jacob Phillips appear to be solid favorites to fill two positions. This isn’t quite absolutely positively guaranteed, but it would be very surprising if they don’t make it.

Fields, a 2021 fifth-round pick has had a very good summer camp. He began his college career as a Wildcat at the University of Arizona where he played outside linebacker. However, he transferred to West Virginia University, where the Mountaineers gave him the opportunity to start at middle linebacker, which he believed was important to his preparation for pro ball.

However, Fields was slowed by foot injuries at the beginning of the year. Consequently, he didn’t establish himself on the defensive unit and was limited to special teams last season, where he accumulated four tackles. However, Fields is getting his shot on defense this preseason and has played well.

Thus far he has accumulated 11 tackles including nine solos. Pro Football Focus likes him, though, of course, you have to take their preseason evaluations not just with the usual grain of salt, but probably with a whole bag of water softener salt pellets, given that grades are given based on vanilla defensive schemes against the opponents’ second and third string players. After two preseason games, he weighs in at 67.6, which is roughly comparable to a top 20 starter.

Similarly, Phillips is a 2020 third-round pick and would presumably make the team also. He received high grades from Pro Football Focus in pass defense, but lower marks as a run defender. He didn’t have enough snaps to be ranked by PFF, but if he had, his 62.4 grade would have been in the top 30, meaning that he was equivalent to an average NFL starter.

In terms of pass coverage, he was top 20. Phillips and Fields would have to screw up in some major way to not make the team. This summer he missed a tackle and PFF dinged him for that, but that’s not enough to damage his standing with the team. So let’s say that three linebacker positions are virtual locks, and two more are very likely to be filled by Phillips and Fields.

Harvey, Kunaszyk, and Allen competing for one roster spot

Normally a 53-player NFL roster has six linebacker spots. Seven could be justified for a team that plays four linebackers. However, since the Browns often play only two linebackers, even six seems like a luxury. Yet the Browns have three young backup linebackers who have played well in the preseason in Willie Harvey, Jr., Jordan Kunaszyk, and Dakota Allen.

The obvious move would be to promote the one of the three who clearly stands out to the 53-man roster and keep at least one of the other two on the practice squad. After two games, all three contenders have performed well.

Kunaszyk is a former Pro Football Focus All-Rookie Award winner for preseason 2019. He has been up and down from the practice squad at Carolina and Washington, but has been in 26 games, mostly on special teams. The main criticism of his game is that his 40-yard dash time was only 4.82. But his run-stopping ability suggests he could be an asset on early downs against run-first offenses such as Baltimore’s.

Dakota Allen has taken 144 snaps on defense with the Jacksonville Jaguars, His regular season grades from Pro Football Focus have not been impressive. However, his work in the preseason has been outstanding, particularly in the first preseason game, when he collected seven tackles.

Like Kunaszyk, his work against the run has been more impressive than his performance in pass defense. In the preseason, he is ninth in the NFL in solo tackles. Also like Kunaszyk, his 2019 Combine time of 4.77 seconds is just a half-step slow for the ultra-competitive NFL. The real question is whether to believe his improvement in the preseason will carry over to the regular season. Are the Browns going to get the same guy we saw in Jacksonville, or is he for real? We don’t need him to be ninth in the NFL in tackles, but if he can step in when someone is injured and hold the fort, he could be a significant addition.

That brings us to Willie Harvey, Jr. He has the advantage of having been with the team for four years, mostly with the practice squad. He’s a solid, reliable teammate. His Pro Day time was 4.65 seconds, making him the fastest in the group. He has the highest pass coverage grades from Pro Football Focus among the three contenders, but the lowest run-stopping grade, probably due to a missed one-on-one tackle in the second game.

It’s too close to call which player will make the 53-player roster. One way or the other, the prediction here is that all three will see game action in the NFL this season, though not necessarily with the Browns. Cleveland will probably outright cut one player, keep one on the practice squad and keep one on the 53-man roster.

On the other hand, if they believe that at least two of the three players will clear waivers and will accept a position on their practice squad, they might feel protected enough to enter the regular season with only five linebackers on the 53-player roster.

All three of the backups have cleared waivers before, so there’s a decent chance they could do it again. Harvey would seem to be the go-to guy in the base defense, especially on the strong side, on the grounds that he is the best in pass coverage. As a situational run-stopper, they might favor either Allen or Kunaszyk. The temporary promotion rule might come into play, especially against run-first offenses such as Baltimore or Pittsburgh.

The Browns have every reason to like what they have seen from their linebackers this spring. Overall, they have to be happy with the defense in general. Game three of the preseason may be decisive in determining the ultimate makeup of the initial roster.