The Cleveland Browns went into the offseason needing to beef up the defense. The hiring of Jim Schwartz was the first domino. The second was the free-agent signings of Juan Thornhill, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Ogbo Okoronkwo. They also added Za'Darius Smith in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings.
With all those changes to the defense, the linebacking group is relatively the same as in 2023.
Cleveland brought back Sione Takitaki and Anthony Walker Jr. on one-year deals. They also have potential breakout candidate Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah along with young veterans Jacob Phillips and Tony Fields II. Those five players round out the top of the rotation.
They also brought back their top special teams player Jordan Kunaszyk and added Matt Adams. Both could see time at linebacker but figure more into special teams. They round out the room with young players Mohamoud Diabate and Charlie Thomas.
The Veteran Presence
We start with Anthony Walker Jr. in the middle. Walker's season ended with a torn quad tendon injury in game three against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before the injury happened, he was off to a great start to the season. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Walker had an overall grade of 82.7 through those first three games.
PFF writer Brad Spielberger labeled Walker the most important player the Browns needed to bring back this past offseason.
"Cleveland can’t afford to spend much on defense outside of perhaps investing in their interior defensive line, which makes Walker a solid option here coming off his torn quadriceps tendon injury. His 85.9 coverage grade over the past two seasons ranks third among off-ball linebackers, and while he can stand to improve against the run — as is the case with almost the entire Browns defense — those improvements are more likely to come via the aforementioned interior defensive line additions and a change in philosophy under new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. "By Brad Spielberger Jan 24, 2023
Walker not only brings coverage skills to the defense, but he also brings leadership. Since he joined the league with the Colts in 2017, everyone that has played with him has raved about his leadership both on and off the field. The hope for the Browns is that Walker is fully healthy and back to the player he was before the injury. If you ask him, Walker is ready to be even better than before the injury.
"Obviously, I want to be a better player than I was before I got hurt. So that’s my goal and I have a lot of lofty goals for this year."Anthony Walker Jr.,
We would all be happy to get the steady veteran play that Walker has provided throughout his career, but if he takes it to another level, no one will complain.
Breakout superstar in 2023?
After a stellar rookie campaign, most would say 2022 was a step back for Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. While in some ways it was, he did improve in some areas last season. The problem was the entire defense struggled, so it was lost in a sea of ineptness on that side of the ball.
Diving a little deeper, you see that JOK still flashed some of what we saw in 2021. While his coverage took a hit in 2022 with a passer rating of 132.1 compared to his rookie season of 70.2 per Pro Football Reference, the entire defense struggled in coverage last season.
Some of the areas where JOK showed improvement was his missed tackle rate going from 17.4% to 10.3%. He also increased his tackles for loss to seven. He matched his rookie season in passes defended with four and also matched his forced fumbles with two. The speed and instincts that made him a Butkus Award winner and the Defensive Player of the Year in the ACC have not just left his body.
The Browns will employ a new system with a stronger presence up front to help make things easier on the young linebacker. Linebackers coach Jason Tarver also issued JOK a challenge to continue to get stronger, not bigger, between now and training camp so they can have him on the field as much as possible.
From the excitement in Tarver's voice when he talks about JOK, it's clear they love all the skills he brings to the table. In year three and with a coach that knows how to utilize his players in coach Jim Schwartz, it's not hard to be excited about where JOK could go in 2023.
Could the talent and experience finally come together to create the superstar we have all been waiting for?
The Browns 3 young veterans
With the Browns set to employ more five-man fronts on the defensive line and use three safeties on the backend, we will likely see Walker and JOK the most. With the athletic ability of all their defensive ends, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them at "linebacker" for a few plays a game. The Browns also have Sionne Takitaki, Tony Fields II, and Jacob Phillips on the roster to provide depth.
Sione Takitaki's 2022 season ended with a torn ACL after 71 tackles, four for loss, and one sack. He's expected to return by October which would be 10 months after the injury.
"He plans to stay in Cleveland for the time being to continue rehabbing, and currently, he’s on track for an October return -- about 10 months out from his surgery date."Ashley Bastock, Cleveland.com
Takitaki has provided solid depth at the position since being selected in the third round of the 2019 draft. His missed tackle rate has never been higher than 7.8%, and he has graded out no lower than 64.4 overall per PFF his first four seasons.
His best asset is stopping the run, something the Browns need because of his sure tackling. While coverage is not his strong suit, his passer rating against for his career is 87.3, and he has not allowed a touchdown. As a hybrid starter/depth piece, Takitaki fits any team.
Jacob Phillips has speed and, quite frankly, that's it. Taken out of LSU in the third round of the 2020 draft Phillips has dealt with injuries and poor play for his entire career. He has flashed a few times with three sacks and five tackles for loss in just 612 snaps on defense.
Most of the time, he looks out of place and lost on the field. The Browns will need him to make a big leap under the new defensive staff if they plan to have him on the field for any extended period of time at linebacker.
Cleveland drafted Tony Fields II in the fifth round of the 2021 draft, the same draft the Browns took JOK in the second round. The reason for bringing this up is that they both have similar builds and skill sets. Obviously, JOK has the higher pedigree and has shown it through two seasons. Fields has spent most of his two-year career on special teams and deep down the depth chart at linebacker.
Well, 2022 caused the Browns to go deep down the depth chart. Fields started six games for the brown and orange. Over those six games, Fields had 48 total tackles, one for loss, and one pass defensed and forced fumble.
While he only had a missed tackle rate of 7.7%, Fields looked like someone who thrust into the starting job. He had an overall grade of 50.0 from PFF in just 276 snaps. Fields is still a work in progress, but he has some live reps under his belt, so the hope is he's better in 2023.
Special teams and Undrafted free agents
Jordan Kunaszyk has been in the NFL for four years, becoming a solid special teams player for the Browns last season. Kunaszyk was forced into starting duties, like every linebacker on the roster in 2022, because of injuries.
He played in 15 games for the Browns, starting two of them. He would miss the final game of the season with a hand injury. As stated earlier, Kunaszyk is back because he was the best special teams player Cleveland had last season. He provides emergency depth if needed, but the hope is that 2022 was an aberration and special teams are where he shines.
Matt Adams is one of the new faces in the linebacking room. Adams was signed because he previously worked with Bubba Ventrone when they were both with the Indianapolis Colts. He spent 2022 with the Chicago Bears.
That season, he appeared in 10 games and made three starts for the Bears. In 188 snaps at linebacker, Adams would put up 26 total tackles, two for loss and a forced fumble. He has only played 508 snaps at linebacker in his career, but in a thin room could see more in 2023.
The final two on the roster are undrafted free agents Mohamoud Diabate and Charlie Thomas. Diabate played his senior season with the Utah Utes, racking up 10.5 tackles for loss and five sacks.
Thomas played for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets last season. He saw action in 10 games and started six games at outside linebacker. He finished the season with 47 tackles, one sack, and one pass deflection. These two young free agents will have a chance to show they belong in a wide-open linebacker room.
This is what the Browns have going into 2023 at linebacker. Do you think it is enough? The starters seem solid, but depth could be a concern if some young guys don't develop. As my friend and editor Randy Gurzi said, " Good players are totally fine. No team has a superstar at every spot and if you notice, when one tries that...it often blows up. Got to have the right fit, and sometimes you need that non-star player who just shows up and does the job."
The Browns need some of these linebackers to show up and do their job in 2023.