After three seasons with Joe Woods as their defensive coordinator, the Cleveland Browns made a change with the January hire of Jim Schwartz, who has a long NFL history as a head coach and defensive coach. The primary mission the Browns seemed to have this offseason was to bring more quarterback sacks, hits, and hurries from the defensive line, and that’s something that will be needed if this team is to be truly competitive. In 2022, per Pro Football Focus, Myles Garrett was responsible for 18 of the team’s 37 sacks, eight of the team’s 23 quarterback hits, and 47 of the team’s 118 quarterback hurries.
Not the ratio you want.
So, in addition to mixing things up with the Schwartz addition, the Browns got decicive in free agency, adding former Minnesota Vikings linemen Za’Darius Smith and Dalvin Tomlinson, as well as ex-Texans edge-rusher Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. They also selected Baylor defensive tackle Siaki Ika with the 98th overall pick in the third round, so this amounts to a wholesale change in the Browns’ ability to get after the quarterback with more guys than just Garrett.
“I think as you guys hear Jim talk, he’ll talk about being an attack-style front,” general manager Andrew Berry said at the scouting combine. “So, guys that really do get up the field, penetrate, really use either quickness or power to create disruption behind the line of scrimmage. So that’s the general picture that you’ll get from our defense.”
What Jim Schwartz's defense will look like.
Generally speaking, Schwartz’s defenses don’t blitz. In 2020, his last season as the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator before he spent two seasons as a senior defensive assistant with the Tennessee Titans, Schwartz called blitzes on just 85 of their snaps — 14% of the time, which ranked 31st in the league. That gives him flexibility to put his other seven defenders in different situations. Generally speaking, you’ll see single-high coverages that are a bit man-heavy, though Schwartz can switch that up.
That said, Schwartz hasn’t ceded to the Fangio-based idea of light boxes — the 2020 Eagles presented stacked boxes to opposing offense on 280 snaps — 46% overall, which was fourth-highest in the league. Schwartz also had three linebackers on the field at a higher rate than a lot of defensive coordinators prefer these days, and he has the personnel to do that with Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Sione Takitaki and Jacob Phillips — if everyone can stay healthy, which was a problem for that group in 2020.
There are some decent-sized departures from how the Browns played defense last season. They were more of a two-high team in coverage, tended to play more zone than man, and though they didn’t blitz a lot (117 snaps, 21% of the time, which ranked 22nd in the league), maybe they should have. The Browns under Joe Woods in 2022 did put three linebackers on the field in a 4-3 base on 274 snaps — 26%, which ranked fourth in the league — so that might not be a big departure.
Obviously, if Schwartz is going to avoid the blitz, Cleveland’s pass-rush is going to be more personnel-dependent than scheme-based, and that’s where all the new guys come in.
Myles Garrett, the generational difference-maker.
The Browns selected Garrett out of Texas A&M with the first overall pick in the 2017 draft, and when healthy, he’s done as much to live up to that pick status as possible. To put up 18 sacks, eight hurries and 47 quarterback hits in 2022 after totaling 18 sacks, 15 quarterback hits, and 45 quarterback hurries in 2021 with so little help around him tells you a lot.
No matter how Schwartz arrays him on the line, Garrett will be the primary point of focus for every opposing offensive line, because at 6-foot-4 and 272 pounds, he moves like a 240-pound man, and hits like a 300-pound man. That’s what you want, and the extent to which he can be seen just embarrassing offensive tackles and other blockers on tape tells the whole story. No. 95 is a constant problem from the edge.
Of course, if Schwartz wants to move Garrett around, he certainly can, and Garrett can be a thorn in anybody’s side from any gap, as he showed here against the Washington Commanders.
This season, it will be about the guys signed and drafted to help Garrett out, so let’s get to Garrett’s new best buddies.
Za'Darius Smith, the "do-it-all" guy.
The Browns were happy to get Smith in the trade detailed below.
The #Vikings are trading three-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Za’Darius Smith to the #Browns, sources tell me and @RapSheet.
His reworked contract guarantees him $11.75 million in 2023 and he’ll be a FA next March. All negotiated by his new agent @ErikBurkhardt of @RocNationSports. pic.twitter.com/Iftx3m6BNr
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 12, 2023
Getting the 30-year-old Smith in what is essentially a contract year? Not a bad move at all, and if his 2023 production matches what he did for the Vikings last season (10 sacks, 15 quarterback hits, and 55 quarterback hurries — his 80 total pressures ranked fifth among edge defenders in the NFL last season), that’s going to be quite the bargain.
Smith’s real value, and this has been true throughout his career, is his ability to disrupt from any gap you care to care to mention. In 2022, four of his sacks and 15 of his total pressures came from inside the tackles. Smith was especially devastating in these roles against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8. Whether No. 55 was pushing the center back into his own quarterback…
…or flipping the left guard with a killer counter…
…Smith gives Schwartz and the Browns a level of pass-rush flexibility they didn’t have before the trade.
There’s also the fact that the Browns signed one of Smith’s linemates from 2022.
Dalvin Tomlinson, the underrated disruptor.
The 6-foot-3, 325-pound Tomlinson, who signed a four-year, $57 million contract with the Browns with $27.5 million guaranteed, has generally been regarded as more of a run-stopper than a true pass-rusher perhaps due to his size, but in the right system, the big guy can absolutely make life hard for quarterbacks. Last season with the Vikings, Tomlinson totaled three sacks, seven quarterback hits, and 20 quarterback hurries. His 30 total pressures was a career high, but he had four sacks every season from 2019 through 2021 with the Giants and Vikings.
Perhaps most importantly, No. 94 already has a great rhythm with Za’Darius Smith when it comes to getting to the quarterback from multiple gaps, and with multiple moves and stunts. You can ask Jared Goff all about that.
So, with Smith and Tomlinson wreaking havoc all over the place, the ideal edge bookend for Garrett might be a guy you’re not familiar with, but should soon be.
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, the sleeper of the group.
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo sacking Tuanigamanuolepola Tagovailoa? Now, that’s how you win at Scrabble. In any event, the Los Angeles Rams took Okoronkwo out of Oklahoma in the fifth round of the 2048 draft, and he played a rotational role through his first three NFL seasons. The one-year, $3.25 million deal he signed with the Houston Texans in 2022 was the best possible thing that could have happened to him — Okoronkwo basically doubled his snaps, and his production went through the roof, especially at the end of the 2022 season. From Weeks 13-18, Okoronkwo’s five sacks and 24 total pressures had him in the NFL’s top 10 in both categories, and the development showed up on tape.
The Browns bet on that upside with a three-year, $19 million contract with $12.49 million in guarantees. What they got is an ascending edge-rusher at 6-foot-2 and 253 pounds who can beat tackles with everything from a killer inside spin move…
…to straight-up bull-rush power. You think the Browns remembered this Week 13 sack when it was time to go free-agent shopping? I certainly do.
Siaki Ika, the new kid in the middle.
Whether it was against the run or the pass, the 2022 Browns had some serious issues getting things done at the heart of their defensive line. It’s a big reason why Cleveland allowed 5.00 yards per attempt to running backs, and 4.88 Adjusted Line Yards overall, ranking 28th in the league in both categories, and in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted metrics.
Adding Dalvin Tomlinson will help, and rookie third-rounder Siaki Ika could be another key cog. The 6-foot-3, 335-pound behemoth should be a bit less gap-versatile than his new cohorts, and that’s just fine. In 2022 for the Baylor Bears, Ika played 66% of his snaps at nose tackle, and 31% attacking the guards. He didn’t have a sack in 2022 after recording six in 2021, but he did have three quarterback hits and 15 quarterback hurries. Perhaps most importantly, if No. 62 sees a double-team or other extra work pointed in his direction, it’s not going to stop him from interrupting what the quarterback wants to do, as he did quite rudely to TCU’s Max Duggan here.
Ika lasted until the third round because there’s some bad tape along with the highlights, but as a run defender, the highlights are pretty sweet in that he’ll just throw blockers around on the way to the running back. The key, of course, will be to maximize Ika’s attributes.
It will be fascinating to see how the Browns unleash all these pieces along their defensive line, and how Schwartz will make it all happen. However that goes, expect to see serious improvement — and some newly unhappy quarterbacks, especially in the AFC North.
