Can Jim Schwartz Continue to Elevate this Defense?
Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK
Heading into the 2023 season, perhaps the biggest addition for the Cleveland Browns was that of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. As an opposing coach or coordinator, his arrogance and cockiness angered and tormented fans, but those qualities were exactly what this Browns defense needed.
They always had the players on this roster to be elite, but they had always missed that extra edge. Joe Woods consistently had them in zone coverage the year before, when they had a secondary who thrived better in man coverage, and no one ever stepped up as the vocal leader.
Schwartz filled all those voids quickly and took this defense to a historic level in 2023. The big question now is whether can he continue to elevate this defense. It feels like he can. Even with the defense dominating to the degree they did last season, there is potential to keep reaching new heights in 2024.
The Offense Wasn’t Their Friend
If you think back to last season, this offense was brutal to this defense. Joe Flacco was likely the worst at turning the ball over, but Kevin Stefanski was consistently aggressive on fourth down. When it works, that’s great, but given the offense’s poor conversion rate, their fourth-down offense constantly put this defense in a bad position.
Despite the defense constantly being in a spot to fail, they were able to get by and overcome the offense. Even when starting in their own territory, they would routinely shut opponents down in three plays and force a punt.
Stefanski’s offense will likely continue to be extremely aggressive on fourth down, and with as much as they are likely going to throw the ball, turnovers are inevitable. But Schwartz and this unit takes a lot of pride in turning bad situations into field goals and even red zone turnovers. If this offense can just have a little more firepower in 2024, this defense could be top five in this century.
Injuries Were Brutal In 2023
It felt like the Browns offense took all the blows with Jack Conklin, Nick Chubb, Deshaun Watson, and many more missing games, but this defense also struggled to stay healthy.
If you look at the starters from last year, Denzel Ward, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Grant Delpit, and Za’Darius Smith all missed games or played through injuries. These are all starters who are key pieces to this defense.
Additionally, Juan Thornhill, who Cleveland brought in to be the ball-hawking safety, barely even saw the field because of a calf injury. In the games he did play, it felt like he was at 80 percent and wasn’t a factor. Rodney McLeod and Delpit both had fantastic seasons, but by the end of the season, all three of these safeties were missing game time. This left sixth-round rookies like Ronnie Hickman seeing serious game action.
Last but certainly not least, Myles Garrett was tweaked for at least five games last year. He still managed to win the Most Valuable Player award for defense but after a slight shoulder injury in the Denver game during Week 12, he was never the same. Garrett never officially missed any game time, but his effectiveness diminished as the season wore on. If you look at the stats, he was still at an All-Pro level, but it just didn’t look the same, and the sack numbers went down as well.
It’s hard to put that much pressure on a player to be such a force every single week, but Garrett is a generational talent that can give any defense in the league a major edge. The Browns have been extremely fortunate to avoid serious injuries to Garrett thus far in his career, but if he can stay fully healthy in a Schwartz defense, look out.
Young Players Are Ready To Take Next Step
Perhaps the most exciting piece of this puzzle is the mix of young talent and veterans on the unit. They have guys like Garrett and Ward, who have consistently been phenomenal players. On top of that, Owusu-Koramoah, Martin Emerson, and Greg Newsome are all young and continuing to get better.
That’s not to mention the rookie Mike Hall, as well as Hickman, who both have star potential. Hall has the quickness and strength to play all three downs at defensive tackle, and while Hickman was forced on the field because of injuries, he showed some of the talent we saw from him at Ohio State.
This offense still has plenty of questions, especially with the Amari Cooper situation being up in the air and Watson still not having a consistent, healthy season. The good news is, that this defense should once again be in the NFL’s top-three. If the offense can pick up a little bit of the slack, they’ll have everything they need to hit the next level.
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