Most of the focus in Cleveland Browns camp has been on the offense due to the quarterback battle, the new offensive line, the rookie receivers, and new offensive-minded head coach Todd Monken. Cleveland has had the worst offense in the NFL over the past couple of years and unless that gets corrected, the defense will only be able to do so much to carry this team to respectability.
It’s nice to not have to worry much about the defense because this offense has enough question marks as it is. Aside from Jared Verse taking on the daunting task of replacing Myles Garrett, this defense is returning most of the same personnel from last season, and one insider recently pointed out that the biggest changes might come schematically, not in terms of the roster.
Ashley Bastock of Cleveland.com recently wrote about how the Browns defense has secured a whopping 19 interceptions in camp thus far. She also pointed out one major aspect that could change on defense this year, citing how the Browns played by far the most man coverage in the NFL last season, but new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg’s defense with the Atlanta Falcons last year spent less than 20 percent of its time in man.
“Rutenberg has been praised as a secondary savant. Cleveland was the team that played far and away the most man coverage last year — 43.4% per Sharp Football Analysis, compared to 52.9% zone coverage. For much of camp surrounding the talk of interceptions as been the discussion of disguises in the back end that have helped the defense profit. When Rutenberg was defensive pass game coordinator in Atlanta last season, the Falcons were in man just 18.7% of the time, and in zone 76.8% of the time,” Bastock wrote.
Cleveland’s defense last season was fourth in the league in yards allowed and third in sacks, but it forced just 18 takeaways and was tied for 16th in the league with just 11 interceptions. Denzel Ward and Grant Delpit signed nice contract extensions this offseason and GM Andrew Berry used a second-round pick on exciting safety prospect Emmanuel McNeil-Warren out of Toledo, so the talent is there to bump this number up a bit.
Disguising coverages isn’t something the Browns did a whole lot of last year, and the shift in philosophy is clearly paying dividends in camp thus far. Nearly half of those interceptions have come at Deshaun Watson’s expense, so hopefully the Browns can continue taking the ball away when they face off against someone wearing a different uniform.
Atlanta had a sneaky good defense last year and was seventh in the league with 23 takeaways, including 16 picks. Whatever he is doing is working so far and Browns fans can’t wait to see more of it.
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