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February 19, 2016The Cleveland Browns finished another disappointing and dysfunctional season in 2015, ending the season tied for the worst record in the NFL at 3-13. This past season brought on a lot of change, including a whole new front office led by Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta and a new coaching staff led by head coach Hue Jackson. With the changes, the franchise has brought new hope to its fan base. (…Again.)
Over the course of the last couple weeks, I have been taking a look at what the Browns have going into the really important offseason, examining through each position of the team. The next position in the series that we will take a look at is the outside linebacker group.
Where the Browns stand series: Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Tight Ends/Fullbacks | Offensive Line | Wide Receivers | Defensive Line | Outside Linebackers
Outside Linebackers on the Roster
- Paul Kruger
- Barkevious Mingo
- Armonty Bryant
- Nate Orchard
- Scott Solomon (Restricted Free Agent)
- Cam Johnson
Recap of 2015 Season
The Browns outside linebackers have a lot of top picks and big free agents on the depth chart, but the production has not lived up to the names. The outside linebackers on the Browns are assigned to do almost everything, rush the passer, stop the run and play in coverage. The Browns defense only notched 29 sacks as a team, ranking 28th in the NFL. The outside linebackers accounted for only 11 sacks of the 29 total sacks of the defense. The defense also ranked 30th in the league in run defense, giving up 128.4 yards per game. The unit was also 22nd in the NFL in passing yard allowed per game, giving up 251 yards a game.
Paul Kruger had a disappointing year with his production dropping quite a bit from his good 2014 season. In 16 games this past season, he had 27 tackles and 2.5 sacks. His production was non-existent this season, leaving the Browns with no consistent pass rushing threat from the outside linebacker spot. He and others have noted that he was misused in the defense, causing some of the lowered production. But, misuse cannot be blamed for all of his troubles. He was just not good enough last season. His status on the team is up in the air because of his bad season and his huge contract. The Browns may keep him just because of the lack of talent at the position.
Barkevious Mingo has played completely different than what most expected he would be like coming out of the draft. In 16 games, Mingo had 24 tackles, one interception and four passes defended. Mingo was once again non-existent as a pass rusher, which was supposed to be his forte coming into the league. But with the Browns, his best trait has been his coverage ability. He has good movement skills to cover in space. But, this is his only good trait. Mingo’s lack of pass rusher and strength at the point of attack against the run makes him only a situational linebacker.
Scott R. Galvin/USA TODAY Sports
Armonty Bryant showed flashes, but his play was far too inconsistent. In 14 games last season, he had 40 tackles, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Bryant might be the most talented pass rusher on the team. He has good penetrating ability to disrupt plays in the backfield. But, he is way to inconsistent. He disappears for stretches of games in rushing the passer. Against the run, he is caught over-pursuing and not staying on his assignment. And now with his legal trouble, his status on the team is up in the air. You just don’t know what you are getting with Bryant.
[Related: Ray Horton discusses Barkevious Mingo]
Nate Orchard had a similar season to his fellow rookie teammate Danny Shelton. Orchard started off slowly, struggling mightily, but seemed to improve late in the season. In 15 games, he had 36 tackles, three sacks, one forced fumble, one interception and four passes defended. In his final four games, he had eight tackles, three sacks and an interception. Orchard struggled versus the run in his rookie campaign. He frequently lost contain on the run and was out of position to make the play. But, he seemed to get better at getting after the quarterback. This offseason will be an important time period for the young linebacker.
Scott Solomon did not have an impact in 2015 because of injuries that cut his season down. In only a few snaps of two games, Solomon notched one tackle. He is a restricted free agent with not a lot of long period production, so his status on the team is questionable for next season. Cam Johnson was on the Browns practice squad this season and not likely to be on the active roster next season.
The Browns outside linebacker group just was not good enough. The position is filled with players who had average to below average production last season. There was no playmaking ability whatsoever. Not one of the linebackers forced defenses to gameplan for. In a position that should put pressure on the quarterback, the consistent pressure from this group was not there. The position also struggled in simply keeping with their assignment like setting the edge. The position needs to be upgraded.
2015 Season Grade: C-
Offseason To Do List
- Get Paul Kruger back to rushing the passer full time
Paul Kruger had a very disappointing season this past year, regressing from his good 2014 season. One of the reasons for his lowered production can be attributed to his role. He was not always assigned to rush the passer, his best skill. This coming season, Kruger needs to be inserted back to his role of going after the quarterback. He was paid to wreck havoc in the backfield. By placing him back into this role, the coaches will be utilizing Kruger’s best skillset and not trying to make him something he is not.
- Add a consistent pass rusher
The Browns need to put more pressure on the quarterback. With Paul Kruger unable to put consistent pressure on the quarterback last season, the Browns had no outside linebacker to strike fear in the opposing offense. The Browns must get a player at the position to be a pest in the backfield. The defense has not had an outside linebacker for quite some time, besides Kruger in 2013, who has put consistent pressure on the opposing backfield for an entire season. Either through free agency or the draft, the Browns must find at least one player who can do this.
- Get better coaching
Some of the biggest problems with the outside linebackers group can be attributed to bad coaching. Last season for example, the Browns coaching staff used Paul Kruger in a role that did not suit him the best. Coaches need to put players in the best role to succeed. That did not happen last season. The Browns have a few young outside linebackers like Nate Orchard and Armonty Bryant and a possibility of a draft pick this season, so the coaching of these players will be very important. Their development can be determined by how well the team’s coaches teach them.
7 Comments
Biggest off season to-do list item: fire DC.
Check
Congrats SF, you’re going to suck donkey.
There were a lot of things that Jim O’Neil supposedly did that were a hindrance to our defensive players more than a help, but the one that I saw with my own eyes was Offseason To-Do List #1. I don’t want to see Paul Kruger dropping back into coverage more than two or three times a game (my preference would actually be zero times, but I don’t know how realistic that is… all 3-4 OLBs are forced to drop into coverage in certain scenarios). Get that guy back to rushing the passer. His best rush attribute is that he loves to bull rush the blocker and he’s pretty good at it, so even if he doesn’t end up getting to the QB, he’s squishing the pocket and making it easier for other players to collapse on the QB. And likewise he’s rarely running himself up and out of the play by trying to always get around the edge.
Yep, this was another classic example of some know-it-all coach who’s going to pound a square peg into his round hole because his round hole is the best round hole of all time. (Upon proofing this, it sounds a little creepo, but so be it.)
Forcing players to fit your glorious System rather than fitting your system to the strengths of your players is blatant nonsense, and yet it happens over and over. I’ll never understand it. Stop the madness.
JAMES LAURANITIS !!!!!
Never thought I’d defend Jim O’Neil about anything but this “he neutered Kruger” narrative is a bit much. They started dropping Kruger into coverage more and more as the season wore on because instead of collapsing the pocket by beating his man he was waltzing in place, getting some minimal stats when the QB was flushed back his way. Very reminiscent of his first year here (when his excuse was “I lost too much weight”). And, like in 2013, still can’t set the edge.
After 3 years Kruger is what he is, Banner’s smarty-pants attempt to poach what he thought was a division rival’s impact player. What he got instead was an average guy getting paid the type of money that should be reserved for the type of players that create havoc and opportunities for others, not clean up others’ havoc. Kruger has his moments, but so do all average players, so did Scott Solomon. Whether Banner misread the talent or Kruger doesn’t play as hard after getting his big pay in 2013, it’s still a miss.
In a pass-happy league, the last two FOs have whiffed at obtaining impact players at QB or receiver, or on defense anyone who can regularly collapse the pocket or shut down a receiver. Until they start filling those needs it’s hard to blame DCs or position coaches. No one picked by Banner or Farmer have gone on to fame and fortune elsewhere.
I think there’s plenty of blame to go around. Agreed Krueger is, at best, average but would also argue that O’Neill did little to put him in a position to occasionally excel. Krueger is certainly not the player Banner projected him to be but O’Neill overwhelmingly “helped” every player on D to underperform. If ever there were an addition by subtraction scenario the removal of O’Neill as the DC is it’s poster child.
Last season, Kruger had a grand total of 0 passes defended, so whatever his shortcomings were as a pass rusher, he was infinitely better at that than as a coverage guy.