Dutch Oven Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 As I dived into the Browns linebackers, I came away being pretty unimpressed. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramaoah has been everything the Browns wanted when they traded up in the second round of the 2021 to select the speedy OLB from Notre Dame. He's given the Browns defense much needed speed and athleticism from the LB level, and I think he's been far better taking on blockers than expected. Jordan Hicks is a ten year NFL veteran that the Browns picked up this offseason, he spent four seasons under Jim Schwartz in Philadelphia. Devin Bush was a first round pick (#10 overall) of the Steelers whose career started fast, but regressed faster. In what has become a recent tradition, the Steelers declined to pick up his fifth season option on his rookie deal. He moved on to Seattle last season as a backup/special teams player. The reserves include Nathaniel Watson, a rookie 6th round pick out of Mississippi State. Highly productive in the SEC (2nd team All-SEC in 2022, 1st team All-SEC in 2023) he should at least be a decent special teams player/backup. Lack of athleticism might limit his upside. Tony Fields was a 5th round pick out of West Virginia in 2021, and has made 11 career starts. He could have a chance to start this season. Mohammed Diabate was an undrafted free agent in 2023, and seems tapped out as a special teams player. Other backups include Charles Thomas, Caleb Johnson and Winston Reid. As usual, I have some questions about this group... 1. Will the Browns sign Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to an extension? I surely hope so. On a team full of fringe guys (or a guy in Hicks at the end of his career) JOK is a guy that the LB unit is built around. 2. Can the Browns tap into Devin Bush's potential? His NFL career started well, but it just cratered. The Steelers usually do well tapping into their front seven potential, the chances Bush all the sudden becomes the guy the Steelers thought he would be is negligible. 3. Is this unit as painfully thin as it appears? Alright boys, convince me that this group is better than I think. This might be the worst unit on the team. 4. Could linebacker be a position the Browns use a first round pick on in the 2025 Draft? I mean, in theory, yes. JOK is a free agent after the season. The rest of the guys are JAGS at this point. I just do not see this front office using a first rounder on a linebacker, even if we have a very good season and draft late in the first season. Well guys, what do you think? Was I too hard on the group? Want to answer the questions? Knock yourselves out. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob806 Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 1 hour ago, Dutch Oven said: 3. Is this unit as painfully thin as it appears? Alright boys, convince me that this group is better than I think. This might be the worst unit on the team. Well guys, what do you think? Was I too hard on the group? Want to answer the questions? Knock yourselves out. Yes, I tend to agree. It sure seems like the Browns value their DBs over LBs, probably due to the increase in 4 & 5 WR sets. BUT, you still need playmaking LBs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 34 minutes ago, Dutch Oven said: Was I too hard on the group? Probably not. (nice write up) We have 9 guys on the roster. Including 2 rookies and 2 with 1 year experience. Anthony Walker did a decent job of manning the middle for us (when healthy) but he told his agent to find him somewhere warm to play. (saying that he was sick of playing in the Cleveland winters) Tony Fields is going into his 4th year. He's credited with playing 17 games the last 2 seasons...but there are several weeks of zero stats for him. We probably can't fault anyone for doubting that he's going to become impressive this year, with more playing time. I feel that we'll need Bush or Hicks (if not both) to be good players for us...and I'd think that we'd absolutely need to keep JOK a Cleveland Brown. 59 minutes ago, Dutch Oven said: I just do not see this front office using a first rounder on a linebacker Right. This administration does not seem to value the LB position to that extant. But as the season goes along...if that wheel gets squeaky enough...then it can make the front office have to react in a way that shows that they understand the major problem(s). Heading into TC this certainly does seem like the weakest link in the chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpeen Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 3 hours ago, Orion said: Probably not. (nice write up) We have 9 guys on the roster. Including 2 rookies and 2 with 1 year experience. Anthony Walker did a decent job of manning the middle for us (when healthy) but he told his agent to find him somewhere warm to play. (saying that he was sick of playing in the Cleveland winters) Tony Fields is going into his 4th year. He's credited with playing 17 games the last 2 seasons...but there are several weeks of zero stats for him. We probably can't fault anyone for doubting that he's going to become impressive this year, with more playing time. I feel that we'll need Bush or Hicks (if not both) to be good players for us...and I'd think that we'd absolutely need to keep JOK a Cleveland Brown. Right. This administration does not seem to value the LB position to that extant. But as the season goes along...if that wheel gets squeaky enough...then it can make the front office have to react in a way that shows that they understand the major problem(s). Heading into TC this certainly does seem like the weakest link in the chain. I don't think any team values the LB position all that much. Most of the time teams only use 2 LB at any given time. Unless the player is a real crackerjack most go in the mid rounds or later. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AP1 Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 10 hours ago, Dutch Oven said: 1. Will the Browns sign Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to an extension? As expendable as many consider the LB position to be, if the Browns want to win games, the AFCN, the AFC and the Super Bowl, they have a much better shot with JOK. 2. Can the Browns tap into Devin Bush's potential? Thats up to Devin Bush. I agree with the Steelers maximizing what they have. 3. Is this unit as painfully thin as it appears? It's sobering. 4. Could linebacker be a position the Browns use a first round pick on in the 2025 Draft? Depending on what happens this season, I think LT could be a priority. If the found right playmaker at DB or DL presented the opportunity, I wouldn't be surprised if they made the pick. First rounder? Probably not. Depth? Most certainly. One more points that I'd add...it's impossible to be too hard on a group that gets paid a king's ransom to play a kid's game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 21 hours ago, Dutch Oven said: As I dived into the Browns linebackers, I came away being pretty unimpressed. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramaoah has been everything the Browns wanted when they traded up in the second round of the 2021 to select the speedy OLB from Notre Dame. He's given the Browns defense much needed speed and athleticism from the LB level, and I think he's been far better taking on blockers than expected. Jordan Hicks is a ten year NFL veteran that the Browns picked up this offseason, he spent four seasons under Jim Schwartz in Philadelphia. Devin Bush was a first round pick (#10 overall) of the Steelers whose career started fast, but regressed faster. In what has become a recent tradition, the Steelers declined to pick up his fifth season option on his rookie deal. He moved on to Seattle last season as a backup/special teams player. The reserves include Nathaniel Watson, a rookie 6th round pick out of Mississippi State. Highly productive in the SEC (2nd team All-SEC in 2022, 1st team All-SEC in 2023) he should at least be a decent special teams player/backup. Lack of athleticism might limit his upside. Tony Fields was a 5th round pick out of West Virginia in 2021, and has made 11 career starts. He could have a chance to start this season. Mohammed Diabate was an undrafted free agent in 2023, and seems tapped out as a special teams player. Other backups include Charles Thomas, Caleb Johnson and Winston Reid. As usual, I have some questions about this group... 1. Will the Browns sign Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to an extension? I surely hope so. On a team full of fringe guys (or a guy in Hicks at the end of his career) JOK is a guy that the LB unit is built around. 2. Can the Browns tap into Devin Bush's potential? His NFL career started well, but it just cratered. The Steelers usually do well tapping into their front seven potential, the chances Bush all the sudden becomes the guy the Steelers thought he would be is negligible. 3. Is this unit as painfully thin as it appears? Alright boys, convince me that this group is better than I think. This might be the worst unit on the team. 4. Could linebacker be a position the Browns use a first round pick on in the 2025 Draft? I mean, in theory, yes. JOK is a free agent after the season. The rest of the guys are JAGS at this point. I just do not see this front office using a first rounder on a linebacker, even if we have a very good season and draft late in the first season. Well guys, what do you think? Was I too hard on the group? Want to answer the questions? Knock yourselves out. Well written Dutch. 1. Will the Browns sign Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to an extension? The Browns will sign JOK to an extension unless he suffers a serious injury. 2. Can the Browns tap into Devin Bush's potential? Bush didn't just wake up a bad football player one day. In the 1st 5 games of 2020, he had 16 solo tackles, 10 assisted tackles and a sack looking very much like the young player Pitt hoped he'd be. He tore his ACL in week 6; and he's never been able to perform like the same guy he was pre-injury. 2021 and 2022 his performance was pedestrian - not bad but that was less than the expectation of a 1st round LBer there. To be honest, he probably would have played a lot more in Seattle if Bobby Wagner wasn't the guy he had to compete with for playing time. He's worth a look at least. 3. Is this unit as painfully thin as it appears? What I'm about to say we could all be laughing at in September. I might be laughing and crying. Anyway, as much as I think Tony Fields is solid when called upon - I think the best candidate for breakout player among the young guys returning is Mahamoud Diabate. He made some plays last preseason that had me saying WOW! Who was that? He's half an inch from being 6'4" so long levers on LBers space are an asset. The question for him is can he combine preparation and limited experience enough to consistently play with good instincts? The rest will depend on what Watson is capable of as a rookie and how soon Schwartz would be comfortable putting him out there if it got to that. I think we all feel pretty good about Hicks and great about JOK. Another option is to consider a Safety in this role if your intuition is correct Dutch. Hopefully former Buckeye LB and NFL HC Mike Vrabel can help this group out. 4. Could linebacker be a position the Browns use a first round pick on in the 2025 Draft? Hard to say; but we'd have to be Nuckin Futs to blow off Left Tackle 1 more time. How many more offensive coaches do the Browns need to fire? We could also use a game changing Safety. The Browns should be able to get a good LBer in round 2. Keep in mind, a guy like Nick Bolton fell to the Chiefs in round 2 (58th overall). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 1 hour ago, AP1 said: One more points that I'd add...it's impossible to be too hard on a group that gets paid a king's ransom to play a kid's game. Nice job with the LT suggestion. Now that we're getting a bigger chorus - do we have any baritones in the crowd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiamat63 Posted July 15 Report Share Posted July 15 12 hours ago, Dutch Oven said: 1. Will the Browns sign Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to an extension? Couldn't see them not doing it. Unless he wants paid like a top 5 player. tap into Devin Bush's potential? If he isn't on IR by week 10. 3. Is this unit as painfully thin as it appears? Pretty much. 4. Could linebacker be a position the Browns use a first round pick on in the 2025 Draft? Nope. 12 hours ago, Dutch Oven said: Was I too hard on the group? Want to answer the questions? Knock yourselves out. I wouldn't say so. Talent is there, but depth and range is a big knock. Missed games will hurt this defense and this team pretty badly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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