What will Joe Woods' unit look like, who are the key players and how successful can it be after a rough go of it in 2020?
theathletic.com
“We want to be a fast, aggressive team,” Woods said. “We want to be able to take away the ball. We really want to dictate the way the game is played. I want to be aggressive with our game planning, aggressive in terms of getting after the quarterback with blitz packages and not really worry about what (the opponent is) doing. Make them worry about what we are doing, that is the hope.”
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The lack of playmaking at safety was a major issue last season, and injury issues across the secondary forced Woods to sit back in more zone coverage than he wanted to. The Browns were quick to commit to Johnson because he fits the team’s aggressive mindset.
“John is a great leader,” Woods said. “We brought in guys who are very professional and who have been leaders on teams that they have been on. That is John in the secondary. If you look at the linebacker position, (that’s) Anthony Walker, and on the line, it’s Malik Jackson. I had Malik in Denver. Those guys have been great additions to our team, and they are doing a great job.”
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The upgraded talent should allow Woods to get to more of the groups he wants to play, too, rather than personnel packages he feels he has to play.
A true three-safety personnel package — what Woods calls the “big dime” — might have to wait until Grant Delpit catches up .... it’s hard to imagine the Browns using Delpit in Kansas City
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All indications are that Newsome will start at right cornerback over Williams and that Hill will be the top slot cornerback.
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The basics are the same. The Browns want Garrett to change games. They want to make quarterbacks uncomfortable and limit big plays while maintaining an aggressive mindset
“It can definitely look different (from week to week),” Woods said. “We do not want to get outside of what we do, but we will be able to move the pieces around (in) creating matchups. There are different fronts that we are trying to get certain (pass) protections where we can create matchups or do what we do without giving it away. It will look differently slightly week to week, but it is all going to be within the concept of our defensive scheme.”