If you are expecting new Browns defensive coordinator Steve Wilks to deploy three, or perhaps even four, linebackers with Cleveland’s defense, you will be disappointed. Wilks used more than two LBs less than any other coach during his 2018 one-year stint as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
According to research from Pro Football Focus, Wilks had his Cardinals in base defensive personnel (4-3 or 3-4) on less than 10 percent of all defensive snaps. That was the lowest in the league.
Interestingly, the league average of teams running the base defense personnel package less than 25 percent of the time. The days of three linebackers on every down have gone the way of the dodo.
That is especially true for Wilks, who coached the Carolina Panthers defense before taking over the Cardinals. In his final season as Carolina’s defensive coordinator, Wilks trotted out his starting 4-3-4 defensive alignment on just 64 plays the entire season.
What does that mean for the Browns?
Expect a great deal of 4-man fronts with 2 LBs and 5 defensive backs. Wilks has frequently deployed a hybrid safety/LB in his defenses, guys like Shaq Thompson and Deone Bucannon. Rookie Mack Wilson fits that bill in Cleveland, though he’s behind fellow rookie Sione Takitaki and hybrid DE/LB Genard Avery on the LB depth chart to play alongside presumptive starters Christian Kirksey and Joe Schobert.
