Why it makes sense for the Cleveland Browns to call Joe Schobert
By Chad Porto
Joe Schobert fits perfectly in the Cleveland Browns’ defensive system.
The Cleveland Browns are without Anthony Walker for the rest of the year. While Walker wasn’t a force against the run, nor did he create any real help in the pass rush department, what he did well was command the center of the field. His ability to limit passing lanes underneath and gobble up anyone who did catch a ball was invaluable.
The Browns will try to replace that type of defensive production by going with Jacob Phillips and Tony Fields. Phillips at this point in his career is what he is, a guy not long for the NFL. Fields, on the other hand, is rather untested. He had a good outing in replacement for Walker and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who was also hurt against the Steelers, but Fields is still largely an unknown.
That means that the Browns will have to lean on Fields, Phillips, and Sione Takitaki to fill out the linebacker unit going forward. If Owusu-Koramoah does return relatively soon, the team won’t have to lean too hard on Phillips specifically, while Fields may prove to be a gamer. Yet, if either of them stumbles, or Owusu-Koramoah is out longer than hoped, or even worse of all if another linebacker goes down; the team should consider re-signing former Cleveland Browns linebacker Joe Schobert.
The Cleveland Browns would be the best fit for Joe Schobert
At his best, Schobert is a pass-coverage-first linebacker who can go side-to-sideline. He’s been one of the league’s best cover linebackers for some time. Yes, he’s not the smash-mouth linebacker of 20 years ago, but what he can do is cover guys running across the middle. He and Walker are near identical in what they do well.
They’re both guys who didn’t excel outside of Cleveland, with Walker putting up his best seasons in Cleveland, just as Schobert did. They’re among the two better coverage linebackers in the NFL and have the same limitations.
Schobert has proven to be super-efficient against the pass before, especially in a defensive system not too dissimilar to the one the Browns run now. When Schobert was here last, he was in a pass-first defense, that didn’t prioritize blitzing as well. In those first three years in Cleveland, he played extremely well and even went to a Pro Bowl.
Since 2019, he hasn’t been used properly and that’s been reflected in how he’s been graded by outlets like PFF. Schobert is a coverage specialist, much like Walker, and bringing him in would give the team a reliable coverage guy in the linebacker corp now that Walker is out.
Bringing him in makes more sense than relying on Phillips or Fields to carry the load.