Over the course of linebacker D’Qwell Jackson’s career with the Browns, he’s seen a lot of good defenses wearing Ravens and Steelers uniforms push his team’s offense around on the way to victories that propelled Baltimore and Pittsburgh to the playoffs.
Jackson would like to see a defense like that in Cleveland this season and feels new defensive coordinator Ray Horton is just the man to put such a defense into place. Jackson is excited to be in an aggressive defense that calls on him to blitz more often than he did in Dick Jauron’s defense over the last two seasons and just as excited to bring that kind of scheme into meetings with Cleveland’s AFC North rivals.
“It’s going to be good to finally get after the Baltimores and the Pittsburghs and actually give them a little dose of their own medicine,’' Jackson said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “They play aggressive. I watch all the top defenses and Baltimore and Pittsburgh, they get after people, and that’s what Ray brings here.”
Scheme only counts for so much since the best one in the world can only take you so far without the right talent. The Browns signed Paul Kruger to play outside linebacker and they’ve shifted holdovers like Ahtyba Rubin and Jabaal Sheard to new spots as they transition to Horton’s 3-4 look. There are more spots that need to be filled or upgraded in the draft, though, and the Browns will need to fill them before Horton can fully turn loose the dogs on Baltimore, Pittsburgh and the rest of the Browns’ schedule this year.