There aren't many times in recent memory that so many linebackers at the height of their careers have hit the free agent market. CJ Mosley and Anthony Barr highlighted the unusually deep class and were some of the first names to sign the dotted line. Eagles fans, knowing their team could use some help shoring up the middle of their defense after Jordan Hicks' departure, couldn't help but get anxious as options were picked off the table. Unbeknownst to us, local GM extraordinaire Howie Roseman was three steps ahead.
To be fair, the Eagles weren't barren at the position. Beyond stalwart Nigel Bradham the team re-signed Paul Worrilow -- an aging, but capable starter -- and added L.J. Fort to join special teams standout Kamu Grugier-Hill. Still, there was a lingering notion that Philadelphia wasn't done adding to their linebacking corps. After passing over the top options in free agency, many of us thought the next linebacker to don midnight green would be found in the 2019 NFL Draft. It wasn't the most top-heavy of classes, but there was plenty of depth and late-round value to be had. Again, we waited with bated breath only to finish the weekend without a solution.
It wasn't until late last week that Philadelphia could take a collective sigh of relief. The news came that the team had acquired LB Zach Brown: the top free agent still available according to Pro Football Focus and NFL analysts. While he may not be as flashy as some of the other players at the position, he was one of the best in 2018. Making a name for himself as a run defender, Brown will add more than a single faceted punch to the Philly defense. Nevertheless, an analysis detailing what he brings to the table would be amiss without starting with his game-breaking ability against the run.
Run Defending
Zach Brown has been one of the most dependable linebackers against the run dating back to his time in Tennessee. According to PFF, he's made the third most defensive stops against the run over the last three seasons. He also has claim to the 11th best run stop percentage and the 8th best run defense grade over that time. 2018 was more of the same for Brown, finishing the season with an 84.1 run stopping grade. Historically conversations involving great run defenders mention their strength, physicality and brute force. On the other hand, Brown, who is still a sizable man, has managed to carve a name for himself relying on his speed and leverage.
As a run defender, he is a very fast linear defender and makes most of his money shooting gaps and using quick footwork to outmaneuver opposing linemen. Operating in a 3-4 defense in Washington, he was tasked with manning the weak side of the defense. With girth up front gumming up the holes for the offense, Brown just had to shoot the right gap and make the tackle. Being on the weak side made that task somewhat simpler by limiting the distance he had to travel. His role will be somewhat different in Philly.
When Jordan Hicks missed time throughout the last two seasons, Nigel Bradham manned the middle of the defense for the Eagles. With Brown entering the rotation -- a 3-4 weak inside linebacker -- Jim Schwartz will have some freedom deploying his defensive scheme. This is something we'll get to later in the article. Nevertheless, it's important to understand where Brown fits. Most likely, Bradham will return to OLB while Brown slots into the middle linebacker position. With the Eagles, the role of the MLB looks a tad different from many other teams in the league.
Traditionally what the Eagles like to do is run dime and nickel packages on 2nd and 3rd down, situation permitting. In dime, Brown will likely be the odd man out and sit in favor of Bradham. In dime, he'll be one of two linebackers on the field along with a strong safety. That means walking down Malcolm Jenkins from his safety position to play the strong side. For Brown that means two things. Number one, he will still have the opportunity to roam the weak side of the defense on occasion. Number two, when the team shifts to dime or nickel, the opposing team will almost undoubtedly prefer to target Jenkins' side when running the football -- allowing Brown to make tackles from backside pursuit and angled runs, something he has had incredible success doing in the past.
The other big change for Brown will be moving from a 3-4 base scheme to a 4-3. Having one less linebacker will mean he has more ground to cover. He definitely has the speed to do so. He moves very well for a man his size. On the flip side, it means one more defensive lineman keeping him clean from contact. Brown is one of those players that will make you pay if allowed to roam free. However, it won't all be a seamless transition.
In Philadelphia, linebackers aren't asked to fire gaps with reckless abandon like in Washington; that job is reserved for the defensive line. Instead, Brown will be asked to read, react and clean up after the guys in front of him. There are two major reasons why this should be a fantastic role for him.
Primarily, he is an incredibly sound tackler. He has great technique when engaging and won't miss many tackles. As a clean-up guy, you can't ask for much else. He also brings a thump when making contact. Brown is also a great downhill player with the ability to leverage blocks and the size to compete with linemen. Those are two major boxes checked for Jim Schwartz. Without a doubt, the Eagles run defense should receive a spark from the new recruit. Even with Hicks out of the picture we should see a real improvement in that department.
Where you'd like to see Brown get better is making direct lines to the football. For a man his size he will uncharacteristically take winding routes to the ball carrier. He can also shoot the wrong gap on occasion. As mentioned, that won't be his role as much in this defense. He will be allowed to read and react and won't get caught streaking past the play as often. The key will be patience and discipline.
Having an extra down lineman in front of him will help keep him clean and should keep him out of traffic. Speaking of those linemen: Fletcher Cox and Tim Jernigan cause headaches in the run game. They limit what teams can do upfront and cause offensive coordinators to get creative. If those two can continue to dictate what offenses can get away with, which no doubt they will, Brown's pathways to the football should become very obvious. Schwartz will trust that once Brown diagnoses the play he will make a beeline to the football. If nothing else, that is what the man does. Coming into the league, Brown's scouting report said:
"Brown might be one of the fastest straight-line linebackers to ever enter the NFL draft."NFL Combine Player Profiler
Continued on the pages below.
Coverage
As impressive as he is against the run, Zach Brown is not known for his smothering coverage. Up until last year, it was fair to say he was a liability in that regard. Then came the 2018 season, in which Brown posted his best coverage grade by far. His 84.4 coverage grade ranked him 7th overall at the position. He did not allow a single touchdown in coverage and limited opposing receivers to a total of 283 yards on 45 targets. In combination with his already stellar run defense, that number would slot him in as the 3rd best linebacker in the league according to PFF.
Is it fair to expect a repeat of last year? Probably not. However, Brown made some impressive strides and definitely showed enough to inspire confidence going forward. The main reason why he has struggled in the past is lateral mobility. An expert at straight line bursts, Brown is susceptible to tangling his feet against more nimble receivers. In Washington, he was asked to play both man and zone. Any NFL defense will deploy both, but the Redskins truly make an effort to mix it up.
In reality, Brown probably won't see much play on obvious passing downs. A combination of Kamu Grugier-Hill and L.J. Fort will likely take his place. KGH is a much better cover linebacker and I'm excited to see what Fort can do. The forgotten man Paul Worrilow struggled in coverage in Atlanta and is a much better run defender, but has the acumen to be accountable against the pass. Still, when Zach Brown is stuck out there to cover, there isn't as much cause for concern as you may think.
Zone
In zone last season, he displays some good technique and patience. Truthfully, he can get caught too close to the line of scrimmage allowing the pass to go over his head. Generally where this comes to light is when Brown is asked to cover the hook zone and gets caught flat-footed with his eyes in the backfield. This is especially true when asked to bail immediately from the line of scrimmage. Again, patience is the key. If he can learn to stay deep in his zone, and moving, he is a nightmare coming downhill. Truly a man that will strike fear into the hearts of receivers looking for passes across the middle, if he can learn to trust his instincts, his edge will be a welcome addition to this defense. Overall, his athletic makeup projects a much better zone defender than man. This is also where he made most of his strides in coverage last season.
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This bodes well for Zach Brown's seamless addition to the defense. The Eagles like to attack the quarterback in the passing game. That means playing a ton of Cover 3 and Cover 3 Robber. On those plays, linebackers are asked to rush the line of scrimmage looking for run and play bail technique if the quarterback shows pass.
Slower run defenders simply cannot be counted upon to react quick enough and do not have the speed to settle back into their zones. Brown, on the other hand, should have no trouble. This technique will also limit the situations where Brown is asked to backpedal into the mid-to-deep thirds from a hook zone. It also allows him to react quickly and curb the number of times he has to stay patient in a stationary position. Keeping him active and on the move will help mask his occasional passivity in zone coverage. In Cover 3 Robber, that is even truer. With a safety roaming the middle of the field, Brown's zones will be flattened and put a ceiling on his deep coverage.
It remains to be seen how much he's improved covering the flats, something he was not asked to do all that much in the nation's capital. His coverage overall was much better last season, which is some cause for hope. Still, coming from a 3-4 defense, that is another area that is somewhat uncharted territory for the new addition. His speed should lend itself well, but he may be limited by his lateral movement against the angle and read routes.
Man
As a man defender, Brown fairs much better against tight ends than slot receivers and running backs. He is actually quite good at defending short curl routes, any type of stop route and quick hitting seam routes. This is due to his ability to leverage the inside of the field. He's strong and his straight-line speed allows him to match up well with interior and mid-range routes. Against large slot receivers and tight ends, he won't make many game-changing plays, but he's a solid bet to make life difficult on the inside.
Where he struggles is on out-breaking routes, drags, deep digs, posts, corners, etc. Any route that can force him to play further from the line of scrimmage will make him less comfortable. That goes double when he's tasked with defending quicker, more agile playmakers. As the inside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, there's not much he can do to avoid those matchups. Generally, at least one of the outside linebackers have to blitz to put pressure on the quarterback and Brown is left to cover the open man. These situations are where he is left most exposed in coverage.
Almost single-handedly, the fact that Malcolm Jenkins is in midnight green should put fans at ease regarding Brown's shortcomings in man coverage. As much as humanly possible, Jim Schwartz lines to line up Jenkins against the most dangerous inside man in the passing game. This means moving him all over the formation from his roaming safety spot. Nine times out of ten this will leave Nigel Bradham -- who is a very good cover linebacker -- or Brown covering a larger receiver or playing spy over the middle. Brown loves to jet downfield to make a tackle on scrambling quarterbacks and will fit the role well. The Eagles don't require man coverage from their inside linebackers all that much anyways.
A subtle way in which Brown should help the Birds is chasing down mobile quarterbacks. Almost to a fault, he loves to step up when he sniffs out a QB on the move. Philadelphia failed to adequately contain Marcus Mariota and Deshaun Watson, who both had very good games against the Eagles. Hopefully, Zach Brown's physical, downhill play style will coax scrambling quarterbacks to reconsider -- for their own benefit. He will have to pick and choose when to stay and when to attack, but if he guesses right, look out!
Availability and Affordability
There are no ill intentions meant when stating Jordan Hicks has had trouble staying on the field throughout his career. He dealt with unfortunate injury after unfortunate injury, which caused him to miss time in all but one season. In his first four seasons he played in only 43 out of a possible 64 games. That's not exactly what you'd like from your starting middle linebacker.
Conversely, Brown has only missed games in two of his seven seasons despite being hampered by injuries throughout his career. He has shown the willingness to fight through the pain to be available come game day. Especially considering his physical style of play, that's impressive. He won't have to play every down in Philadelphia either, which should help him stay healthy. As the old adage goes, the best ability is availability and the Eagles upgraded in that facet.
Another major difference between Hicks and Brown is the price tag. As talented as he is, the Eagles were not willing to pay top dollar for Jordan Hicks and rightfully so. That didn't mean another team wouldn't put pen to paper. The Cardinals were that team and inked Hicks to a 4-year $34 million dollar contract with half of that guaranteed. Good for him -- Arizona needed a solid leader for their defense had the capital to secure one of the smartest young players at the position. This only proves that he was out of the Eagles' price range.
On the flip side, Howie Roseman was able to secure Zach Brown for a very team friendly veteran minimum. His contract is $3 million for one year which is the same cap hit the Redskins took for cutting him. In retrospect, the price was almost unbelievable. Securing a top 10 linebacker (in 2018) for $3 million is almost unheard of. If Brown plays anywhere near the level of play he did last season, it's hard to argue that this was one of the best value pickups of the offseason for any team.
Identity
The final way in which Zach Brown augments the Philly defense can't be explained by numbers or film. The Eagles have had one of the more difficult defenses to peg over the last few years. Pedigree and coaching have kept them afloat despite some ill-timed injuries and secondary struggles. In their Super Bowl winning season, they were among the best. In that season they were known for their formidable front that terrorized opposing quarterbacks and foreboding run defense. That may still be the case, but in 2018 the team lacked some nasty. As talented as the team is, they lack true bangers in between the hashes. Jordan Hicks was more of a smooth, finesse player and Nigel Bradham's oomph wasn't enough to cover for the both of them.
The Eagles now have two physical, imposing linebackers that should put fear into the hearts of opponents. Small receivers will second guess catching the ball over the middle and the great running backs of the NFC East will take their fair share of thumps if they decide to run up the middle. Even if it means a gain for the offense, a big hit can go a long way into swinging the momentum of a team. Philadelphia has lacked some game-changing highlight reel tackles in their year-in-review film. Brown should bring the nasty back to Philly the old fashioned way -- and I'm here for it.
