The 2024 NFL season is still more than three months away and training camps are not right around the corner. This time of the NFL season, besides blips for OTAs, is as close to a dead period as the league allows. The NFLPA may try to change that in the future.
This period also gives us a chance to reset a bit. Whether that is our coverage of what is going on around the AFC North, including our depth chart rankings, or just looking back on moves the Cleveland Browns made this offseason, everything is on the table from late May until sometime in July.
Doug Farrar of USA Today was joined by the legend Greg Cosell to talk about interior line play in the NFL. Quickly, we could easily connect the dots back to the 2024 NFL draft and the Browns first two selections, DT Michael Hall Jr. and Zak Zinter.
In the video below, Farrar notes the change in “financial priority” around the NFL at the defensive tackle position. Cossell notes the changes within passing games including “more quick timing based” including RPOs with 3-step drops taking just 1.5 seconds and 5 steps at 2.1 seconds.
“The ball is getting out quicker.”
With the prevalence of those quick games, “it is becoming increasingly difficult for edge players… to get to the quarterback.”
While Cleveland the best defensive player in football coming off the edge in Myles Garrett, getting pressure inside is more valuable at this point in time. The Browns defense didn’t really have anyone at defensive tackle who could get pressure on the quarterback. Dalvin Tomlinson was third on the team with 36 pressures and Shelby Harris had 22.
Maurice Hurst is generally considered the team’s best interior pass rusher but he had just 18 pressures, same as LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and less than DE Alex Wright, in 13 games
Tomlinson was not among the top 30 defensive tackles in pressures.
…due to how quickly he can win with finesse on the interior, his best spot in the league is likely as a DT/DE in a versatile 4-3 front. His pass-rush abilities give him the chance to be a productive pass-rush specialist.
While the rookie out of Ohio State may not get a ton of snaps in 2024, the league’s increased value on interior pass rushers should lead to increased opportunities as the year progresses.
With the emphasis on interior pressure, including moving edge players inside, guards and centers will in turn see their values increase which may have led to the selection of Zinter despite Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller being the best guard duo in the NFL.
See the whole video between Farrar and Cosell here:
The NFL is a consistently evolving sport. The current focus on the interior might change which players are valued but we are likely to see offenses adjust to that pressure. For now, finding defensive tackles who can make quick plays up the middle and linemen who can stop them is the name of the game in the pass-heavy NFL.