I look at that locks etc spreadsheet and I wonder why there isn’t more chatter about LB’s. That was a major weakness of ours last year.
And no investment by the team into the position either. If the Browns defense struggles at all it will be the LB position and to a lesser extent DT.
Depends on what you mean by investment. They've invested three years in a row having Anthony Walker as a leader of this defense and he was playing extremely well according to PFF (82.7) as a top LB before going down. They moved UP in the second round to draft JOK in 2021. They re-signed Takitaki who, although I think is overrated, is beloved by many on here. That said..this team, like many others, view LB as the least important position group to invest in on defense. DI, DE, CB, S are all more valuable groups to allocate resources. And I don't think that's a wrong approach.
The major issue with LBs last year was (1) injuries as Walker, JOK, Phillips and Takitaki missed a combined 35 games, and (2) a poor DL, specifically the DI, that had a ripple effect to that unit's ability to make plays. This defense doesn't need a fantastic LB unit. It does, however, need a fantastic and deep DL and secondary.
