The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Schobert seizes MLB starting job after Carder suffers injury
Joe Schobert, 19th on the Browns in tackles as a rookie last year, is being entrusted with the most important job on the defense.
Schobert will start at middle linebacker on Aug. 26 against the Buccaneers in Tampa in the third preseason game and hold the job until someone better comes along. That might take a while.
Schobert was contending with Tank Carder for the starting job until Aug. 21 when Carder suffered a season-ending right knee injury. Since then, Schobert has seized the job, and Coach Hue Jackson hopes he seizes opposing running backs with the same vigor.
“He came in here as an outside linebacker and played about 15 pounds overweight,” Jackson said Aug. 23. “He’s gotten the weight off. He’s playing the Mike (middle) linebacker position. He’s extremely bright. That’s the quarterback of our defense, so he has a lot of input and say from snap to snap what our defense does, so he kind of kind of controls that, and that’s a perfect fit for him.
“He obviously still has the ability to rush the quarterback from the edges, but he can play inside and he demonstrated that in these two preseason games and throughout training camp. He’s done an outstanding job.”
Schobert, a 2016 fourthround pick from Wisconsin, made 16 tackles last season. He shared in one sack while playing in all 16 games and starting four at outside linebacker.
Schobert leads the team in preseason after two games with eight tackles — half his entire 2016 regular season totals. He has two sacks — or, to put it another way, twice as many as defensive end Myles Garrett, the first player picked in the 2017 draft.
“I’m not on the edge of the line of scrimmage taking on tackles or tight ends every play,” Schobert said. “I’m in the middle reading. Depending on the call, my fits and stuff might be different. On the end of the line of scrimmage, your fits are one or two gaps every time. So now, depending on the call, it depends, so I’ve just got to know my stuff and then being a lot more off the ball, running to the ball a lot more in terms of scraping over the top and trying to make plays.
“I definitely feel more comfortable. I felt comfortable last year, but the scheme, the attitude the coaches bring fit in with, not just me, but the whole defense and the whole team competing against the offense every day, getting everybody amped up. I think, in general, the whole defense feels better and more comfortable.”
Schobert is down to around 230 pounds. He said playing 15 pounds lighter is easier on his joints.
“I feel a lot better moving around, being able to open up and run better and cover some space,” he said. “I definitely ate healthy, did a good job of making sure I knew what I was putting in my body all the time. That definitely helped.”
Coaches like to say players make their biggest jump from their first to their second season. Schobert is in position to jump from 19th to the top of the Browns tackle rankings this season.