Cleveland Browns’ Joe Schobert is making a case that he is the NFL’s best inside linebacker

CLEVELAND, Ohio — When Browns defensive back Eric Murray entered the locker room after Cleveland’s 40-25 rout of the Ravens on Sunday, only one thing surprised him.

It wasn’t the Browns winning a road divisional game. He expects that. It wasn’t Nick Chubb’s game-sealing 88-yard touchdown run. He knows of what Chubb is capable. It wasn’t even that the Browns had moved into a tie for first in the AFC North.

Instead, Murray discovered linebacker Joe Schobert had a career-high 17 tackles and he was beyond impressed.

“That was crazy. I didn’t even know. Someone came up to me after the game and told me Joe had 17 tackles and I was like ‘what?’” Murray said after Tuesday practice. “Because you don’t really know on the field. You aren’t counting tackles. We are just out there trying to get to the ball. … I’ve never seen someone get 17 tackles before. That is the most I’ve seen in a game.”

Schobert was all over the field on Sunday and it showed. Of his game-high 17 tackles, nine were solo, two were for losses and one was a sack.

These back-to-back plays exemplify Schobert’s ball-hawking performance:

First, one of his nine solo tackles shows his ability to tackle in space. It’s common to see defensive players not wrap up and instead throw their shoulders at runners, Schobert is a fundamental tackler.

On the next play, Schobert sees an opportunity to safely pop Ravens running back Mark Ingram. By getting lower than the former Heisman Trophy winner, he hits Ingram, setting him up for teammate Jermaine Whitehead to deliver the fumble-forcing shot.

“There are some games where I think I had 13 a couple of games ago, where I thought, ‘Man, I had a lot of tackles.’ At the end of this game, it did not really register,” Schobert said Monday. “I did not think anything like that during the game, too much was going on. The Ravens are obviously a huge running team. There is a lot of availability for tackles in between the boxes if you are doing your job and if you can run down a few more extra plays.”

In Week 2, Schobert notched 13 tackles in the Browns’ Monday Night Football win in New York. His season total of 44 tackles is tied for fourth-best, tied with Panthers All-Pro Luke Kuechly and one behind Seattle’s Bobby Wagner, the highest-paid inside linebacker in football.

In 2017, Schobert made the Pro Bowl after leading the league in tackles with 144. Through four games that season his tackle total was 34. He is ahead of his Pro Bowl season pace by 10 tackles.

Schobert, the Big Ten linebacker of the year at Wisconsin his senior year, plays smart and assignment-sound football. Combined with his impressive natural athleticism (watch him dunk at the 38-second mark of this video), he is making a case as not only the future of the inside linebacker position but for being considered near the top of his position.

Another example shows Schobert being in exactly the right place, starting with pre-snap alignment all the way to his read. At the snap, he trusts his eyes, fills the hole and tackles the ball carrier for a loss.

Playing inside backer, Schobert is essentially the defense’s quarterback. He makes the calls, knows the checks and takes it upon himself to ensure his unit is assignment-ready.

His Pro Football Focus grades are strong also. At 69.9 overall thus far, he is the 20th-best linebacker, ahead of Bobby Wagner’s 66.2 grade.

PFF grades should not be the definitive factor considered when identifying a player’s value in the pantheon of NFL players. It is an important component but does not paint an entire picture.

Because what PFF rankings cannot measure is a player’s influence on its respective unit through communication, comradery and overall leadership. Schobert is growing in his fourth year with Cleveland and if he was not on the Browns and instead a replacement player of similar value was, this defense would not rank in the top 10.

Basically, he’s both an extension of defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and an on-field leader.

His organic growth as a player and defensive signal-caller cannot be measured by stats or PFF rankings. Instead, such added value is determined via the testimonies of his coaches and teammates.

“It has been a joy playing with Joe. The look in his eyes, you can tell he is confident. He knows what he is doing,” Murray said, “which makes you more confident and sure of your job too. He can (help) anyone on this defense if they have a question because he gets people on this defense in the right positions.”

Drafted by the Chiefs in 2016, Murray played multiple seasons with All-Pro linebacker Derrick Johnson and safety Eric Berry while in Kansas City.

Without Schobert, the Browns likely do not have the 13th best defense in terms of yards per game or the eighth-best defensive DVOA (-9.1) according to Football Insiders. Football Outsiders’ DVOA stat measures a team’s efficiency by comparing success on every single play to a league average based on situation and opponent.

Due to his tackling stats, playmaking ability and overall leadership, Schobert is already making a case to be named to his second Pro Bowl, but he can accomplish even more. Cleveland has a future All-Pro anchoring its defense, and this will be the season Schobert is recognized as such.