Can the Cleveland Browns Defense Replicate Success in 2026?
For a franchise that has long dealt with inconsistency, the Cleveland Browns have been able to rely on their defense for the better part of the last three seasons. Under former defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, the Browns ranked fourth in yards allowed and third in sacks, following two seasons in which they ranked highly as well. 2023 was an especially productive year for Schwartz’s unit, in which it finished the regular season with the league’s highest-rated defense. The ‘Dawg Pound D’ carried an incredibly injured Cleveland offense, missing both starting quarterback Deshaun Watson and all-world starting running back Nick Chubb, all the way to the postseason. However, the Browns have not only been absent from the postseason since then, but have now lost their sterling veteran coordinator in Schwartz.
After being passed up for the head coaching vacancy, Schwartz got up and left Cleveland after general manager Andrew Berry and owner Jimmy Haslam decided to go with Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken to lead the franchise. To fill the brand new vacancy opened up by the departure of Schwartz, former Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets defensive assistant coach Mike Rutenberg was tapped to coordinate a defense for the first time in his career. Rutenberg will begin his tenure leading a defense that is currently dealing with a few question marks. For starters, Rutenberg and the franchise are currently asking themselves if they should be concerned about star pass rusher Myles Garrett not meeting with the coaching staff as of yet. However, the likelihood of that being nothing more than a leverage play by Garrett is higher than the possibility of Garrett requesting a trade for the second time in two offseasons. What Cleveland fans and Rutenberg should be asking themselves is this: Can the Browns defense step up to the plate and put up another dominant showing in 2026?
Even though the team will be without the play-calling genius of Schwartz, Cleveland has all the pieces in place for another top 10 defensive ranking. Not only is Garrett expected to return, when healthy, but Denzel Ward is one of the best cornerbacks in all of football. Joining Ward in the secondary will be rookie and former Toledo Rocket Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, who was ranked highly on most pre-draft boards as one of the best defensive prospects in all of the 2026 NFL Draft class. On the other side of Ward at the cornerback position will be Tyson Campbell, whom the Browns fleeced from the Jacksonville Jaguars in a mid-season trade last year for former first-round pick Greg Newsome II. Newsome is no longer with the Jags after a poor showing across 12 games in Northeast Florida, and the Browns will get to reap the rewards of the trade as they’ll watch Campbell potentially blossom in his first full season as a Brown.
Speaking of trading with Jacksonville, this will also be the second season of Mason Graham in Cleveland, who recorded 49 total tackles and was a constant force in stopping the run as a rookie. His fellow rookie teammate, Carson Schwesinger, took home the 2025 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and logged 156 tackles and a pair of picks. In terms of young talent, Cleveland's defensive unit is absolutely loaded and appears to be ready to repeat the success it has had over the last few seasons. Rutenberg shouldn’t have to change much at all schematically to further improve his new team’s unit, making the likelihood that the team is dominant defensively even stronger.
