BEREA, Ohio — It was a move that just about everyone saw coming.
Ahead of last Tuesday‘s trade deadline, the 2-7 Cleveland Browns shipped off Za’Darius Smith to the Super-Bowl-contender Detroit Lions.
While it was an expected trade (the Lions needed an edge rusher with star Aidan Hutchinson‘s season over), there was still an element of surprise for the fellow edge rushers in the room.
“It was surprising,” Isaiah McGuire said on Monday as the Browns returned from the bye week. “You love a guy like Z. Like I said, just the energy he brings, the enthusiasm he brings, also the playmaking ability.”
But with Smith (who was second on the team with 5.0 sacks at the time of his departure) now gone, there’s also another element at play.
“At the same time, I know I have to step up,” he continued. “It’s truly a blessing to go out there and play more.”
For McGuire, the Browns’ 2023 fourth-round pick out of Missouri, it’s also about embracing this increased opportunity.
As a rookie in the NFL‘s No. 1 defense last year, McGuire struggled to get on the field due to the Browns’ depth. He appeared in only four games, and was a healthy scratch in Cleveland’s 14 others (including their wild card loss to the Texans).
“I‘d definitely say it was difficult, but I truly believe that God allows things to happen for you to learn something,” McGuire said. “So in that I learned other aspects of the league … in that I learned different perspective, a different appreciation.
“Also, I believe God allowed that to happen to me for the future. When I‘m the veteran, when I can help a younger guy that’s going through that, just say, ’keep striving, keep pushing, rely on God and family.’”
So what has McGuire done in the wake of that lesson?
Throughout the last year-and-a-half, he’s worked tirelessly to refine his pass-rush arsenal, inspired by new D-line coach Jacques Cesaire.
“Just building myself as a pass rusher, just building a whole set of interior moves when it comes to pass rushing and using those things,” he said. “No sacks if you don’t have any moves. … And you don’t do something until you get it right. You do it until you can’t get it wrong. I’ll definitely say, that’s one thing my veteran room has definitely instilled in me.”
McGuire has come off the bench in eight games this season (he was a healthy scratch in Week 1 against the Cowboys), and has registered 17 tackles, three for a loss, as well as half a sack against the Bengals and Joe Burrow.
The highlight of his year, however, came in Week 4 against the Raiders, when he forced a key fumble at the start of the fourth quarter that safety Rodney McLeod scooped and scored.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz raved about the play the following week and said the Browns would give McGuire more opportunities going forward.
“We need everybody to play well and the greatest reward is the opportunity to do more, and I think he’s earned that,” Schwartz said. “He’s played physical football for us, he’s been slippery in his pass rush and he’ll get more opportunities.”
Myles Garrett leads the Browns with 7.0 sacks this season. With Smith gone, the second-highest sack getters are now DT Dalvin Tomlinson and LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah with 3.0 apiece.
So there’s certainly room for more sack production across the D-line.
The other player who seems most likely to benefit stats-wise from Smith’s departure is Ogbo Okoronkwo, who is in line to start opposite of Garrett on the left side.
“I think both of those guys have given us some really good moments, really good reps,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “Ogbo’s done it now as a veteran for us and you’ve seen it, he’s a productive player. Isaiah being a younger player, you haven’t seen it as much, but in those small samples I think he’s done a nice job.”
In the coming weeks, McGuire will have larger sample sizes to see if he can capitalize.
