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The Browns have several players who are entering free agency after being contributors to the team in 2020. While some will need to find new NFL homes and Browns fans shouldn’t fret about losing them, linebacker B.J. Goodson is one the team needs to keep.
Goodson played better than expected on his one-year contract in Cleveland. In 14 games, all starts, Goodson led the Browns with 91 tackles. He also broke up six passes, picked off two, recovered a fumble and notched a half-sack and two TFLs.
Numbers only paint part of the picture, of course. The 91 tackles terminated plays but didn’t do a lot to truly stymie the offense. Goodson ranked dead last among all LB qualifiers (50% or more snaps) in run stop percentage per Pro Football Focus. Here’s the PFF definition criteria,
The PFF “Run Stop Percentage” focuses only on running plays and “stops” (tackles that constitute a “loss” for the offense).
A player’s impact in the running game is sometimes erroneously based on the total volume of tackles made. However, firstly, does that number include tackles on passing plays and, more importantly, did those tackles really count? Stops constitute a “loss” for the offense so this table shows the percentage of stops per snap played only in run defense.
Goodson had a stop percentage of just 3.7%, compared to the league leader (Houston’s Zach Cunningham) at just over 12%. Former Browns LB Joe Shobert was in the middle of the pack at 7.4% in his first season with the Jaguars, right at the league average.
While the figure looks bad, the context of how Goodson was used in the scheme does help provide context. He was seldom the primary person responsible for making the initial tackle against the run based on Joe Woods’ alignments. Goodson wasn’t really deployed as a downhill attack dog, which is odd because that was his primary role in his stints with both the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers.
At least Goodson proved a reliable tackler. He missed five tackles against his 92 total, a success rate that ranked fourth in the NFL in 2020. That’s a sign he could do more than he was asked in his first year in Cleveland.
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It was easy to see Goodson get more comfortable in his role in Woods’ defense as the 2020 season progressed. His interplay and spacing in coverage got better the more he played with his new teammates, particularly the coordination with the safeties playing outside and behind him.
Goodson also proved himself in the leadership department. He was the field general and a veteran voice helping the youngsters all around him — Sione Takitaki, Mack Wilson, Jacob Phillips — get in better position and learn to read the offenses quicker. There’s some real value in that.
Goodson shouldn’t require a big contract. There’s certainly no need to overpay to keep the (soon-to-be) 28-year-old. But another one-year contract, or a two-year deal with some front-loaded guaranteed money, makes a lot of sense for the Browns and Goodson. He made a modest $2.4 million in 2020.
A two-year, $9 million deal is the right range for Goodson — roughly league-average at his position for a player who offers reliability, some versatility and much-needed continuity on a defense that could have as many as six new starters in 2021. It makes little sense to try and find another player who offers the Browns exactly what Goodson does to try and pinch a little savings.