I like the fact that Browns head coach Hue Jackson has ripped apart his defensive coaching staff after just one season, bringing in tough-guy, no-nonsense Gregg Williams as coordinator and a number of new assistants to work with him.

You can say all you want about the importance of continuity in the coaching staff, something these expansion-era Browns have certainly not exhibited. But at the same time, if the head coach doesn’t like the way things are going, he’s got to make changes. Staying the same in a bad situation isn’t going to enable a team to get to where it wants to go.

But if you’re going to spend so much time – and money (Williams didn’t come cheaply) – to fix a part of your team, then it had better improve – a lot, a whole lot. And there’s plenty of room for improvement on the defense.

Indeed, as much focus as there’s been on the struggling Browns offense, and deservedly so, the defense was also terrible in 2016. So Williams has his work cut out for him.

What Williams has been asked to do is make great strides with the defense, enough that it will buy time for the team to start being more competitive until the offense comes around. It’s a lot easier to make dramatic and immediate strides defensively than it is to do it offensively. There are so many different parts to pull together to get the offense going that quickly.

How will Williams do that? Simply put, he has to make the Browns a terror in pass rushing. It’s so easy for even an average quarterback to pick you apart when he has all day to stand back there and count the house as he waits for a receiver to break open. But it’s hard for even a great quarterback to be productive when he has rushers in his face, or on his back.

When you get right down to it, other than finding a quarterback and improving the offensive line, in that order, getting some pass rushers is the Browns’ – and Gregg Williams’ – most pressing offseason task.