Are the Cleveland Browns doing this with their defensive line again?

After a season where the Cleveland Browns ran Myles Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi were among the league leaders in snaps, the new defensive coordinator didn't appear to learn from it. One game into the season and the front four played almost the entire way against the Tennessee Titans.

The Cleveland Browns did a lot of good things defensively in the opener against the Tennessee Titans, but after a year of overusing their studs on the defensive line to their detriment over the course of the season, a new defensive staff headlined by Steve Wilks did the exact same thing.

Of 59 total defensive snaps, Olivier Vernon played 54, Myles Garrett played 53, Sheldon Richardson, 49, and Larry Ogunjobi had 48. Head coach Freddie Kitchens at one point remarked in training camp how he believed the team had ten defensive linemen they could depend on this year. One week into the season, it certainly doesn't look like it.

A concern for this season was the backup defensive tackle position, particularly the 3-tech, which was painfully bad last year. Devaroe Lawrence had a great camp, an outstanding preseason and he played all of 11 snaps against the Titans.

Daniel Ekuale and Chris Smith each played nine. Chad Thomas played five.

Genard Avery wasn't even active, which one of the most bizarre things to come out of this game. Avery was clearly the third best edge defender on the team last year, had an impressive rookie campaign, seemed to be a huge component of the defense and he's a healthy scratch. If there's a good explanation for this, someone needs to come out and deliver it.

Good teams don't do this with their defensive linemen. Teams with aspirations to play more than 16 games in a year certainly don't do this. It's not even like it's one guy they are utilizing so much. It's the entire front four. The Browns need to be focused on maximizing every rep that players like Garrett get on the field and looking out for them over the course of a long season.

Whether it's Steve Wilks or defensive line coach Tosh Lopoi, this needs to be addressed. Look no further than last year where Ogunjobi dominated the first month of the season only to have diminished effectiveness the rest of the year and then ultimately finished the season with a torn bicep. It was reckless and stupid. It's critical they don't do the same thing this year.

If the depth can contribute, they need to be out there, so they can do it. If not, that's a problem. It certainly looks capable, but it's impossible to know if they're never out there. The Browns look to have six players, three on the edge and three inside that can impact a game. It's important they find the right balance with those six so that they can impose their will on defenses.

The other part of this is the Browns weren't willing to move Myles Garrett to the interior. Obviously, the Titans had a backup tackle in Dennis Kelly and gave him help in the forms of chips and double teams. The Browns flopped their ends, but if they wanted to isolate Garrett in a situation where they couldn't throw extra bodies at him in max protection, moving him inside could have created some additional challenges, particularly against a backup guard in Jamil Douglas.

Having Vernon and an active Avery rushing off of the edges could've given them a substantial speed advantage and just create another dynamic the Titans had to deal with. Hopefully starting with their game against the New York Jets and moving forward, they have Avery active and do more to take full advantage of their defensive line, both the front line studs and the depth that can impact the game.