Shantee Orr is getting a lot of reps at weakside ILB. I had honestly thought he'd be more of a strongside ILB, but he's quicker and slipperier than I'd thought. Orr is here as a general depth player, and will rotate in and back up possibly every linebacker position. He was never expected to be "the answer" opposite Wimbley.
Orr's short, wide frame is an advantage inside.
Brad Cieslak is a 4th year TE who was stashed on the practice squad last season. He came from the Pats, where he also worked at fullback. This season he's getting reps, in lieu of Winslow and Heiden, and is showing great athleticism, smooth moves, and great hands. He's over 260 lbs.
Interestingly, Steve Heiden, when acquired by Butch Davis for (I think) a 6th round pick, had a very similar background. Cieslak could well be another Heiden--just now "blossoming" into a total-package TE.
Darnell Dinkens, meanwhile, is struggling.......
Kolo Kapanui is UFA TE who is currently being worked at fullback.
This means nothing to you mere mortals, but as an intelligent analyst I can help:
The Browns are probably going to carry four tight ends this season, and Vickers. Charles Ali (through no lack of talent or fault of his own) could well be out.
The reasons? Chud used Heiden extensively at fullback last season, and this appears integral to his philospophy. This season, they drafted Rucker as K2's backup and eventual replacement, and it now appears that, via free agency, Chud wants to do the same with Heiden (remember: K2 and Heiden are both called tight ends, but in this offense they actually play different positions. What's in a name--not much.)
Ali can't play tight end. Cieslak can play fullback. There you go. It saves a roster spot and provides the requisite depth at both fullback and tight end. Cieslak is an experienced journeyman, and my money is on him to stick around and contribute this season.
Although Rucker is screwing up left and right at this time (wrong patterns, etc.), by the season he should be ready to go. If I'm right about the roster and depth-chart, the offense could withstand injuries to either Heiden or K2 and not change. Further, they could really "muscle up" and go "jumbo" in short-yardage.
Brian Schaefering is an undrafted defensive lineman out of Illinois, signed this season. While Purcells and Pittman have bulked up to 290/300 lbs. respectively, they thus far haven't done much impressing in minicamp.
Shaefering, who (based on what little info I could dig up on him) is 6'4", 286, and played NOSE TACKLE at Illinois. Reports now have him getting the bulk of reps as a second-team defensive end already. I read that he gets off blocks better than both second-year players.
Sort of makes sense. If the guy was indeed used as a nose tackle, this could easily put a very talented player under the NFL radar. A 286-lb. nose tacke being double-teamed and evaded all the time could well turn out to be a pretty good 3-4 DE, where he could use speed and agility.
It's too early to make any predictions at this time, but it's just possible that Phil might have dug up another sleeper. Louis Leonard has also showed marked improvement. The reporter identified him as a nose tackle, but he's more of a DE. He might well be used on the nose in passing situations, or as a conventional DT in a 4-3 set, which they'll sometimes use.
Leonard is now listed at 6'4", 330. Has good speed for even a 290-pounder, a quick first step--his main issue is playing too tall sometimes and getting leveraged, and he may not have the greatest instincts (just a wild guess--I could be very wrong).
Rubin is making all the dumb mistakes you'd expect a rookie to make, but does penetrate and command double-teams.
Don't worry about depth on the defensive line. The biggest problem the Browns will have is choosing who they want to let other teams scoop off the waiver-wire. Here, we're only talking about the players behind the top four. This defensive line will NOT get worn down, as it did last season.
At cornerback, undrafted rookie Mil'von James has taken the early lead in the race for the third cornerback spot, and I can here and now predict that he will be a player of note this season. Man coverage ability is enate and instinctive, and James has it. Learning zones and dirty tricks can be more difficult, but the ability to stick with an Edwards or a Stallworth is the strongest foundation a cornerback can have. He's already half-way there.
James slid due to only two years experience, at UNLV, and he's currently listed as a 6'1", 205-lb. safety. He has a nose for the ball and is a playmaker with all the tools needed for a zone as well as man-defender. Based on my reports and the personel here, he's likely to be worked at cornerback, a lot.
Gary Baxter is on the field and doing well at safety. Here and now I predict that he will be a backup at both spots, and a rotational contributor. His skill-sets are ideal for this position in this defense.
As I explained earlier, the word "veteran" shouldn't always, always mindlessly be attatched to the need for depth at cornerback, and this need has been blown all out of proportion. Mike Adams has been doing well as the nickel back, Baxter will later be worked in there, and James is opening a lot of eyes.
Situationally, any of the three could be used to replace an injured Wright or McDonald. This is less than ideal, of course. Offenses would seek to force them to try to cover fast/quick guys like Stallworth, and target them. However, James is one guy who could handle that in a man situation.
You don't need experience for man coverage. You just need fluidity, balance, speed, explosiveness, and reflexes--all of which James has. If McDonald or Wright got hurt, one option would be to use James and go to man-coverage the majority of the time (to minimize screw-ups.)
When Marty had Dixon/Minnifield, it was a base blitze-happy 3-4. This aint new.
It took Davin Holly about half a season to become pretty good. James, who is more physicly gifted, is already here, and already learning.
Perry and the rest are niether good nor bad. This is why Savage didn't make any moves the instant Holly went down. He wanted to see if one of the many, many talented young guys would emerge--and one has.
The reporter, in order to remind you of how thoughtful and wise he is, said that of course they have to see how well he does with the pads on...Ok look he was a safety, he's over 2o5 libs., and he's pushing recievers around with his body like an old vet now. He'll look better with the pads on than he does now...obviously.
Secondary depth is very good. Safety depth excellent. Corner depth adequate, and maybe even decent. Do not panic.
Beau Bell is screwing up on his presnap recognition and calls, but doing exceptionally well in reacting post-snap, like I said he would. These screw-ups are expected, of course, and mean little at this point. It's not etched in stone that he has to be the guy calling the defense in his rookie season anyway, so don't worry about it.
Bentley is responsible for what happened. The Browns retained and paid him while he was injured and recovering. They don't own or run the Cleveland Clinic. From what I understand, they told LeCharles that they were going to bring him back slowly, and that he would need to earn his spot--and that this would be at right guard.
Bentley couldn't accept that, and that was it. It's unfortunate, and I'll bet he regrets it, even if he does go back to the Pro Bowl this very season.
McKinney is working at center now. Why are all the columnists and reporters impervious to change? Hadnot is a much bigger/stronger guy, and Tucker is too. They want the road-graders at right guard, so where McKinney fits best here NOW is at center behind Fraley.
McKinney might well also be the primary backup at left guard, where his athleticism is more useful. He was only used here at right guard because THEN the Bowns lacked depth.
The presence of a road-grader at right guard, combined with Fraley's ability to push people back, really helps. With (for instance) McKinney at right guard, this was pretty much a finesse offensive line. Now, they haven't sacrificed much athleticism, but can still man-up and drive people off the ball sometimes. They can be much less predictable.
Joe Thomas, who most of the guys on NFL Radio think may grow into the next Jonathan Ogden, will most likely return bulked-up to over 320 or 325, too.
Ok that's the news and what it means. So there. It would be great if somebody read it. Maybe I'll die or something and you'll check it out later and say "Wow! We should have been reading this all along so we would know what the Browns were doing! Man, he was smarter than all the other writers! Damn I wish I had read this before! Maybe we can turn it into a book!"
But it will be too late to tell me how impressed you were, because I'll be dead, and you'll feel like shit for just ignoring the genius laboring right under your noses for all these years. It will keep you awake at night, and stuff.
But don't mind me! Just go on about your business and keep reading the pale imitations who you only like because they're not me....
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