Recently, reporting and analysis of the Browns has been unusually insightful, thoughtful, and intelligent. I can only conclude that they're reading this blog.
Even Terry Pluto has backed off his persistant calls for/predictions of a vedderrunn wide reciever...to come in and teach the young guys how to run correct routes and catch the ball...all that complex stuff...
Robiskie predictably looks much better with a season and offseason under his belt. Some will predictably hop up and down and point out that it's just shorts and shells. That's true, but it's not meaningless. Some exceptional cover guys are still trying to smother him, and he's able to beat them. Man coverage in shells or in games is similar.
Only recently has Massequoi finally at long last been getting credit for his late-season emergance; his high YPC average, etc. He's now at last being referred to as "at least" a solid number two...except, I assume, by Adam Caplan.
And Robiskie: He's been type-cast as a possession guy. Verily, that's what he'll do best. He's not explosive, but has great coordination, balance, and size to out-reach and out-position defenders consistantly. He also has really good flat-out speed for his size, and if he gets behind some corners or safeties, they won't catch him. Explosiveness, or "sudden"-ness, of you will, is different from flat-out straight-line speed. Robiskie was a track-star.
His frame could also easily carry 225 lbs., and he might be there already.
Carlton Mitchell is indeed raw and will need a lot of work and practice. But in a limited role, he could play in spots this season. This is how the best coaches bring kids along. They give him a specific few plays to focus on, and use them in specific situations. He could be the fourth in a four-wide, or even the third in a do-or-die situation.
Chansi Stuckey came here in the middle of last season. He's historicly a pretty damn good slot reciever, and there's no reason for him not to be that in 2010, with familiarity with the playbook. He's also not really that small, and can play outside in a pinch.
Steptoe is valuable as a returner. He nearly matched Cribbs, in fact. He is also an interesting slot-guy. who--actually like all the recievers, could experience a renaissance with accurate quarterbacks and more west coast elements added to the offense. He's hard to cover in a tight space.
Early reports on Cribbs at WR are good. We keep hoping, but this season it's different--with more accurate QB's and more timing routes. The fact is, I'm not sure that Cribbs couldn't have caught 35 or so last season with a little more help. When a ball sails ten feet over a guy or lands 15 feet in front of him, how can you say it was his fault?
One thing about Cribbs: I don't want him anywhere near a personel department. T.O. is a geezer on the fade, and even if he behaved himself, I doubt he could teach anybody anything.
We tend to get stuck on labels, which is why "TE" Evan Moore is ignored. Moore was a wide reciever coming out of college, not unlike Joe Jurevicious, and can run all those patterns. They call him a tight end because he's put in that position sometimes, but he's really a big, reliable reciever.
Understand that to a quarterback, a reciever is a reviever. Moore is one of these. With Moore on the field with Masseqoui and probably Robiskie, it's like a 3-wide. Moore is actually the best reciever among the tight ends. He hasn't been a very good in-line blocker so far, but niether will K2 ever be.
He'll be on the depth chart as the second or third tight end mainly because Watson and everybody else are better blockers, but once again that's a label. Evan Moore is probably the second tight end in a two-tight end set, and will often be, labels aside, the second third reciever option anytime he's on the field.
Watson gets hurt, but is a true tight end who can both block and catch, so he'll be number one there. Whoever is the third tight end will be this type, although Moore and Watson can also play H-Back.
Taken together, unless you think Massequoi's 18-plus YPC average was a fluke, the coaches can find a solid group of pass-catchers from among this crew. Bigger with Moore, faster with Stuckey--mix and match them week-to-week...two or three big targets. Ask any quarterback how this sounds.
A predictable P.D. comment of the day said that you have to pass to succeed in today's NFL. The statistics on that are irrefutable. It's obvious, which is why any dumbass can sound like he's smart by pointing it out.
But the NFL isn't static. Defenses adapt to stop offenses. What's been working in the past won't (not might not--won't) work in the future. Somebody does something new and goes to the Superbowl. People copy them and have success. Now the defenses have to adjust the types of players they have and the schemes they run. It takes several seasons for this ebb-and-flow to happen.
The ultimate winners are the contrarians who go against that flow. They'll be the first to beat the snot out of those defenses. They will attack weakness instead of strength.
Prior to Hardesty, I thought that Cribbs would play some tailback. But now they're downright overloaded at running back (AND fullback).
The Browns won the last four last season with a cave-man, predictable, physical running game. They overpowered those defenses.
The new offense will use power running and short, safe passes to protect the quarterback and control the clock. This will be the foundation, and deeper passes will come along later, for true balance.
The majority of the copycat league right now uses a lot of three and four-WR sets and an I-back. No fullbacks--not many two-TE sets. The Browns are the opposite. They won't have as many active wide recievers, but will have more active backs and tight ends. Two backs, two tight ends, and sometimes even both.
What's sweet here is that they can run the wildcat, and use Wallace at reciever. They can use Harrison in the slot. Hillis can play H-back.
Note on the wildcat: You are allowed to PASS, okay? That's one legit Daboll fault.
Those who predict that Hillis is going to replace Vickers are full of it. Hillis has thus far never blocked as well as Vickers, and is not the first option as a lead-blocker. More likely is a sort of situational platooning.
Every running back and fullback will catch passes in this offense. While it could certainly use a real burner at wide reciever, it was never an urgent need. The talent is good, the depth adequate.
Delhome is scary, but this whole setup is really really QB-friendly, and so far he's been pinpoint accurate (which--please comprehend this--is THE most important thing). The people we have should do.
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