You've got to check this guy out! He said:
1: Jordan Norwood would emerge as the third and sometimes second reciever and make big plays. He is quick as well as fast, and creates separation, which offsets his stature. While most pundits labelled him a long-term slot project, this guy said that while he's best in the slot, he can play outside as well.
2: Massequoi, or the absence thereof, makes a difference. Little is still learning (and making mistakes.) Robiskie never got over his inability to separate. MoMass beats single man coverage more often than not. Some corners can shut him down, but not many.
3: Cribbs HAS become a pretty good wide reciever. He NOW runs precise routes. He only gets a little separation, but with this quarterback and his brute strength, that's enough. Mike Trivisano as recently as the week before last said that Cribbs "can't run a route".
4: The new running back, whose name starts with "O"...this guy said that he was a former wide reciever who was developing as a running back. He said that while for his first couple seasons this guy was mediocre, he could emerge now--in his third season, as is common.
This guy said that O-Whozzit is an excellent fit in the West Coast due to his recieving skills, which extend downfield.
5: This guy said that a huge part of the offense's problem was the revolving-door rookie guards, who were still learning and screwing up a lot. Opposing offenses were loading the box and sending never fewer than four guys, and often six. McCoy had little time. The only way he could throw over the top was when he was running for his life, and he frankly sucked...
6: This guy said that McCoy had demonstrated superb accuracy in the past (as a rookie) and could do it again. When a young player demonstrates great skills and then regresses, USUALLY he gets his feet back under him and continues to grow and improve.
7: He pointed out two rookie starters on the defensive line, who would show marked improvement in the second half of their rookie seasons, which is utterly and obviously predictable.
8: He lauded Buster Skrine as a guy who could tackle and cover any reciever under 6' tall as well as any cornerback around. He predicted that by the middle of his inaugural season he would at least be the fifth, more likely the fourth, and possibly even the third cornerback, and that he would be used on any small/quick slot guy.
You've just got to check this guy out!
Oh yeah. He's ME. Dammit.
I've got to admit, I'm stunned by Chris Ogbonnaya's emergence. I never thought he'd be THIS good running from scrimmage. Give Tom Heckert credit--what a FIND!
The offensive line is blocking a LOT better now. I actually heard Even Moore's name several times last week. That means that the Browns no longer needed to keep the tight end in to help block a kitchen-sink pass-rush.
Who caught the passes? Wide recievers. Two plays over fifty yards in the last two weeks. Part of this is Oggi's getting past the front wall and making them pay, but part of it is also McCoy's making ACCURATE stabs downfield.
Understand that it doesn't have to be 40 or 50 yards. 20 yards--like the one to Little crossing--does wonders to back safeties off the line.
Then I've read that most of the drops were 3-5 steps, and the ball was gone in less than three seconds. That's exactly how the West Coast is supposed to work.
The analyst attributed this to a change in Shurmer's playcalling, but what it's really more about is McCoy trusting his recievers to be where they're supposed to be. That only happens when the recievers have PROVEN themselves to him. MEANING, when THEY have improved their reads and routes!
Little and Norwood are entering the second half of their rookie seasons. Massequoi cam back from his concussion.
Before, McCoy wasn't throwing when he was supposed to throw. Young recievers would keep going when they were supposed to break off or stop, or the reverse. No quarterback can cross his fingers and throw to a spot where he's not sure the reciever will be there to--at the very least--prevent an interception. No coach can bully him into it--nor would many try.
Can they beat the Bungles? That's a tall order. Like it or not, Cinci has an elite team, and the Browns are still behind them developmentally. But it's the North, and they have a real, legit shot.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Cribbs
Josh Cribbs will have an expanded role vs. the Rams. Everybody is guessing about the wildcat and stuff.
I believe that finally, at long last, Pat Shurmer has recognized him as a West Coast TAILBACK.
Cribbs doesn't have the "fast start" needed to hit the hole quickly, like most running backs do. This is probably why no coach has used him there. But this quick accelleration is all that he lacks to be a tailback in this offense. He can block, catch, break tackles, and score from anywhere, given a little space.
And he can throw. Given a dumpoff in the flats, when DB's and linebackers break out of coverage to stop him....
Now, I have to repeat this for my bro and nephew, who have declared that nothing will change for the Browns:
New Coach. New Personnel Director. New GM. New systems. Young players.
Randy Lerner doesn't interfere, so you're judging a bunch of new people unfairly, and that IS irrational.
Something else: Pro defenses are expert at decieving inexperienced recievers. You think "zone" and "man" coverage is it, but it's not. They show one thing pre-snap, then do another. The safety takes a step one way, then turns the other.
The quarterback can see this. It's hard for even him to read it correctly. For a wide reciever, it's harder to watch the whole secondary at once while running a pattern. It's a series of fleeting glimpses, through bodies running every which way. Based on that, there is only ONE of several patterns that is correct on any given play. The QB and reciever must read it the same, and the quarterback must trust the WR BEFORE he turns to look back to make the right move and get to the right spot.
The only way a QB can trust a reciever enough to throw that ball into empty space is after that reciver has made the correct move, without error, a whole bunch of times in a row.
Do you think the rookie Little is there yet? Really? Do you know that this is why MoMass and Cribbs are/were catching more passes--because they're more accustomed to Pro defenses dirty tricks?
Can you please try to wrap your head around the fact that Little five games from now will be better than he is now?
In the absence of Peyton Hillis, defenses are stacking the box and sending five and six rushers. They do this not just to give McCoy hell, but to keep the back and Ben Watson inside and blocking, depriving him of two recievers. To keep Evan Moore off the field. And it's working out great-especially since the raw guards are screwing up blocks.
I never realized how much they would miss Eric Steinbach. Wow, what a difference he made!
So now I must re-iterate:
1: BEFORE: Vertical passing, inside running. NOW: West Coast short passing, inc. to backs.
2: BEFORE: Mangini. NOW: Shurmer.
3: BEFORE: Rob Ryan 3-4. NOW: Dick Jauron 4-3.
4: BEFORE: Can't remember. NOW: Tom Heckert.
5: Heckert/Holmgren SECOND SEASON.
6: McCoy SECOND SEASON.
7: Basicly rookie guards, revolving RT's, rookie X-reciever, Cribbs, and guys off the practice squad I mean grow up! Come on now!
What, do you think it's a gypsy curse or something that the QB will "NEVER" have any time to throw? Because he never has before, therefore young guys will never improve with experience, Heckert will never acquire better blockers, that the new regime will suddenly start duplicating people they never met except in passing?
Do you think it's like the staph problem at the Cleveland clinic--that there's an incompetance virus in the walls of the training facility that somehow destroys everybody's brain cells?
No. Sorry. It's 1-7 above. those are empirical, irrefutable facts. To deny them is, indeed, irrational.
My faith in McCoy isn't blind. He's been screwing up himself. A lot. However, I HAVE seen him play damn near perfect against elite defenses under pressure, so I have to give him a chance to work through it. Quinn was NEVER accurate, by the way. McCoy was a damn SNIPER, so don't even say they're the same. That's just idiotic.
Nor is my faith in Shurmer. However, sans Shurmer look at the Rams and Bradford. And then he's suffering from a profound abundance of rookies, injuries, and a current lack of talent while trying to institute a new and yes, complex scheme.
It's possible they won't ultimately succeed, but at least equally possible that they will, once people are healthy and experienced, and more players are added.
That's reality. Deal with it.
I believe that finally, at long last, Pat Shurmer has recognized him as a West Coast TAILBACK.
Cribbs doesn't have the "fast start" needed to hit the hole quickly, like most running backs do. This is probably why no coach has used him there. But this quick accelleration is all that he lacks to be a tailback in this offense. He can block, catch, break tackles, and score from anywhere, given a little space.
And he can throw. Given a dumpoff in the flats, when DB's and linebackers break out of coverage to stop him....
Now, I have to repeat this for my bro and nephew, who have declared that nothing will change for the Browns:
New Coach. New Personnel Director. New GM. New systems. Young players.
Randy Lerner doesn't interfere, so you're judging a bunch of new people unfairly, and that IS irrational.
Something else: Pro defenses are expert at decieving inexperienced recievers. You think "zone" and "man" coverage is it, but it's not. They show one thing pre-snap, then do another. The safety takes a step one way, then turns the other.
The quarterback can see this. It's hard for even him to read it correctly. For a wide reciever, it's harder to watch the whole secondary at once while running a pattern. It's a series of fleeting glimpses, through bodies running every which way. Based on that, there is only ONE of several patterns that is correct on any given play. The QB and reciever must read it the same, and the quarterback must trust the WR BEFORE he turns to look back to make the right move and get to the right spot.
The only way a QB can trust a reciever enough to throw that ball into empty space is after that reciver has made the correct move, without error, a whole bunch of times in a row.
Do you think the rookie Little is there yet? Really? Do you know that this is why MoMass and Cribbs are/were catching more passes--because they're more accustomed to Pro defenses dirty tricks?
Can you please try to wrap your head around the fact that Little five games from now will be better than he is now?
In the absence of Peyton Hillis, defenses are stacking the box and sending five and six rushers. They do this not just to give McCoy hell, but to keep the back and Ben Watson inside and blocking, depriving him of two recievers. To keep Evan Moore off the field. And it's working out great-especially since the raw guards are screwing up blocks.
I never realized how much they would miss Eric Steinbach. Wow, what a difference he made!
So now I must re-iterate:
1: BEFORE: Vertical passing, inside running. NOW: West Coast short passing, inc. to backs.
2: BEFORE: Mangini. NOW: Shurmer.
3: BEFORE: Rob Ryan 3-4. NOW: Dick Jauron 4-3.
4: BEFORE: Can't remember. NOW: Tom Heckert.
5: Heckert/Holmgren SECOND SEASON.
6: McCoy SECOND SEASON.
7: Basicly rookie guards, revolving RT's, rookie X-reciever, Cribbs, and guys off the practice squad I mean grow up! Come on now!
What, do you think it's a gypsy curse or something that the QB will "NEVER" have any time to throw? Because he never has before, therefore young guys will never improve with experience, Heckert will never acquire better blockers, that the new regime will suddenly start duplicating people they never met except in passing?
Do you think it's like the staph problem at the Cleveland clinic--that there's an incompetance virus in the walls of the training facility that somehow destroys everybody's brain cells?
No. Sorry. It's 1-7 above. those are empirical, irrefutable facts. To deny them is, indeed, irrational.
My faith in McCoy isn't blind. He's been screwing up himself. A lot. However, I HAVE seen him play damn near perfect against elite defenses under pressure, so I have to give him a chance to work through it. Quinn was NEVER accurate, by the way. McCoy was a damn SNIPER, so don't even say they're the same. That's just idiotic.
Nor is my faith in Shurmer. However, sans Shurmer look at the Rams and Bradford. And then he's suffering from a profound abundance of rookies, injuries, and a current lack of talent while trying to institute a new and yes, complex scheme.
It's possible they won't ultimately succeed, but at least equally possible that they will, once people are healthy and experienced, and more players are added.
That's reality. Deal with it.
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