The Browns' Peanut Gallery

It's better for some people to remain silent, and be suspected of dumbassitude, than to post stuff and confirm it.

Once again, Greg Little caught almost everything thrown to him after game five last season, and the other guys, while not perfect, were pretty sure-handed as well.  All of them dropped fewer than ten percent of the passes thrown to them.

Every time the subject of Weeden and the quarterbacks comes up, people talk about how the whole offense will depend on how well Weeden performs.  I won't belabor the fact that Jason Campbell in his last stint as a starter did a great job, getting a bad team into playoff contention, and how utterly ignorant it is to ignore that.

Anyway it's true.  If everything else is great but the quarterback is mediocre, it's gonna be a long season.  Now that I'm done restating the obvious for the millionth time, I'll zero in on that one clown that keeps showing up in the comments talking about how no quarterback can be good if his recievers drop the ball.

Will you just shut up, please?

As I posted earlier, Weeden held the ball, refusing to throw to open recievers.  He had poor footwork when he moved, and was inaccurate at these times.  He otherwise showed some good stuff, and the surprise would be if he isn't a whole lot better in his second season with better coaches in a friendlier system with more experienced recievers DUH.

Speaking of Gordon and the others, I now have decided to like the Devone Bess move a whole lot.  Between him and Danny Amendola, it's no contest.  For once the Browns out-Belichicked Bill.

While in reality there isn't much he can teach second and third year recievers, he should influence them to try to match him catching the ball.  A sure-handed guy like this sets a standard for the other guys.  None of them will want to look Bess in the eye after a drop.

Maybe he'll stand there and shake his head at them.  "Ooo, you're so big and fast--look at those oven mitts you've got growing out of your wrists!  I sure wish I had big hands like that!  Then maybe I could catch as well as you!"

This guy is probably the most important offensive upgrade of the off-season.  Fans tend to get fixated on the big plays, but the game is about first downs.  On most pass plays, Gordon or Little will be the primary reciever; sometimes Cameron.  If the QB has some time, he can check down twice, or even three times.  But if he doesn't, he can immediately look for Bess.

Ok sorry--everybody knows that--sort of.  But not in detail:

In this offense, the two bigger outside recievers will almost always run deep, even against umbrella coverage.  They'll break it off into a slant or cross underneath that, but not until they've run vertically for at least 8-12 yards.

This takes the top two corners downfield, and keeps them outside.

The tight end in this scheme will usually remain between the hashmarks, but he, too, will run more or less vertically for at least eight yards before making any moves.  Often he won't even make a hard cut, but will just keep going even if there's a guy right with him.

Some teams will try to cover him with a small linebacker, or a big safety, but he'll have a size and reach advantage on any of them, and an accurate pass with the right touch is unstoppable.  (Except they can still try to knock or pry it loose, of course--or to get away with interference). 

Anyway, the 2.5-headed deep threat makes keeping a coverage safety deep almost mandatory, so that four of the quickest/fastest defenders are over ten yards downfield, and moving away from scrimmage--about two seconds after the snap.

The best way for any defense to stop this attack is to get to the quarterback fast and often. Against this Browns' offensive line, that means sending at least five guys--and that generally won't be enough, because their best passrusher must more often than not try to get by Joe Thomas.

Also, because TRich is such a dangerous run/catch reciever that they probably need to send a sixth guy just to force him to block instead.

This leaves one cornerback on Devone Bess.

The outside cornerbacks can use the sidelines as help in man, getting inside leverage and trying to prevent an inside cut.  The recievers have limited space to the outside, and a quarterback in the pocket now has to throw "through" the defender to get it to him, and to be a lot more accurate.

But the slot corner can't do that.  The slot reciever always has a two-way "go", and could go anyhere.  It's almost impossible to jam him, because he can simply go the other way and lose you.  Most slot corners try to stay close, but backed off a little to keep the reciever in front of him, and try to track the quarterback's eyes to anticipate a throw.

Because of this, the slot guy is always open.  Because he remains near the line of scrimmage, the ball can get to him in a hurry and before the cornerback can put on a burst and try to stop it.

In other offenses, there is some help for the slot cornerback, as offenses seek to flood zones, run picks, cross underneath, etc.  Other guys can peel off their recievers and at least stop the slot guy after a catch; one less passrusher means one more cover guy, too.

In this offense, Bess should get more YAC yards than he did in Miami, because the underneath zones will be cleared and the balance of the defense will be chasing Weeden.

Now, here's another thing for some clowns to shut up about: Fullback.  I said it weeks ago, and in a recent interview with Norv Turner, he pretty much confirmed it: It's NOT MANDATORY.  So quit bashing the front office for not (neccessarily) getting one!  Or do you now know Turner's system better than Turner does?

Norv basically yawned and sighed.  Well, there are some guys we can use like that sometimes, some H-back types, and the tight ends can run around some too (yawn) next question?

He didn't say this either, but I will: The most likely reason they re-signed Brandon Jackson to an already crowded backfield is that they don't intend to use a true fullback.  A two-back will be a two-back, and one back will sometimes block for another.

I repeat: Earnest Byner was not a big guy.  

You've got to understand that for once the Browns have three coaches who are creative and adaptable.  You keep trying to stuff them into boxes, and they'll Keep escaping and confusing you.  That's the idea.  They like confusing other coaches, too.

In an earlier post, I guessed at what Ray Horton had in mind for Mingo.  That will surprise you too, despite the fact that he said he wants his eleven best players on the field as much as possible.  And you still can't fathom that this could include Sheard, Kruger and Mingo sometimes.

No, because outside linebackers are incapable of rushing between the tackles, or something, right?  You got your outside linebacker box and your inside linebacker box...then there's your coverage linebacker box...and you stick each player in one of the boxes and seal it up with tape.

Then Horton will take the box-cutters, and he lets them out.

I'm telling you right now, you will see Mingo in tight ends' faces, running around with them.   You'll see Kruger next to Jackson.  You'll see them all over the place.

And you won't see any boxes.

And Bademosi is not trying to be a backup.  He could beat out Gipson.  And I don't care--between the two, I think we'll have a decent free safety.

Remember, When you ass ume, you make an ass of yourself (feel free to use that) YOU STAND CORRECTED.