CBS Sports in general is pretty good on the lowly Browns, but Ryan Wilson wrote a truly objective and well-researched article on the Browns.
What went right, what went wrong, why, and what they need.
I forgive him for considering Gramps Boldin as a wide reciever. It's obviously a common malady among all sports guys except me to want to sign geezers. "But he'd be cheap! Just for one year!"
Every time the Browns sign an old guy, they're just in time to watch him fall right into his wheelchair. That's especially true when they get him from Bill Belichick.
Ryan is one smart cookie, with actual opinions. One was that the Browns might be better served finding a running back on day two of the draft than overpaying a guy like Ben Tate. AMEN, BROTHER!
See last post.
I admit I don't check out http://www.footballoutsiders.com/ enough, but Ryan Wilson does, and caught me in sheep-mode. Like everybody else, I was babbling about Mitchell Schwartz being a bad right tackle. WRONG. Schwartze finished with a positive grade.
That's positive overall, meaning that he was so good later in the season that he more than made up for the bad performances he had earlier; that by the end of only his second season he became a pretty damn good right tackle.
I'm really embarrassed that for so long I've sounded as dumb as most fans.
This changes things a lot. While the new rookie salary cap does open the door to the Browns drafting a left tackle and putting him at right tackle, right tackle is not, in reality, a position of need as all us Memorex Morons thought he was. (Memorex Moron: You see a guy play badly, make up your mind that he sucks, and nothing he does later changes your opinion. And yes, I was one. For the first time. Apologies to Mister Schwartze.)
Zone blocking teams can go with a conventional right tackle, by the way.
I'm glad. Now they can focus on finding athletic guards. I sure hope they can retain Mack, but it might come down to Mack not being after every last dime like most players are. Somewhere among 32 teams there's a Phil Savage who will overpay him.
Garrett Gilkey could be one of the guards they're looking for. He played baseball and basketball too, showed some agility at the combine, and at Chadron State played left tackle.
He's 6'6", which is tall for a guard. He wasn't considered a good tackle prospect because his arms are short. While still a factor, this isn't as much a problem at guard, because interior defensive linemen are usually not as tall as DE's, and there's less space to cover.
I'm kind of rooting for him because he looks like a Viking, was bullied as a kid, and is highly intelligent. He insists he doesn't use the bullying as motivation to kick ass, but I know better. I'll tell you about it someday.
Anyway, his speed is about average for a guard, but he changes directions well, and if he can stay low and not lunge he could fit Shanahan's scheme.
Ryan did make a minor mistake, though. Right before he mentioned Jordon Cameron, he said that Josh Gordon was the only playmaker. The offense Pettine and Shanahan inherit features two elite recievers--not one.
Yes, they need somebody better than Greg Little. But as for the slot guy, I think that between Cooper and Benjamin that might be covered.
The Turner offense didn't have much room for a Josh Cooper type, but Shanahan will like him a lot.
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