Hoyer-hater Pat Kirwan on NFL Radio was bored by the Browns and just couldn't wait to get on to LaTrobe PA to check out a real team. But now that he's had his chance to rant and rave about the perpetually awesome Steelers, he and Jim Miller went to Detroit.
This time his keen, knowlegable mind was functioning, and he had actually studied the Lions--almost as much as he studies the Steelers annually. This time, he was in-ter-es-ted.
This is the good Pat, and he and Jim Miller (who is always objective and fair btw) enlightened me a lot about the Lions personnel and most likely systems.
The Lions' tight end corps is like the Browns defensive line--they're up to their eyeballs in athletic, pass-catching tight ends. The new wide reciever opposite Megatron is now Golden Tate, who excels at run-after-catch yardage and is the ideal number two reciever. They've also got Reggie Bush in the backfield.
This offense piloted by Matthew Stafford could be a juggernaut, and right through the second and third strings will present an excellent test for the Browns new defense.
But the way Pat and Jim described how new head coach Jim Caldwell might use these guys struck me:
They could well use a lot of THREE tight end formations (with Bush and two wide recievers)--like San Fransisco does. They most certainly will in the red zone. Fauria is 6'7", 267!!!
Pettrigrew (6'5", 275) is the most likely in-line blocker, but even he is a dangerous reciever who can split out wide. Stafford has to be grinning ear-to-ear about this crew, because he can hardly miss with any of them.
This offensive set could easily break the huddle and turn into, basicly, a five-wide, and Bush is quite capable of lining up on or near the line of scrimmage as an undisguised reciever.
Or, it could keep Pettigrew and another tight end next to the tackles for a max-protect look while still sending Tate, Johnson, and a fast, athletic tight end outside. This is scary stuff, boys and girls!
This formation overmatches most NFL defenses. Jim Miller said that they'd have to run a big nickel (the fifth DB an extra-good coverage linebacker or strong safety) or 4-4 (with two of the linebackers specializing in coverage, and one of them maybe really being a strong safety).
This made me think about the Browns, and I realized that the Browns defense is better equipped than most to meet this threat.
This is partly because, as (so far) I and only I seem to realize, Mingo can and will cover. Mingo would most likely line up over Fauria the skyscraper, wherever he set up.
The Browns also added Christian Kirksey in the draft. He is 6'2", and so good in coverage that in college he sometimes covered wide recievers. Gilbert is 6', and Desir is 6'1".
The Browns most likely personnel grouping vs this 3-tight end set would include these four guys, including Desir.
I'm not sure what they'd call it, and it doesn't matter anyway. Technically, Desir is the substitute player, so it's a nickel. The other six guys would include two linebackers in Mingo and Kirksey, and I believe that (in this case, due to that damn Reggie Bush and his own underrated ability in coverage), Gramps Dansby would have to work overtime.
With a number of the potential down linemen, including Sheard, either Bryant, or Kruger, zone-blitzes could work from any point.
Did Ray Farmer look at San Fransisco and Detroit and see this new (3-TE) trend emerging before the draft? Is this why he went out of his way to get Kirksey and Desir? Could be! At any rate, while NO defense can really shut a crew like this down consistantly, the Cleveland Browns might be right there with the Seahawks in this regard--thanks to Ray.
Just for fun, the Browns own situation could well force them to run extra tight ends. They have Cameron, and then the underrated MarQueis Gray, so that two tight ends could line up wide. The other guys are conventional tight ends who block well and don't get enough credit for being decent recievers as well (they can move the chains but can't do much more).
The Lions might have the best 4-man defensive line in the NFL, and will be a great test for the Browns' blockers.
I can't wait to see Jacobbi McDaniel in action! At 6' tall, he's not a good DE candidate. He's quite small for a nose tackle, but uses his leverage advantage exceedingly well, and this is more of an attacking defense than many, so he could well fit in there, as well as at 4-3 defensive tackle.
Willie Snead is listed way down the WR depth chart, but has a real shot at not just making the team, but playing a lot. He's been compared to Josh Cooper, but Brian Brennan might be more accurate. Snead is bigger and faster--though still smallish by today's standards--but he gets separation and drops nothing.
Nor is he as lilipution as many of the other recievers. He has adequate height and strength to play outside as well as inside.
But Charles Johnson is the guy with Gordanian upside--a big play waiting to happen. Both these guys should get liberal chances in this first game.
By the way, the depth chart is deceptive. Pettine obviously slanted it towards the veterans, and I think Greco at right guard might also be about continuity. It could get messy if both guards were inexperienced. After Joe Thomas's comments including Greco as one of the fast, athletic guys, I have to say I might have been selling the guy short in that area.
(Unlike most online blabberers, I don't second-guess guys like Joe Thomas or Kyle Shanahan.) In fairness to me, the beat writers felt the fact that Greco had lost 25 lbs was too unimportant to mention...
Anyway, McDaniels is short and was injured, so he dropped off the radar--except for Ray. He's healthy now, and some short guys can kick ass, and right now it looks like Ray found him a gem.
If he makes the team (and my money is on that), Rubin, who makes a lot of money or Hughes, who is overrated, could be the odd man out.
Look, I don't hate Hughes. He's good against the run and could be in many 4-3 rotations. It's just that he's not a 3-4 defensive end, and McDaniels is probably better than him at DT or NT. At lot of you are selling Billy Winn short and overrating Hughes based purely on where they were drafted.
Manziel should be getting most of the snaps. Because Detroit should run a fairly vanilla offense and cornerback isn't their strong suit, he might kick butt. Good for him, but it would be sad in a way. Too many Manzielmaniacs won't know or care how far down the depth chart opposing players are, or how obvious the passrush and coverage will be.
I don't look forward to monday morning quarterbacks declaring that Johnny Selfie has moved into the lead based on a glorified scrimmage.
The guys who can really prove something (or not) are the guys in coverage and recievers, and the guys in the trenches who win or lose one-on-ones. For quarterbacks, this first game means the least, and should have the least impact. Nobody's trying to outsmart them, or sending extra people after them.
Billy Winn: Probably THE most underrated player on this roster.
Stay tuned.
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