First off, a few corrections:
1: Rationality must not be confused with bendoveritis. When your team looks like it's about to get screwed over by commissioner Dick Tater, it's not irrational to call that spade a spade.
More than a small fine and suspension for Textageddon is patently rediculous. It is rational to say so.
This matter was all internal, gaining the team no advantage. For that matter, this level of micromanagement by the league office is preposterous in the first place.
2: Danny Shelton is very slow. Gil Brandt and several other real pros I've heard from see him as a good NFL nose tackle--not worthy of a top 15 pick.
Phil Taylor is the forgotten man in all this. Taylor is as massive as Shelton, and much more athletic. He shouldn't be kicked to the curb due to his injuries, and any past lack of discipline is correctable.
It's true that the Browns sucked against the run after Taylor went down, but nose tackle is not a position of great need.
Ishmaa'ily Kitchen is listed as a DE, but is more of a nose tackle. The recent acquisition of Randy Starks, who takes great pride in stuffing the run, will help too.
John Hughes was just extended. He missed time to injury as well, and his main role is stopping the run.
The real net change here is Hughes and Taylor healthy, plus Randy Starks. Improvement against the run is already here, so there's no need to overdraft a ponderous nose tackle.
3: Edge rusher may not be as "desperate" a need as we'd thought. Unlike many others, I believe that Barkevious Mingo played most of last season hurt. He was used more in coverage, and not even "sent" after quarterbacks.
I absolutely love what Blunt Force Trauma said about using Armonty Bryant at OLB. It's hard to find a place for this guy as a down lineman in this kind of defense.
Bryant is ideally a 4-3 defensive end, but was just too talented for Mike Pettine to throw away when he came here.
Prior to his own draft, Armonty was worked out at OLB by a number of teams, and many (including me) thought he'd be used that way here in the first place. I'm still not sure why Ray Horton did that.
Pettine left it alone in his first season, as Bryant was still developing at the pro level, and can be used as a passrusher in any defense.
But with all the depth on this defensive line, including Desmond Bryant, Billy Winn, Starks, Hughes, Solomon, etc., Mike wants to find ways to get Armonty on the field more often, while also filling a real need.
I still don't know how the healthy, more experienced Mingo will look in his third season. His biggest problem could be his metabolism. Some guys (who the rest of us just hate) have a hard time getting bigger, and he is one of those.
But he's aging, and there's a good chance he'll come in at a cut-up, stronger 242 or something with all his speed intact, and accomplish something as a passrusher.
Between the bigger, stronger Armonty Bryant and him, one or both could go a long way towards counterbalancing Paul Kruger.
3: Stopping the run is not as important as rushing the passer. Statistics prove this. This is why the Browns defense last season ranked among the better ones in the league, despite being almost the very worst against the run.
As I keep repeating over and over again (to no effect), Pettine doesn't run a traditional 3-4 defense, and the need for a human fire hydrant nose tackle is overblown.
Ideally, you definitely want guys who can do that--like Kitchen and Taylor. But this is just one of the "looks" he uses, as it's just as often a 4-3.
Pettine's priority will remain pressure and penetration. This is why sometimes his linemen will two-gap, and other times they'll attack. He tries to mask their intentions prior to the snap, and send one-gappers from different spots.
A conventional 3-4 uses three down linemen to eat up blocks period.
Pettine is willing to risk cut-back runs and guards on linebackers in exchange for tackles for losses, forced fumbles, and rushed throws. By design, his defenses may never rank in the top 10 against the run.
But that's okay if they rank high in turnovers and scoring. That's what it's all about.
I'm seeing Marcus Mariota sliding down the draft boards, and can already see this coming if Farmer trades up to grab him:
He'll be burned in effigy for giving up more than he had to.
Look, most of the draft pundits were never General Managers, or even scouts. I follow Brandt, Kirwan, Mayock, and guys like that, and take most of the rest with a pound of salt.
Mariota is one of only two quarterbacks in this draft who project as franchise guys. It's possible Mariota could slide to the Jets, but doubtful. If Ray doesn't make a move, somebody else will.
This article by Jared Mueller on the possibility of the Raiders trading out of their third spot is a well-reasoned reason for optimism, should Marcus slide to that spot. This could only cost the Browns their second rounder and 12.
I'm not even predicting that Farmer will try it. He loved the guy prior to last year's draft, but his ardor may have cooled somewhat. In fact, the problems he's had with Johnny Selfie may have iced it.
Physically, there's no comparison between the two. Nor even psychologically. However, Mariota never had a playbook or took snaps from under center either.
There's no doubt at all that Mariota can do all the mechanical stuff easily. There's high confidence that unlike Johnny, he loves the game and will study hard. Nobody questions the guys intelligence.
But the information-processing part is something other than intelligence, and some guys are simply incapable of it. That's not even fixable, and it's a huge risk with a guy like this.
Ray is damned if he doesn't, and may be damned if he does. We'll see.
One mock draft saw the Browns trading away their second rounder to nab Kevin White. Chuh. I really like both Cooper and White, but can safely predict that Ray Farmer won't trade up for any wide reciever. Some guys just throw it against the wall and hope some of it sticks.
I kind of hope the league forces "Hard Knocks" on the Browns. Johnny will show up early and leave late. Mike Pettine would no doubt point out the cameras installed in the film room first.
I can kind of see part of an episode in week 3.
Scene: Mike Pettine's office. Johnny is sitting in front of Mike's desk.
Mike: So far so good, Johnny. But I'd like you to stop smiling at the cameras. Just try to forget they're there like everybody else, ok?
Johnny: Sorry.
Mike: Ok. Now, the IT guys brought me this. Yes, we see you in the film room and all, and the cameras don't see what you're watching, but IT does. This is a report they gave me on how you're killing time in there.
Looks like you're Grand Warrior Wizard Throg, and you've made some serious inroads into the Grog Empire...
Johnny: Uh--
Mike: We really need you to take this seriously, Johnny. Hey! (snaps fingers) I'm over here. Quit looking at the damn camera!
No comments:
Post a Comment