1: The Browns don't need just any tight end. They need a "move" tight end who can do at least some of the things that Sunbelt Cameron did. They have blocking tight ends, and I sincerely doubt that Ray Farmer will burn a first or even second-day pick on this position.
Quietly, secretly, undercover, one tight end (with great film on him by the way), accomplished this on his pro day:
He was 5th in height, 16th in weight (247). (Wow he's a shrimp! Sure we're not talking about a cornerback here?)
10th in the bench press (17). How can he man-block defensive ends like that?
40: THIRD. Vertical jump: Sixth. Broad jump: SECOND. THREE CONE!: SECOND. TWENTY YARD SHUTTLE: FIRST. SIXTY YARD SHUTTLE: SECOND.
Tyler Croft is a guy I told you about several blogs ago. The reason I stressed the latter drills is because they are the ones that matter for a move tight end. They indicate explosiveness; an ability to make hard cuts and accelerate out of breaks to gain separation.
Incredibly, I seem to be the only guy who is aware of this guy's existence, which is fine with me, since it means that Ray could land him late on day 2, or on day three.
2: The perception that the Browns last season wanted to replace Mitchell Schwartze and move him to guard in a zone-blocking scheme originated out here. That is, some guy like me speculated that this might be the case.
A bunch of other people picked up that ball and ran with it, repeating it as fact. This is how propaganda works, by the way. This is how the entrenched politicians control the thoughts of everybody who doesn't pay attention or THINK.
Pettine denied it. So did Shanahan. "I don't know where that came from". But it was too late. Everybody thought they knew better, and these guys were lying to mask their intentions.
It persists in the mock drafts to date, as a bunch of mock-drafters have the Browns drafting big offensive tackles in the first round.
I can't say that they won't, since Joe Thomas can't play forever, Schwartze isn't a great player, and several of these guys could move to guard themselves.
But the guys they're picking are almost random, without a view to the zone and trap-blocking type of scheme the Browns intend to run. Some of these guys would do okay with this scheme, but they're mostly power-players not ideally suited to THIS S C H E M E DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
This is why in the same blog I linked in above, I listed Cameron Erving as a potential offensive line target for the Browns. Erving has played WELL at left tackle and center (after playing WELL as a defensive lineman). He could START at any position (except left tackle--for now).
Erving is an ideal fit for THIS SCHEME, as he's a superior athlete with speed, quickness, and balance.
In one laughable report, a local writer thought he'd slide out of the first round because he wore cut-offs to his pro day. I want to believe that, but can't.
If the Browns retain their 19th pick, Ray Farmer will be considering him...possibly after a trade-down (sorry Tony).
3: Dwayne Bowe was not overpaid. He's making less than half of what the better recievers are making. If he catches 65 passes for 800 yards, he's a bargain. And he should, even if McCown is the man.
4: Unless Ray Farmer fell on his head recently, it never even occurred to him to trade both first round picks for Sam Bradford so that Chip Kelly could use those picks to draft Marcus Mariota.
Granted, Bradford--once he's healed again (this time)--is an experienced veteran ready to hit the ground running. Mariota is a project and a risk.
...who has no injury history, and would be signed for a lot less money for five years, and wouldn't blow out of here the instant his contract expires at the end of 2015.
5: Drafting a quarterback high in the first round can't set a franchise back that much if he fails. The reason it did prior to the latest player's contract is the fact that they were massively overpaid, and ate up a big part of a team's salary cap. (Sam Bradford is the most recent example, by the way.)
6: Mariota need not neccessarily spend his whole rookie season on the bench. As Phil Savage keeps repeating, and Rob Chudzinski showed us with his management of the raw rookie Cam Newton, an offense can be tailored to the player's existing skills.
The Browns' target offense is a (more traditional form of) the West Coast offense, and I don't believe the Browns will want to scrap it entirely.
But some keys are the fact that there's no problem running shotgun and pistol formations, and incorporating some roll-outs need not throw the base system out the window either. Some pundits make this sound like rocket science, but it's not.
The pistol is a key component of Chip Kelly's read-option offense, but works almost as well as under center for play-action and inside runs, since the backs flank or line up behind the quarterback.
In point of fact, the read-option is just play-action on steroids.
More recently, Cam Newton has declined a little, as they couldn't leave that offense as it was, and like all Pro Quarterbacks, Cam did have to adapt. But he's still pretty damn good, aint he?
The plan here would be to start the season with McCown, and have Manziel and Mariota developing. More shotguns and pistols could be run by McCown as well as by them, sans the running component.
The critical thing for both young quarterbacks would be the timing aspect of the offense, and throwing before a reciever breaks. And, of course, not getting outsmarted or unnerved by insideously diabolical safeties and defensive coordinators.
After 10 games or so, one or both younger guys could step in and take a shot with only a somewhat modified playbook. The recievers run the same patterns, the linemen block the same, the backs run the same, see?
By the way, with all due respect to Andrea Hangst, both of the new wide recievers are ideal fits for a West Coast offense.
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