Some Stuff Ray Farmer Knew that We Didn't

WR Vince Mayle didn't drop passes at the Senior Bowl.  He didn't put on a great show, but didn't hurt himself either.

I used that link because, in a separate column on the right side of the page, is a commentary by Bob Rang:

Mayle injured his right thumb during the Senior Bowl, and had it in a cast during the combine.  Because of this, he reversed his starting stance for the 40-yard dash.  Rang believes this hurt his clock-time.

Certainly, Mayle was a deep threat in college.  Scouts go over those tapes with a fine-tooth comb, and they know how fast the defensive backs he's blowing by and running away from are.  They know how fast he actually plays--and Mayle is fast.

Pett and Farmer clearly paid a lot of attention to the Senior Bowl this year, as they've collected several of those players.

If Mayle doesn't drop passes, he should actually contribute this season, and could well become a starter in time.

No link here, but I read another article asserting that Johnny Manziel should start game one.  I don't know where some sites get these writers.

The guy says Johnny can't learn anything on the bench.  He's wrong.  And he doesn't seem to care if this guy, who came from a sandlot offense, is ready or not--just throw him in there.

He doesn't seem to care whether or not McCown gives the team the best chance to win.  By inference, this guy already sees 2015 as a lost season for the Browns.

We don't watch him practice.  We're not there when McCown (as he is known to do) ropes him in and drags him into the film room on tuesday for some lessons.  We have no idea if he can even make a second--let alone third read yet, or throw before the wide reciever breaks.

Manziel has yet to prove all of that, and shouldn't be forced to start until he's good and ready.

Rich Gannon (NFL Radio) offered a lot of insight into the whole Hoyer vs. McCown thing.  First of all, I love Brian too, but he sucked like a turbocharged Kirby for the whole second half of the season.

Mike Pettine didn't cave into pressure when he started Manziel.  He was desperate.

Brian (or you or I in the same situation) couldn't be expected to help a younger quarterback learn the ropes.  Brian to date has about one season's worth of starting experience himself.  He's in his prime, and sees himself as an ascending starter.

He's still figuring some of this stuff out for himself, fighting for his future--and he's supposed to take time off to help a kid take his job?

Brian Hoyer is a good guy, but at this stage of his career, he's no mentor.

McCown has been there/done that.  He knows he's old, and accepts that he's sort of doomed.  He's a sincere christian, and loves to help younger players.  Gannon said everywhere he's been, everybody says he's the most selfless player there is.  He sort of adopts younger guys, and treats them like he would his own son.

That's right.  You're going to take my job someday.  I look forward to seeing you grow and be better than I was.  No kidding--this guy is really like that!  And that's the main reason he is here, and Brian Hoyer is not.

Xavier Cooper looks to be setting up on the right guard's outside shoulder more than anything else in both 3-4 and 4-3 sets.  He's got a great punch, and excels at engaging and shedding blocks in a two-gap.

He has the wheels to drop into coverage on a zone-blitze.

I learned a little more about the 3-4 today:

Sometimes, One, two, or all three linemen will rush instead of play two-gap.  When it's all three, all three will attack the gaps to their left.  The RDE will cross the left tackle's face, the nose will go between center and right guard, and the LDE will go between guard and tackle.

That can really mess up an offensive line.  The left guard is supposed to be double-teaming the nose tackle, but suddenly he's gone (being chased by the center).  The left tackle expects a fistfight, and there goes his guy running to the inside, and he has to chase him, too.

The left guard, of he reads it quick, can lunge to his left to try to reroute the right DE, but the guy often has a step on him and he has no angle--especially since he (the guard) probably stepped toward the missing nose tackle at the snap anyway.

Cooper, over the right guard, would be great at this.  The way he plays, he'd set it up with a hard punch, just like when he two-gaps, but then instead of fighting with the guard and reading the play, he's in the gap.

This guy overmatches even athletic guards--he's too quick.  He doesn't have to explode out of his stance to get by him.  He can punch--coming almost to a dead stop--and then dart away.  The guard, once stationary, simply can't stay in his way.  His only hope is a fistful of jersey and a referee not looking.

For that matter, that's what Cooper does when he two-gaps anyway.  Jolts the guard, keeps his hands inside (he has short arms but has turned them into an advantage), and as soon as he knows what's happening, separates and accelerates past the blocker.

Cooper isn't perfect by any means, but he'll make a lot of plays out of the gate.  The writer who "graded" that pick a c-minus doesn't know what he's talking about: this guy is special.

This article on "backfield by committee" is pretty good.  In it, Mike Pettine talks about matchups from week-to-week, which I'd forgotten about.

Now he'll have Crowell, Johnson, and West, and he'll use one more than the other two vs. a given defense depending on which will be most effective.

Some of Crowell's scouting reports were pretty bad, as they didn't describe a physical runner at all.  He was called by some the best pure runner in his draft class, however.  As West was described by some as the best running back, period.

I think Crowell is better, and will pull ahead.  Nor do I see a marked contrast between the two--they're similar to eachother.  Crowell, to me, just looks a little stronger, and like he accelerates faster.

Johnson makes the big plays, though.  It's a beautiful mix.  I didn't think this backfield could get much better, but it sure did.