Today I listened to Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller (NFL Radio) in Berea. Jim was genuinely excited by a lot of things he saw, and said "this team is loaded with talent".
Pat kept himself awake by ranting about Danny Shelton and Terrelle Pryor. He was otherwise subdued in the face of his partner's optimism.
Pat tried hard not to tick anybody off, but he blew it when he said "Is this a Ravens' defense that can get the ball back and save the offense? No."
Because the correct answer is yes. They've revamped the defensive line, might have the best secondary in football (top three for sure), and show great promise with the linebackers.
Gipson probably would have topped the league in interceptions if he hadn't been injured. Everybody had multiple interceptions, including the backups.
Pat will believe it when he sees it. Fair enough, I guess. They're not the Steelers, after all. But Pat said "No", rather than "maybe not" because he had his mind made up before he came here.
I heard Ray Farmer interviewed. Fortunately, he had obviously read my blog or texts or emails, because he said of Pryor: "If player x is a five, and player y is a six or even a seven--but you know that player x can become a seven or eight, then you have to think about what's best for the long term."
Pat was wide-awake when talking about Pryor's immense potential, and feels he has a good chance. (Not that it will matter since well...it's still just the Browns.)
For Pat, it's only partly his worship of the Steelers and probably the fact that Bernie Kosar knocked his team out of the playoffs. It's about the quarterback.
As he stated emphatically, this will be a good defense, but is it the Ravens haha? Chuh! So because of McCown, the offense will stall and the defense will rank low again because it will wear down.
Damn--this is an ex-GM talking here, and I can't figure it out. Farmer had just told him: "If you can force a defense to put that eighth man in the box, you make things really easy for your quarterback". And Pat himself is impressed by the offensive line and the running back stable.
He hammered on the tight ends. If you're going to run a quick-hitting short passing offense, you need that stud pass-catching tight end. And Pat said he didn't see one.
Because Housler isn't practicing with the first team yet. Barnidge and Dray were here last season, see?
Desir played with the ones over Gilbert because "he earned it". More experienced veterans played ahead of Erving and Orchard. They will get there. So will Housler. Pat thinks Dray and Barnidge are it!
Much was made of the intermix of wide receivers. Pettine himself said that balance mattered, and they wanted both the big guys and the little guys, because some defenses are built to stop one or the other.
And as usual, the defensive backs interviewed, when asked who was the hardest guy to cover, said it was Gabriel. Haden went further. He said most little guys are quick, but Gabriel is fast.
By the way, Jim Miller thinks McCown should do fine with the team surrounding him. Pat didn't say anything. Probably afraid he'd get empty plastic beerbottles thrown at him (oh, the humanity...)
After hearing Ray's comments, and reading those of Joker Phillips, I'm now confident that when the dust settles, Pryor will remain a Cleveland Brown. He is a five. He will become a ten.
Phillips kept repeating: He knows the offense, and what he's supposed to do already. Phillips is just teaching him the subtleties, nuances, and techniques required for him to excel at his specific position.
The mental part is already there, and so are the size, speed, and hands. He's been up-and down, according to Pettine: One play he executes perfectly, "like he's been doing it all his life", and the next he completely blows it.
But it's technique: He's supposed to take a step this way at the line, and steps that way instead and loses leverage--stuff like that. Joker is saying that his having played quarterback for DeFellipo has him understanding where he's supposed to go as well as any receiver on the roster. What Phillips is teaching him is how to beat the guy across from him, period.
If you want to bet against Pryor learning that quickly, I have some swampland in the Rockies available cheap.
Bright spot: Manziel looked really good in the shotgun. Pettine explained that they were just installing the spread stuff that uses it, and not trying to help Johnny. He's looked pretty bad from under center so far, but that's not over, ok?
Part of it is the fact that the defense is in it's second year, and Jim O'Neil isn't screwing around. They're installing Pettine's exotic blitzes and stunts, and it screwed the offensive line up badly at first. BOTH the quarterbacks got massacred.
Kirwan kinda laughed at that. The defense always starts out ahead of the offense. It's worse when the offensive system is new, and installing it's very foundation.
But there is hope, because the offense is already starting to get even.
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