Joe Gilbert wrote an article on how the Browns current roster fits Hue Jackson's offense.
No offense to Joe, but the premise of the article is false. Hue runs whatever offense best suits the personnel he has.
Certainly, like most coordinators, he wants a strong running game, and will do everything he can to establish one. But beyond that, he makes the most of what he has.
Hue Jackson didn't draft AJ Green or Marvin Jones. He was happy to have them, and made good use of them. But first came the square peg. Then came the square hole.
Naturally, Hue wants bigger receivers. Everybody wants big receivers. But if he doesn't have big receivers, he alters the offense to suit smaller ones.
Hue's ideal offense no doubt requires a number one receiver. Bill Belichick would like to have a number one receiver too, but he hasn't had one since Randy Moss. Somehow, he scrapes by. So would Hue.
Let's go over the surviving playoff teams: I covered the Patriots. Okay, who is Carolina's number one? I guess you could say Denver has Demarius Thomas, but who is Aaron Rodgers' stud? Baldwin is terrific. I guess if Brown is the Steelers' number one, he's Seattle's. But neither guy fits the profile: They're not big. They're helped a lot by the timing and accuracy of their quarterbacks, and a running game that gives them room.
Who is Cam Newton's number one? His tight end.
Kansas City doesn't have a true number one. Denver has one, and Arizona. They are desirable, rare, and not critical. A bunch of playoff games and Superbowls have been won without them.
Joe has the brains to acknowledge Terrelle Pryor and Josh Gordon, but he seems to think Pryor will take years to master this abstractly complex science of running and catching. He says we can't count on Josh Gordon being allowed to come back.
It's been a year. It was drinks on a plane after the season had ended. Of course he'll be back. I mean wow. Just wow. Not even King Roger could be such an ass as to refuse his reinstatement.
Joe says Hue runs a man blocking scheme with pulling and trapping. He has in the past, but he's not married to it. Joe expects the athletic linemen to be happy about this.
Actually, athletic offensive linemen are better suited to zone-blocking. They tend to be less reliable as bulldozers. They're better in motion and in space. They can indeed trap and pull, but the staple of man-blocking is brute force.
He's trying to hire Kirby as a running game coordinator, and an offensive line coach will follow. I doubt that Hue will dictate any particular run-blocking scheme to them, and at any rate will run whatever scheme best suits his blockers and running backs.
Crowell, to my own confusion and disappointment, isn't a power back. He's a one-cut zone back. Hue isn't going to kick him to the curb, so...?
But Joe is right about the linemen being happy about running the ball. Hitting the other guy is way more fun than getting hit.
But DeFelipo and Pettine wanted to run the ball too. They just couldn't. I think that these new coaches will make it work, but Joe needs to understand that last year's pass-heavy offense was by necessity, not design.
Hue Jackson has indeed decided not to hire an offensive coordinator. He hasn't shed light on whether he'll have a "Passing game coordinator" yet, but my readers and I are the only people in Cleveland who aren't surprised by this.
Mary Kay Cabbot thinks he's taking a big risk. I do not comprehend. He's hiring a defensive coordinator. He's trying to hire a guy to run the whole ground game. He's going to design the passing offense and call plays.
He's not going to micromanage personnel, negotiate contracts, or anything else, so where's the risk?
Anyway, Joe and Mary Kay stand corrected.
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