Joe Gilbert is one of my favorite sources, and knows more about football than I do. But after reading this analyisis of the Browns' running back situation, for the first time I have to disagree.
What he said about Duke Johnson was pretty accurate, except it didn't seem to me that he danced around any more than necessary.
This dovetails into his comments about Isaiah Crowell. Joe thought he failed to see running lanes. I, too, failed to see running lanes. That's because there weren't any.
I'm sure that over the course of all their carries, Joe indeed saw some incidents to prompt his criticisms of both players. I simply contend that there weren't that many of them.
As I've repeated a thousand times, the Browns didn't have big receivers to help in blocking. Doug Dieken questioned changes to the blocking scheme, which produced far better results under Kyle Shanahan. I myself complained loud and long at the predictability of running only to the weak side for most of the season.
Joe himself acknowledged the improvements in the running game (especially Crowell) during the last quarter of the season. I want to point out that they were now running to both sides of the field (coincidence? I think not).
Joe suggested getting the ball to Duke more. Ok.
He suggested sticking to the run more. Wrong. Well okay, as Hue knows better than most, you really need to establish the run and have a balanced attack. So I guess Joe isn't wrong.
What's wrong is that the Vikings can't keep handing off to Adrian Peterson when they're two touchdowns behind with eight minutes left, and it's bad math to hand off on second or third and eight at any time.
I defer to Joe in matters x and o, but not on statistics. Joe cited season-long statistics to illustrate the Browns inefficiency running the ball in the same article in which he cited the late season improvement.
The most effective predictor of the future are those four most recent games. Neither running back improved during that span. The playcalling and the blocking did.
And now that I've checked it out some more, Terrelle Pryor's blocking helped more than a little.
Joe doesn't hate Crowell, but feels he's too inconsistent. I contend that Crowell is very consistent at running through holes, and also at getting stopped by human walls. Joe thinks the Browns could use a bell cow running back. I contend they have one.
But Joe is really smart, and I've learned a lot from him. Anybody who wants to learn about football should check him out on WFNY.
I don't include links to really bad articles (you're welcome), but I just read a top 100 dumbest (trust me that's really high).
The article, which shall remain shameless, discussed what the Browns might do about quarterback. It wasn't really stupid. Just thoughtless.
Even mentioning Sam Bradford's name in this context is dumb, but listing him as a viable option is worse. Bradford is a good quarterback who is getting old and is injured more often than not. He collected tens of millions of dollars for hanging around for most of his career, refusing to renegotiate his massively overinflated contract for the sake of his team mates and team. He refused to even consider coming to Cleveland. His agent recently said he expects to get paid TWENTY FOUR MILLION A YEAR by his next team.
The article then lists Brock Osweiler. Now I'd love that myself. That is a really good quarterback.
The writer thinks it all depends on Peyton Manning. If Manning decides not to retire, then John Elway will get rid of Brock.
A Superbowl team with an ancient, banged up quarterback will get rid of his heir apparent? This is so dumb on so many levels: Even if Elway is the poster boy for the concussion protocol what would he then need most?
A quarterback. Jeez...
The article lists Kirk Cousins. I like Cousins too, but so do the REDSKINS.
Colin Kaepernick. After all, Hue Jackson wanted to draft him once.
Who just took over the Niners? Chip Kelly. What kind of quarterback makes his read-option system viable in the NFL (theme from "Jeapordy" playing...).
Robert Griffin III. That one isn't really dumb. The book on this guy shouldn't be closed yet. All the same, it's a long shot. He's had his chances, and can't overcome all of his limitations.
Smith, Glennon, Sanchez and Mettenberger? Of all these guys, Glennon is actually the most interesting. He has quietly become a pretty good quarterback (83.-something rating). But he's under 58% completions and best as a vertical passer; not a good fit.
The writer shows a glimmer of intelligence by suggesting that Goff would be the best draft option, then extinguishes it by saying he read somewhere that the Browns like Wentz better.
Well, Goff wasn't at the Senior Bowl.
The article concludes that since drafting a quarterback not named Luck that high is risky, the Browns might take the safer route with one of the aforementioned veteran options.
Jeez. Aside from Osweiler, none of these guys (except conceivably RG3) can be a franchise quarterback. The Browns will NOT draft in this rarified air again for the foreseeable future.
How can they not draft a guy with that potential? Know what poker players call guys like this writer? ATMs.
Rang lists Goff tenth overall and Wentz fifteenth. I guess that means the Browns need to trade down to tenth or fifteenth and then draft one of them, right?
Wow.
A couple more draft targets: ILB Kentrell Brothers led college football in tackles and did well during Senior Bowl week. He's not a great athlete but has great instincts. He's 6'1", 245. A couple interceptions and 14 tackles for losses. He's a complete linebacker, not unlike DQwell Jackson, except he's a little bigger. He can stack and shed.
The knock on him is that he has short arms, which I find amusing. They say that because of his short arms, he sometimes needs help tackling.......
He's projected to go in the second round, but with such a severe handicap (snicker) he could slide to the third.
Leland Miller is a 6', 180 lb. press/man cornerback who Ray Horton would want because he's very willing and able to tackle running backs. He also did well at the Senior Bowl, and could well last well into the fourth round.
He needs to get bigger, of course, but doesn't need a lot of refinement; could be a fifth cornerback right away, and a special teamer. They say he gets too aggressive at times, but other than that and his weight, I can't find anything wrong with him. I guess there's just a lot of cornerbacks in this draft, and nobody wants to wait for a guy to gain ten lousy pounds.
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