There was Ray Farmer, Had a Dawg...

...And Mingo was his name, oh em eye...

Ok sorry. By the way, Farmer didn't draft him, in case that matters to anyone but me.

Anyway, Mingo blows my semi-safety theory to hell by blowing himself up to 260 lbs.  He may still be used in coverage somewhat, but Ray Horton will clearly want him quarterback-hunting like the other guys.

I haven't figured this out yet.  Mingo has a very high metabolism, and I'd thought that, at least until he got older, he'd have a very hard time gaining or holding weight.

But now I remember: Mike Pettine wasn't concerned about his weight.  Maybe he wasn't really trying to get bigger.

Is this all muscle?  If it was anybody else, I'd bet on at least half of the additional twenty pounds being lard.  But this is the human blast furnace, Barky Mingo.  Even though he's a year older, I doubt that he's even able to get fat (don't you just hate him btw?)

He must have started on this shortly after the end of last season, before Ray Horton was even brought in.  You just can't gain that much mass that fast without steroids.

Clay Matthews was 235 coming out of college.  He retired at around 270, with the nickname "Conan"...And not just because of his hair.  But he gained a little each season.  Mingo just jumped from Clay's year two to year thirteen in one off-season.

Rappaport isn't La Canfora, so it's probably true: Mingo now weighs 260 lbs.

This could be big.  Recall an earlier blog, where I cited PFF giving Mingo positive grades in run defense, despite our perceptions as fans.

Per them, as best my enfeebled brain can recall, Mingo failed to develop third and fourth pass-rush moves (like change-up pitches) and rarely converted speed to power in a bull-rush.

(Fast passrusher steps outside or inside aggressively as blocker retreats to shrink his angles.  Blocker starts slide-step to mirror the move.  Passrusher's next step is into the blocker, with upward punch to pads before blocker's other foot can follow slide-step, jacking him upright and off-balance, driving forward and up to drive blocker back).

Mingo is only a little shorter than offensive tackles, and they outweighed him by seventy-plus pounds, so you can see how the bull-rush would be harder for him.

When an offensive lineman knows you can't bull rush him, he can focus more on what you do best.

The extra weight should give Mingo another dimension.  Even if it is half lard (which I doubt) mass is mass.  Lard moving with momentum still exerts force.  The bull-rush is all about leverage, inertia, and balance.

This could break Mingo out of his rut.

Nobody else seems to have paid any attention to this.  I guess that's because he's been stuffed in the "bust" box, and nothing can change that.

I assume that Mingo was careful not to undermine his flexibility or speed, and hope the majority of additional weight is in his lower body.

It will hinder him in coverage, because he'll have more inertia to overcome in stopping/starting and changing directions.

Well, we'll see.  It really is do-or-die time for Barky.  I'm rooting for him.

I now believe Steven Jones (Cowboys) will go after a quarterback.  Steven is smart like his father, but unlike his father was raised immersed in the NFL, and is a real pro.

Jerry predicting that his elderly banged up quarterback will play into his seventies was delusional, but probably also deceptive.  Even if Jerry really believes it, his son does not.

The good news is that Goff and Wentz are literally in a dead heat.  This makes it less likely that the Cowboys will trade up to number one to grab one of them.

Certainly, Steve might prefer one over the other, but both of them are now regarded by most football people as franchise types.  I'll bet you that the majority of them wouldn't give up a draft pick to choose one over the other.  

The danger for the Cowboys is that somebody would trade up to THREE to steal the quarterback the Browns don't get.  They might give up a lot less to move up just one slot instead of three.

Another possibility is Paxton Lynch.  Steve might even trade DOWN a little.  He has Tony Romo with a plate in his collar bone now.  With a little luck, Lynch marinates for a couple seasons.

But I'm getting into the weeds here.  I simply now believe that the Browns should have their pick of quarterbacks at two.

The 49ers draft seventh, and could make a move, but the Rams are just too low.  Both teams have other needs.  And like with the Cowboys, three is a more affordable target than one.

Yes, it's that close.  Goff is only twenty one, and his father is a burly guy.  He'll bulk up naturally, even without NFL strength training, and he was a shade slower than Wentz in the 40.

Both are natural throwers who "make it look easy".  Both are very smart, love football, and work hard.  Goff has the edge in anticipation and decision-making, Wentz in improvisation and scrambling.

Both fit any system, although Wentz could run a read-option while Goff would be better in a West Coast.  I mean it's like chocolate and vanilla.  Pick one.

The only way the Browns can miss this time is if they listen to some of you and don't draft a quarterback at two.