Thanks to this article, I am reminded of Terrell Watson, who was acquired by the Browns after he was kicked to the curb by the Ben Gals.
I was the only one in Cleveland--nay, on Earth, who noticed.
That's because Watson is a fairly limited running back. He's a big bruiser (6'1", 236 at his 2015 combine), but he clocked 4.55, isn't a quick-twitch guy, played Division II, and was pretty much a tackle-breaking inside runner who won't make any big plays.
For those of you who are desperate to replace that bumb Isaiah Crowell, Crowell isn't a bumb and you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
When the Browns signed him, I immediately blogged about it: As a running back, this is a fill-in, goal line guy. Everybody can learn to catch passes, and we can expect that he will have improved in this and probably as a pass-blocker, but that's not why he might be a sleeper:
As a blocking fullback, Terrell has exceptional speed and good height/reach. And this might be exactly what Hue Jackson has in mind for him.
Mike Pettine and company fished around for a blocking fullback in the draft, but have been disappointed so far. It's too soon to throw dirt on guys who were rookies last season DO YOU U N D E R S T A N D?, but running backs converted to fullbacks tend to work out better than short tight ends.
Watson's ability as a runner shouldn't be minimized, nor should his potential as an outlet receiver. He could add much to the offense on the goal line, whether he gets the ball or not.
A guy like this doesn't have a second gear and can't make a 4-3 linebacker or a safety miss...But he can turn a lot of these guys into ankle-biters because head-on collisions are out of the question.
Watson won't set the world on fire, but you need to understand this: In between Pro Bowlers and bombs are some average and above average players, and Watson is one of these.
The reason he was mentioned in the fantasy sleeper article was the fact that if he touches the ball five times in a game, three of those touches will probably come inside the five yard line. See how this works?
Ibraheim Campbell is another of my personal oldies but goodies. Since nobody seems to hear me, I feel free to repeat myself. He was used extensively in coverage (in center field) in his Senior Bowl and ruined every quarterback's day with deflections and interceptions. He did it every day, all week.
He is in the box labelled "box safety", but has already proven that this is bullcrap. Not only at the Senior Bowl, but in his limited rookie reps as a Brown in Pettine's sometimes inexplicable and counter-intuitive over thinking Rubics Cube defense.
Campbell isn't a sleeper as a strong safety, but is as a free safety. I cannot fathom why he is being so massively underestimated, but he is. His instincts and intelligence, especially: this guy is very sneaky, see?
Maybe it's because he's a big hitter who decleats people. I guess when you see somebody deck somebody else, you put him in the "goon" box, and your brain just shuts down right there.
Terrelle Pryor. Ok 'nuff said. By me. Often and repeatedly. See the majority of my previous blogs.
Info Ekpre-Omalu: This guy was projected in the first round before his severe injury. He's not a big or tall cornerback, but neither is Joe Haden. IF IF IF he recovers over 95%, this is a stud cornerback. THIS JUST IN: Never mind.
Xavier Cooper: I read a recent draft needs analysis by a really smart guy who I will not bash, but disagree with.
He had the Browns drafting this five technique (shaded outside right tackle) defensive lineman for Ray Horton's defense. No problem with that pick. My problem is with his dismissal of Xavier Cooper here.
This is pretty common. Cooper is 6'4" instead of 6'5", and his wingspan makes this massive deficiency ten times worse 😮. You don't want X getting locked up with any offensive lineman, either. Once engaged, he can be neutralized (especially by a right tackle).
I just think Coop is being sold short in a Ray Horton defense: Xavier Cooper out-quicks offensive linemen (especially right tackles) with an extra-quick, extra-hard) punch that knocks them off-balance and gives him space to read the play.
His first step is outstanding, and this includes the moment after this punch, when the offensive lineman is repositioning his feet and re-cocking his hands as he recovers from Cooper's first shot. By the time he does, X is moving again.
My words are inadequate. I understand if you don't understand me. The short version is that Xavier Cooper has a lot in common with Micheal Dean Perry.
Perry was extra-short, with extra-short gator-arms; that's not what I mean though. MDP's "disadvantages" where a lot bigger, even back then, than Cooper's are.
But Cooper has that same freakishly fast first step, and uses his hands like MDP did.
None of you whippersnappers remember, and most of you geezers never noticed, but Micheal Dean Perry excelled not only inside, but outside as well, vs tackles with massive reach advantages over him, who set up two feet further away than his favorite target (the center).
He was simply a superior athlete. That's what Cooper is.
Listen to me: This first step quickness is unusual, but not rare. But the combination of this with superior reflexes IS rare.
Michael Dean Perry was offside a lot. It's not because he was trying to anticipate snap-counts. It was because he perceived a twitch or something, even in his peripheral vision, and a nanosecond later was across the line of scrimmage.
MDP was (allegedly) 6'1", 285 lbs. At that time, the guards averaged around 6'3" and the tackles 6'4", and their average weights were around 295, just so you young punks can put this in context...
Any young punks read this? I have a consistent 12-person legion of fans built up so far (and several million crickets). I know that half of these are friends and family who feel sorry for me, but suspect that among the other half, some of you despicable assholes that steal my insights without attribution and pretend to be smart at my expense might be youngsters.
Anyway, there are more potential sleepers in the current Browns roster, but for now I'll hold back and see who needs me to do their thinking for them dammit.
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