Scary Browns Thoughts: Wait'll they Get a Loada This

The nattering naybobs are starting to come out questioning the Browns Draft picks and doing the woodacooda thing.

I've been strongly tempted to do the same thing, and actually agree with Peter Smith on a couple picks, notably Boeringer, the freak wide receiver who gets dissed much like Terrell Pryor.

But Pete disagrees with Hue about a quarterback.  I can't let myself touch that one.  I've got to see a coach screw up at least a little before I start thinking I know better than him, ya know?

And Pete was way off on Crowell.  I got one question for Peter:  WHAT hole!?  When there is no hole, he didn't miss the hole.  Where did you see a hole?

Peter's right about his not being as balanced, strong, and/or "beast mode"-y as a guy his size should be, but he's still really good with zone-blocking and when there IS a hole.

And the Browns don't need another guard...although Pete sure makes a great case for a studly one that the Bengals got after the Browns passed him up in the third.

I respect Pete, who is fair to everybody except Kessler and Crowell.  I wish we could drink some beer and argue about it.

A Pittsburgh writer doesn't think the Browns did a good job of upgrading the pass rush.  That guy isn't a dummy either, but he's still wrong.

He says that Ogbah will be learning a whole new position, and in reality so will Nassib.

He's mostly right.  Ogbah has rarely rushed the passer from a standing position before.  Wow he won't know where to put his feet or anything! He'll be so confused!

Sorry I couldn't help that.  Certainly it's much simpler for a down lineman, but let's not go overboard with this transition stuff, and the best passrusher(s) among the outside linebackers WILL be down linemen in sub defenses.

And Nassib hasn't had to worry about the run.  He was a defensive end, but not the left end in a Horton defense, where he'll sometimes have to stand up the right tackle and watch the edge and the inside gap.

But in both cases, the Pittsburgh guy doesn't get that these guys are both semi-projects, and aren't expected to make huge impacts as rookies.

Just like a lot of local yokels and black clouds, this guy also doesn't get that Kruger and Mingo can't get much of a pass rush going when they're running around in coverage.

Check it out: Von Miller couldn't either.  I can prove it!  Show me one play in which Miller covered somebody and got a sack on the same play.  See?  Is it sinking in yet?  Knock-knock anybody home?

On to what I really wanted to talk about.  Yep.  Pryor.

Gil Brandt was talking about Des Bryant the other day, and how some guy said he only runs like 3 patterns.

Gil chuckled, and said Bryant only needs to run three patterns.  Mark (I forget-another former GM) compared it to a pitcher with a 95mph fastball and an 87 mph change-up.

Well?  

I thought about this more after discussing the Baylor offense.  The thought is that Hue would mix a lot of that in (with the brand new Baylor receiver) to help RG3 get back on his feet.

But isn't it also perfect to give Terrell Pryor a head start?

What do they say about Corey Coleman?  He basically only ran two routes.  Because he played for Baylor.

Ok so don't you think Terrell Pryor could learn two routes by the end of pre-season?

Actually, he's already learned all the routes, and is more advanced than Coleman is.  He'll probably help Coleman learn the rest of the route tree.

It's true that wide receivers have a lot of nuances to learn, and that things look a lot different to a receiver than they do from the pocket.

But I'd bet money that Hue Jackson has already decided to have Pryor focus on two routes for the moment, and will use him in the Baylor offense right away.

Get Coleman going immediately.  Put RG3 in his comfort zone.  And turn that physical freak ex-quarterback loose.

Coleman. Pryor.  Barnidge.  Johnson. RG3.  I can see Hue grinning from here.  

THIS JUST IN: Peter Smith must have read my blog last night because he just talked about how the Baylor offense might help the Browns running game.

He should have had enough class to include a link to my blog, as I have to his article.  I can't say more, since he could have seen the Baylor applications for himself, and the bulk of his article was as usual original and smart.

He repeated his "vision" criticism of Crowell which is wrong, but focused on Duke Johnson as the tailback here.

I'd overlooked that. I'd become preoccupied with the bigger, stronger Crowell and the fact that Duke is a good wide receiver.

I also don't like to think about Duke trying to block linebackers in pass protection.

But Pete is right here: Duke as a runner and outlet receiver is a good fit in this Baylor backfield.

The 21 or 22 personnel grouping would force a bigger, somewhat slower defense into the field, whereas only one running back would bring out a nickel or dime defense, even if one of the receivers was wing tight end DeValve.

That might not be as effective, as the two faster defenders on the "slot" guys could cheat inside a little further, and coverage specialists could sometimes defeat picks by switching assignments.  In fact, in this case Crowell might still be the better option as a runner, if he can start blasting these little guys instead of trying to scrape by them.

Still, Johnson has more big plays in him, is better in the open field, is surprisingly hard to take down (wish Crowell would learn something from him there), and can't be covered as a tailback.

Crow might sometimes stay in to handle pass rush leakage, but Duke could flare out as an outlet receiver, with those big gaps on either side to exploit.

Any combination could work.

But I still just can't wait to see Terell Pryor and Cory Coleman on the same field, running the same two patterns, with RG3 back in Baylor...I'm all a-twitter.