Go Terrell Watson!

I have to remain objective and restate that Isaiah Crowell could be a workhorse, big play running back, and that most criticisms of him are at least wrong and often downright stupid.

That's the analyst talking.  But my inner-fan is hoping and praying that the bigger, stronger Terrell Watson will elbow him out of the way.

I've said and done some incredibly stupid things in my life, and it's very rare that I can say this:  I was NEVER that stupid, or that LOW.

Crowell needs to go through some cop training and do some ride-alongs to get his head extracted.  Then he needs to tell black kids cops aren't the enemy.

A disproportionate number of murder victims are black, but most of their killers are black too.  The Poe-lease are trying to protect the former from the latter, and are treated like enemies.

This is bullcrap.  I REMEMBER the dogs and fire hoses and Medgar Evers, and Crowell is a SHEEP being led---

I'm sorry.  I'll move on to more important things:

Desmond Bryant might have been THE best defensive player on the Browns, and this one hurts.

I haven't read all the articles, but skimming the titles, one that stood out was that the Browns were hurt by this loss at an "already thin" position.

Well, if the writer meant at left defensive end in Ray Horton's defense, yep.  But if he meant defensive line in general, that's just dumb.

This puts Hassan on the fast track, and probably makes him the nominal starter at LDE in Bryant's stead.  The remaining guys don't have anywhere near his length, and don't match up well with offensive tackles.

The team remains VERY deep at the other two defensive line spots, and at every spot in situational defensive fronts.

This will effect how Ray Horton uses people: Today's NFL rotates defensive linemen a lot, as they get worn down.  Hassan is a rookie used to shorter seasons, and is also light for his position.

Rookies tend to hit a "wall" after week twelve (it's fascinating, really.  Their bodies actually seem to be "programmed" to sort of shut down after a specific number of games).

Hassan is in harm's way.  He's toe-to-toe with a big goon who is also athletic, and he'll get chipped and cut.  The opposing team as of game one will target him with runs.  With pulling guards and fullbacks.  He's the undersized rookie passrusher, so they'll bully him, try to make him hesitate, and wear him out.

Ray knows all of this, so he might change his plans to use Hassan inside (see earlier post: I think this meant have him biased inside the right tackle and hitting the b-gap).  Hassan might now shade outside the right tackle to protect him from the other blockers.

He might scrap any plans he had to put him inside situationally in order to rest him.

He might also use more 4 man fronts to get him off the field.

You must understand that Ogbah, Orchard, and Kruger are all legitimate 4-3 defensive ends (indeed better than Hassan in this front).  It's even possible that the bigger/badder Mingo could do just fine here too.

There is no NEED to overuse Hassan here, and that long, tall left defensive end is only critical in one of many potential defensive fronts.

So while Des Bryant will be missed, some of you need to kill the alarm sirens, ok?

Related: Schobert and Kirksey are as good outside as they are inside, the Browns are eyeball deep in real linebackers, and two of the safeties excell in the box.

Back to running back: As a newly-minted Watson fan, I see several logical and rational reasons to hope that he will play more and a certain brainwashed frontrunning ignorant sheep will play less.

Because of his catch radius, and (probably) hand-size, he might well be the better receiver.

Because of his greater reach and size, he looks like a better blocker, either in pass protection or for the run.

Because Watson has no history of being tackled by fingertips or wind-gusts, he's number one here, too.

Crowell did have more success in a zone blocking scheme than with man blocking, and it now looks like the 2016 Browns are going man-heavy.

Crowell is faster, can make people miss, and will make more big plays.

Watson will break more tackles, is probably more reliable, and can literally wear a defense down.

In a two-back, Watson/Johnson makes more sense than Crowell/Johnson, because he is more thunderous to Duke's lightening.

Lots to consider here:  

When Duke splits out at wide receiver, Crowell has a slight edge, because he is much more dangerous in space.  While Watson will probably be the better pass-protector, and maybe even the more reliable receiver, I am forced to admit that Baah-Baah is more dangerous.

But that's general: Here Watson should be the better/more consistent inside runner.  So it's very close, and will vary by situation and opponent.

In a two two-back in which Duke does NOT split out, it's Watson hands-down.

He will be the better lead-blocker, better pass protector should Duke peel out, and of course the better tackle-breaker in the heavier traffic a two-back engenders between the tackles.

Watson had a lot of carries and took a lot of abuse in college.  He has had, basically, a year off now, but with his size and style doesn't look like a guy with a long career ahead of him.

But at least for a year or two, he belongs in the NFL and is a human club that Hue Jackson will use as much as he reasonably can.

Crap.  Looks like Crowell is here long-term, especially now that he's radioactive (and cheaper to re-sign).  But hopefully Terrell can teach him how not to fall down when defenders give him dirty looks.