Cam Johnson and the Cleveland Browns

Apologies to Cam Johnson, who I first noticed in the second half of the Atlanta game.  Jim Donovan was mentioning him seemingly every down.  He spent most of his time in the Falcons' backfield.

I shouldn't have overlooked a guy who spends so much time in the other team's backfield, even late in a preseason game, nor will Ray Horton or Hue Jackson.

Cam is 6'3", 268 lbs., and some scouting reports didn't think he was a good OLB prospect.  The Browns don't seem to agree, as he's a linebacker here.

While Donovan noticed him for his highly disruptive play, his scouting report says he's good at engaging and then shedding blocks; holding his position and stopping the run.  He can set the edge.

Oh wait! Another scouting report says he's 6'4" and needs to work on stopping the run jeez you just can't win with these guys...

Anyway he played outside linebacker for two years before switching to defensive end.  He relies more on strength than speed.  He sounds a lot like Ogbah, although Ogbah is both quicker and faster.

But here we see a "type", which Ray Horton clearly wants to have in depth.  Again, I did not see the game, but I would guess that Johnson played from the strong side, and maybe with his hand in the dirt.

In the game, it sounded like he overshot the ball several times.  That's not always bad, or even avoidable.  You can't be hesitant or timid attacking the backfield.  You have to get past that blocker first, then worry about getting to the ball.

Getting a tackle for loss or sack is of course ideal, and Johnson may get better at stopping and starting and changing directions, but disruption is disruption.  It forces a quarterback to flee the pocket, or a running back to stop and reroute, giving other defenders time to converge.  It's distracting, unnerving, and makes a mess.  Cam at least got his paws on guys often and repeatedly.

Most likely, Ogbah, Orchard, and others will assert themselves as time goes on, but Cam Johnson has a good shot at making the team.

I still root for Mingo 2.0 as well, but if he doesn't make it, Cam Johnson could be the reason.

Tank Carder also made some great plays.  He already had a great shot as a special teamer, but may have taken a big leap as an inside linebacker this offseason.  His block on that punter was perfectly legal.  The guy has to keep his eyes open...was Carder supposed to do more than slow down and keep the hit low and angled, as he did because the knucklehead wouldnt even look right in front of him?

Of course, he's a Cleveland Brown and it looked bad, so they'll probably find him out of sheer bendoveritis.

It helps the inside linebackers to have a defensive coordinator who likes to blitze inside a lot.

That's notable, by the way: Safeties and inside linebackers blitze a lot in a Ray Horton defense.  These are called "run blitzes" because they reach the pocket sometimes before the running back does, and Ray will call it on any given down.

This is one reason why Ray is experimenting with Mingo inside.  (Another reason is that he can drop and clog up crossing routes).

Anyway, I give you Cam Johnson, my undergog of the week.  Stay tuned.