Peppers, Schobert, Kizer, Williams and the Browns

Why are people still talking about six wide receivers and three tight ends?  Even if I hadn't told you over and over again about two backs and two tight ends, and Hue hadn't been telling you that Duke Johnson would be the slot guy, you've seen the Browns running it, right?

What is a sixth wide receiver supposed to do?  They've already got somebody to hold a clip-board right?

Here, somebody guessed at a fairly reasonable depth chart for opening day (Chris Pokorney Dawgs by Nature).

Chris had sense enough to only list five wide receivers, but then he only has three tight ends.  That's possible, but less likely when Hue intends two tight end sets to be a base set; those guys do get hurt!  

Chris thinks they'll keep TEN defensive linemen, but I think that's a little high.  There's so much talent there that I want to keep ten, but it's not realistic.

He keeps six linebackers, but lists three as middle linebackers.  He could be right about the six, but he doesn't understand the scheme.  A three-linebacker set isn't the base.

Even if Gregg Williams decides to play Schobert more often simply because he's that talented, it could still be a defacto 4-2 as one linebacker acts as a strong safety.

We all already know that 7-man fronts are only workable about 30% of the time in today's NFL.

I can't pick on Chris much here, but can disagree with him on a few more things:

I already mentioned the tight ends.  I think they keep four and McNamara is the fourth.  McNamara is a complete tight end with upside as both a receiver and blocker.  Like Telfer.

He thinks they keep Erving and release Reiter.  I think it could go the other way.  Tough call though.  Tons of guards and centers, but not so many tackles.  I also don't know if Greco will make it.

He thinks Cam Johnson will make it, but Tyrone Holmes won't.  Holmes has actually been a little better than Johnson in camp, and is much younger, with more upside.

Chris thinks Calvin Pryor will stay and Kai Nacua will go.  He could be right about that, but his rationale is faulty:  He sees Pryor as an emergency free safety backup.

Pryor has never succeeded as a free safety, and Gregg Williams has seemed satisfied with Derrick Kindred there until this week, when he promoted Jabrill Peppers over him.

Pryor is much older than Nacua, who is a pure free safety with great upside.  Furthermore, the Browns are loaded with strong safeties, including Kindred himself, and Campbell.

Now, most of the other depth charts I've seen only use "s", and don't say "ss" and "fs".  That describes cover two safeties.

It could just be dumbasses putting the charts together, but it could also indicate that Gregg has decided to run more cover two because of the talent he has to work with.

Recent articles on and interviews of Hue Jackson and Jabrill Peppers seem to contradict this, because they're talking about Peppers as a true center fielder.

The real story likely lies in between: Gregg will probably mix coverages in 2017, but (it sounds like) cover 1/cover 3 will be there the majority of the time.

Peppers starts at free safety:  Hue Jackson said he laughed at amatuer scouts and pundits who said Peppers lacked the range and instincts to play center field.  That stung a little, since I was one of them.

But it's refreshing that he was that blunt about it.  We're all sick of political correctness, aren't we?

Anyway, I'm excited about this.  It means Peppers will be on the field all the time.  He's not just fast, but BIG, so even if he's "late", he can knock the ball loose sometimes.  From the deep field, he can see/read everything, and come downhill to crash into the majority of it (unblocked).

Many people don't realize this, but if you pay attention, you'll see that free safeties often line up as shallow as strong safeties or even linebackers at the snap, so in reality Peppers won't be out there in the ozone all the time, see?

As a free safety, he can have a bigger impact against the run than possibly any other NFL free safety.  He can also really lower da boom on slanters and crossers.

He'll be tested deep, no doubt.  I still think he'll get burned here and there.  But clearly Gregg and Hue think he'll win more than he loses.

So if Peppers isn't the Gregg Williams "hybrid" player, who is?

1: The hybrid isn't integral to a Gregg Williams defense.  He adapts to his personnel and, as he says, "play the best players, regardless of position".  He found himself with excellent players who didn't "fit" quite right, and invented a role to make them fit instead of parking them on the bench.

2: Peppers, even as a free safety, is still a hybrid.  He'll still set up like a linebacker on third and short (and act like one) and sometimes play cover two.

3: That being said, it looks like Joe Schobert will be that guy here.

I hadn't realized until recently that Schobert had lost 15 lbs.  Well, toss his combine numbers in the dumpster.

He now weighs about as much as a big strong safety; certainly less than 230 lbs.  He was a 3-4 OLB in college.  His real athleticism was hidden by his weight and his role.

I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't a 4.5 flat guy right now, hollering "bring on the 3-cone and shuttles!" too.  Call him a "middle linebacker" if you want.  Gregg doesn't care.

A lot of people including ma man Terry Pluto are making a big deal out of Kizer's not avoiding contact on a couple runs.  

First, he's a LOT bigger and stronger than RG3, so just stop those comparisons please.  Second, it's not rocket science.  Kizer was sliding up to and into the Giants game, and I can assure you, he hasn't forgotten how to do it jeez...

Let's not borrow trouble here:

The real concerns with Kizer are:

1: Holding the ball (indecision, greed, lack of faith in his recievers--lots of possible reasons).  I've gone on and on about hard-wiring, and wondered if Kizer could adapt to the NFL.

Well, he definitely can.  He knows where to go with the ball.  He just can't make himself throw it before the receiver is looking back at him.  He also wants to go deep every single time.

This is all rookie stuff, and fixable.

The mechanical stuff is scarier.  Hue didn't want to put him in this soon.  That's the real reason why.  He (Hue) will probably go overboard with read-options, rollouts, called QB runs, and handoffs to protect him AMAP.

There's really no insideously diabolical plot going on here, you know:

DeShone Kizer is simply the best quarterback on this roster at this time.

Wow!  The Browns are trying to trade Osweiler?  I'm shocked!  I have to regroup to deal with this monumentally unexpected development okbye

THIS JUST IN: Jabrill Peppers is a brain!  Future coach if he wants!  What an impressive kid!