Most of us can look right at something, and deny it is there. Luckily, I still haven't seen more than highlights of the opening day loss to Antonio Brown (the bastard).
One (respectable) analyst criticized Isaiah Crowell for a lack of vision. This guy said he dove into the predesignated hole, even when there were cutback options available. Chris Pokorney said he did the best he could with what he had.
What do you think? Could you tell me? Being blind, here, I can tell you this:
1: I've heard this criticism of Crow before, when I had watched games, and at that time it was wrong. There was nowhere for him to go, so he dove into the widest gap (not saying much) and tried to get a few feet.
I've often wondered where these critics thought he should go. Did they think he was Barry Sanders, or Gregg Pruitt, and should run sideways ten yards to get around the edge?
Barry and Gregg can do that stuff, but that's not Crow.
But the critic said "cutback lane", so he meant an actual gap. He saw the game. I didn't. You tell me.
2: Different schemes demand different actions by a running back. Most commonly, the back is supposed to hit the hole as quickly as possible. Indeed, the most common criticism of running backs used to be that they were "slow to the hole". Also, "hesitant", or "dances around", see?
That's power/man blocking. Zone blocking requires the back to run at an angle and "shop" for his cutback lane, and guess what: Isaiah Crowell had a great year under Kyle Shanahan, and is a prototype one-cut back.
While I'm at it, Ebeneezer Belle would suck in a power sceme too.
So now I wonder: Is Hue Jackson really a blockhead?
That is, Isaiah would look for cutback lanes if that's what he's supposed to do.
That is, I suspect that Hue Jackson ran power/man on every run, and that it was urgent for Crow to cross the line asap.
If so, HUE screwed up. What do I know? I know that Crowell is a vastly better one-cut back than he is a hit the hole fast back, and if Hue doesn't let him do what he does best, he screwed up. Period.
Oh! Oh! Woodhead hamstring injury! Best wishes dude! Hope you come back strong after you can't play against the Browns!
It seemed like Matthew Dayes played a lot, but he actually was only in on around 20% of the snaps. They must have targetted or handed off to him most of the times he was on the field.
I don't like conspiracy theories, but if I were Crowell, I'd tell my agent to get the extention done asap, because Dayes outproduced him. (This has nothing to do with zone vs power: Hue isn't going to throw games just to pressure a player to extend).
I repeat: Dayes reminds me of Earnest Byner. I was SO fulla crap to knock the Browns for drafting him!
This was my first experience with Gregg Williams in a real game, and I learned a lot. If you check out the defensive snap counts and production (per PFF), you see he rotates personnel massively.
He already told us, the word "starter" means nothing to him. Jamie Meder "started", but played fewer downs than any other defensive lineman (17%).
Ogbah, Nassib, and Coley hogged a lot of downs, but none played over 70% of them.
Tyrone Holmes (remember him?) played 27%, but registered no stats. Ogunjobi played 28%, but went apeshit with four combined tackles in 17 snaps.
To my surprise, Danny Shelton got 38% of the snaps (I assume they're being careful with him as he returns from injury). He didn't do much, but it's hard to measure a semi-nose tackle statisticly. If he's getting ganged up on, he's doing his job.
The linebackers didn't rotate at all. Joe Schobert has, as I told you he would, forced Williams to use him full-time, along with Kirksey and Collins. This trio remained on the field regardless of situation and offensive personnel.
That means Schobert is certifiably Gregg's linebacker/safety hybrid. Told you that too. Nobody listens.
Burgess is surprising me, with 18% of the snaps. I think they use him in coverage a lot. Never saw this guy coming! I'll study up on him and get back to you.
Gregg used only three cornerbacks, period. Taylor looks like crap, but that's because he was on that bastard Antonio Brown. He's in a big club here--it means nothing, and I think Joe Haden would have looked worse on paper (no offense Joe love ya man).
And the safeties were Peppers (free) and Kindred period.
Clearly, Gregg Williams is a different animal. The safety thing is common, but the cornerback thing says something.
Williams is walking the walk: He wants his best players to play, regardless of position.
I understand this better now: Williams adapts his coverage schemes from down-to-down depending on matchups and offensive personnel. Most defenses replace a linebacker or defensive lineman with a cornerback sometimes, but Gregg doesn't.
He'll press here, off-man there, set up a "hostile environment" zone there, and make the whole mess tough for the receivers and quarterbacks to figure out. All so he can keep his best back-end players on the field.
Overall, Ogunjobi was the most impressive defensive lineman on paper, and (as the linked article points out) was THE top defensive lineman vs the run in the NFL last sunday. He has certainly earned more playing time.
Keep in mind, the coaches are still learning about their players. The preseason measures raw talent more than anything else. When the games really count, preseason superstars tend to disappear to game planning and matchups.
Ogunjobi did what he did vs elite offensive linemen, and will be used more vs the Ravens. Schobert confirmed that he's a stud. Nassib didn't make anybody forget Myles Garrett, but might get Gregg taking another look at Ogbah.
Terry Pluto said he felt that Jabrill Peppers should be closer to the line instead of 35-40 yards off the line in center field. I respectfully disagree.
The Browns stuffed the Steelers' running game, and even stifled every receiver except that spawn of hell Antonio Brown. Peppers is more valuable as the safety valve for a very aggressive defense.
If Peppers gets four interceptions all season, he might return two of them for touchdowns. It's worse for a receiver if he's too late for that, because he's going to blow them up. And anybody running loose with the ball should get stopped by him...because he's intercepting instead of chasing him.
Old guys should also remember Felix Wright. On runs and dumpoff passes, Felix would come toward the line of scrimmage at full speed and blast ballcarriers--it was glorious.
No, leave Peppers right where he is.
Kenny Britt might be in trouble, thank God. Hue Jackson said publicly that he might bench him.
Chris Pokorney said that the Browns had no choice but to keep starting Dwayne Bowe II, but that was irrational. I'm trying to figure out if Chis was referring to Britt's vedderrunn status or his salary, but niether makes sense if Britt can't catch the gdamn ball.
Ricardo Louis has already proven that he is more reliable than Britt, and he matches the profile of an x-receiver (big deep threat with a big catch radius; QB-friendly speedster with GOOD HANDS).
Jordan Leslie was another one, but the Browns inexplicably cut him.
Sammy Coates and Kasen Williams are two more guys who are actually better than Butterfingers Britt (@all rights preserved).
The aforementioned late additions are second year players, which is much different from rookies.
I love that Hue Jackson comes out and says this stuff. Every other Head Coach I've heard has been more evasive than most politicians. Nor do I think he was trying to motivate Britt. Butterfingers has screwed up throughout preseason. Hue might have expected him to rise to the occasion when it was for real, but Kenny on that one drop vs the Steelers in a real game used up all that slack. He might have cost the Browns a game.
Hue's comments make me optimistic. If you suck, I will bench you. Excellent!
I HAVE seen the interception Kizer threw to Watt, and am skeptical about the "locking on" stuff. It looked to me like Watt was in zone and merely reacted to the ball, making an exceptional play...but I'm not sure.
I am really impressed by Kizer's own analysis of his performance. This guy is a BRAIN!!!
DeShone Kizer has a massive vocabulary, and uses it efficiently. I heard him say "use" once (instead of "utilize"), which was a strong sign of ennate intelligence. His self-analysis showed not just intelligence, but objectivity, which as you know if you read this blog regularly is rare and precious.
He admitted that he should have dumped to the running backs more often (read: he had that option) or thrown it away to avoid sacks.
I am NOW convinced that DeShone Kizer is the long-awaited Franchise savior. He'll analyze and calculate, and then adapt. Kizer reminds me of me...if I was taller, bigger, faster, and could hit the broad side of a barn.
Vs the Steelers, he dinked and dunked with great touch and accuracy. He IS a complete quarterback, who can exploit the whole field (not just a mad bomber).
We have a winner! In my last post, I pumped the brakes on how fast he'd improve, but I gotta mitigate that. He's going to improve rapidly. Kizer is unusual.
Stay tuned. Remember you heard it here first.
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