Thomas Moore is having a bad week, or maybe somebody put the wrong kind of mushrooms on his pizza:
Tom says the Browns need help at defensive tackle, since Danny Shelton is now a GMF.
-sigh- let's start at the bottom: Jamie Meder is a really good run-stuffer who can two-gap.
Brantley and Ogunjobi are explosive penetrators who can also engage and shed. So is Coley, who is only one year older than the aforementioned rookies. These guys run from 305 to 315 lbs.
It's hard to rank them, but they are all pretty GOOD, and getting better. Just how high is Thomas Moore setting the bar here?
Then there's these guys who think the Browns need more depth at linebacker:
If the Browns used three conventional linebackers more than half the time, that might be the case on a different team, but this defense is run by Gregg Williams, and already has Derrick Kindred and Jabrill Peppers on the roster.
Gregg's nickel defense will usually preserve four down linemen. It will usually replace one linebacker with a "defensive back".
Who replaces who depends on the given offense, but generally, Kindred will be there, somewhere.
What about dime? Well, we're getting too in-the-box here, since some teams will use two smurfs, others will tend to put a Duke Johnson in the slot, and others will use two dangerous tight ends, or simply a skyscraper WR in the slot.
Gregg will sometimes use extra cornerbacks, sometimes extra safeties, and you can call it whatever you want to call it (Gregg doesn't care).
But as often as he can, Williams will preserve a four-man front/passrush.
Based on 2017 snap-counts, MLB Joe Shobert will be there on every down. Kirksey is replaced on some of these passing downs, and there are times when Gregg will show three down linemen...
Sorry I didn't intend to confuse you:
Peppers and Kindred act like linebackers sometimes, Tank Carder was just extended to back Shobert up, and Dominique Alexander and Trey Burgess are actually pretty good gdammit so where tf does this "depth at linebacker" crap come from?
Anyhow Tom Moore is wrong about defensive tackle and the lesser lights are hallucinating about linebacker depth. While Dorsey will nab any exceptional prospect here, niether is a NEED.
Upgrades aside, what are the real needs on this roster (besides franchise quarterback) (I mean here on planet earth)?
1: Outside wide receiver (depth). I have to qualify this, since I can't trust Corey Coleman to live up to his potential even with a good quarterback, and can't bet the house on Josh Gordon not falling off the wagon.
These are the deep threats. I like Rashard Higgins (again with a real quarterback) as a number two (possession) guy, but Dorsey needs more lethal weapon outside wide receivers here.
Uhh...you understand that they got slot receiver covered here, right?
2: LEFT tackle. Shon Coleman is actually a longshot to be average or above at left tackle. Rodney Johnsonfield could overtake him, but that's long odds too. Dorsey is looking hard at this position, and will definitely draft at least one potential LEFT tackle on day two.
3: Work-horse running back: I like Carlos Hyde just fine, and trust Todd Haley to exploit him (thank God Hue Palmer handed Haley the keys). But Hyde is a poor receiver, and is old in "running back" years, and isn't as durable as you want.
This draft solves that by default. There are so many stud running backs here, Dorsey can throw a dart and draft a stud running back, perhaps into the fourth round. And he will.
4: Edge-rusher depth (or upgrade): Rodney Ogbahfield is a serious passrusher, but the guys behind him have not taken up his slack. These are defensive linemen, and you need a rotation here, or they run out of gas (see "Defensive Collapses, Late, Cleveland Browns").
At the moment, Chubb is my guy at fourth overall (or later after a trade-down) even over that freak Barkley (see 3).
After this, we get into the insurance and wants realm:
Dorsey thinks he might have solved free safety with Damarius Randall, but that's not money in the bank. Nor is Rodney Nacuafield, or a second year Peppers.
Remember, Gregg expects a LOT out of his "angel" free safety; his "dream team" can't exist without him.
I won't go deeper here: When you go 1-31, the proper response is NOT to expect/demand an instant All-Pro roster.
Thomas Moore is showing signs of this (very disappointing).
Please, understand that there is such a thing as "average", in between Pro Bowlers and grocery clerks in the NFL, and that "average" is adequate.
An average team, by definition, should win as often as it loses, and be 8-8. In the NFL, the quarterback and coaches influence this a lot (as we have just witnessed with Jackson/Kizer).
The 2017 Browns, overall, were an above average team, but their quarterback and Head Coach sucked DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
Ok ok Hue Jackson isn't an idiot in general. He was just rigid/inflexible, refused to adapt his offensive scheme to his available talent, and started Kizer over Hogan, and...
But everything is copecetic now. Todd Haley has the keys to the offense, and an amplified voice into John Dorsey's ear. Hue Fisher blew it, knows it, lucked out (due to politics), knows it, hung on by the skin of his teeth (due to politics), and is utterly devoid of leverage.
You don't get this: Hue is 1-31, and NOBODY with a brain blames Sashi Brown or "moneyball" for this. Look no further than John Dorsey's roster moves thus far to balance these books:
Danny Shelton was not a Brown pick. He, McCourtey, Kessler, and Hogan are all the high-profile guys Dorsey let go (Kizer aside), (by the way he TRADED them all just sayin...)
Dorsey seems to like EVERYBODY ELSE just fine so far...
I await Dorsey's scourge of Sashi Brown acquisitions.
Well, Virginia, it won't happen. Kizer, Hogan, and Kessler are already gone, and MKC's delusions aside, Kessler and Kizer were almost certailnly Hue Jackson picks.
Brown-bashing aside, John Dorsey has done an amazing job already, and I'm optimistic about what he'll do with all those extra draft picks he inheritted from Sashi Brown.
Now then, John Dorsey should seriously consider trading down from first overall as well as fourth overall, since everybody hates the best quarterback in this class...
...Nah just draft Mayfield first overall. You can't risk settling for anybody else here.
All this Rosen best pure passer/big brain, Allen historic arm, and Darnold physical specimen/improvising stuff doesn't offset leadership or accuracy.
And (point of fact) Mayfield has the second-strongest arm in this class. Yes, stronger than two taller guys honest!
Obviously I'm missing something here:
Allen has a stronger arm, and is just as athletic, and is much taller. Mechanical flaws, leadership, and accuracy don't matter, as he is an "AFC NORTH " quarterback.
Ditto Darnold (although he is exceptional in his own way, and does have great upside, and does hit what he aims at more often than not (trust me this matters)...
Hardly any of you grok this:
For quarterbacks, physical measurables (aside from an ability to threaten at least most of the field with his arm) are almost irrelevant.
Franchise quarterbacks come in all sizes. Drew Brees and Russell Wilson aside, are you aware that Aaron Rodgers and Colt McCoy are both under 6'2" as well? Tyrod Taylor aside for now, I think John Elway likes Shorty Keenum better than you clowns do.
Everybody who thinks being tall is more important than accuracy and leadership just doesn't get it. Ryan Leaf and Jamarcus Russell were tall too.
Quarterbacks are different. Joe Montana was not only a shrimp, but had a popgun arm. Brian Sipe was similar, and in reality was about 5'11" (at most). Doug Flutie was a microbe.
The most important physical measurement for a quarterback is the space between his ears, and I can't fathom why so few people get that.
DeShaun was the best quarterback in 2017, and I knew it. Baker Mayfield is the best in this draft.
You'll see.
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