I found a really good article by Josh Edwards of 247 Sports listing nine new players for the Browns who could make immediate impacts. He dug up the most important stats and measurables for each player; it was really informative (thanks Josh!)
...but Josh isn't perfect, so I need to make a few minor corrections. I'll just hit those as I kinda review Josh's really good insights:
Josh lists WR Damion Ratley (see last post) 9th, and even says that he "came on strong" late in his last season, but says he's been "inconsistent".
Ratley has not been inconsistent. He went from being consistently rarely targetted to consistently tearing up opposing defenses later. He consistently averaged over 22 yards per catch throughout.
Josh is correct that he might not make the final roster, however. We'll see.
CB Simeon Thomas is next, and I can't correct Josh anywhere here, except his height gives him an edge. I also didn't realize how fast and "sudden" this tall guy was til I read this article. Thomas has a real shot here!
Josh assumes a lot in re DE Chad Thomas. Niether his measurables nor performance give him any edge whatsoever over Nassib, Orchard, or Chris Smith. In fact, he looks like Chris Smith redux.
Dorsey (Williams) drafted Thomas high for a reason, of course, and Josh no doubt adds some weight to him on that basis, which is logical.
We can skip Mayfield.
Chris is on the money with LB Genard Avery, except he said that there was "very little depth" at linebacker, which is incorrect.
On the current (Ourlads) Browns depth chart, Nate Orchard is listed as a backup SAM, Tank Carder (who was winning the mlb war until he was injured in 2017) is the backup Mike, and Burgess did a nice job at OLB in relief last season. That's good depth!
But he's right about Avery in general: He was the best passrusher from his position in the 2018 draft. He's both bigger and faster than all the guys I just named (faster than Collins too, for that matter).
He should quickly rise up the depth chart at every linebacker position (Pat Kirwan sees him as a weak side linebacker!).
Special teams, check, but (see earlier posts), Gregg Williams is certain to get him on the field on obvious passing downs starting yesterday, as well.
Josh lumps Callaway in with Coleman and Landry behind Gordon in the "guys under 6'" category.
That's way too general. Landry is a slow slot-only guy. Coleman and Callaway can also be outside deep threats. And right now, Callaway is ahead of Coleman.
Josh nails down Austin Corbett perfectly: If he can't nail down left tackle, he'll be tried everywhere else.
My pal Waittilnextyear freaked out when Corbett was drafted in the second round (over more promising left tackle prospects), but I gotta say this:
Corbett not only succeeded Joel Bitonio in college, but is very much like him as a player. He is a "can't miss" prospect, ready to start immediately, and to keep starting til he retires.
John Dorsey might be going for all the marbles in 2018, but he also wants to build a dynasty. Corbett is part of that, even if he doesn't start at left tackle right away. Per my NFL Radio guys, Corbett was worth that pick.
Nick Chubb: Josh isn't among those who steal stuff from my Blog and pretend they thought it up themselves, so he made the mistake of saying he's not much of a receiver.
Josh also describes Chubb as an explosive inside runner, but Chubb is more than that. He has great vision, and the speed to get outside.
Denzel Ward, he lists first, for obvious reasons.
Josh lost focus as this article went along. While he never got stupid, he went from a Master's thesis to shorthand as he ran out of steam.
Denzel Ward was the best pure press/man cornerback in this draft class, and that is why he is here.
This class was loaded with excellent cornerbacks, but Ward was the one who almost always played press/man vs elite competition and came out on top consistently.
I made fun of people who projected Ward over Bradley or Chubb at 4th overall in this Blog. I fell off my chair when they took Ward over Chubb there!
When Waittilnextyear liked the pick, my response was "Ohio State fan".
But I was wrong. Waittilnextyear and Gregg Williams were right. (Read through my posts to track my evolution).
Actually I was also all over Sam Darnold til Waittilnextyear pointed me at Baker Mayfield, too. Up til then, I thought he was too short and unstable.
Anyhoo, Josh Edwards should have said that Denzel Ward will enable Gregg Williams to run the tight coverage schemes he needs for his defense to work.
Departing from Josh, Ward isn't Joe Haden. Joe is two inches shorter, and not nearly as fast. Joe wasn't a pure press/man guy either.
Buzzkill Bill Polian said that expecting a man corner to do well immediately is a "tall order", but he's fulla beans.
Man corners don't have to learn the whole defense. All they have to do is cover one individual.
They can study films on the one or two guys they will be facing, so they can anticipate the dirty tricks etc., but for Ward, it's pretty simple:
He just plain covers the guy in front of him.
Ward will start game one vs Antonio Brown. He is bigger, quicker, and faster. He is not intimidated. AB will make some catches on him, but he won't do much with them.
Put your snorkels on: under TODD HALEY, Antonio Brown worked out of the slot, as well as outside. Haley tried to move him around to avoid the best cornerbacks on the opposing teams, and to (in the slot) give him two-way goes.
Haley had Laveon Bell to play with too. Often when AB was outside, Bell was in the slot. What's a free safety to do?
Antonio Brown is NOT a "deep threat". He breaks inside shallow and intermediate, and makes his money after the catch (kinda like Jerry Rice did).
Denzel Ward can cover Brown. It had a lot to do with why Gregg Williams wanted him (over Bradley Chubb):
Brown runs precise routes, and relies on separation off sudden breaks inside. Big Ben thows perfect passes to catch him in-stride off these breaks, so he's at full speed in the open field, and the cornerback can't catch him before he does major damage.
Well, many defenses don't even try to bump-and-run (press/man) Antonio Brown, because he's too quick and slippery for their cornerbacks. They go off-man, and just try to "contain" him underneath.
We've all seen the results.
Denzel Ward will be in Brown's face. He will force him outside. He will ignore him as a deep threat, and force him to stop to make his break inside. He will then curl in the same direction, and make sure Brown can't turn it upfield, like he does to everybody else. Ward is too fast for him.
...Joe Haden couldn't do this. He wasn't fast enough. Denzel Ward is better than Joe Haden ever was, right now. (no knock on Joe: I love him too! But Ward is just plain better).
Antonio Brown might well be easier for Denzel Ward to deal with than the bigger/taller guys...
But if Haden in his prime could stifle Green and Megatron, why can't Ward?
I wish I was a full subsciber to Swish or PFF. I wish I could tell you for sure that what Gregg Williams said about those 27-29 times he saw Myles Garrett two feet away from sacks means that tighter coverage will open up a can o sack whupass on opposing offenses. If the average time from snap to throw goes up 0.2 seconds, that will happen.
I think so: Williams only cited Garrett, but obviously there are a bunch of other guys who "missed by that much".
See previous posts: Pessure is the surest way to force negative plays and turnovers, but it's useless if the offense can run and throw dink-passes consistently.
Press/man coverage makes a big difference. It became popular in response the Bill Walsh's "West Coast" timing offense.
Gregg Williams (with Dorsey's help) now has the people he needs for tight man coverage. He now has everything he needs (assuming Damarius Randall works out as well as optimisticly projected at free safety).
I anticipate a dominating defense in 2018; easily in the top six. Gregg Williams has done more with less; in fact he might never have had this much to work with in his carreer.
That "L" you've got next to game one on the schedule better be in pencil.
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