Saturday, August 4, 2018

Browns Preseason Countercommentary, Common Sense...nevermind

Encouraging words about Joel Bitonio from Myles Garrett, who says he "fits" at left tackle.

Myles ought to know, because he's actually practiced and scrimmaged against him.  Myles promises to give Joel hell to help prepare him for the (other) beastly edge-rushers he'll be facing (gee, what a guy!)

I don't believe Myles Garrett is a guy who says stuff he doesn't believe just to mindlessly back up his teammates.  He never said anything about Shon Coleman or Austin Corbett.

And I will generously defer to Myles Garrett on this issue, as I still hope to be proven fulla beans for saying moving Bitonio to left tackle would be idiotic.

Shon Coleman is now back at right tackle with the second team, and Greg Robinson (might be out of the protocol already) is the second team left tackle.

I have to agree with Petrack et al that Shon could be on the block.

Chris Hubbard seems to be doing well at right tackle.  Robinson was a top five draft pick, and despite his bad NFL carreer to-date, you can't pitch that out the window yet.

Still, don't write Shon off just yet.  He's not making a lot of money, and Corbett now looks like the new left guard, and Shon could still be a valuable backup at both tackle spots.

The Browns should be keeping at least eight active offensive linemen (most teams keep nine). I think Austin Reiter will be one of these guys, and (upon further review) so might Spencer Drango.

Given his injury, maybe they can sneak Desmond Harrison onto the practice squad now.

Between Greg Robinson and Shon Coleman, I'm not ready to pick a winner yet (nor should you be.  Williams is a seasoned veteran.  Coleman enters his third season, and he might well be a little better).

The first team defense has mostly punked the Mayfield-led second-team offense, which is as it should be.

I'm glad the Browns are mixing the first and second offensive and defensive units like this, and am forced to admit that it might be Jackson's idea.

Mayfield is tough, and if you give him a bloody nose he just re-sets and comes back.  This gives him no chance to become complacent, and forces him to grow.

I was thrilled to hear that Joe Schobert anticipated and jumped a bubble screen for a pick-six on Baker. It illustrates how abnormally smart Schobert is, and also tells me that he's going to "bet on himself" sometimes this season (long story but he stuck his neck out to make that play).

In all his college carreer, Mayfield probably never had a screen pass intercepted.  Now he knows: watch out of sneaky diabolical linebackers like Schobert.

Conversely, Tyrod and the first team offense are looking good, but I do have a bone to pick:  If the backup offense faced first team defense, the reverse had to be true on some of this, and it hasn't been reported that way.

Callaway seems to be pulling back ahead of Corey Coleman, but that's tough to say.  Callaway had at least one bad drop.

You can't really say he "made up for it" with a big play later. Football isn't roulette or craps.  Callaway (and Coleman) have to prove they will catch everything that hits them in both hand, every time, period.

Callaway was working with the ones.  After his drop, he caught a deep one from Tyrod. It's significant that Taylor went right back to him, and that (if I read between the lines of the superficial reporting right) the big play was a vertical strike, meaning that Callaway blew somebody's doors off, and Taylor caught him in-stride.

For anybody with a clue, here are some of the things showing up in this training camp so far:

1: Jarvis Landry is not just a slot/short receiver.  He has been the star of this camp, and made a ton of intermediate and deep receptions.

2: Tyrod Taylor is not just a dual-threat game manager.  He has been throwing deep a whole lot in Haley's scheme, with this team, in this camp.

3: Damarius Randall is looking good at free safety, Jamie Collins is looking like the guy we thought he was, Schobert is a mental freak, and Jamie Meder aint buyin what guys like me are sellin (nor should he--you go boy!)

4: Rashard Higgins will probably make the final cut.

Per Rashad Higgins and John Dorsey (thanks Mary Kay), Josh Gordon is doing fine in Gainesville Florida, and when he comes back it will "be like he was never gone".

Most of you still don't get it, so I have to redundate here: Josh Gordon does not need training camp, or even the first 2-3 preseason games, and Dorsey/Jackson/Haley know it.

I still suspect that John Dorsey actually suggested this sabbadical to Gordon in the first place, so that the younger wide receivers could get more reps.

They get more experience, at higher levels, and the Browns get more film to study so they can make better decisions.  Does anybody else get this? 

Anyway, Higgins should be backin his lockerroom homie here, because his absence could be the single biggest reason why he (Higgins) makes the final roster.

There's more yet to this: In Gordon's absence, Taylor and the offense are making the most of a roster sans their superstar.

Tyrod is developing chemistry with Coleman, Callaway, and Higgins...

Even last season, once Josh Gordon came back "on-line", everybody else except Duke and Njoku kinda disappeared off Kizer's radar.

In his record-setting sophomore 14-game season, Josh Gordon was the favorite target for three so-so quarterbacks.

He's a crutch.  He spoils quarterbacks.  In 2017, Kizer wound up just throwing towards Josh's zip code...

Daunte Culpepper was a good quarterback who was overdrafted high in the first round by the Vikings.  Probably the worst thing that happened to him was Randy Moss.

Culpepper just threw bombs to Moss.  He never became very accurate, refined his "touch", or read past his second option.  He mostly either handed off or threw to Moss.

They got near a Superbowl, then lost Randy Moss.  That was pretty much it for Culpepper.  In fairness, Daunte suffered more than one bad injury after that, but my point is that pre and post-injury, he was mediocre sans Randy Moss.

Tyrod Tylor is a different story, of course.  He's been making do with questionable talent ever since he left the Ravens, and has more than earned his stripes.

Still, he hasn't reached his potential yet (quarterbacks do take longer).  As is, he's leaning hard on Jarvis Landry.  That's not a recipe for growth.

A (sentient) coach can't order a quarterback not to pass to a receiver he trusts (especially when he's the first or second option).

But a GM can deprive him of (in this case) one of his crutches in training camp, and force him to keep spreading the ball around and be accurate with touch etc....

Is any of this sinking in?

The Gordon sabbadical is helping Baker Mayfield too:  Check out the receivers he's been working with on the second team, especially vs Gregg's first team offense.

This Cajuste tight end is no joke, however.  Sadly, he's a longshot here (unless he qualifies for the practice squad).

But Baker Mayfield is doing great!  Clearly, Tyrod Taylor is doing better, but if that's news to you, you should at least be sterilized before you can pollute the gene pool.

I mean, you're a Browns fan, and you're alarmed by a rookie quarterback getting punk...

I can't even talk to you people.  

😣 Tyrod sucks. Mayfield sucks.  Everything sucks and we're all gonna die screw you okbye






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