Redundancy alert I repeat:
1: The Browns now have THREE "move" tight ends, one or two of which are decent blockers. Todd Haley will sometimes use two tight ends.
2: Duke Johnson is actually similar to Jarvis Landry as a wide receiver. Ignore the depth chart. In Haley's mind, it's probably Gordon, Landry, Higgins, and then either Duke or Callaway (it's up in the air: Callaway could pass Higgins).
That's FIVE V 5
3: Duke isn't the only running back who will line up in the slot. Haley has been experimenting with Hyde and Chubb there too.
Speaking of Damion Ratley, like Callaway, he's way ahead of schedule. I'd expected him to need a year to bulk up and learn the dirty tricks, but he's been showing up in the games, as well as in practice, including vs the Eagles starters.
Why are John Dorsey and so many of you oblivious to what these two rookies are showing you? Why do you think they aren't good enough to even be active depth?
And you don't sign a player at any position unless he is better than at least one of the top five (in the case of wide receivers) on your team!
John Dorsey: Don't go signing guys just because people have heard of them, or just because you're fidgety and bored, or because you need attention.
And you know what? Damion Ratley is taller and a LOT faster than Dez Bryant, and he runs better routes, and is more "sudden", and has better hands too gdammit LOOK at what is in front of you!
Nah, I'm not calling Dez Bryant washed up, or a bumb. He could still make a big difference on a different team, in a different scheme, with a different depth chart.
I'd wish Dez luck, but it's tough to feel warm fuzzies for a guy who's now blamed everybody but himself for his problems in 2017.
I know I know Dez overload sorry.
Ward and Zeitler are back. Ward is a relief, but Zeitler is the big news here. As Terry Pluto points out (like I did a week or so prior), only Zeitler, Tretter, and Njoku are playing the same positions in this offense that they did last season.
Even for them, Todd Haley's system is new. Hubbard is at least familiar with that system and language, and it's helped him nail down the right tackle slot here.
Every wide receiver except Gordon and Higgins is new. Two out of three running backs, and all three quarterbacks, are new.
Great article by Terry, as he kinda figures out why Tyrod Taylor insisted on coming back and playing more vs the Eagles starters. He needs those reps with his receivers.
Terry is wrong about the "risk" to Taylor: a dislocated left pinky is like an acute hang nail. I once popped my own shoulder back into it's socket. It was sore for awhile, but worked fine. They probably taped it to his third finger to protect it bfd.
I think Terry missed just a little on the four failed passes from the Eagles one yard line:
That had nothing to do with "chemistry" between Taylor and Landry. Those were timing throws, and the Eagles secondary (legally, fair and square quit your whining to the refs Jarvis) prevented Landry from getting to his "spot" on time.
You guys get this, right? Taylor is even shorter than Mayfield, and can't see diddly. He's looping the ball to a spot, about one second after the snap, from right behind his 6'5" wall of blockers.
Frankly, I was impressed as hell by that Eagles cornerback who kept messing Landry up. That guy just plain "beat" Landry, at least three times in a row. Legally. Fair and square.
Terry thinks they should have smashmouthed it in after the first two failed passes in order to build confidence, but this is the Eagles, and they might have stuffed the runs. That would have been worse.
Terry is probably right that the Browns 2018 offense will stumble and have "issues" early on due to all the "newness" in every way.
Josh Gordon now looks like he won't even play in preseason game 4.
But then, Tyrod and the first team might not play at all, either.
And that's stupid. These coaches all have this unwritten agreement on that stuff. They're trying to keep their starters healthy and rested for the real deal, but the first team offense obviously needs more reps.
Game one is the Steelers, and those reps are critical than making sure Tyrod's boo-boo is all better and stuff.
Hue is a strict in-the-box guy, but I would play my offensive starters for at least 3-4 series.
It's not that important if it's against the other teams' scrubs, or is "unfair" or whatever. The starters simply need to get used to eachother.
This won't happen, of course, because it's "unthinkable", so the Browns will face the Steelers while still figuring eachother out.
On the good side, Baker Mayfield will get to play with Callaway, Cajuste, Ratley, Chubb, etc., and the aforementioned guys will get more reps period.
Obviously, these rookies are the future. Callaway, Chubb, and Higgins are also the present.
Baker Mayfield has had his problems, but has dominated the preseason reps and ranks at the top of his quarterback class per PFF.
If he has to step in vs the Steelers, he won't suck. He never looks lost, doesn't get confused. He's stubborn and determined. He sees the whole field. He won't be intimidated; indeed the guys he's been practicing against are probably as good as the Steelers first string defense (don't start with me you'll lose).
Haley knows the Steelers intimately, and this gives the Browns a real edge. He's been practicing against this defense, and he knows these offensive players. He'll have had some long, deep discussions with General Gregg Williams and Field Marshall Joe Schobert (and, of course, the quarterbacks).
I can answer some of the questions other pundits will be axing about the Browns vs Steelers first game now:
1: Josh Gordon won't start, but will play. Tyrod has had some reps with Josh, and Josh is hard to miss. In his second season, he was the best wide receiver in the NFL with three mediocre quarterbacks, Gary Barnidge, and nobody else to take heat off him.
This is why he's compared to Randy Moss. You throw it to the right zip code, and there you go.
The Steelers will HAVE TO keep their free safety deep...well just listen to Damarius Randall.
Josh will show up on most third and more-than-threes, and in every four-wide.
2: Callaway should start at "X". Rashard Higgins is a big, reliable target, but Callaway can score from anywhere on the field (like the slower, shorter Antonio Brown).
"Start" is technical, though: Higgins and Gordon should each get similar reps, unless one of these three gets extra-hot.
3: Hyde should start. He's earned it. But Duke will be on the field a lot too; probably lined up at wide receiver at least ten times.
4: Ogunjobi and Meder should start inside. Ogunjobi doesn't surprise me, but (with joy in my heart) I gotta say that our homie Meder is a STUD!
He's short. He's slow. He was undrafted. Doesn't matter! Bob Golic on steroids. Go Jamie go!
5: Haley will run both two-back and two-tight end sets more than he has shown in preseason.
He is certain to throw some knuckleballs at his former team that they can't have spent time preparing for.
Invariably, Duke is one of the two backs...
Ok this is in the weeds here, but long story short, both these offensive huddles force either a base defense or "big nickel", with a safety replacing a linebacker.
Since the Steelers lost Ryan Shazier (best wishes for him by the way), they haven't been the same. Todd Haley has the skill-talent here to overmatch the Steelers' defense, or to overpower it.
That will really be the key in this game, by the way: The Browns will need to run the ball.
The two-backs and two tight end sets (or "22" sets with two of both--alias the "elephant" set) are brute-force smashmouth schemes on the surface.
Naturally, good defensive coordinators dig deeper, and grok that Fells indicates run, Duke indicates pass etc., but they're still guessing, and NONE of them will go beyond replacing a linebacker with a cornerback.
They won't replace their all-purpose defensive end with a pass-rushing specialist who can get run over, either.
Getting burned on pass plays is painful, but you people don't get a big part of this:
If an offense jams in their mouthpieces and overpowers your defense, you're just plain screwed, and you all know it. You get beat up and tired, and it only gets worse from there.
Vs the pass, you can pull out a sack, or force an interception, or at least get two incompletions in a row to set up third and ten, see?
But when a team is just plain running on you; overpowering you, well?
This is why defensive coordinators all want to stop the run first.
Vs the Steelers, Todd Haley will run a lot, and SHOW the run (and pass instead) a lot too.
Say it's Fells and Njoku with Hyde in the backfield and two wide-outs right?
You HAVE TO fear smashmouth off that, don't you? You fear the run more than the pass here, so you either run your base defense or go big nickel.
Now, if one of those wide receivers is Josh Gordon, you line up your free safety deep because you HAVE TO. If it's Callaway...well until he proves it, you can play your free shallower, and stack the box (sorta).
Still with me here?
Now, the Eagles just penetrated and blew EVERYTHING up vs the Browns in preseason game 3, so you can...no, you're the 2018 Steelers, so you know you can't do that.
You've got Watt and guys named Joe, and you can't dedicate seven guys to coverage and stuff the run too. (Keep in mind you're the STEELERS defensive coordinator and presumably rational and pragmatic, and even if you think you're smarter than Schwarte you know you don't have his "ammo", see?)
Ok sorry nevermind but even Terry Pluto failed to notice that the Eagles defense is a LOT better than the Steelers' defense.
He also didn't seem to notice that the Browns' defense is right there with the Eagles' defense.
I know I know, the Browns are 1-31 and the Steelers got screwed out of a potential Superbowl by a blatently bad call in 2017, but that was then, and this is now:
If talent prevails, the Browns should win. The Browns are the more talented team, period (for your own sake don't debate this).
And the hell with Hue Fisher: The assistants are running the Browns' show, and one of them is Haley: Unless Hue overrides Haley or Williams at critical moments, the coaching is at least a wash.
The "newness" factor favors the Steelers heavily, yes.
I assume the Rooneys replaced Haley with an excellent offensive coordinator, and happen to know that he retained much of Haley's offense.
But like I said, Haley is also a great intel resource (like any high-level defector).
You people don't get that either: The Steelers aren't going to turn their offense and defense upside down because Haley defected.
The Steelers are one of the best teams in the NFL, and they can't abandon that winning formula. They'll anticipate the "Haley" damage as well as they can, and come up with some prophylactic wrinkles for the Browns, but they're playing chess with Gregg Williams and Haley himself, so advantage Browns (in game one, anyway).
Here's the Browns' other advantages:
1: Myles Garrett. Big Ben can't shrug Garrett off. Garrett is not just a physical freak, but also SMART. He'll reserve his right arm for Ben's corresponding limb (trust me he does this on purpose). Ben won't be able to throw, and might get stripped if he's too stubborn to just take a dive...which he IS.
2: Denzel Ward: Denzel should be on Antonio Brown most of the time. Ward overmatches Brown physically. I think that Gregg Williams will put Ward right in Brown's face in press/man.
Most defenses don't dare try that with Brown anymore, since he burned it so often early in his carreer.
But Ward is a world-class athlete, apparently geneticly engineered for this: Even if Brown "shakes" him for a perfect pass (remember Garrett?), Ward will tackle Brown immediately.
3: Joe Schobert: Gregg Williams is unique in the NFL, because he looks for a "field general" player to actually make his defensive calls.
Schobert was drafted by the previous regime as a passrushing outside linebacker with great instincts, and kinda fizzled out in that 3-4 sheme.
Gregg Williams brought Joe back to life as (see my posts) what he should have been in the first place: a 3-4 inside linebacker or 4-3 middle linebacker.
I knew Schobert was smart, but (no doubt like Gregg) was astonished by how smart he was in 2017.
Joe Schobert is a prodigy. Gregg lucked out with him. He did a great job as field marshall in 2017, and it's downright scary to contemplate how he'll do in 2018.
The notion that Kendricks (or even Avery) would supplant Joe Schobert at Mike was (sigh---see previous posts) hyper-ignorant.
What's up with you people? Gregg Williams spells it out for you in plain language, that a "field general" is critical for his defense, and you think Kendicks will kick SCHOBERT to the curb!?!
But I digest: I'm eyeball deep in dumbassitude here. No offense: After all, Leonardo De Jackson and Albert Dorseystein want to sign Dez Bryant.
I guess they got the MENTALLY IMPAIRED vote locked up okbye.
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