First, I congratulate Tony for comprehending that the 31 year old Gerald McCoy is being pursued by the Browns as a rotational Defensive Tackle.
One clown wrote that McCoy would "probably replace Larry
Memorex Morons but I digress:
QB Garrett Gilbert is first up for Tony. Tony doesn't really get out the pompoms for any of these guys, but if you read what he wrote and are knowlegable, you'll see that Gilbert actually has a lot of experience in a lot of different offensive systems.
We can take his impressive stint in the AAF with a grain of salt, but this guy actually has a better background than that bumb Kurt Warner had before Trent Green got hurt.
I don't hate Drew Stanton or anything; especially as an advisor (*quit that "mentor" crap*) for Mayfield, but the much younger Gilbert is probably the better player.
Next is Dontrell Hilliard: check. He's a younger, cheaper, bigger Duke Johnson. (Tony didn't say this: that's me.)
THANK YOU TONY for listing Rodney Ratleyfield (Damion Ratley), who almost everybody except me wrote off when he didn't beat out Jarvis Landry, Higgins, and Callaway in a 2-tight end Offense as a rookie.
That is utterly retarded, you people!
Sadly, now OBJ joins the party, so the poor guy might not do much this season, either.
But wow...there's some real depth here, and Ratley should find roles to play on Special Teams.
Tony Grossi likes Drew Forbes' chances of eventually developing into a decent Offensive Tackle. I do too. His arms are kinda short, and that is a valid concern (born out analytically), but it's not the deal-killer a lot of pundits make it out to be.
If you say "well he's got the feet, the agility, range, good balance, height...but his arms are too short so he's a guard" you need a brain transplant.
DE Anthony Zettel is next, and thank you Tony for rubbing my nose in him.
6.5 sacks for the Lions in spot-duty in 2017. He's another short-armed guy, by the way, which might just be the ONLY reason he was considered a DT when he was drafted.
Look, boxers understand this: This is why tall guys with reach don't dominate every weight class. After all, they can hit shorter guys from a safe range all day, right?
Well, guys with shorter arms tend to have faster hands, and generate more power in tighter spaces. Shorter guys can also bob up and down to slip punches and step inside.
Much of this indeed applies to the football trenches, as reaching hands are slapped away and quicker hands hit hard, inside, and under pads and stuff...
Yes, longer arms give Offensive Tackles and Defensive Ends a clear and significant statistical advantage, but it's one of many factors to consider, and if a player shows on film that he overcomes his stubby arms, well then just leave him alone!
Anyway I had been utterly ignoring Zettel, but now I'll do some research on him, and get back to you with what you should think of him, and how to think it.
Next is Linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong. I haven't paid enough attention to this guy, either, but Tony quotes Preifer raving about him as a Special Teams ace.
Looks like Ray-Ray is a core Special Teams guy. It's not common, but some of these guys play on both sides of kicking, punting, and Field Goal units.
Josh Cribbs was on both sides of at least the Kicking and Punting units. You whippersnappers know he was an awesome returner, but a lot of you don't know that he was also at or near the top in tackles on the coverage side of those units as well.
It will never happen, but Josh Cribbs should be in the Hall of Fame as maybe the best all-around Special Teams player ever.
But I digress: It's great to hear that Preifer has a big guy like Armstrong to play with (who doesn't start or play a lot otherwise).
I know that Eric Murray is also a core Special Teamer, and Jhavonte Dean is a good candidate, and JT Hassel can't miss...look for the Browns Special Teams units to be massively better in 2019, people!
And expect it to make a difference, especially with their coverage units.
But I redigress:
Jermaine Whitehead is another guy I/WE never saw coming. His consistent presence with the starting Defense can't be an anomoly, especially based on what Wilks (and his teammates) have said about him.
Wow, Dorsey and co sure love them ex-Packers, no?
But it makes sense:
Damarius Randall was a really good Green Bay Cornerback, but has been an elite Browns' Free Safety.
Morgan Burnett was an above average Strong Safety in Green Bay, but last season in Pittsburgh had to play a lot of single high "center field" coverage, not unlike what Jabrill Peppers had to do as a rookie.
He did a better job than Jabrill did, but not by much. Dorsey got him back (cheap) to return him to his natural position, where under Steve Wilks we can expect him to at least rank in the top 40% at his position.
Whitehead, I haven't checked out that much, but Lesmerisis got me up to speed somewhat.
Doug points out that Burnett and Whitehead worked with eachother in Green Bay, which probably helped Whitehead "show up" here so suddenly in 2019.
I have to redundate Denzel Ward's and Steve Wilks' comments about Whitehead (and what they meant) from a few posts ago:
They're all talking about Whitehead like Gregg Williams and co talked about Field Marshall Schobert in 2018.
Whitehead is clearly replacing Joe Schobert in a similar mental role.
Makes sense:
Steve Wilks isn't Gregg Williams. He tends to use smaller, faster guys in general, and especially in coverage.
Their coverage philosophies and schemes also differ. I won't pretend I fully understand how yet, but I can tell you that he prefers superfast shrimps to linebackers covering Tight Ends, and runs more zones and more off-man coverages.
AND, as Captain Obvious has now confirmed, the "Nickel" IS his Base Defense (yes...Steve Wilks is out of the closet. Hopefully, more Defensive Coordinators will now admit that they have a Nickel base Defense too).
This Williams vs Wilks stuff gets convoluted, as the LB/Safety hybrid (Peppers, Cousins, Whitehead) are the same, but Williams needed a MIKE Field General, and used less nickel than other guys.
He manned-up linebackers on tight ends more; that's the biggest difference. It was Jamie Collins, and Schobert would "pick" them "up" sometimes nevermind Gregg is gone that was then this is now:
Wilks may or may not want a Field General to call defenses for him on the field, but clearly, Whitehead is at least a Colonel.
I repeat: Joe Schobert is on the block. He's entering his contract year. Whitehead has already replaced him as the Field General and (oh yeah) in coverage too.
Joe LED THE LEAGUE in missed tackles in 2018 BUT is a brain and is as good as it gets in coverage. LOTS of teams would love to have Joe Schobert, and btw every Coach figures he can fix those tackling stats.
Dorsey is "dangling" him out there, along with Duke Johnson.
Sorry I digressed some more again where was I who cares:
The Safety and LB corps's are "mixed" in this Steve Wilks Defense.
Put down your label-makers and step away:
I love it. I think Gregg Williams got stubborn and was passed up by younger, hungrier guys.
...He ordered Myles Garrett NOT to use more than two pass-rush moves? He ran a 4-3, and his Defensive Line (especially Ogunjobi) into the ground...
Nevermind: I expect Steve Wilks to be pretty good here, at least, given the massive influx of talent that Dorsey has just added to Garrett, Ogunjobi, Ward, Mitchell, Randall, Avery (I gotta omit Schobert even though I like him a lot) etc.
Steve Wilks was no doubt bummed out when his first shot as a Head Coach was an unmitigated disaster, but right now feels much better, because he has at least 85% of all the talent he could have had in his wildest dreams.
Wilks probably never had the press/man corners he has now (and by the way: that's idiot-proof. Greedy Williams is ready to go there...well mostly...)
Pundits are basing most of their predictions of the 2019 Wilks Defense on what he did in one year as the Panthers' DC and one year as the Cardinals Head Coach.
I expect to keep staying ahead of them, because I was trained not to assume, and to recognize microscopic sample-sizes in radically different contexts for what they are.
Intelligent analysts can infer a lot from the Coaches Steve Wilks played for and understudied, but even that isn't very reliable.
The fact that Steve Wilks was regarded so highly by so many GMs is significant. Wilks impressed them in interviews, and came highly recommended, by credible sources.
...Nevermind. I can count those of you who get any of this on my fingers.
I know that for sure, because that's my HIT-COUNT!
In seclusion, 🖕.
Late note: I look foreward to hearing from
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