Scott Patsco listed his Browns' camp Winners and Losers, and it was pretty good.
Jermaine Whitehead is, of course, the first guy Scott lists. I've already talked about Whitehead myself.
Scott calls the concept of voluntary practice a loser, because this is when Coaches install their plays, and buttheads like OBJ and Ebineezer Bell who skip them fall behind their new teams.
The backup wide receivers and Dontrell Hilliard are indeed big winners (see last post). Landry is injured (allegedly), OBJ is too much a flake to show up, and Duke is boycotting.
Baker is making all of the backups look good, and giving them chances to show the Coaches why they belong on this team. It's a beautiful thing, really.
Scott says that Higgins has been the best of the rest, which isn't a big surprise.
Hilliard is a different story. He has been proving what I have been telling you for a year or so: Dontrell Hilliard can do everything Duke Johnson does. That's just a fact.
It doesn't matter that Freddie Kitchens wants to keep Duke. He wants to keep EVERYBODY, including Hilliard, but there is only so much cap money and only so many roster spots.
Scott names Austin Corbett a loser, and he's right.
Oline Coach Campen has said that Corbett has worked at RG with the starting unit in several practices closed ro the public (and no--he isn't lying), but the fact that an undrafted guy is challenging him is a bad look.
Adam Henry, who coached Beckham and Landry at LSU, then OBJ with the Giants, then Landry here, and now both of them again (!) defends OBJ.
According to Henry, Beckham is actually very smart, and understands how plays work readily (I'm filling in some blanks here ok?) so that he knows where he should go in every situation; ie how to adjust to the coverage.
Beckham can be moved all over the place, and knows all his routes from wherever he is.
Hard to believe, in view of his twitter jargon, goofy smile, and clownish behavior, but no--Adam Henry isn't lying, either.
Henry tells us that his teammates all love him; he's a great teammate, and is a tireless worker in practice (can't sit still; can't slow down).
Henry seems confident that the combination of his (extremely well-camouflaged) football IQ and work ethic, and his (seemingly determined) absence from OTAs won't matter in the long run.
Indeed, Henry describes a receiver that any Quarterback could rely on---in the clutch, or for 11 catches.
Henry "leaked" a little as he talked about moving OBJ around to make it hard for defenses to gang up on him.
If your number one is 6'4" you can force high-trajectory passes to him or have him come back to beat double-coverage. If he's not that dominant or your quarterback isn't accurate enough, you use him as a decoy and hit other guys til they get up off him.
OBJ will never be a decoy, because he'll line up everywhere, including in the backfield. If a defense doesn't know where he'll end up when the huddle breaks, they can't set their coverage until the quarterback is actually making his calls.
As they line up, Mayfield is watching the Defense move people around, and he sees who moves towards OBJ as OBJ moves to his position.
It's beautiful, really. He can gather so much information, even before he sets up behind center, based on how they react to this one lethal weapon.
...and they have no choice HAAAHAHA-gasp-wheeze...wait...
Now, to redundate, you can press/man an outside receiver because you have a sideline to help you, and can wall off his potential in-cuts while accidentally bumping and jostling him towards the sidelines.
You can't do that to a slot guy who can go inside or outside, or anybody behind the line of scrimmage, who also gets a running start in a direction of his choosing and crosses the line at full speed.
Mayfield knows all this, so he wants to see how they intend to cope with OBJ from the left or right slot or in the right or left backfield. Is there a single high safety still deep, or has he moved closer? Which cornerback went with him, and how far off the line is he?
Very long story, but you get the idea. Jarvis Landry is terrific, but the Browns had nobody like OBJ in 2018...or really since Josh Gordon 1.0.
In 2018, defenses keyed on different Browns' players situationally, because no one specific player was a game-wrecker (and, of course, because this exceptional Quarterback spread the ball around evenly).
NOW, the Browns have one of those six or seven "coverage dictators" that give Defenses no choice but to zero in on them, wherever they are.
It could be pivotal this season. Mayfield will continue to distribute the ball, but now will get these pre-snap clues to what Defenses are up to, and, if Adam Henry is right, OBJ can beat most of it anyway.
OBJ, if he stays healthy for once, should lead the Browns in receiving yardage, simply because he's THE deep threat, and will go deep more than anybody else.
Landry might lead in receptions, as he does more of what he did in Miami.
We can debate that. Landry caught 400 passes in 4 seasons (and a bunch of TDs) but averaged less than 9 YPC. That's why a lot of people (including ME) were unhappy with paying him all that money.
But he was THE MAN for the Fins, who used him kinda like a glorified running back. He made catches in a phone-booth, and was instantly swarned.
But now? Now, Landry is "one of the other guys". (Other Than OBJ or @OTOBJG).
Let's include Njoku here, and on every neutral down you have to figure one Safety hangs back. Even teams with a Linebacker or Safety who can run with Njoku up the seam, he's still too tall, and Mayfield too accurate, to prevent a 3rd Degree burn.
One thing opposing Defenses will do to counter Mayfield based on his rookie games is to contain him; try to trap him in the pocket---while also penetrating inside.
The inside pressure thing is the best way to screw up Tom Brady, and it usually fails. The containment thing is how you beat any athletic Quarterback, but it hasn't worked too well on Aaron Rodgers, either.
Aaron Rodgers is the best Mayfield comparison, too. You must have 3 passrushers for that, but also two more to seal off inside gaps (or blitze). The edge guys are restricted and can't get behind Rodgers, so his Tackles have an edge on them but I digress:
Anyway with one guy deep, 4 guys passrushing, one guy on Njoku, you have 5 guys left for Callaway, Landry, and OBJ.
Most Defenses will man up on the 2 outside guys, so you have 3 on 1 for the last receiver, right?
Wrong. Remember Nick Chubb?
On anything under 5 yards, he can take the handoff OR go out for a pass. At over 5 yards (on third down), it's more likely Hilliard or Johnson anyway, and they can...
Nevermind, but Jarvis Landry can save the day, often and repeatedly, even if he's surrounded again (which he won't be).
Laugh at me now but believe me later:
The 2019 Browns Offense should stick to running the ball at least 42% of the time, and run 3-wides more than other sets, but beyond that, probably won't have an "identity" (beyond Baker Mayfield).
You will see 3 Tight Ends, 3 Running Backs, RPOs, West Coast, and you name it.
Monken and Kitchens are both "Air Coryall" guys at heart, but they're also up-to-date and adapt to their players first and their opponents second.
Mayfield prospered in an "Air Raid" system in college, but proved in 2018 that he could function in a Todd Haley cave-man offense too.
But wake up! The Air Raid has come to the NFL, and the RPOs and (sorta) zone-reads were part of that. Zone-blocking is becoming the new normal as well, and Kitchens and Monken are ahead of that curve with...B-B-baker Mayfield!?!
Yeah I hear you, Steelers and Ravens: "Ooo! I'm shakin' in my boots!"
I do so look foreward to that smirk slapped off your face and hearing "we beat ourselves" etc outta those same pie-holes.
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