PFF managed to rank the 2019 Browns' roster 18th, but we shouldn't be offended, or take it personally.
They based their player rankings on all the usable history they had. You can't reliably predict improvements, and clearly PFF wasn't even comfortable weighting the later games in 2018 more heavily than game 1.
On that basis, the teams they ranked in the top 5 made sense, except for the Patriots. Is Tom Brady getting bonus points?
...well I suppose they might well have extraordinary depth, Edelman is a superstar, great Oline...well I won't quibble.
A bunch of Browns players graded out below average, but that gets misleading.
One of those was Larry Ogunjobi, Avery's ranking was based on his Senior year, in which he was mainly a move-around passrusher. Nor is he likely to start, when the dust settles.
Schobert and Kirksey ranked low, mainly due to Kirksey's inefficiency in coverage, and Schobert's missed tackles. The combination of fewer fronts fielding 3 real linebackers makes Joe tradeable and Chris cuttable.
By the way, quit fretting about Kirksey's dead cap hit. It's irrelevant for 2020, and the balloon payments aren't due til 2021.
I wonder what PFF did to Oliviere Vernon, who played linebacker last season. Did they ding him for coverage?
I guess they defaulted Corbett to RG...what numbers did they use to rank him?
Both Offensive Tackles ranked below average, and that might be about right!
Earlier, I picked on PFF for ranking the Browns Offensive line too high when it was the combination of Mayfield's quick decisions and mobility, plus Kitchens' much smarter playcalling (and use of more running backs and Tight Ends) that made Robinson and Hubbard look so great.
Of course, I think they should be at least average this season, as they'll be helped by RPOs and Zone-blocking.
PFF isn't accounting for youth, or predictable growth in these rankings:
1: Gregg Williams limited Myles Garrett to two passrushing moves last season. Now he's got some help, too--he's about to go apeshit in his third season.
2: Denzel Ward enters only his second season, and presumably will have learned not to lead with his face when tackling huge guys.
*No Ward is not the "number one cornerback" no matter what. Greedy Williams will take the taller guys, and Ward the explosive short guys. Matchups matter, people!*
3: OBJ will have a higher average depth-of-target, and somewhat better YAC average with Mayfield, and likely more Touchdowns too. Mayfield is more accurate and aggressive than Eli, and (see last post) makes huge plays when things break down.
4: Callaway made huge and impressive progress throughout 2018 as a raw rookie who had hardly played any in college. This is why, despite Rashard Higgins' own great performance, Callaway is nominally ahead of him on the depth chart.
If you want to see what Callaway can turn into, look no further than OBJ.
5: Njoku's "drops" are being overly inflated, at least though 2018. For some strange reason, he became much more dependable when Mayfield took over for Taylor, and moreso when Freddy took over for Mywayorthehighway.
He enters only his third season, and is another guy primed to go apeshit.
Another third year player is Larry Ogunjobi, who PFF graded as below average. I'm not sure how that happened. Does PFF separate the Zero Shade (which Ogunjobi played) from the 3-technique?
Because on most neutral downs, the Nose Tackle has to engage the center (and invite a double-team) until he confirms it's a pass play.
His momentum is stalled, and he has to get past two guys to pressure the QB, while the 3-tech DT shot a gap and is in the backfield already. PFF must be dinging Larry's passrushing grade here (maybe).
And then, Larry did seem to wear down later in the season. Gregg Williams didn't think he had the depth to rotate much, so the Defensive Line in general wore down (except for Garrett, who isn't human ergo doesn't count).
But WE watched the games, so we're not worried about Ogunjobe 3.0.
6: How did PFF grade Morgan Burnett? They based it on his 2018 season with the Steelers, in which he played the deep middle instead of Strong Safety, which is where he'd been a decent starter for most of his carreer.
7: What about Baker Mayfield himself? He broke Peyton Manning's and Russell Wilson's tied record for NFL rookie touchdown passes in 13.5 games with a mid-season regime-change, and ranked among the best QBs in the NFL in every category!
Stay with me here: He did this with fellow rookie Callaway, Landry, Njoku, and an injury-driven "rotation" of Willies, Higgins, Ratley et al, and he made them ALL look good!
Nobody who knows anything at all about football expects a "sophomore slump" out of Baker Mayfield. No, he'll be better this season, and OBJ is just a bonus for him.
See my last several posts (but especially the last 2):
The guy gets BETTER after things break down. Defenses are Little Dutch Boys trying to stop him.
Stay with me here: it would be different if he was less accurate and weaker moving to his left than to his right, or innaccurate throwing without his feet set, or whatever.
Then, a Wilks or Williams or somebody could kind of force him into trying to do what he sucks at. But as-is, Mayfield will just laugh and mess you up in another way.
8: (Redundacy alert): Schobert and Kirksey are expendable right now. In the Wilks predominant 2-Linebacker Defense, Takitaki and Wilson (or somebody) could replace and outperform them---even per PFF.
Dan Justik came back from a dumb article I commented on in my last post to projectimate that Demetrius Harris, the FA TE John Dorsey signed from KC, will play significant snaps in 2019.
YEP! Since being discovered be Dorsey himself as a basketball player dabbling in football, Harris has been mainly a blocker and backup in the NFL, but he's actually a fine receiver.
As Dan points out, Freddie Kitchens ran a lot of 2/3 TE sets last season. While that was partly to prop up the Tackles in pass-pro and overpower people on the run, Fells caught some passes.
Njoku is obviously the Tight End who scares defenses most as a receiver, but Harris is 6'7" and an easy red-zone target for Mayfield, who the defenders can't afford to take seriously.
Errah...Baker Mayfield finds these guys, right? (Is any of this sinking in yet?)
Sorry about this, but Nick Chubb has a thing or 2 to say about Baker Mayfield, as an enemy as well as a teammate...
I'm sorry! Baker Mayfield is the real deal, ok? I can bash him for going off on Duke Johnson and kinda/sorta "stalking" Hue Jackson and some other punk stuff, but this is what it is. Baker Mayfield in 2019 will be as good as any QB in the NFL.
I don't envy Freddie Kitchens trying to curb his team/fans enthusiasm for 2019.
Greedy Williams got way out over his skis in predicting a Browns' Superbowl in 2019, but what Jarvis Landry said has been misinterpreted:
Jarvis only said that the GOAL for 2019 (or any year) is the Superbowl.
How do you lump that in with Greedy's prediction?
Why is critical thinking not taught from first grade on up? (That was a rhetorical question, given the political insanity unfolding these days, but I digress):
Put away that broad brush, ok? People that want to generate hits want to turn the Browns into an unreality show (or Soap Opera), and Colon Cowturd will no doubt continue to lead that charge.
"Big Personalities" plus a rookie Head Coach will destroy this team right?
What are you talking about here? OBJ and/or Landry demanding more targets? Mayfield...what he can't deal with that but WILL get in Kitchens and Monkens' faces?
You people. You can't separate Ebineezer Bell and Antonio Brown from OBJ and Jarvis Landry. They're all the same to you.
I need to figure out what Quarterback you think matches Mayfield politically. I can't think of...well maybe Aaron Rodgers...
Whole new can of worms: Kitchens aint McCarthy, Mayfield will have discretion, and---nevermind.
If you buy the crap these ass-hats are selling, you need...well you need to be taught critical thinking.
Too late for most of you. Okbye.
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