Andy Benoit writes a good article on the 2019 Browns having no major weaknesses.
It's only a good article because Andy makes some all-to-common mistakes in diagnosing the Steve Wilks Defense:
1: Like nearly every Defensive Coordinator, including Gregg Williams, Steve Wilks prefers not to blitze. They all want four dedicated passrushers who can generate consistent pressure so that they don't have to take people out of coverage and expose themselves to screens and burns.
While they'll all run-blitze (inside) and blitze on 3rd and a mile, none of them want to gamble unneccessarily.
In nearly every case, a DC who blitzes a lot is compensating for not having a front 4 like the 2019 Browns have.
2: Nearly all Defensive Coordinators want to run man coverage on the perimeter. Many--like Steve Wilks in the past--have to run zones on the outside receivers because they have only 1 or zero man (read "cover") cornerbacks.
Like almost everybody other than my humble self, Andy is basing the "Wilks system" on his one year as the Panthers' DC and his one year as Head Coach of the Cardinals.
3: Blitzes don't mean fewer turnovers. In fact, they usually force more.
Steve Wilks has 3 (and possibly 4) man corners, and will NOT waste them and restrict his Free Safety on any all-zone scheme, because that would be...well...stoopid.
He also won't blitze a whole lot, as Garrett and company should do a fine job of terrorizing Quarterbacks without such gimmickry, thank you.
But the rest of Andy's article was insightful, including calling Greg Robinson the weak link.
That's fine with me, because he's probably average, and that's not a major weakness (look up "major" in your dictionary! It's a real word!)
Joel Cade wrote a funny (but smart as usual) article about home boy Kyle Kalis, (who he wants to make sure you know isn't the Klingon legend Khalis).
The guy is just a baddass, ok? I don't know how quick or agile or whatever he is, but he's a fighter, and he's giving Austin Corbett a run for his money at Right Guard.
But Joel erred a little too: Kalis was with the starting unit in the very few practice sessions open to the public, and Freddie Kitchens has no need to lie: The Head Coach said that Corbett was practicing with the ones behind closed doors.
Not that I have a dawg in this fight. My inner-fan roots for the guy who played for St Ed's, but my inner-GM thinks Corbett is the better player...but my inner fan retorts that it would suck if a 33rd overall Dorsey draft pick couldn't start in year 2.
Chris Pokorney makes some more common errors in previewing the Browns Running Backs.
-Sigh- redundancy alert:
Drew Rosenhaus and John Dorsey have a good relationship, which has absolutely nothing to do with Duke staying or going, and:
-Sigh- NOW is the time to trade Duke, and Rosenhaus knows this as well as Dorsey does. Dorsey has leverage now, as potential trade partners know that he is cool with keeping Duke if they don't cough up some real value for him.
Obviously, Kareem Hunt is brought out of stasis week 8, and EVERYBODY KNOWS Dorsey is desperate to get something for this third wheel.
Trade him now for a third round pick or something, or trade him midseason for a bag of freaking Doritos hmmm....
Chris did a great job of pointing out all the reasons the Browns should keep Duke (til midseason anyway), but he simultaneously told 31 other GMs why they should trade for him (and pay up).
Pokorney also kind of brushed Dontrell Hilliard off, along with the undrafted guys.
A year ago, Randy Gurzi pointed this undrafted free agent out to me, and I've tracked him since.
In Duke's absence during OTAs, Rodney Hilliardfield filled Duke Johnson's role, and the Coaches kinda raved about him.
It's tough to project Hilliard as a Duke Johnson 2.0 here, as Duke has exceptional hands as a receiver, and averages 5 ypc as a runner.
Trading Duke early might represent a depth/3rd down downgrade, but not a huge one.
Business is business, you people: The Monken/Kitchens 2019 Offense will run a lot of Zone-blocking, and a lot more ("one-cut") running backs can thrive in this scheme than in Hue Jackson's G-power man scheme.
This is how Mike Shanahan made undrafted and 5th-round running backs into superstars.
...If Nick Chubb goes down, Dontrell Hilliard can fill in here...or those undrafted guys we never heard of, for that matter.
Hilliard's scouting reports sound similar to Duke's, except he played for Tulane while Duke was a Hurricane. (I mean good scouting reports. Not the one that questioned him as a receiver--link withheld to protect the mentally impaired).
Jeff Risdon says that ESPN's Future (3-year) Power Rankings were dragged down (a LOT) by Rodney Kitchensfield, and this is getting old:
I'm absolutely with Jeff on this: These guys are in "it's the Browns" mode all the way. It's stuporstitious and irrational.
Permabashers and trolls aside, most of US have seen enough of Freddie Kitchens to know he's no "deer in the headlights".
It would be hard to find any Head Coach ever with a stronger supporting cast, but we can see that Freddie doesn't even need it (well aside from the DC anyway).
"All those egos and strong personalities" ooo, scary! Baker Mayfield will handle OBJ and...what Landry? I'm all out of potential troublemakers here...where is all this internal strife supposed to come from?
Seriously, I think there are too many unreality shows, and too many of these guys like Louis Riddick watch them.
A lot of this is pure ignorance (redundancy alert): OBJ NEVER demanded more passes for himself, or held out, or criticized any teammate besides Eli Manning (and that was diplomatic and got blown all out of proportion!)
I don't care that he lost a fight with a kicking net, or is a clown needing attention. OBJ just wants to WIN. If the Browns are 3-5 or whatever by midseason, you expect a mutinee or what?
It's rediculous, with the biggest "ego" of all (Baker Mayfield) between Freddie and any offensive malcontents!
Riddick and company don't comprehend social dynamics, or even basic psychology.
If you listen to Freddie Kitchens answering dumb questions for more than 2 minutes, you (well if you have a brain) know he's a natural leader.
If you grok Baker Mayfield any whatsoever, you comprehend that HE is the ONLY potential threat to Freddie Kitchens.
Baker Mayfield is all-in with Freddie Kitchens, because Freddie lets Baker be Baker. Freddie will never have to deal with any BS from any "divas" while Baker Mayfield is the Quarterback DUUUHHHH!!!!
And 3-5 at midseason is unlikely. I'm not even bothering with the semi-tough schedule...ok I just did and it's brutal...I still think they'll win 4 games...
Todd Gurley has bad health issues, the Seahawks have lost some talent, and as usual most analysts rely much too heavily on "last season".
The AFC North will be a dogfight. Writing off the Bengals is ignorant, as they still have a lot of talent. Writing off the Steelers is downright retarded, as they have more overall talent than they had in 2018.
Ironicly, the 2019 Ravens and Bengals will probably fight over third place.
Sorry this is real intelligent analysis, and I can only give the 2019 Browns a 60% chance of winning the AFC North. Their ONLY challenger is the Steelers. Read it and weep.
In addition to massively dissing Rodney Kitchensfield, there are a bunch of other things that alleged analysts are wrong about in re the 2019 Browns:
1: Baker Mayfield. He will go toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes in the pros as he did in college. Ranking Mayfield 12th is understandable (no bashing here), but is still wrong.
Baker was a rookie. He dealt with a hyperblockhead Offensive Coordinator through game 8, and had less to work with than Mahomes...who was a year ahead of him.
Mahomes won't have Kareem Hunt (Mayfield WILL), and Mahomes may not have Tyreek Hill, while Mayfield just got him one OBJ.
Charlie Weiss, Waittilnextyear, and I told you about Baker Mayfield before he was drafted.
In year 2, with the weapons at his disposal, Baker Mayfield will tear the NFL a new one.
2: Kitchens has given new Special Teams Coach Mike Preiffer access to the whole roster, and John Dorsey has drafted and signed several Special Teams studs. We can expect Special Teams to be significantly upgraded.
3: The upgrades on defense are obvious, including at least 3 new starters (quit the pc crap in re Greedy Williams ok?)
Indeed, I repeat that Schobert and Randall are on the block, and Kirksey could get released, but I digress:
Avery, Takitaki, and Wilson fit Steve Wilks better than they would Gregg Williams.
Why doesn't anybody else GET this?
...OMFG I just saw on TV "do you think Baker Mayfield is telling the truth when he says he is 'blocking out the haters'?"
How CLUELESS! And who cares? Baker Mayfield wallows in Baker-bashing! This guy...
Well actually most of you get this already okbye.
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