I kid, of course. (Who am I to call anybody else opinionated?)
Nick lists five players who have stood out in camp so far (then there's a link to an earlier article on four whose stocks are down). He includes 3 "honorable mentions", too.
Rookie TE Harrison Bryant is first. I figured this guy would become pretty good in time myself, but this kid has kicked ass from the very start!
I guess Njoku has a sore wrist now (could explain the dropsies possibly), but Bryant has kinda taken over that number two slot, and (barring injury) is unlikely to give it up.
I noticed that Bryant's gut has disappeared, and he looks leaner than he did at the combine or on film.
I frankly don't buy the nitpicky critiques of the converted star Left Tackle's blocking. I haven't seen the iso tapes these experts have, but come on, man: Left Tackles block full time, ok?
Anyway, the streamlined Harrison Bryant (by the way I'm guessing he's under 240 lbs now) looks much faster and more explosive than most of us expected (like a taller, more durable Seth DeValve, in fact). Andrew Berry scored big with this guy!
Njoku may still be a better athlete, but reliability is more important, and Bryant is a black hole type receiver. David Njoku can't overtake him.
...and everybody knows it, so Berry would be lucky to get a third round pick for him but I digress:
Jojo Natson. Like Patsko wrote last week, this microbe has been the top slot guy in 3-wides, and has been getting open and making catches.
Nick is sharp: He suggests that in view of this Covid 19 bullshit, Comrade Stefanski might be tuning up his backups, which makes sense: Higgins and Hodge are veterans, already familiar to Comrade Mayfield.
Natson is first and foremost a returner, but it will be great to know that he can be an effective WR if the next hand grenade rolls into the WR room (jeez look at what's left of the defensive back seven! The prognosis on Greedy Williams isn't promising, by the way holy crap!)
Next is Austin Hooper. No surprises here--especially after he went way out of his way to practice with Comrade Mayfield in the offseason, and came to the Browns with a catch-rate of over 97%.
Dudokovich surprised me with DE Porter Gustin, who I have failed to notice at all.
Gustin is a "bodybuilder" (like Clay Matthews Jr), and was projected by most scouts as a Linebacker in the NFL, as he was 6'4", 255 lbs coming out of college.
He was injured a lot, which hurt his stock, and failed a test (adderol-performance enhancing). Then there's his "stiff hips", questionable football IQ, and poor technique (no wonder I never noticed this guy! I must have read the scouting reports on him and blacked out the memory due to PTSD!)
Gustin was a Dorsey guy. Still listed at 255 lbs, but I doubt that. This guy lives in the weight room, and is probably over 265 rocked-up lbs by now.
Then there's Rashard Higgins. Mayfield/Higgins--no further comment required.
Nick's "Honorable Mentions" are Kareem Hunt, Khaderal Hodge, and LB BJ Goodson.
Hodge is a Special Teams stud, and Preifer will pound the table to keep him around.
No comment required on Hunt.
Goodson is looking like another "nice catch" by Andrew Berry.
Nick mentioned Goodson's leadership, but not much more.
Prior to signing here, BJ Goodson was on the field about half the time (a run-stopper).
He'll certainly come in handy for that here, but I've heard him mentioned in the same sentence as "deflection" and "interception" at least 3 times during camp, and I wonder if BJ might have become a more complete player.
Ok got some corrections to make here (names withheld to protect the guilty):
"...already thin in the secondary" (prior to all the injuries): Who TF publishes this garbage? They call you "editors" for a reason, ok?
How tf is Karl Joseph, Sendejo, Ward, Williams, Mitchell, Redwine, Delpit, Johnson etc "thin"?
Be afraid, you people! These writers might VOTE!
That one takes the cretin-cake, but I also think the whole "desperate need" for depth at Linebacker stuff is mindless hyperbole too.
I just cited what Nick Dudokovich said about BJ Goodson, but per Patsko, Sione Takitaki has stepped up as well, and who tf is telling these clowns that Jacob Phillips is a project or whatever?
And SCREW the 3 Linebackers we're seeing in Camp now--Joe Woods will run 2 or fewer real Linebackers 70% of the time when it counts.
The offense and defense are "sparring" here:
This Defense won't see many 2-back offenses (including the Ravens), so the Offense is holding the Chubb/Hunt stuff back, and running more conventional stuff to help the Defense out.
They're running more "11" and "12" sets in camp right now, and Woods is running 4-3's in response to the 12's.
I wish one of these "reporters" watching these practices was a trained analyst (Patsko is so close, dammit!)
Is Goodson present vs 11? Is Takitaki backed up in coverage? Is Joe using 3 Linebackers to test them vs the pass (skip that one: YEP!)
When the rubber meets the road, Joe Woods wants to run Big Nickles and Dimes. He wants more speed on the field, to "swarm" Tight Ends and Running backs, and hurry QBs, smother receivers, and get turnovers.
He'll run a nickel vs most modern 12 and 21 sets, as long as he has an aggressive and athletic Defensive Line, and a couple sideline-to-sideline run-and-hit guys...
Pearls before swines
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