Thanks to Mary Kay, now I know that X Cooper is replacing Des Bryant. Mary said "at right defensive end", but had to have meant left. The left defensive end plays on the offense's right side.
I stand corrected. Cooper has the quickness and range, but suffers a reach disadvantage vs offensive tackles.
Ray won't have him doing the exact same things as Des did. He's already modified things to adapt to the shorter guy.
Mary Kay's article quotes Horton extensively, and shed more light on where he's at and what he plans. He says they're still in the experimental phase, and trying to find the best defense for the current personnel.
He mentions a 4-3 as one of the possibilities for the base, but as is his wont, Horton will keep throwing knuckleballs and curves at opposing offenses down-by-down.
Ogbah's switch to defensive end really isn't a switch. As I've mentioned, he's a 4-3 defensive end and a 3-4 outside linebacker.
Mingo's occasional moves inside are interesting, and hasn't surprised me much. I look forward to seeing how it works out. No predictions.
Des Bryant has a legitimate point about getting paid something this season. Per the contract, the Browns owe him Zippo, but he was working out, and there is a moral issue here.
Unfortunately, Des will be 31 years old next season, and makes a lot of money. Business is business, and he may be released.
Aw, quit your whining! His replacements are already on the roster, and by this time next season, one or more of them will be better than the old guy coming back from a serious injury.
I'm as big a Des fan as anybody else, but a front office can't get sentimental. The 2016 Browns really are like an expansion team in many ways, and old guys won't be around by the time they're ready to contend.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Cleveland Browns Talent, Pass Rush, Coverage
"The Cleveland Browns have one of the least talented rosters in the NFL".
I don't bother noticing who says this stuff any more. I think my man Ross Tucker might still say it. Smart people say it. But it makes absolutely no sense.
First, the definition of talent is ability. It's separate from experience. Maybe some of these guys are confusing talent with performance.
Still, guys like Coleman, Hassan, Ogbah etc. come with what we call "scouting reports"...nah, that cant be it...
Let's use the training camp depth chart (for what it's worth) to rate the talent on this roster. We'll go from one to five, with five being Joe Thomas, and one the next guy the Browns waive.
Remember now: we're talking about talent. That is, ability.
...oh wow...well we can simplify this! Going along the line of scrimmage, everybody is a five except...Drango? Ok he might be a three. Except it's hard to say that when he's ahead of Pazstor.
Why are you laughing? Who isn't above the eightieth percentile? Erving? Not according to his scouting report!
Greco? Not according to PFF! Pryor? Get real: ability, remember? Aside from the right tackle, these guys are all fives. That's reality.
Griffin is a five (abilityabilityability is it sinking in yet?)
I'll throw you a bone and call Crowell a four. Happy now? Oh ok three, but that's my final offer (and is dumb.) I'll demote Duke to a four (dumb also) there now shut up.
So the least talented team in the NFL must all be on defense, right?
Well, Haden is a five, and---skip it lets just look for a player who is less than a three. I cant find any. There aren't any.
In fact, I submit to you that Shelton, Ogbah, and Gilbert are also fives.
So what are these guys talking about here? I guess the long snapper, punter, and kicker must REALLY suck! No? Ok then 29 or so other teams must be Superbowl contenders right?
Sometimes we just get so used to hearing and repeating something that we can't stop. No rational being could say this roster lacks talent. Stop the inanity!
The two recent intrasquad scrimmages have to be taken with a grain of salt, of course. Not only were they not in full pads, but they know their opposite numbers by heart.
The offense's inability to run was probably exaggerated, as was their domination by air.
One commentator declared that the defense would have to "scheme" a pass rush. That's extremely premature.
When you're not allowed to hit the quarterback, you can't sell out to go after him. Too often, you can't divert or pull up in time, or are even off-balance and fall into his legs.
This is especially true for the guys like Ogbah, Nassib, Orchard, and Kruger who aren't "benders", and scrape by blockers rather than run around them.
The offense also had a lot to do with the lack of pressure. RG3 was sometimes on the move, and the quarterbacks got rid of it quickly.
The great and horrible part of the scrimmages was the devastating air attack. It shows a lot of promise for the offense, but is alarming for the defense.
Contact was allowed, and this meant that the defenders were trying to impede and reroute the receivers, exactly the same as they would in a real game.
Coleman, and then Pryor, were unstoppable. Not only that, but they were wide open.
A lot of Browns fans assume this means that the cornerbacks all suck, rather than that the Browns have a couple of lethal weapons at wide receiver. That's sad. You're emoting, not thinking.
Well, one of the starters never played, and I'm not sure, but if the other one played at all, it was limited and brief.
Without intelligent reporting or films, I need to guess at this, but I think I saw single coverage, as Horton had the defense focus on the backs and tight ends. Just a guess, though.
Pryor matching Coleman in scrimmage two may have told me a lot. I suspect that when Coleman was held out, Pryor moved to his X spot on the left side.
Amazingly, the ex-quarterback can already do that! Wow, he must be the smartest person ever born!
But I digress: If I'm right, it means Griffin was hitting his first read a lot. That, in turn, would mean that he hasn't proven that he's improved yet.
Everybody knew that he had great arm talent (although it's hard to imagine he was as accurate as he is now), but he hasn't been forced to check down under fire yet.
Green Bay should expose that. They'll probably double the X to force that, and they run a 3-4 too, so random blitzes are built in; they should get heat on him, at least on a few plays. I look forward to that.
Of course, double covering Pryor might not matter with his size and strength. That guy will never really be covered, because there will always be an area where he can catch it. And Griffin can deliver into that small window.
Pre-season is only for serious fans, because they want to see the rookie sixth round pick, and if the guy from the 2015 practice squad has turned into a player yet.
Case in point is Justin Gilbert. The fact that he's been embarrassed by Pryor and Coleman doesn't alarm me as much as it does normal fans. Joe Haden will probably do better, but I don't know how much better.
He's managed to muffle AJ Green, and held Megatron to merely respectable stats.
Gilbert might not be that good in the final analysis, but he might not suck either. It's still too early to flush him.
His first big test will be Green Bay.
Pre-season is fascinating for a legitimate analyst. It's easy to talk about future truck drivers and grocery clerks, but Ross Tucker begs to differ.
Tucker was undrafted. He wasn't even invited to his combine. He was big, and super-smart, but not much of an athlete.
None of us would have noticed him, let alone given him a chance. But he made it, and started, and backed up, and was a good NFL offensive lineman.
There are a bunch of Ross Tuckers fighting tooth and nail for NFL futures in the third and fourth quarters of pre-season games.
To us, they're nobody. We change the channel.
Well, not me. I want to see if Ricardo Lewis keeps dropping passes. I want to see if Payton can pass Higgins. If Kessler can be all Hue thinks he can be.
Injuries (and suspensions) happen, and some of these low round picks and undrafteds end up playing in real games. I want to know them.
Ross will tell you, those second halves vs "future grocery clerks" are a crucible; a war. The few who stand out survive, and it means something.
I won't be able to watch Browns vs Packers, but I'll be listening to Jim and Doug tell me about it, right through the final gun.
The big questions: Will the Browns be able to run the ball? Will the defense get heat on the quarterback? Will Griffin come back down to Earth? Will Gilbert keep getting toasted?
In reality, Green Bay has less overall talent than the Browns do. At this point, they'd probably kill to have Coleman or Rodney Pryorfield.
Sure, I'd love to have Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews, but I don't subscribe to hype. Football is a team sport, and Rodgers doesn't have the weapons RG3 has. That's reality. Deal with it.
I'm hoping that Gilbert will find his job easier here, because Green Bay doesn't have a Coleman or a Pryor.
More importantly, I want to see RG3 under pressure. In a pocket. Checking down. He needs to prove it.
Hue thinks he will, and in Hue I trust.
I don't bother noticing who says this stuff any more. I think my man Ross Tucker might still say it. Smart people say it. But it makes absolutely no sense.
First, the definition of talent is ability. It's separate from experience. Maybe some of these guys are confusing talent with performance.
Still, guys like Coleman, Hassan, Ogbah etc. come with what we call "scouting reports"...nah, that cant be it...
Let's use the training camp depth chart (for what it's worth) to rate the talent on this roster. We'll go from one to five, with five being Joe Thomas, and one the next guy the Browns waive.
Remember now: we're talking about talent. That is, ability.
...oh wow...well we can simplify this! Going along the line of scrimmage, everybody is a five except...Drango? Ok he might be a three. Except it's hard to say that when he's ahead of Pazstor.
Why are you laughing? Who isn't above the eightieth percentile? Erving? Not according to his scouting report!
Greco? Not according to PFF! Pryor? Get real: ability, remember? Aside from the right tackle, these guys are all fives. That's reality.
Griffin is a five (abilityabilityability is it sinking in yet?)
I'll throw you a bone and call Crowell a four. Happy now? Oh ok three, but that's my final offer (and is dumb.) I'll demote Duke to a four (dumb also) there now shut up.
So the least talented team in the NFL must all be on defense, right?
Well, Haden is a five, and---skip it lets just look for a player who is less than a three. I cant find any. There aren't any.
In fact, I submit to you that Shelton, Ogbah, and Gilbert are also fives.
So what are these guys talking about here? I guess the long snapper, punter, and kicker must REALLY suck! No? Ok then 29 or so other teams must be Superbowl contenders right?
Sometimes we just get so used to hearing and repeating something that we can't stop. No rational being could say this roster lacks talent. Stop the inanity!
The two recent intrasquad scrimmages have to be taken with a grain of salt, of course. Not only were they not in full pads, but they know their opposite numbers by heart.
The offense's inability to run was probably exaggerated, as was their domination by air.
One commentator declared that the defense would have to "scheme" a pass rush. That's extremely premature.
When you're not allowed to hit the quarterback, you can't sell out to go after him. Too often, you can't divert or pull up in time, or are even off-balance and fall into his legs.
This is especially true for the guys like Ogbah, Nassib, Orchard, and Kruger who aren't "benders", and scrape by blockers rather than run around them.
The offense also had a lot to do with the lack of pressure. RG3 was sometimes on the move, and the quarterbacks got rid of it quickly.
The great and horrible part of the scrimmages was the devastating air attack. It shows a lot of promise for the offense, but is alarming for the defense.
Contact was allowed, and this meant that the defenders were trying to impede and reroute the receivers, exactly the same as they would in a real game.
Coleman, and then Pryor, were unstoppable. Not only that, but they were wide open.
A lot of Browns fans assume this means that the cornerbacks all suck, rather than that the Browns have a couple of lethal weapons at wide receiver. That's sad. You're emoting, not thinking.
Well, one of the starters never played, and I'm not sure, but if the other one played at all, it was limited and brief.
Without intelligent reporting or films, I need to guess at this, but I think I saw single coverage, as Horton had the defense focus on the backs and tight ends. Just a guess, though.
Pryor matching Coleman in scrimmage two may have told me a lot. I suspect that when Coleman was held out, Pryor moved to his X spot on the left side.
Amazingly, the ex-quarterback can already do that! Wow, he must be the smartest person ever born!
But I digress: If I'm right, it means Griffin was hitting his first read a lot. That, in turn, would mean that he hasn't proven that he's improved yet.
Everybody knew that he had great arm talent (although it's hard to imagine he was as accurate as he is now), but he hasn't been forced to check down under fire yet.
Green Bay should expose that. They'll probably double the X to force that, and they run a 3-4 too, so random blitzes are built in; they should get heat on him, at least on a few plays. I look forward to that.
Of course, double covering Pryor might not matter with his size and strength. That guy will never really be covered, because there will always be an area where he can catch it. And Griffin can deliver into that small window.
Pre-season is only for serious fans, because they want to see the rookie sixth round pick, and if the guy from the 2015 practice squad has turned into a player yet.
Case in point is Justin Gilbert. The fact that he's been embarrassed by Pryor and Coleman doesn't alarm me as much as it does normal fans. Joe Haden will probably do better, but I don't know how much better.
He's managed to muffle AJ Green, and held Megatron to merely respectable stats.
Gilbert might not be that good in the final analysis, but he might not suck either. It's still too early to flush him.
His first big test will be Green Bay.
Pre-season is fascinating for a legitimate analyst. It's easy to talk about future truck drivers and grocery clerks, but Ross Tucker begs to differ.
Tucker was undrafted. He wasn't even invited to his combine. He was big, and super-smart, but not much of an athlete.
None of us would have noticed him, let alone given him a chance. But he made it, and started, and backed up, and was a good NFL offensive lineman.
There are a bunch of Ross Tuckers fighting tooth and nail for NFL futures in the third and fourth quarters of pre-season games.
To us, they're nobody. We change the channel.
Well, not me. I want to see if Ricardo Lewis keeps dropping passes. I want to see if Payton can pass Higgins. If Kessler can be all Hue thinks he can be.
Injuries (and suspensions) happen, and some of these low round picks and undrafteds end up playing in real games. I want to know them.
Ross will tell you, those second halves vs "future grocery clerks" are a crucible; a war. The few who stand out survive, and it means something.
I won't be able to watch Browns vs Packers, but I'll be listening to Jim and Doug tell me about it, right through the final gun.
The big questions: Will the Browns be able to run the ball? Will the defense get heat on the quarterback? Will Griffin come back down to Earth? Will Gilbert keep getting toasted?
In reality, Green Bay has less overall talent than the Browns do. At this point, they'd probably kill to have Coleman or Rodney Pryorfield.
Sure, I'd love to have Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews, but I don't subscribe to hype. Football is a team sport, and Rodgers doesn't have the weapons RG3 has. That's reality. Deal with it.
I'm hoping that Gilbert will find his job easier here, because Green Bay doesn't have a Coleman or a Pryor.
More importantly, I want to see RG3 under pressure. In a pocket. Checking down. He needs to prove it.
Hue thinks he will, and in Hue I trust.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Dumbassitude and Rodney Pryorfield
In keeping with my policy of protecting my readers from dumbassitude, I haven't included a link to this article, and won't identify the dumbass in question:
An AFC North alleged analyst looked over the Browns wide receivers.
First, he lumps Hawkins in with Gabriel and calls them just guys. That's not too bad, but still, when healthy Hawkins led the team in receptions, and some of that was as an outside receiver, and not from the slot.
Gabriel doesn't belong with him. After showing promise as a rookie, he dropped half the passes thrown to him, and back to the bench.
This guy had Coleman ranked sixth among the wide receivers in his draft class, calling him "undersized".
This is annoying. Hawkins and Gabriel are undersized. Coleman is 5'11", 194. That's not ideal, but it's not undersized. I'm not sure exactly when "adequate" crept from 5'10" to 6'2", but it's a mental distortion.
Coleman is taller than Odell Beckham, Antonio Brown, and if I had some time I'd give you six or seven more stud receivers. He's MUCH bigger than Steve Smith, and I'm kind of stunned that the distortion has even shrunk Coleman down so that people can compare the two.
Rightfully, this pretend analyst cites the ultra-simple Baylor offense he played in, but obviously Coleman has the physical tools to execute every route exceptionally well once he learns it.
The guy calls the Baylor trio (including RG3) on this roster a "cute story" prior to dismissing it as irrelevant. Surely I can't be one of the only two guys on Earth who combines that with Hue Jackson and Art Briles visits to expect some Baylor offense in 2016?
I myself am guilty of utterly ignoring Coleman pre-draft due to my own fixation with skyscrapers, but holy crap SIXTH?
I never ranked the receivers. For me, I just knew that we had lots of slot receivers and needed bigger outside guys, so my own priorities were Brownscentric.
But if I had ranked them, based on TALENT, Coleman's super-athleticism and speed would have placed him at or near the top of a solid but pedestrian draft class.
But then, I focus on TALENT and upside. I would never, ever draft an inferior player simply because I feel he's more "ready".
Early on the article, this clown nods to Coleman's talent, but pities him for going to a "dumpster fire" organization.
Hue Jackson, Pep Hamilton and the rest have to be looking at each other and shaking their heads. "When did we turn into losers?"
The writer mentions Payton, Higgins, and Lewis. I think he might have said something about them (I can't look at that steaming pile of incompetence again).
He is fair to Josh Gordon, sort of, but cites his 24 catches for a little over 300 yards after his return from suspension two as a reason for concern.
Well first off, that translates to close to eighty catches and over a thousand yards. Second, Gordon is still very young. While it's possible he lacks the maturity and discipline to put the work in to recapture his old magic, the odds are that this older Josh, playing for Hue Jackson, will be dedicated.
Now that the Ohio State scrimmage happened, I'm glad Corey Coleman was held out. What happened was highly informative for everybody except ME.
No need to rub it in. But I just want to. The fake writer above forced himself to mention Terrell Pryor's existance, but couldnt stop snickering long enough to elaborate.
Yoda will be madly yanking on our leashes now, reminding us that it was just a scrimmageitswaytooearlyblablah yeah yeah ok shut up.
But with Coleman out, the very next man up was Pryor, and this probably reflects the real depth chart. The two top corners were out (so stipulated), but Pryor was unstoppable.
Also of note was Rg3's excellence. This was very encouraging, and he's now done it with two different receivers.
I told you so. Now I'm telling you this wasn't a fluke, and I'll be saying I told you so a lot more. I mean in re Pryor; RG3 could still fall on his face.
Or not.
An AFC North alleged analyst looked over the Browns wide receivers.
First, he lumps Hawkins in with Gabriel and calls them just guys. That's not too bad, but still, when healthy Hawkins led the team in receptions, and some of that was as an outside receiver, and not from the slot.
Gabriel doesn't belong with him. After showing promise as a rookie, he dropped half the passes thrown to him, and back to the bench.
This guy had Coleman ranked sixth among the wide receivers in his draft class, calling him "undersized".
This is annoying. Hawkins and Gabriel are undersized. Coleman is 5'11", 194. That's not ideal, but it's not undersized. I'm not sure exactly when "adequate" crept from 5'10" to 6'2", but it's a mental distortion.
Coleman is taller than Odell Beckham, Antonio Brown, and if I had some time I'd give you six or seven more stud receivers. He's MUCH bigger than Steve Smith, and I'm kind of stunned that the distortion has even shrunk Coleman down so that people can compare the two.
Rightfully, this pretend analyst cites the ultra-simple Baylor offense he played in, but obviously Coleman has the physical tools to execute every route exceptionally well once he learns it.
The guy calls the Baylor trio (including RG3) on this roster a "cute story" prior to dismissing it as irrelevant. Surely I can't be one of the only two guys on Earth who combines that with Hue Jackson and Art Briles visits to expect some Baylor offense in 2016?
I myself am guilty of utterly ignoring Coleman pre-draft due to my own fixation with skyscrapers, but holy crap SIXTH?
I never ranked the receivers. For me, I just knew that we had lots of slot receivers and needed bigger outside guys, so my own priorities were Brownscentric.
But if I had ranked them, based on TALENT, Coleman's super-athleticism and speed would have placed him at or near the top of a solid but pedestrian draft class.
But then, I focus on TALENT and upside. I would never, ever draft an inferior player simply because I feel he's more "ready".
Early on the article, this clown nods to Coleman's talent, but pities him for going to a "dumpster fire" organization.
Hue Jackson, Pep Hamilton and the rest have to be looking at each other and shaking their heads. "When did we turn into losers?"
The writer mentions Payton, Higgins, and Lewis. I think he might have said something about them (I can't look at that steaming pile of incompetence again).
He is fair to Josh Gordon, sort of, but cites his 24 catches for a little over 300 yards after his return from suspension two as a reason for concern.
Well first off, that translates to close to eighty catches and over a thousand yards. Second, Gordon is still very young. While it's possible he lacks the maturity and discipline to put the work in to recapture his old magic, the odds are that this older Josh, playing for Hue Jackson, will be dedicated.
Now that the Ohio State scrimmage happened, I'm glad Corey Coleman was held out. What happened was highly informative for everybody except ME.
No need to rub it in. But I just want to. The fake writer above forced himself to mention Terrell Pryor's existance, but couldnt stop snickering long enough to elaborate.
Yoda will be madly yanking on our leashes now, reminding us that it was just a scrimmageitswaytooearlyblablah yeah yeah ok shut up.
But with Coleman out, the very next man up was Pryor, and this probably reflects the real depth chart. The two top corners were out (so stipulated), but Pryor was unstoppable.
Also of note was Rg3's excellence. This was very encouraging, and he's now done it with two different receivers.
I told you so. Now I'm telling you this wasn't a fluke, and I'll be saying I told you so a lot more. I mean in re Pryor; RG3 could still fall on his face.
Or not.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Cleveland Browns Who Look Good So Far
Phil Savage and Solomon Willcotts did a show in NFL Radio from Berea as part of their training camp tour. These guys are both high on my credibility list, so I paid close attention to their comments.
Phil said that Ogbah will probably play defensive end more as a rookie than outside linebacker. He cited his unusual strength.
So far, he looks correct. Ogbah has been working there. I just wish I could see it, or that there was a reporter who knows a 3-4 from a 4-3. I had assumed that Ogbah would put his hand in the dirt in Ray Horton's frequent 4-man line looks, but doubted that he would in the 3-4 (really more 4-3 under due to where the players set up).
Hassan is here to play LEFT defensive end (5 technique) in that 3-4. Ogbah isn't as long or tall, and despite his freakish strength, and can't gain much more weight without sacrificing speed and mobility.
I suspect that he's a 4-3 defensive end here. Ogbah is first and foremost a passrusher. Although, (new thought here), in Horton's 3-4, the right defensive end is really a one-gap defensive tackle who attacks between guard and tackle.
Ogbah could do that, and be really disruptive. Phil is a football guy, and might have been talking about that position as well.
Cooper or Hughes are who I expected there. They're bigger guys who should be able to stand up to the pounding over time, but the thought of Ogbah there sometimes is exciting to think about.
Unfortunately, due to amateurish reporting, I'm just guessing here.
Willcotts no doubt shocked the world by saying that every single day, Terrell Pryor "does something special". I know I know, amazing, right? And here we thought he'd need another two or three years to master the complexities of wide receiver!
Chuh. Phil took it from there, saying that he'd expect them to put him in the slot a lot. From here, he's close at hand for the end-arounds and motion plays, but Phil also pointed out what a huge mismatch a super fast 6'5" 230 lb. WR would be for any slot corner.
Really, though...for any cornerback, period.
It's not true that the slot corner is the third-best cornerback on a given defense. It's become a specialty position, usually requiring a shorter, quicker, faster player than those better suited to the outside. That's why I laugh so hard at people projecting Justin Gilbert inside.
Like Brian Hartline, except more so, Pryor is the little nickel cornerback's kryptonite. Any lobbed pass sails over his head, and he lacks the BULK to reroute them, or even get in their way much.
Defenses adapt, of course, by shifting a bigger taller outside cornerback inside against these big slot receivers, but that still forces teams to dig deeper in their depth charts for an alternative outside, or else play the little nickel guy out there instead.
I still expect a lot of Baylor type offense to be run here, with Pryor further outside, but no doubt Hue Jackson is eyeball deep in both big and small slot receivers here, and can run conventional sets as well.
...and I know from the fact that Pryor has burned Gilbert that he's working outside too. No thanks to the reporters, who all seem to think he's a gimmick.
I'm thrilled that Connor Hamlet is making a big splash at tight end. As my crickets know, I'd all but dismissed this guy. I may have been wrong and hope I was.
Hamlet is 6'7" and blocks well; he's a real tight end. He doesn't have Gronk's speed, of course, but back in the day, tight ends were tight ends. You could depend on them to catch a five or ten yard pass, run somebody over, and get swarmed under.
These days, we seem to just sort of ignore five or twelve yard gains. It's really stupid.
IF Hamlet keeps this up, he gives Hue more options. In-line blocking aside, he's a huge, reliable target who mismatches any safety or linebacker trying to cover him.
Hue is doing all he can to make things easy for the quarterback. Solomon and Phil talked at length about motion, and how much of it there is in Hue's embryonic offense.
As Solly (the ex-safety) said, motion exposes coverage. How the defense reacts to the motion indicates zone or man, and who is on who. Bernie Kosar could figure this out without help, but most quarterbacks can't.
These two also talked about the West Coast quick release pass plays they were seeing.
This surprised me a little, because that's absolutely not what RG3 does best. But it makes more sense with all that motion, along with more big, tall targets.
Oh crap I hate this: Yes RG3 is black and I've implied that he doesn't read coverage quickly. I've also said he was a 4.0 student and cited his interviews to describe a REALLY smart guy. Now shut up he's been indecisive and held the ball too long in the West Coast period. I'm colorblind YOU need checked shut tf up.
But speaking of RG3, I also paid attention to the player interviews. All were asked about the quarterbacks, and gave pc answers.
Of course they had to. They can't take sides. But you can still figure things out between the lines.
All of us have a compulsion to express opinions. As we dissemble and change the subject, we can't help but expose something.
Joe Thomas, maybe the most blunt Brown ever, went straight to how early it was, and how the quarterbacks and receivers were still learning stuff.
Well, he was avoiding the fact that to this point McCown is the best quarterback. This shouldn't surprise anybody after 2015. He's actually really, really good, and a 300 year veteran!
McCown's own comments helped as well. You have to study him extra hard, but he still coughs up clues.
I love Josh. I'm not religious like him, but he's just a great person. He trusts God to make the final calls, but meanwhile helps his potential replacements as much as he can. He sort of adopts them, and brings them up like he would his own son.
Josh talked about how great the quarterback room was (including RG3).
RG3 is listening to Josh. That's important. Given RG3's history as an arrogant selfish punk, it means he has been humbled, and has matured enough to take coaching even from an older player. It means a lot.
RG3 might not actually be better than McCown at the point where Hue Jackson names him the starter (which he almost certainly will).
I've heard of trade talks with Dallas in re McCown, and heard a call to NFL Radio from an especially stupid Browns fan citing needs at defensive end, cornerback, running back (I can't go on) and asking which suspended Dallas defensive ends might be involved in a trade.
The hosts (Brady Quinn is the only one that counts for me) told him it would have to be a draft pick and the Browns wouldn't trade for a suspended player. He then pointed out defensive schemes and fits.
He should have called the caller an idiot and hung up on him.
Brady Quinn, I need to tell you, isn't the dumbass pretty boy some (including me) might think he is. He seriously researches every team in depth, and as a bonus grew up a Browns fan. Rich Gannon has left NFL Radio, but Quinn is actually a better analyst than he was.
He went into the motion stuff in Jackson's apparent Browns Offense as well, and how it helps a quarterback diagnose coverage pre-snap, and even pre-determine his target.
It doesn't surprise me that Corey Coleman is humiliating everybody who tries to cover him.
What did tell me a lot is how three different people described one play:
Willcotts and Savage talked about how Coleman dropped a touchdown pass from RG3.
Pat McNanoman mentioned how RG3 had underthrown that pass.
Pat isn't an RG3 fan, and exposed himself here. I'm not bashing Pat here, since he seems to try to be objective, and is pretty smart.
But another unfortunate tendency in us humans is to see what we expect to see. Pat thinks Coleman is terrific, but RG3 not so much.
I haven't seen the film, but from this agglomeration imagine a pass which Coleman needed to reach behind him for, his getting both hands on it, and dropping it.
Pat needs to be taught intelligent analysis. The ex-safety and coach/gm never mentioned ball placement. They just said Coleman dropped it.
Sorry I harp on this, but if you read this blog, you understand that part of my mission here is to teach people to think with their brains, and expose those who don't.
Cam Erving is looking good. Isn't that astonishing? I read another article which asserted that Erving in 2015 sucked at "left and right guard".
That was lazy and dumb. Erving sucked at left guard, but was ok at right guard. The writer should be taken out and shot.
Alex Mack was ranked 13th among centers by PFF in 2015, so in general a lot of fans are panicking over nothing with his loss to free agency. Likewise, Erving was the best center, and considered by some the best offensive lineman, in his draft.
The Browns could take a step back at right tackle (still not sure I grok the Schwartz move see earlier entries), but the overall offensive line should be solid...
In fact, the best offensive line in the AFC North is between the Browns and Bengals.
I love that Hue is giving the older vets days off. They need more reps like they need a hole in the head, and Hue gets to check out and develop their backups and future starters. If you don't see the obvious logic here, you need a brain transplant, even if you played for the Patriots.
Schobert could play more as a rookie than many expect. He's a real linebacker (not a hybrid player), and he fits anywhere in a 4-3 alignment.
Ray Horton uses 4 (or 5 and occasionally 6) man fronts a lot, which puts Ogbah's, Kruger's, etc hands in the dirt. Schobert can blitze, cover, and stop the run.
Scoobie Wright, as I've said, is similar, but Schobert is ahead of him, and I suspect faster.
I'm not alarmed over Gilbert getting toasted by Pryor and Coleman (yet).
Pryor overmatches any cornerback, and Coleman is a physical freak himself. Both these guys will humiliate elite cornerbacks a lot, and my bar for Gilbert isn't set in the stratosphere.
It shouldn't be for you, either. Gilbert is clearly fighting for his future against suddenly excellent competition, and yeah he and Joe Haden and everybody else is in for more embarrassment.
That's right. The Browns wide receivers, even pre-Gordon, are scary. Deal with it.
Phil said that Ogbah will probably play defensive end more as a rookie than outside linebacker. He cited his unusual strength.
So far, he looks correct. Ogbah has been working there. I just wish I could see it, or that there was a reporter who knows a 3-4 from a 4-3. I had assumed that Ogbah would put his hand in the dirt in Ray Horton's frequent 4-man line looks, but doubted that he would in the 3-4 (really more 4-3 under due to where the players set up).
Hassan is here to play LEFT defensive end (5 technique) in that 3-4. Ogbah isn't as long or tall, and despite his freakish strength, and can't gain much more weight without sacrificing speed and mobility.
I suspect that he's a 4-3 defensive end here. Ogbah is first and foremost a passrusher. Although, (new thought here), in Horton's 3-4, the right defensive end is really a one-gap defensive tackle who attacks between guard and tackle.
Ogbah could do that, and be really disruptive. Phil is a football guy, and might have been talking about that position as well.
Cooper or Hughes are who I expected there. They're bigger guys who should be able to stand up to the pounding over time, but the thought of Ogbah there sometimes is exciting to think about.
Unfortunately, due to amateurish reporting, I'm just guessing here.
Willcotts no doubt shocked the world by saying that every single day, Terrell Pryor "does something special". I know I know, amazing, right? And here we thought he'd need another two or three years to master the complexities of wide receiver!
Chuh. Phil took it from there, saying that he'd expect them to put him in the slot a lot. From here, he's close at hand for the end-arounds and motion plays, but Phil also pointed out what a huge mismatch a super fast 6'5" 230 lb. WR would be for any slot corner.
Really, though...for any cornerback, period.
It's not true that the slot corner is the third-best cornerback on a given defense. It's become a specialty position, usually requiring a shorter, quicker, faster player than those better suited to the outside. That's why I laugh so hard at people projecting Justin Gilbert inside.
Like Brian Hartline, except more so, Pryor is the little nickel cornerback's kryptonite. Any lobbed pass sails over his head, and he lacks the BULK to reroute them, or even get in their way much.
Defenses adapt, of course, by shifting a bigger taller outside cornerback inside against these big slot receivers, but that still forces teams to dig deeper in their depth charts for an alternative outside, or else play the little nickel guy out there instead.
I still expect a lot of Baylor type offense to be run here, with Pryor further outside, but no doubt Hue Jackson is eyeball deep in both big and small slot receivers here, and can run conventional sets as well.
...and I know from the fact that Pryor has burned Gilbert that he's working outside too. No thanks to the reporters, who all seem to think he's a gimmick.
I'm thrilled that Connor Hamlet is making a big splash at tight end. As my crickets know, I'd all but dismissed this guy. I may have been wrong and hope I was.
Hamlet is 6'7" and blocks well; he's a real tight end. He doesn't have Gronk's speed, of course, but back in the day, tight ends were tight ends. You could depend on them to catch a five or ten yard pass, run somebody over, and get swarmed under.
These days, we seem to just sort of ignore five or twelve yard gains. It's really stupid.
IF Hamlet keeps this up, he gives Hue more options. In-line blocking aside, he's a huge, reliable target who mismatches any safety or linebacker trying to cover him.
Hue is doing all he can to make things easy for the quarterback. Solomon and Phil talked at length about motion, and how much of it there is in Hue's embryonic offense.
As Solly (the ex-safety) said, motion exposes coverage. How the defense reacts to the motion indicates zone or man, and who is on who. Bernie Kosar could figure this out without help, but most quarterbacks can't.
These two also talked about the West Coast quick release pass plays they were seeing.
This surprised me a little, because that's absolutely not what RG3 does best. But it makes more sense with all that motion, along with more big, tall targets.
Oh crap I hate this: Yes RG3 is black and I've implied that he doesn't read coverage quickly. I've also said he was a 4.0 student and cited his interviews to describe a REALLY smart guy. Now shut up he's been indecisive and held the ball too long in the West Coast period. I'm colorblind YOU need checked shut tf up.
But speaking of RG3, I also paid attention to the player interviews. All were asked about the quarterbacks, and gave pc answers.
Of course they had to. They can't take sides. But you can still figure things out between the lines.
All of us have a compulsion to express opinions. As we dissemble and change the subject, we can't help but expose something.
Joe Thomas, maybe the most blunt Brown ever, went straight to how early it was, and how the quarterbacks and receivers were still learning stuff.
Well, he was avoiding the fact that to this point McCown is the best quarterback. This shouldn't surprise anybody after 2015. He's actually really, really good, and a 300 year veteran!
McCown's own comments helped as well. You have to study him extra hard, but he still coughs up clues.
I love Josh. I'm not religious like him, but he's just a great person. He trusts God to make the final calls, but meanwhile helps his potential replacements as much as he can. He sort of adopts them, and brings them up like he would his own son.
Josh talked about how great the quarterback room was (including RG3).
RG3 is listening to Josh. That's important. Given RG3's history as an arrogant selfish punk, it means he has been humbled, and has matured enough to take coaching even from an older player. It means a lot.
RG3 might not actually be better than McCown at the point where Hue Jackson names him the starter (which he almost certainly will).
I've heard of trade talks with Dallas in re McCown, and heard a call to NFL Radio from an especially stupid Browns fan citing needs at defensive end, cornerback, running back (I can't go on) and asking which suspended Dallas defensive ends might be involved in a trade.
The hosts (Brady Quinn is the only one that counts for me) told him it would have to be a draft pick and the Browns wouldn't trade for a suspended player. He then pointed out defensive schemes and fits.
He should have called the caller an idiot and hung up on him.
Brady Quinn, I need to tell you, isn't the dumbass pretty boy some (including me) might think he is. He seriously researches every team in depth, and as a bonus grew up a Browns fan. Rich Gannon has left NFL Radio, but Quinn is actually a better analyst than he was.
He went into the motion stuff in Jackson's apparent Browns Offense as well, and how it helps a quarterback diagnose coverage pre-snap, and even pre-determine his target.
It doesn't surprise me that Corey Coleman is humiliating everybody who tries to cover him.
What did tell me a lot is how three different people described one play:
Willcotts and Savage talked about how Coleman dropped a touchdown pass from RG3.
Pat McNanoman mentioned how RG3 had underthrown that pass.
Pat isn't an RG3 fan, and exposed himself here. I'm not bashing Pat here, since he seems to try to be objective, and is pretty smart.
But another unfortunate tendency in us humans is to see what we expect to see. Pat thinks Coleman is terrific, but RG3 not so much.
I haven't seen the film, but from this agglomeration imagine a pass which Coleman needed to reach behind him for, his getting both hands on it, and dropping it.
Pat needs to be taught intelligent analysis. The ex-safety and coach/gm never mentioned ball placement. They just said Coleman dropped it.
Sorry I harp on this, but if you read this blog, you understand that part of my mission here is to teach people to think with their brains, and expose those who don't.
Cam Erving is looking good. Isn't that astonishing? I read another article which asserted that Erving in 2015 sucked at "left and right guard".
That was lazy and dumb. Erving sucked at left guard, but was ok at right guard. The writer should be taken out and shot.
Alex Mack was ranked 13th among centers by PFF in 2015, so in general a lot of fans are panicking over nothing with his loss to free agency. Likewise, Erving was the best center, and considered by some the best offensive lineman, in his draft.
The Browns could take a step back at right tackle (still not sure I grok the Schwartz move see earlier entries), but the overall offensive line should be solid...
In fact, the best offensive line in the AFC North is between the Browns and Bengals.
I love that Hue is giving the older vets days off. They need more reps like they need a hole in the head, and Hue gets to check out and develop their backups and future starters. If you don't see the obvious logic here, you need a brain transplant, even if you played for the Patriots.
Schobert could play more as a rookie than many expect. He's a real linebacker (not a hybrid player), and he fits anywhere in a 4-3 alignment.
Ray Horton uses 4 (or 5 and occasionally 6) man fronts a lot, which puts Ogbah's, Kruger's, etc hands in the dirt. Schobert can blitze, cover, and stop the run.
Scoobie Wright, as I've said, is similar, but Schobert is ahead of him, and I suspect faster.
I'm not alarmed over Gilbert getting toasted by Pryor and Coleman (yet).
Pryor overmatches any cornerback, and Coleman is a physical freak himself. Both these guys will humiliate elite cornerbacks a lot, and my bar for Gilbert isn't set in the stratosphere.
It shouldn't be for you, either. Gilbert is clearly fighting for his future against suddenly excellent competition, and yeah he and Joe Haden and everybody else is in for more embarrassment.
That's right. The Browns wide receivers, even pre-Gordon, are scary. Deal with it.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
The 2016 Browns Won't Suck. Much. I Don't Think
I read this article on "why your team sucks", and include this link because this guy is really funny.
Unfortunately, he's more concerned with imitating Don Rickles or Vincent Black than he is with accurate analysis.
I have many, many corrections to make here.
First, RG3's knee appears to be stable, and RG3's straight line speed is mostly back. The writer, so determined to be negative at each and every opportunity, made him sound like Gabby Hayes.
He's right to point out that Hue massively overpaid for Carson Palmer during his head coaching season at Oakland, and got nothing out of him. Bruce Ariens then signed him and produced a juggernaut.
All true. But it's kind of hard to bring a guy in without a training camp, offensive line, or receivers and do much with that. Hue's big mistake was the roster move itself.
He's right about most of his history. Who can deny that? I'm just getting pretty weary of the Manswell stuff. This guy manages to find new ways to be funny about it, but I think we've scraped the last we can get out of the bottom of that barrel. Let's move on, shall we?
Where the writer really goes off the cliff was in bashing DePodesta, Brown, and everybody else who isn't a coach.
Why, did you know that somebody fired DePodesta once? It's true! And they called him "Google Boy" (ok that's funny). How can he show his face in public?
The best case scenario, this guy writes, is that Haslam fires everybody after five games or something.
Please stop. I know this guy wants to entertain people (and I must admit does), but deep sixing the front office and analytics before their free agents and draft picks have stepped on the field is a little much.
What really ticked me off were the pages and pages of Browns fans having temper tantrums about the Browns he appended to the end of his article. Now I know where he did his research!
Hue Jackson might as well not show up.
How long has Haslam owned the team? In a lot of tiny little microbrains, he raced to a dead heat with Art Modell in the despicability contest sometime during his second training camp.
Nobody seems to get this: He is Haslam, not Modell or Lerner. Aside from Sashi, none of these guys was even here last season.
Hue Jackson is the first former head coach hired since Mangini, and this is by far the most experienced (and highly reputed) coaching staff.
It's way, way too early to judge this draft class, but it seems to be pretty good. Outside of Cleveland, the veteran free agents they signed are regarded as solid players.
I respect this writer as a talented entertainer, but the comments he added to the end of his article sounded like a bunch of sqwalling brats (except for the "fuck fucking fuck fuck" part).
I do have a few more corrections to make in general here:
Josh Gordon was one of the better wide receivers in the NFL. In year two he was unmistakably the best wide receiver in the NFL.
I know that to be considered credible, writers tend to avoid hyperbole which some could interpret as bias or homerism, but in Cleveland it gets kind of silly.
Hell, after he caught for 800 yards with Weedon and Lewis or somebody, they were saying he might become a decent wide receiver eventually.
He averages nearly 120 yards per game after that, and he's "one of the better" oh please stop it just forget he's a Brown and tell the truth you're killing me.
Duke Johnson may or may not be a complete running back. His yards from scrimmage (and the subset between tackles) yards per carry were mediocre in his rookie season, but he was held down by DeFelipo's unnecessary tinkering and left-handed playcalls the same as Crowell was.
Saying anything like "he will never be a good inside runner" is really extremely premature. As I've mentioned, if you really go back and look at his tapes, he's not just quick and fast, but wields a lethal stiff-arm and is surprisingly strong and hard to take down.
The new ex-cowboy defensive lineman recently signed is a solid player who can help as part of the rotation, but is unlikely to play LEFT defensive end in Horton's favorite front; He will not replace Des Bryant and probably won't get in Hassan's way either.
YOU STAND CORRECTED
Unfortunately, he's more concerned with imitating Don Rickles or Vincent Black than he is with accurate analysis.
I have many, many corrections to make here.
First, RG3's knee appears to be stable, and RG3's straight line speed is mostly back. The writer, so determined to be negative at each and every opportunity, made him sound like Gabby Hayes.
He's right to point out that Hue massively overpaid for Carson Palmer during his head coaching season at Oakland, and got nothing out of him. Bruce Ariens then signed him and produced a juggernaut.
All true. But it's kind of hard to bring a guy in without a training camp, offensive line, or receivers and do much with that. Hue's big mistake was the roster move itself.
He's right about most of his history. Who can deny that? I'm just getting pretty weary of the Manswell stuff. This guy manages to find new ways to be funny about it, but I think we've scraped the last we can get out of the bottom of that barrel. Let's move on, shall we?
Where the writer really goes off the cliff was in bashing DePodesta, Brown, and everybody else who isn't a coach.
Why, did you know that somebody fired DePodesta once? It's true! And they called him "Google Boy" (ok that's funny). How can he show his face in public?
The best case scenario, this guy writes, is that Haslam fires everybody after five games or something.
Please stop. I know this guy wants to entertain people (and I must admit does), but deep sixing the front office and analytics before their free agents and draft picks have stepped on the field is a little much.
What really ticked me off were the pages and pages of Browns fans having temper tantrums about the Browns he appended to the end of his article. Now I know where he did his research!
Hue Jackson might as well not show up.
How long has Haslam owned the team? In a lot of tiny little microbrains, he raced to a dead heat with Art Modell in the despicability contest sometime during his second training camp.
Nobody seems to get this: He is Haslam, not Modell or Lerner. Aside from Sashi, none of these guys was even here last season.
Hue Jackson is the first former head coach hired since Mangini, and this is by far the most experienced (and highly reputed) coaching staff.
It's way, way too early to judge this draft class, but it seems to be pretty good. Outside of Cleveland, the veteran free agents they signed are regarded as solid players.
I respect this writer as a talented entertainer, but the comments he added to the end of his article sounded like a bunch of sqwalling brats (except for the "fuck fucking fuck fuck" part).
I do have a few more corrections to make in general here:
Josh Gordon was one of the better wide receivers in the NFL. In year two he was unmistakably the best wide receiver in the NFL.
I know that to be considered credible, writers tend to avoid hyperbole which some could interpret as bias or homerism, but in Cleveland it gets kind of silly.
Hell, after he caught for 800 yards with Weedon and Lewis or somebody, they were saying he might become a decent wide receiver eventually.
He averages nearly 120 yards per game after that, and he's "one of the better" oh please stop it just forget he's a Brown and tell the truth you're killing me.
Duke Johnson may or may not be a complete running back. His yards from scrimmage (and the subset between tackles) yards per carry were mediocre in his rookie season, but he was held down by DeFelipo's unnecessary tinkering and left-handed playcalls the same as Crowell was.
Saying anything like "he will never be a good inside runner" is really extremely premature. As I've mentioned, if you really go back and look at his tapes, he's not just quick and fast, but wields a lethal stiff-arm and is surprisingly strong and hard to take down.
The new ex-cowboy defensive lineman recently signed is a solid player who can help as part of the rotation, but is unlikely to play LEFT defensive end in Horton's favorite front; He will not replace Des Bryant and probably won't get in Hassan's way either.
YOU STAND CORRECTED
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Week 5: Brady Back! Wins a Close One!
As any Browns fan could have predicted, a very angry and determined Tom Brady will be turned loose in game five against you know who.
It was inevitable, from the moment a former Browns linebacker noticed a football felt soft.
I happen to think that by game five, the Browns' defense will be average or above, and getting real pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
I don't expect that to matter much. Possibly it would if this was just a normal game. Brady might take them too lightly or something. But not when the guy had this game circled on his calender, simmering...waiting...truly, we won't like Tom Brady when he's angry.
No doubt, the week before the game, some Browns knucklehead will call him a cheater or something...just to make sure (btw imagine if Donald Trump was the owner. So many bulletin boards, so little time!)
Josh Gordon (if he's retained) will be a footnote outside of Cleveland. The under/over on Brady yards and touchdowns ought to be around 370 and 4.5. Everybody will watch this game. We like to see traffic accidents too. We're sick like that.
But once the game starts, a surprising sub-plot could well emerge.
Brady will be playing the Browns defense. Josh Gordon plays offense.
Ok: We already know that some how, some way, Tom Brady will find a way to inflict massive damage on even a much-improved Browns defense, but we're skipping every other chapter in this book:
Oh, I hear you laughing. But the New England Patriots defense isn't that great. Bill Belichick is a genius, and does well with the guys he has, but most of the money has gone into his offense for awhile now. Not just Brady, but Gronk (God will HE be fun to play NOT) and Edelman.
They outscore other teams. That's how they've been winning for years. The 2016 Bengals and Steelers will have better defenses (notice who I left out haha?).
Still laughing? Why? I know there are questions about RG3, but Josh McCown averaged 22 points a game with Gary Barnidge and...uhh...and no running game. And half-crippled for that matter.
These are what we call empirical facts...am I cheating by using them?
Black Cloud can find some real ammo to inflict bashery on the Browns Offense, like right tackle (?) and Cameron Erving (?) and inexperience at wide receiver, but excuse me for thinking that these issues are being overstated.
Whoever winds up at right tackle is unlikely to be as good as Mitchell Schwartz, but I remind you that Alex Mack was average last season, and this wide receiver experience stuff has always been blown out of proportion.
And certainly, as of game four, this inexperience is at least partly offset by a sudden infusion of serious new talent.
How much do you think coaching has to do with offensive productivity? Ok! So why are you pretending that Hue Jackson and company are irrelevant?
Now, do you hate Gary Barnidge and Duke Johnson? Ok! You may now please acknowledge their existence (thank you).
I would have mentioned Hawkins, who is kind of the Browns version of Danny Amendola, but I'm not sure he'll make the final cut, or that he'll be kept if Gordon is activated (age/injuries/microscopic stature).
So what am I talking about here? Well, Crowell and Terrell, for two. Just read previous posts: They're being massively underrated by some of you based on shallow and incomplete information and mindless bloviations by people who've conned you into thinking they have a clue.
RG3. I'm far from sold on the guy myself, as people who actually know what they're talking about are dubious, despite Hue Jackson.
I simply prefer to err on the side of the Head Coach (and a minority of other real experts) and expect him to be pretty good.
By the way, a very few poor misguided souls have hoped that RG3 will at least be a good game manager. That's the one thing I can safely guarantee won't happen.
RG3 will either be an elite quarterback, or totally fall on his face. He will never be a classic drop-back quick-read sharpshooter, and that's what a game manager has to be.
The reasons I'm optimistic (if we must use that word) are many. They include the aforementioned offensive skill players, Corey Coleman, Higgins, Payton, and possibly Lewis and others.
His past success is another. We know that he can run one type of offense. Experience is another. He didn't do that well in a West Coast, but learned the scheme and added it to his mental file.
Maturity. He was arrogant, selfish, and demanding. He came down hard, and is a very smart guy who you have to think learned something. Just to make sure, Hue might well be reminding him daily.
Hue Jackson is another reason. Nuff said.
I'm finally here! Josh Gordon! He was RG3's teammate at Baylor, so they know each other. (By the way Coleman is another Baylor guy. That makes two).
Ah, this is repetitive. I'm sorry, but another reason to feel optimistic about RG3 and this offense is that Baylor offensive scheme.
Nutshell review it's 4-wide except the slot guys are right next to the outside guys on the perimeter. This pulls four defenders well away from the box, forces lighter defensive personnel, and mandates (at least) one high safety who can't play shallow. It makes it almost impossible to double-cover any one receiver, and sets up pick--err, I mean rub plays and makes press coverage unwise as well. It maxes the box defenders out at a predictable six, one of which needs to play a middle zone, maxing out the pass rush at five. Still with me here? This opens up the run, most obviously off-tackle, but also up the gut (want me to explain why? I didn't think so.)
Because Terrell Pryor is also already here, I'm now 95% certain that Hue Jackson, at least in 2016, will lean heavily on Baylor principles.
That's because it's pretty simple for the receivers, and somewhat easier for the quarterback as well. The stars are all aligned here in 2016 for the Baylor.
Naturally, the smarter enemy defensive coordinators can do simple arithmetic as well as my humble self, and put the lab to work on the antidote, but Hue himself is underrated as a strategist and tactician.
There will be some three wides, conventional, two-back, two tight end stuff to keep everybody honest, but here are some things the enemy coaches can't do anything about:
1: Duke Johnson is a former wide receiver who has/can/will split out wide.
2: Barnidge and DeValve can split out wide in this offense.
3: Pryor is a former for real quarterback who will never run an end-around without looking to pass first.
The Browns huddle will offer no clue as to what formation they'll set up in. Hue will decide on that based on film study first, but adjust as he sees what the defense does.
The most important single factor is matchups, as Hue has repeated around 140 times so far. Enemy coaches know they need to get in RG3's face and occlude his lateral vision and lanes, but unless they have a top-flight passrushing defensive line, they have to commit more people to that, and as a general rule passrushers don't cover well...
Ok it's deep, but suffice it to say that Hue will use a lot of Baylor and half-Baylor and get away with it because defenses won't be able to commit the right people to stop it without getting trampled on the ground.
The other factor is of course RG3's mobility, which inhibits the pass rush. Passrushers can't pin their ears back. They have to make sure not to open up gaps he can run through.
Since Hue will also roll him out and use some read-option, they also can't count on him being in the pocket...ok more weeds here but trust me, Hue is really having fun figuring out how to make the most of his new toys ok?
Ok I've been dancing around this, and now it's time to get Black Cloud working on my tin foil hat:
I expect some issues with inexperience for the Browns in the first four games and (without bothering to even check the schedule) a1-3 or 0-4 record wouldn't surprise me (do they play the perennially overrated Ravens in that stretch? Hope so! They need some confidence going to meet the Bradystein monster).
Hue will of course be all primed up for Bill Belichick, especially since he'll be literally toe-to-toe with this legend calling the offensive plays.
Bill targets the opponents primary weapon, and prevents them from doing what they want to do first and foremost.
Well, regardless of the Browns win-loss record at that time, here is what I believe Bill could be figuring out:
No offensive weapon that stands out. A balance between deep passes and runs/dink passes.
But the reason no offensive weapon stands out is that Corey Coleman and Terrell Pryor have two Tds each, both average nearly 20ypc, Pryor has 75 passing and 36 rushing yards but that's gimmicks. They average 4ypc so ok maybe stop the run first I guess.
But wait! Pryor is starting outside, and now here comes Josh Gordon too! Count Gordon out? I don't think so!
Ok Pryor/Coleman/Gordon well forget trying to jam all that up at the same time, I've got to zero in on RG3, and maybe I can blow up some runs while I'm at it. Force some desperate throws for picks, throwaways, second and third and longs.
Ok so how do I do that? Well first off, Hue knows I have to do that, and that I don't have lot of secondary depth. He'll use that never to be sufficiently damned Baylor crap, rollouts and read-option... I might not see a pocket all day even on third and long.
Maybe I can go all-out in coverage. My offense with Tom all pissed off like he is should score at least 36 points on these guys, and can come back at the end if they need to.
...but all three of these guys are lethal, and there's that Duke Johnson who could blow me up too. I can't give RG3 TIME, and trust three guys to nail him in six seconds when he could gain 40 yards scrambling in that time...
So should I sell out attacking?
No. Not when Gordon or Coleman can take a high inaccurate lob to the house, and I know Jackson wants me to try that...so...what do I do?
Max out coverage. Keep everything in front of my back end. Run zone, try to get a pick or knock the ball loose. They'll score, but not enough fast enough.
I can use misdirection and deception to screw Erving and all those receivers up, and commit RG3 to wrong calls pre-snap...
Jackson will have the leash off him. He'll hurt us on the ground, but...
But you see, Bill Belichick will be picking his poison and relying on his offense to outscore an offense he aspires to contain, but knows he can't stop.
And check that out: Coleman, Gordon, and Pryor. Still laughing?
If so, I feel sorry for you.
It was inevitable, from the moment a former Browns linebacker noticed a football felt soft.
I happen to think that by game five, the Browns' defense will be average or above, and getting real pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
I don't expect that to matter much. Possibly it would if this was just a normal game. Brady might take them too lightly or something. But not when the guy had this game circled on his calender, simmering...waiting...truly, we won't like Tom Brady when he's angry.
No doubt, the week before the game, some Browns knucklehead will call him a cheater or something...just to make sure (btw imagine if Donald Trump was the owner. So many bulletin boards, so little time!)
Josh Gordon (if he's retained) will be a footnote outside of Cleveland. The under/over on Brady yards and touchdowns ought to be around 370 and 4.5. Everybody will watch this game. We like to see traffic accidents too. We're sick like that.
But once the game starts, a surprising sub-plot could well emerge.
Brady will be playing the Browns defense. Josh Gordon plays offense.
Ok: We already know that some how, some way, Tom Brady will find a way to inflict massive damage on even a much-improved Browns defense, but we're skipping every other chapter in this book:
Oh, I hear you laughing. But the New England Patriots defense isn't that great. Bill Belichick is a genius, and does well with the guys he has, but most of the money has gone into his offense for awhile now. Not just Brady, but Gronk (God will HE be fun to play NOT) and Edelman.
They outscore other teams. That's how they've been winning for years. The 2016 Bengals and Steelers will have better defenses (notice who I left out haha?).
Still laughing? Why? I know there are questions about RG3, but Josh McCown averaged 22 points a game with Gary Barnidge and...uhh...and no running game. And half-crippled for that matter.
These are what we call empirical facts...am I cheating by using them?
Black Cloud can find some real ammo to inflict bashery on the Browns Offense, like right tackle (?) and Cameron Erving (?) and inexperience at wide receiver, but excuse me for thinking that these issues are being overstated.
Whoever winds up at right tackle is unlikely to be as good as Mitchell Schwartz, but I remind you that Alex Mack was average last season, and this wide receiver experience stuff has always been blown out of proportion.
And certainly, as of game four, this inexperience is at least partly offset by a sudden infusion of serious new talent.
How much do you think coaching has to do with offensive productivity? Ok! So why are you pretending that Hue Jackson and company are irrelevant?
Now, do you hate Gary Barnidge and Duke Johnson? Ok! You may now please acknowledge their existence (thank you).
I would have mentioned Hawkins, who is kind of the Browns version of Danny Amendola, but I'm not sure he'll make the final cut, or that he'll be kept if Gordon is activated (age/injuries/microscopic stature).
So what am I talking about here? Well, Crowell and Terrell, for two. Just read previous posts: They're being massively underrated by some of you based on shallow and incomplete information and mindless bloviations by people who've conned you into thinking they have a clue.
RG3. I'm far from sold on the guy myself, as people who actually know what they're talking about are dubious, despite Hue Jackson.
I simply prefer to err on the side of the Head Coach (and a minority of other real experts) and expect him to be pretty good.
By the way, a very few poor misguided souls have hoped that RG3 will at least be a good game manager. That's the one thing I can safely guarantee won't happen.
RG3 will either be an elite quarterback, or totally fall on his face. He will never be a classic drop-back quick-read sharpshooter, and that's what a game manager has to be.
The reasons I'm optimistic (if we must use that word) are many. They include the aforementioned offensive skill players, Corey Coleman, Higgins, Payton, and possibly Lewis and others.
His past success is another. We know that he can run one type of offense. Experience is another. He didn't do that well in a West Coast, but learned the scheme and added it to his mental file.
Maturity. He was arrogant, selfish, and demanding. He came down hard, and is a very smart guy who you have to think learned something. Just to make sure, Hue might well be reminding him daily.
Hue Jackson is another reason. Nuff said.
I'm finally here! Josh Gordon! He was RG3's teammate at Baylor, so they know each other. (By the way Coleman is another Baylor guy. That makes two).
Ah, this is repetitive. I'm sorry, but another reason to feel optimistic about RG3 and this offense is that Baylor offensive scheme.
Nutshell review it's 4-wide except the slot guys are right next to the outside guys on the perimeter. This pulls four defenders well away from the box, forces lighter defensive personnel, and mandates (at least) one high safety who can't play shallow. It makes it almost impossible to double-cover any one receiver, and sets up pick--err, I mean rub plays and makes press coverage unwise as well. It maxes the box defenders out at a predictable six, one of which needs to play a middle zone, maxing out the pass rush at five. Still with me here? This opens up the run, most obviously off-tackle, but also up the gut (want me to explain why? I didn't think so.)
Because Terrell Pryor is also already here, I'm now 95% certain that Hue Jackson, at least in 2016, will lean heavily on Baylor principles.
That's because it's pretty simple for the receivers, and somewhat easier for the quarterback as well. The stars are all aligned here in 2016 for the Baylor.
Naturally, the smarter enemy defensive coordinators can do simple arithmetic as well as my humble self, and put the lab to work on the antidote, but Hue himself is underrated as a strategist and tactician.
There will be some three wides, conventional, two-back, two tight end stuff to keep everybody honest, but here are some things the enemy coaches can't do anything about:
1: Duke Johnson is a former wide receiver who has/can/will split out wide.
2: Barnidge and DeValve can split out wide in this offense.
3: Pryor is a former for real quarterback who will never run an end-around without looking to pass first.
The Browns huddle will offer no clue as to what formation they'll set up in. Hue will decide on that based on film study first, but adjust as he sees what the defense does.
The most important single factor is matchups, as Hue has repeated around 140 times so far. Enemy coaches know they need to get in RG3's face and occlude his lateral vision and lanes, but unless they have a top-flight passrushing defensive line, they have to commit more people to that, and as a general rule passrushers don't cover well...
Ok it's deep, but suffice it to say that Hue will use a lot of Baylor and half-Baylor and get away with it because defenses won't be able to commit the right people to stop it without getting trampled on the ground.
The other factor is of course RG3's mobility, which inhibits the pass rush. Passrushers can't pin their ears back. They have to make sure not to open up gaps he can run through.
Since Hue will also roll him out and use some read-option, they also can't count on him being in the pocket...ok more weeds here but trust me, Hue is really having fun figuring out how to make the most of his new toys ok?
Ok I've been dancing around this, and now it's time to get Black Cloud working on my tin foil hat:
I expect some issues with inexperience for the Browns in the first four games and (without bothering to even check the schedule) a1-3 or 0-4 record wouldn't surprise me (do they play the perennially overrated Ravens in that stretch? Hope so! They need some confidence going to meet the Bradystein monster).
Hue will of course be all primed up for Bill Belichick, especially since he'll be literally toe-to-toe with this legend calling the offensive plays.
Bill targets the opponents primary weapon, and prevents them from doing what they want to do first and foremost.
Well, regardless of the Browns win-loss record at that time, here is what I believe Bill could be figuring out:
No offensive weapon that stands out. A balance between deep passes and runs/dink passes.
But the reason no offensive weapon stands out is that Corey Coleman and Terrell Pryor have two Tds each, both average nearly 20ypc, Pryor has 75 passing and 36 rushing yards but that's gimmicks. They average 4ypc so ok maybe stop the run first I guess.
But wait! Pryor is starting outside, and now here comes Josh Gordon too! Count Gordon out? I don't think so!
Ok Pryor/Coleman/Gordon well forget trying to jam all that up at the same time, I've got to zero in on RG3, and maybe I can blow up some runs while I'm at it. Force some desperate throws for picks, throwaways, second and third and longs.
Ok so how do I do that? Well first off, Hue knows I have to do that, and that I don't have lot of secondary depth. He'll use that never to be sufficiently damned Baylor crap, rollouts and read-option... I might not see a pocket all day even on third and long.
Maybe I can go all-out in coverage. My offense with Tom all pissed off like he is should score at least 36 points on these guys, and can come back at the end if they need to.
...but all three of these guys are lethal, and there's that Duke Johnson who could blow me up too. I can't give RG3 TIME, and trust three guys to nail him in six seconds when he could gain 40 yards scrambling in that time...
So should I sell out attacking?
No. Not when Gordon or Coleman can take a high inaccurate lob to the house, and I know Jackson wants me to try that...so...what do I do?
Max out coverage. Keep everything in front of my back end. Run zone, try to get a pick or knock the ball loose. They'll score, but not enough fast enough.
I can use misdirection and deception to screw Erving and all those receivers up, and commit RG3 to wrong calls pre-snap...
Jackson will have the leash off him. He'll hurt us on the ground, but...
But you see, Bill Belichick will be picking his poison and relying on his offense to outscore an offense he aspires to contain, but knows he can't stop.
And check that out: Coleman, Gordon, and Pryor. Still laughing?
If so, I feel sorry for you.
Monday, July 25, 2016
What About Josh?
I predict that the Cleveland Browns will welcome Josh Gordon back unless they trade or release him. I guarantee this.
Actually, I know that Sashi, Hue, the team shrink et all will talk to Josh at length. I've heard Josh Gordon interviewed, and he's surprisingly articulate and intelligent for a guy that gets in so much trouble.
In view of his history, and the paper thin ice he stands on, I doubt that anybody would risk more than a fifth round pick in a trade for him, and he's still young.
I have to lean towards his retention, and one last chance. This is a risk/reward proposition. The potential reward is the best wide receiver in the NFL. The risk is losing him to another suspension, along with the player who was released to retain him.
Let's not get silly here. That player will not be very good. You're still not being analytical.
And don't talk about sending messages and other cliches. Every player on this roster, including the guy who gets cut, comprehends that this guy set several NFL records, and would have to be psychotic to expect him to be treated the same as John Duh.
A lot of people (everybody who knows him, in fact) went to bat for Josh. He will probably be given his last chance.
Now, the four game suspension is actually convenient, since it will give the coaches an opportunity to evaluate the younger receivers more thoroughly. This makes it less likely that they'll make a mistake when that last roster move is made.
Josh is allowed to practice with the team, and will get a full training camp in. This will be VERY helpful for Terrell Pryor, as Josh is a similar type of player, and Terrell can study and learn from him. And even compete with him!
Risk/reward: If Josh Gordon stays out of trouble, he can change everything. Remember, the year Gordon set those records (in only fourteen games), he did it with three different, not very good quarterbacks. He was uncoverable.
RG3 is rooting for him. Oh hell YES he sure is! And if Josh returns to the field with RG3, I've got to upgrade RG3's chances of being great again to probable, and the running game of being dominant to certain.
...and of winning eight games to possible.
Risk/reward. They almost HAVE to bring this guy back.
Stay clean, kid. Stay clean.
Oops these articles by Tony Grossi just in. The first is on Browns veterans who could be released. I can't fault him, but doubt that Crowell is on a bubble.
He attended a Dallas officer's funeral, and appears to have discovered that he has a brain and what it is for.
The second article went more in depth into the Gordon/Browns situation than I have here. It counterpoints my own position, but I can't knock him here.
I still think I'm right, but Tony makes some great points.
Thanks to Tony, I do know that he can play in the preseason. To me, that makes his retention for at least that time-frame almost a lock, since if he plays well, he could actually make himself worth more in a trade (if they decide on that).
Actually, I know that Sashi, Hue, the team shrink et all will talk to Josh at length. I've heard Josh Gordon interviewed, and he's surprisingly articulate and intelligent for a guy that gets in so much trouble.
In view of his history, and the paper thin ice he stands on, I doubt that anybody would risk more than a fifth round pick in a trade for him, and he's still young.
I have to lean towards his retention, and one last chance. This is a risk/reward proposition. The potential reward is the best wide receiver in the NFL. The risk is losing him to another suspension, along with the player who was released to retain him.
Let's not get silly here. That player will not be very good. You're still not being analytical.
And don't talk about sending messages and other cliches. Every player on this roster, including the guy who gets cut, comprehends that this guy set several NFL records, and would have to be psychotic to expect him to be treated the same as John Duh.
A lot of people (everybody who knows him, in fact) went to bat for Josh. He will probably be given his last chance.
Now, the four game suspension is actually convenient, since it will give the coaches an opportunity to evaluate the younger receivers more thoroughly. This makes it less likely that they'll make a mistake when that last roster move is made.
Josh is allowed to practice with the team, and will get a full training camp in. This will be VERY helpful for Terrell Pryor, as Josh is a similar type of player, and Terrell can study and learn from him. And even compete with him!
Risk/reward: If Josh Gordon stays out of trouble, he can change everything. Remember, the year Gordon set those records (in only fourteen games), he did it with three different, not very good quarterbacks. He was uncoverable.
RG3 is rooting for him. Oh hell YES he sure is! And if Josh returns to the field with RG3, I've got to upgrade RG3's chances of being great again to probable, and the running game of being dominant to certain.
...and of winning eight games to possible.
Risk/reward. They almost HAVE to bring this guy back.
Stay clean, kid. Stay clean.
Oops these articles by Tony Grossi just in. The first is on Browns veterans who could be released. I can't fault him, but doubt that Crowell is on a bubble.
He attended a Dallas officer's funeral, and appears to have discovered that he has a brain and what it is for.
The second article went more in depth into the Gordon/Browns situation than I have here. It counterpoints my own position, but I can't knock him here.
I still think I'm right, but Tony makes some great points.
Thanks to Tony, I do know that he can play in the preseason. To me, that makes his retention for at least that time-frame almost a lock, since if he plays well, he could actually make himself worth more in a trade (if they decide on that).
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