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cant believe the football guys never talked about that.... why i never ran down erving much. why i am pissed about letting our good o-line players go....

Might as well get over it, they're gone now and the only option is to
move forward.

It has to do with his high cut body type and also his use of his hands. They say that he telegraphs his hand placement. Thats coachable. Some times I think that these scouting reports are ultra sensitive, that is that they nit pic a little too much.

I had the honor today of having BBQ with Joe Thomas and Joel Bitonio. It was an event given by Joe, and he was the center of attention, but I had a conversation with Joel. I asked him about RT, and he said that as of now, Bailey is getting the 1st team reps, but that is going to be a competition, so who knows who will be the RT come opening day. He said he loves the atmosphere in Berea is enthusiastic about the coaching staff. Both of them look in REALLY good shape.

Joe Thomas encouraged by new Browns leadership after offseason of transition

'My goal has always been to turn the Bro...the man for it'

The Pro Bowl and veteran left tackle said he’s practicing every other day during OTAs since “there’s only so many sand grains left in my hour glass, and we don’t want to turn over the hourglass in the spring. We want to save those sand grains for the fall.”

And like so many of his teammates, he’s been encouraged by what he sees out of first-year coach Hue Jackson and a new coaching staff that’s had Berea buzzing all offseason.

“I think there’s an excitement with Hue right now in the building, I think a lot of guys are kind of drawn to his attitude, kind of how he approaches meetings, approaches practice,” Thomas said. “Offensively speaking, it’s kind of great having an offensive head coach because he's actually the one running the offense, he’s in there right behind the huddle after plays barking things, barking orders, correcting guys, getting things lined up exactly the way he wants.”

Thomas added: “I was always jealous of the guys in Cincinnati running Hue Jackson’s offense because it’s a very offensive-lineman friendly offense. A lot of quick throws, easy fade balls, a lot of different formations to spread the defense out, confuse them, get them into vanilla looks. Some uptempo stuff, smash mouth, he really wants to run the ball inside the tackles. The thing that appeals is we’re going to make the defense guard every blade of grass on the whole field.”

Thomas admitted it’s been somewhat of a “tough transition” after the departures of fellow offensive linemen Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz, who parted ways with the team during free agency. After all, Thomas had become close with the pair over the last several years.

“I’ve been here with Alex for like seven years or about there, so it’s tough when you lose a really good friend like that, a guy that you've been through a lot of hard times with and somebody who’s probably one of my best friends. It was tough seeing him go. He’s the best center in the NFL. I don’t begrudge him for leaving but it was tough when he left,” Thomas said.

“It was tough seeing Mitch go, another guy that I’d been around a long time, one of the top right tackles in football. So those are tough things, but in this business, that’s just the way it goes and you have to roll with the punches and you’ve got to live with it.”

Thomas also said he thought there was once a chance he could be traded as the Browns continue to reshape their roster with the addition of a bevy of young players.

“It wouldn’t have surprised me if I had been traded,” Thomas said, “but I’m happy that I didn’t. It’s kind of a happy ending.”

Indeed, Thomas has been a fixture with the Browns and is a leader on an offense that’s starting to come into form as Cleveland continues its offseason workouts.

The Browns, he said, are in good hands with Jackson at the helm. And that’s something that has him recharged and ready to go following an offseason of changes.

“I think by the time that I got to meet Hue and talk with Sashi about the direction that they want things headed and see the assistant coaches that were being hired, those were the things that said I can get excited about this,” Thomas said.

“Like I mentioned how jealous I was of the guys in CIncinnati being able to run Hue Jackson’s offense, I think he brings a tremendous offensive mindset, a tremendous offensive playbook and I think he’s a great leader. When you put those things on a team and it’s only a matter of time that team turns into a winner.

“Since I got here, my goal has always been to turn the Browns into a winner consistently and I think he's just the man for it.”

What a class act. I would love to see him win a SB with the Browns before he's done.

Yep...............bummer.

5 things to know from Browns’ 5th OTA

5. Confidence in the O-line

Despite the departures of Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz, Hamilton said he feels good about the state of the unit, particularly with the players who have emerged to replace the longtime starters.

Hamilton said second-year player Cameron Erving has “stepped up” at center while mentioning Alvin Bailey, a free-agent signing who began his career with the Seahawks, at right tackle. The Browns drafted two players, Shon Coleman and Spencer Drango, who could compete at right tackle heading into 2016.

“They’re still showing that they can play football the way we want them to play football at a high level,” Hamilton said of the offensive line as a whole. “Once again, once we get to training camp and put football pads on, we will have a better feel for all those guys.”

The oline will be the most examined, evaluated , scrutinized, etc grouping come camp and pre season. I think they could be better than previous years. I don't say that because of the darpature of Mack and Schwartz but because I like the system we will run. I have never thought that Cincy had a more talented O line than us, just a better system with pieces tha really fit. I think between the draft, FA plus existing roster players we could see better results. Let's face it we have had a lot of change with a good talented O line and our record has been crap. If Joe T likes the system and claims it is O line friendly, then I can feel good about our chances to be much better than some may think.

I sure hope JT is still here when we go to the SB.

And it'll be interesting to see how the Cincy offense does without Hue calling the shots the next few years.

Do you honestly believe he'll still be playing when he's 70?

Pretty sure Gilkey has been gone for awhile, eo. Think he ended up in Tampa Bay. Bailey's the potential veteran starter at RT.

GILKEY CUT BY THE BROWNS, SIGNED BY THE BUCS
SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 BY POST STAFF

http://www.panhandlepost.com/gilkey-cut-by-the-browns-signed-by-the-bucs/

Maybe that's why I can't figure out if I should be calling you eo or tab.

Gilkey is still with the Bucs

Tell 'em why. lol

RORER 714

I agree....I started that

I'm sure we all have something embarrassing in our pasts...EO it is.

Tab = tablet.

But wouldn't "tablet" infer a Mini-Eotab or Eotab Jr?

if he eats right, and takes care of himself...sure

man its hard to say how long Joe will play. He doesn't seem like a player obsessed with money. He could be playing well up to 36. I mean he reduces the violence of O-line to looking like a man playing with a child half the time. It's mind boggling how easy he makes it look at times even against the best in the league. J.J. Watt found out fast he would have to rush from the other side because he couldn't beat Joe.

I just hope we really begin to press him into being a player's coach. I'd love for him to take over one day. It's not like he's not the most intelligent guy out there every day.

I think you would be surprised at how smart Joe is. He is not the dumb brawler type. He is a super efficient technical guy.

That's what CHS was trying to say. He just made the cardinal sin of using a double negative.

He's already talking about how he couldn't play if he had to practice every day. You guys are living in a fairytale if you think he'll play past 34 tops. He'd be a fool to degrade his body like that and as you guys said he is definitely not that in the slightest. 3 more years tops

That's what I did say. Chaucer never sinned and neither do I.

I have no way of knowing for certain about this, and am only basing this on things I have read and heard Joe say over the years ...... but I would almost vet that Joe plays out the deal he currently has, and then hangs it up. He is under contract for this year, and then 2 more years. I think that he will decide to get out with his health at that point.

I believe him what he says that he wants to play his entire career with the Browns, and the older he gets, the less likely it is that this will happen. I cannot see the team extending his deal when he hits 32-33. Even the best LTs in the NFL have tended to start breaking down about that age. I think that Joe is the kind of guy who will honor his contract, and play out what he agreed to. I just doubt that he will be looking to go past the end of his deal.

j/c

The OL needs some continuity to work as a unit. This year we will be replacing both the RT and C positions. There's nothing to indicate that our FA signing or #19 draft pick last year aren't downgrades.

The real problem with Erving as I see it, is that he is basically a rookie NFL C. Last year the coaching staff tried to move him around all over the place and with Mack here, her had no chance to play C. Even any familiarity he gained within the system is now dashed with all new schemes coming in with yet another regime.

Shon Coleman stands a good chance of becoming our RT in time. Yet he still isn't fully healed and it will at least be a year or too before he can make his full impact.

We have two veteran QB's who both have a rather extensive injury history as of late. This doesn't bode well. For the long run there may not be huge danger signs, but for the next year or two, it's going to be tough.

Instead of spewing hot air about us replacing 2 OL guys do some research as to how previous teams faired when having 2 new faces on their OL. Or should I do it for you?