DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Discussion on Hue's offense w/Griffin

We'll see, the oline needs to do their part too to be able to unlock any of those weapons.

Hey, anyone going to opening camp today? Hot with high humidity, take cool liquids.

But if so, can you peep at RGIII and let us, or least me lol, know what you think about his health/knees and etc? Is Grossi right when he says he definitely healthy?

After Coleman, the Browns will likely look to Andrew Hawkins to start along with another rookie in Rashard Higgins. Taylor Gabriel is also in the mix for a starting job. Hawkins has carved out a solid career as a role-player, but Higgins is the player to keep an eye on in this receiver group. A favorite of PFF College, Higgins put up big numbers at the collegiate level with 239 catches for 3,649 yards and 31 scores. He isn’t particularly fast – he ran a 4.64 40 – but Higgins is one of the most polished route runners in this year’s class. While he isn’t likely to provide any sort of consistent production in season-long leagues, Higgins is an interesting dynasty option who might be worth a look as an occasional DFS play.

The Browns’ most-targeted player might not end up being a wide receiver, as TE Gary Barnidge is coming off a breakout year where he finished second at the position with 119 targets. Barnidge went over 1,000 yards and scored nine times on his way to finishing as fantasy’s No. 3 tight end. For fantasy purposes, Barnidge offered surprising upside, with only Rob Gronkowski and Greg Olsen seeing more deep-ball targets. While some might look to Barnidge as a one-hit wonder, he’s still likely to see a heavy target share this season and remains in the TE1 conversation.

At running back, the Browns have two young talents in Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson who should both benefit from Jackson’s run-heavy offense. In Cincinnati last season, Jackson called a run play on 45.8 percent of the Bengals’ offensive plays. Over his coaching career, Jackson’s offenses have consistent ranked among the league leaders in rushing attempts.

Crowell seems to have made amends for his distasteful social media post and doesn’t appear to be at risk of losing his roster spot. Last season, he saw 59.7 percent of the Browns’ running back carries, and he projects for a similar workload as the primary early-down runner. While some have suggested 1,000-yard potential for Crowell, he’s a bit of a longshot to reach that benchmark, as he’ll be splitting carries with Johnson.

As a rookie, Johnson amassed 104 carries, and we expect that number to rise this season. He also caught 61 balls on 70 targets. Often labeled as a receiving specialist, Johnson is actually the all-time leading rusher at the University of Miami. He also proved to be quite elusive last season, forcing a missed tackle on 26.6 percent of his touches. Only Marshawn Lynch and Carlos Hyde were more elusive on a per touch basis. Johnson is a good bet to return RB2 production in PPR leagues, though he’s better viewed as an upside RB3 in standard formants.

[Are the two Cleveland running backs going at a fair spot in fantasy drafts right now? Check out our PFF Draft Master tool and try a mock draft, complete with offensive line grades, full projections and all the PFF data.]

Beyond Crowell and Johnson, the Browns have Terrell Watson, Glenn Winston and Rahim Mostert battling for the third running back spot. Mostert generated a little dynasty buzz last year following a big preseason. Watson was a 2015 draftnik favorite out of Azuza Pacific. He’s a big back (6’1, 240) who reportedly had a strong offseason.

Same old RG III?

The first look at Robert Griffin III in the Cleveland offense was both encouraging and discouraging, depending on how you look at it. He was very much still the same player he was in Washington, which is to say an impressive athlete with all the arm talent you could wish for, but one also severely limited as a quarterback.

He very rarely made it far through his progression in the team portion of practice, and was usually on the move if he had to come off his first read. The good news is that the Browns seem to be only too aware of that, and are almost building it into the offensive system, with receiver routes designed to uncover later in the play than is usual, catering to the fact that the QB may well be on the move and looking for an open target several seconds into it.

When Griffin took aim at a target and delivered, he was reasonably accurate and threw a nice football, but the big question mark for him as a starter this season (assuming he wins the job, and he was getting the first reps with each drill in this session) is whether that limit to his work in the pocket can succeed at this level.

Josh McCown didn’t seem to do much wrong, and Cody Kessler made a couple of nice throws, but there was a visible difference between him and RG III or McCown in terms of stature and velocity of pass thrown. Kessler is clearly working with more physical limitations, therefore he needs to be on point when it comes to accuracy and the mental side of the game.

He very rarely made it far through his progression in the team portion of practice, and was usually on the move if he had to come off his first read. The good news is that the Browns seem to be only too aware of that, and are almost building it into the offensive system, with receiver routes designed to uncover later in the play than is usual, catering to the fact that the QB may well be on the move and looking for an open target several seconds into it.

There are some who believe that post-snap reading of a defence is something difficult to develop. Has to be innate, in most cases.

ASK THE LEAGUE: Can Hue Jackson make RGIII a franchise QB again?
When the Cleveland Browns signed Robert Griffin III in the offseason, the immediate question was clear: Could Hue Jackson resurrect the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year's career? Jackson has done wonders with quarterbacks in the past -- including Andy Dalton, Jason Campbell and Joe Flacco -- so I was willing to go out on a limb and suggest that he would do the same for the ultra-talented playmaker with a bruised ego and a brittle body. But I also wanted to get thoughts from folks around the league, so I tossed them the following question:

Can Hue Jackson "fix" RGIII and reestablish him as a true franchise quarterback?

Here are the responses ...

NFC pro personnel director: "If anyone can fix RGIII, it's Hue. He tends to put quarterbacks in a position to do what they do well and protect them from themselves. I don't think RGIII is broken, but he lost his confidence and got away from what he does well. It will be interesting to see him this preseason."

AFC college scouting director: "I think it depends on how the kid responds to Jackson's coaching style. He is a talented player, but his ego needs to be kept in check."

AFC player personnel director: "I feel like Washington broke RGIII by making him a runner. At Baylor, he was an athletic passer who ran a fast 40. Hue should definitely be able to make him a solid quarterback because he's got talent and some skill."

Second NFC pro personnel director: "Hue can't fix RGIII, but he will have a plan that allows him to succeed in the short term. He will put in concepts that play to his strengths -- quick reads and some of the movement stuff that he did at Baylor -- but RGIII needs to keep his ego in check and take to the coaching."

NFC defensive assistant coach: "RGIII will definitely give the Browns a little spark under Jackson, but I don't know if he can sustain it over the long haul. Hue needs to be able to recognize when it's going wayward and pull the plug before it blows up."


NFC pro personnel assistant: "Hmmm ... I don't know if Hue can completely salvage RGIII, but I would expect him to play well in the short term because they will have a good plan in place for him."

MY TAKE

I found it interesting that most of the people I chatted with believe Jackson can absolutely craft a plan to accentuate Griffin's strengths as a player. They expressed a tremendous amount of faith in Jackson's tactical skills and his ability to minimize a player's weaknesses through his play calling.

Now, I firmly believe Jackson can work wonders with most players based on his strong evaluation skills and creative scripts, but I still have doubts about Griffin's "buy-in." The former Pro Bowler fancies himself a pocket passer, but the tape doesn't validate his assessment. To me, he is an athletic playmaker capable of delivering big gains on the perimeter as a run/pass option player (read-option, bootlegs and designed roll-outs) or as a deep-ball specialists on play-action passes. From the pocket, I believe he needs to play in a system that features simple concepts with half-field reads based on coverage, as opposed to full-field reads and pure progression passes.

If RGIII adheres to the principles of those concepts and displays the patience to take the checkdown or underneath throw when the intermediate and deep routes are covered, he is more than capable of reviving his career as a starting quarterback.

...but I still have doubts about Griffin's "buy-in." The former Pro Bowler fancies himself a pocket passer, but the tape doesn't validate his assessment

Second NFC pro personnel director: "Hue can't fix RGIII, but he will have a plan that allows him to succeed in the short term. He will put in concepts that play to his strengths -- quick reads and some of the movement stuff that he did at Baylor -- but RGIII needs to keep his ego in check and take to the coaching."

NFC defensive assistant coach: "RGIII will definitely give the Browns a little spark under Jackson, but I don't know if he can sustain it over the long haul. Hue needs to be able to recognize when it's going wayward and pull the plug before it blows up."

Do you really believe that Mike Shannahan's opinion carries that much weight w/every stinking GM and coach in the league?

Seriously?

If they thought RGIII was that good, they would have went after him when he was available.

Old narratives die hard.

The old narrative is still the narrative until there's evidence on the field showing there's actually a new narrative.

I think you paint an inaccurate picture of how RGIII got his reputation.

I hope he plays better this time around and that his attitude is better. It's a fresh start. I hope he makes the best of it.

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/arti...a2-ffe8d96b550a

http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/arti...a2-ffe8d96b550a

I would like to watch the scrimmage but, I guess Cleveland Browns stream want us to watch Zagura and Wilhelm in the foreground w/the football happening behind them....

LAME!