DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Briean Boddy-Calhoun placed 4th among cornerbacks in 2016 in PFF's Playmaker Index

Yeah, but like YTown said, with all these guys getting drafted, there could be some decent players who are cap cuts or young guys who are numbers cuts.

We might not be completely done adding to our secondary.

I'm just voicing my opinion. There are quite a few posts looking at the secondary and the team from just a positive angle. I am offering another opinion. We'll see...........

I have commented several times that all I saw was Reynolds arriving in tHe picture frame late !

Powell and a couple others will be an interesting watch during Camp..

Two different positions. One has nothing to do with the other. Calhoun was fun to watch, but did struggle at times. Ed Reynolds needs work on pass coverage, but is decent at run support. Neither are perfect, both should be expected to take a step forward this season. And yes, I believe people do actually watch the games. JMHO

FWIW: I remember reading where the Browns coaches credited Reynolds for getting the backfield organized after he got a few games under his belt. Might mean something good...might not.

I remember him being good on STs. I think he's the classic limited, smart, backup S who plays STs. Good guy to have on your team but better if he's a backup.

Agreed w/Willie. Reynolds is a good backup/ST/fill in player. Doesn't have the athleticism to cover, but he is reliable. I do remember Hue saying he was a good leader in the secondary.

I agree w/you about Reynolds. He isn't the answer, but he sure was a hell of a lot better than Kindred and Campbell who both played FS at times. Those two dudes were lost back there. Both are SS types. Reynolds at least had a clue.

And no........I am not "loving" him. LOL

I agree bbc is probably not a starter-type. As for how often he got beat in coverage, I admit I don't know. Our back end seemed so chaotic, couldn't cover TEs, receivers running open everywhere.... I'll take your word that he was part of the problem. It felt to me like he was overall a bright spot, though.

Campbell and Kindred are definitely NOT the answer at FS ... in fact, one of them will be cut and the other will be Peppers backup IMO

Vers, this isn't directed at you, but I do agree with your take that he has a clue.

And not to make this an "Ed Reynolds" thread, but it is only his third year. He's only played in 16 games and only started 10. I'm not saying he's the be-all/end-all at FS, but for those who don't believe he has what it takes, it may be a bit early to make career pronouncements. I don't necessarily agree with the poster who says he doesn't have the athleticism to cover, and I still think we'll see him step it up a notch this year under GW's tutelage, but that's JMHO. I also think he may be one of the reasons we took Peppers instead of an FS.

Here's the CBS scouting report when he came out. Definitely some things to look for this season:

STRENGTHS: At 6-2, 205 pounds, Reynolds possesses the lanky build scouts are looking for at the position. Physical and instinctive. Demonstrates good agility and acceleration to handle covering athletic tight ends out of the slot as well as supply deep help over the top. Reads the action and moves fluidly, showing a nice late burst to close on the ball and terrific vision and open-field running ability once he possesses it. Understands his role as the last line of defense and generally takes excellent angles in pursuit.

Force in run defense. Savvy defender and reliable open-field tackler. Breaks down well in space and delivers a pop on contact, often driving ballcarriers back.

WEAKNESSES: Missed 2011 season due to knee injury (ACL). Aggressive nature can be used against him at times, getting burned on occasion by cut-back runs from quicker ballcarriers. Ejected from one game in 2013 for targeting, displaying bad habit of leading with his helmet, which will draw personal fouls in the NFL.

Only one highly-productive season in terms of creating turnovers while playing on a defense with dominating front seven, and must prove he can make impact plays on consistent basis.


It takes a while for DBs who are not top tier talent to catch on, read the plays correctly, take good angles, etc. And they need coaching. So I expect to see more consistent play as the season wears on, and he may not even hit his stride until the end of this season or even next season. We'll see. I'm certainly not ready to write him off yet.

Our Dbs this year should (had better) also have the advantage of a much improved pass rush, which will mean that they won't be forced to cover for all day. (as happened last year more than I like to remember)

I have to say that while a lot of work still needs to be done, he more than exceeded my expectations last year. I believe at least some improvement should be expected this year and next. I believe he can become a solid player for us but also believe his ceiling isn't of the elite nature.

BBC was a bright spot. He came out of nowhere and made some plays. He might develop into a good corner down the road. I was just saying I don't think he is there yet.

Thanks for the report on Reynolds. That doesn't jibe w/what I saw, so I'm going to have to pay more attention at the beginning of the year.

What I saw was a guy who seemed to know where to be most of the time, but didn't really get there. Kinda running on the deep support routes and not all that athletic.

That report kinda expresses an opposite opinion. I might be wrong. I gotta watch more.

While overall I was happy with the picks that were made, I did find it disappointing that we didn't invest more in a very strong CB class.

I wonder about a couple things, whether he was thinking too much, and/or was he out of position due to Ray's scheme. I know you saw Ray's D differently than I did, but it causes me to wonder. As you know, a step or two is all it takes.

Which is highly disappointing since they invested so heavily into a weak WR class last year. You'd think a strong CB class and it being a sizeable weakness, they'd invest a lot more than one promising, but oft injured player.

You made a point that I've been angry about too ... we went so heavy on WR last year in the draft, and the crop was not good .. Coleman, Louis, Higgins, Payton do not leave much to be desired IMO ... Devalve might end up providing the most production

j/c

I've read a few reports on this year's CB class. One note I did not see referenced on a lot of players "good tacklers." Howard Wilson was mentioned as good tackler. I believe UFAs Kai Nacua and Channing Stribling were given good marks regarding tackling. Could this be a reason Browns passed on many DBs?

Another thought to ponder. Is the NFL moving away from OLB replacing with strong safeties? Essentially teams using 4 DL, 2 MLB, and 2 SS basically a 4-4 scheme.

Yeah, I really thought we would draft quite a few secondary guys. I even remember making a reply to something Purp said about drafting several secondary guys.

I think our secondary is going to haunt us this year.

We did invest 2 picks in the first 4 rounds on backfield help.

As I said somewhere else, I think we might have done so with the 2nd rounder, then Kiser fell in our laps. I don't think we planned on him dropping to 54 or whatever pick number it was.

I think we had targeted players, and mostly got 1A, or 1B, or 1C in each round.

I think the team is high on Powell, the Seahawks seemed to be. In ways, he is like a part of the draft class. Many people feel that Stribling is a good player. He was a udfa this year. In other years, he might have been a 4th rounder.

I don't think our defensive backfield is as barren and impotent as some think.

Just goes to show, you can't fix everything in a year or two. Next year we have a boatload of picks again. Man.... think if we just don't have to use one on a QB, we can get WAY good in a hurry. Two first rounders, three second rounders,we will probably trade down at least once with those picks to set up the following year.


I am liking what these guys are doing.

Tyvis Powell 6-2 211 Ohio State ... I think this guy is going to be a big part of this secondary when all is said and done ... JMHO

I hope so, but my honest question is: if Seattle was so high on him, why is he a Brown?

I think you know this but....RB coming back odd man out. Maybe his position was the deepest of the group that they wanted to cut from. Might mean something might not. We will see come training camp.

Nope, didn't know any of that stuff about the Seattle DB situation. That's why it was an honest question.

Who is RB?

I think he meant "RS" (Sherman).

Edit: RB=Running back Hester who was coming back, powell got waived to make room

Gotcha.

Thanks for the help though, I wasn't sure who they brought back but I was thinking it was a RB. Thanks again

Thanks for the read. For once we have a definitive answer about why a good team releases a promising player that the Browns acquire that dispels any question of the player's value.

I've seen the question come up countless times, "Why did X player get released if he's any good", or some variant of that. In many of those other cases the answer could have been something similar to the situation with Powell. Its not always a reflection on the players' talent.

The Browns did a solid job bringing in Powell.

We'll see how it goes, but he was still Seattle's 10th DB according to the article.

I have to laugh at the irony that Seattle claimed a RB off of our practice squad, and because of the rules they couldn't cut him, so they had to release Powell instead, who could wind up being a more useful player for us.

With all due respect to him wasn't he also a back up at OSU? I mean, I hope he does well as he is now a Brown and it is his dream to play for us AND we need a guy back there who can step up. BUT, it isn't like we have a known entity with him.

He started in front of Malik Hooker. Watch Kizer's 2015 game against OSU and you can see him some.

(5 starts as a red-shirt frosh, all 15 as a sophomore [National Championship Defensive MVP], all 13 as a junior- 33 total starts)

Thanks. I stand corrected. I don't devour college football and haven't had cable for years so, what college ball I do see is limited what our locals show (whatever the National game is in the AM and PAC-12 in the PM).

Thanks Grimm, Tyvus Powell was a HUGE part of that Ohio State defense that won the National Title ...

There are times in which that is the best thing any of us can say.