DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns trade for Calvin Pryor

Don't think we drafted Garrett this year and Ogbah last to run a 3-3-5.

I think moving Peppers around will be the confusion element.

I can only see that scenario (3-2-6) in a third and very long.

j/c

Maybe Shobert showed something as to his possibly being that 3rd LB? That would be great. I remember Tank getting some love last pre-season as well?

Hopefully he's this year's version of Jamar Taylor, renewed dedication in a new environment. Scouting reports aren't great. He may have been over-hyped during draft season. We'll see what Williams can make out of him. This one from Bleacher Report is fairly comprehensive:

Overall Strengths

+ Great closing burst; able to step in front of passes just before a reception is completed

+ Fluid hips in coverage show upside as a cover safety

+ Extremely productive around the line of scrimmage

+ Excels as a linear player; delivers huge hits to force turnovers

+ Makes game-changing, highlight-reel plays that energize the entire stadium

+ Experienced playing in both safety roles

Overall Weaknesses

- Below-average height for a starting safety

- Doesn’t diagnose plays; instead recklessly attacks his first read

- Poor awareness in space; if the play isn’t in front of him, he’s lost

- Misses on easy tackles due to obsession with big hits

- Doesn’t fill running lanes with integrity, allowing chunk plays

- Lacks discipline in coverage, losing his man on double moves or holding the receiver

Tools

Pryor is a small safety who doesn’t meet the important six-foot threshold teams desire at safety. Most of the top safeties are over six feet tall, with few exceptions. He has good distance speed, but great short area closing speed. He is not an explosive athlete, as evidenced by his pedestrian vertical leaping ability.

Intangibles/Character

Pryor was suspended three different occasions throughout 2013, due to unspecified team rule violations. He has no off-the-field incidents reported, but former head coach Charlie Strong was reportedly a tough-minded coach, so his suspensions should be considered flags.

System

At Louisville, Pryor was often in the box as a strong safety, attacking the line of scrimmage. For passing situations he rotated between deep Cover 2 zone and single-high zone coverages. He was often given free rein, with few responsibilities other than to read and react to the play.

Ball Skills

Calvin has average ball skills overall. When he is located behind the intended receiver he is able to use his speed to contest the pass, sometimes intercepting it. If he is located in front of the play, he shows poor awareness in space. He doesn’t know what is happening behind him, essentially becoming a wandering man. At the point of contest, he has small hands, short arms and his vertical leap is limited, so he will struggle to challenge tight ends in coverage.

Against the Run/Tackling

Pryor delivers highlight hits against the run because he attacks the line of scrimmage with such aggression. He has issues toning down his desire for big hits, as he doesn’t form-tackle enough. He hits ball-carriers too high, losing leverage. For a smaller player who doesn’t have a big frame, he needs to become a more efficient tackler and use better judgment when lowering the boom.


Pryor’s recklessness when approaching the line of scrimmage causes him to attack the wrong running lanes. He will sprint through the offensive line to try to chase down the ball-carrier from behind, but NFL athletes are too good for that. He needs to play smarter, not harder in this instance. If Pryor can become more patient and read the direction of the play, he can become a high-quality run defender.

Man Coverage

He has clean hip transfer when he breaks from his backpedal and cuts in and out of routes with the receiver. His ability to mirror the receiver is good enough to trust him to cover slot receivers. Pryor struggles with discipline on double-moves and pump-fakes, so he will need to bury himself in the film room to learn the tendencies of his opponents to improve.

Zone Coverage

Pryor struggles recognizing routes with consistency, but he flashed the ability to read the eyes of the quarterback and get to the point of contest in time to at least defend the pass. While in Cover 2, Pryor is able to focus on the middle of the field as an intimidator and roam to the sideline if he sees a streaking receiver coming toward him.

Technique

Pryor doesn’t worry much about technique, instead playing instinctually. He isn’t a horrible technician, especially in his backpedal, but he is inconsistent in every phase of the position. He tends to commit to his initial read of the play, which isn’t always correct, leading to blown coverages downfield and stressing the defense. Tackling is another area he can improve, as covered above.

Future Role/Scheme Versatility

Calvin Pryor is a traditional strong safety who should play in the box to reach his full effectiveness. He can play in Cover 2 schemes to take advantage of his hard-hitting nature and intimidation factor, but it would be unwise to count on Pryor as a single-high safety or in other schemes that require he anticipate routes heavily.

Link

I like this a lot and see Pryor moving back to FS with Williams' defense.

Am I wrong in thinking TEs gave Davis a huge problem in the middle last season? He seemed to never live up to the expectation and was quickly overshadowed by Kirksey and then Collins.

Must now open up LB competition with: Dominique, Cam J, Tank, Schobert and Orchard.

Pryor has been in the league three years now, I am not sure how relevant his pre-draft scouting report is.

Probably only in regard to considering him at FS versus his time in the league as a SS.

Either way, this is a decent move. Traded a guy that by most people's guess wouldn't be on the final roster for a guy who, at the very least, is a backup SS and possibly a starting FS on this roster - and is cheaper, to boot. His performance will determine just how good the trade ends up being.

Then please, by all means, don't read it.

Tank is our ST captain, but I hated the Shobert pick last year and saw nothing that changed my mind set last year, so here's hoping that is the case. Though I would envision him at SAM. (as a backup to)

I am not a big fan of Davis, so I am fine with this move. (even if it doesn't work out)

Browns trade middle linebacker Demario Davis to Jets for safety Calvin Pryor - Cleveland Browns - Ohio
http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-brow...-pryor-1.771184

The Browns sent middle linebacker Demario Davis back to the New York Jets on Thursday in a trade for safety Calvin Pryor.
Pryor, 24, was a first-round draft pick in 2014 (No. 18 overall) who started 38 of the 44 games in which he has appeared the past three seasons. He has compiled 184 tackles, two interceptions, 14 passes defensed, two forced fumbles and a half sack. He started all 15 games in which he appeared last season and tallied 60 tackles, six passes defensed and one forced fumble.

Pryor became expendable in April when the Jets drafted safeties in the first and second rounds -- Jamal Adams (No. 6 overall) and Marcus Maye (No. 39). The Jets reportedly tried to trade Pryor during the draft and later declined to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract.
ESPN reported the Jets had planned to cut Pryor, who recently angered some in the organization by skipping the first practice of organized team activities. When he showed up for the second practice, he had been demoted to the third-team defense.

"Calvin is a young-experienced safety that has upside," Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said in a news release. "We are pleased to be able to add him to our defensive back room and just like every player we acquire, we expect him to come in with a hard-working mindset ready to compete."
Like Browns rookie Jabrill Peppers, a first-round pick (No. 25 overall), Pryor is a strong safety, so defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is expected to be creative to get them both on the field. Peppers may play a linebacker role in certain packages while Pryor mans the strong safety position. Perhaps Williams views Pryor as a hybrid player, too.

Ed Reynolds and Tyvis Powell are competing for the starting free safety job. But the Browns have said veteran cornerback Jason McCourty, who signed a two-year, $6 million contract with Cleveland two weeks ago, may move to free safety.

Davis, 28, left the Jets last year as a free agent by signing a two-year, $8 million contract with the Browns. He played all 16 games last season as an inside linebacker in the 3-4 scheme used by former Browns coordinator Ray Horton and started 15 of them, finishing second on team with 99 tackles to go along with two sacks, two passes defensed and one forced fumble. He started every game for the Jets from 2013-15.
"Demario is a guy that we developed the utmost respect for in his time with our team, not only as a professional but also as a person," Brown said in the release. "We appreciate all he did for our organization in his time in Cleveland."

Davis had been penciled in as the starting middle linebacker in Williams' 4-3 base defense with Jamie Collins at strongside linebacker and Christian Kirksey at weakside linebacker. Williams employs a nickel or dime package most of the time, and like last season, Davis would have been the linebacker to come off the field in that situation, leaving Collins and Kirksey.

So the question is who'll receive more playing time when the Browns use three linebackers. Special-teams ace Tank Carder would be among the candidates.

Both Pryor and Davis will enter the final season of their contracts in the fall.

Check Ohio.com later Thursday for more about the trade.

Browns make player-for-player swap with Jets – The Athletic
https://theathletic.com/64259/2017/06/01/browns-make-player-for-player-swap-with-jets/

by Zac Jackson, posted minutes ago
The Browns made a trade with the Jets on Thursday, acquiring safety Calvin Pryor in exchange for linebacker Demario Davis.

The Browns rid themselves of a player who wasn’t in the plans past this year — and maybe not past this summer — for a low-risk shot on a former first-round pick who turns 25 next month. The Jets were going to release Pryor; Davis is under contract for one more season.

Davis had been running with the Browns’ No. 1 defense as the middle linebacker in the team’s base 4-3 defense in the team’s organized team activity practices. Davis signed with the Browns as a free agent in 2016 after playing his first four years with the Jets, and now he returns to his natural spot as a 3-4 inside linebacker.

The Jets took safeties in the first and second round of this year’s draft, in part because Pryor had just two interceptions in his first three seasons and had fallen out of favor with the coaching staff. The Browns aren’t sure how things will shake out at the safety position and add Pryor to a group that includes first-round pick Jabrill Peppers, 2016 fourth-round pick Derrick Kindred as well as Ed Reynolds and Ibraheim Campell.

Perhaps most important, the Browns get a chance to get something positive out of Pryor without giving up one of the precious draft picks they’ve been acquiring over the last two offseasons. The Browns have five picks in the first two rounds of the 2018 draft.

“Calvin is a young [and] experienced safety that has upside,” Browns vice president of football operations Sashi Brown said in the team’s statement on the trade. “We are pleased to be able to add him to our defensive back room and just like every player we acquire, we expect him to come in with a hard-working mindset ready to compete.

“Demario is a guy that we developed the utmost respect for in his time with our team, not only as a professional but also as a person. We appreciate all he did for our organization in his time in Cleveland.”

The Browns just extended linebacker Christian Kirksey this week and signed Jamie Collins to a new contract in January. Kirksey had been playing weakside linebacker, and Collins was on the strong side in the base defense this spring. Those two figure to be the team’s linebackers in nickel defensive packages. Among the players in line for more snaps with Davis gone are Dominique Alexander and Joe Schobert, both second-year players.

5 things to know about new Browns S Calvin Pryor
http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/arti...b4-309bd79810f6

The Browns have acquired safety Calvin Pryor from the New York Jets.

Here are five things to know about the former first-round NFL Draft pick and newest member of Cleveland’s secondary.

1. Pryor, the 18th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, started 38 games — including 15 last season — of 44 career games over three years in New York. In that span, the former Louisville standout and Port St. Lucie, Florida, native made 184 tackles, two interceptions, and 14 pass breakups. Last season, he totaled 60 tackles, six passes defensed and one forced fumble before the Jets declined to pick up his fifth-year option and drafted two safeties — Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye — this past spring.

2. Pryor joins a safeties group that includes 2017 first-round draft pick Jabrill Peppers, Ed Reynolds II, Derrick Kindred, Tyvis Powelland, potentially, versatile veteran Jason McCourty, whose role in Cleveland remains unclear after eight seasons at cornerback in Tennessee. At the very least, the Browns have built depth at the position that they didn’t have last season as injuries and other dynamics saw the back end struggle at times.

3. Leading up to the 2014 draft, Pryor was thought to be one of the best players available according to his NFL.com draft profile, which declared him as“perhaps the most explosive hitter in this year's crop of safeties" and a "big, physical hammer in the run game, bringing the ability to intimidate and erase."

4. Pryor, whose hard-hitting style should fit well under Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, outlined why he enjoys playing safety to NewYorkJets.com last season. “I was born to play football. When I line up out there on that field, I feel like it’s my sanctuary. That’s where I let it all out,”he told the team’s site. “It’s a great position to play because sometimes you can be like a linebacker that’s free.”

5. At just 24 years old, Pryor is poised to become part of what executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown has described as a “core nucleus of young talent.” Entering his fourth season, though, Pryor also stands to add something of another veteran presence on one of the league’s youngest teams.

I think that we where just given a look at our 4-5 Safety's for 2017. ( minus IC)

Davis was arguably the worst defender we fielded one year ago. Pryor has talent. Kindred, peppers, Pryor are 3 safeties that have linebacker skills. Gonna be a very fast run to the ball defense. These guys will hit and hit hard.


Huge win for Sashi on this one.

Agreed. It may also be that Hue and GW had some input on this trade. An opportunity to pick up another secondary player where we need some help. Good move.

See bold above...is he Peppers' backup?

Thanks for posting that scouting report. I do think it is relevant. The skill set of a player does not change just because he left college. He sounds like a SS only to me. I doubt he plays FS and actually, I hope to God he doesn't. LOL

The 3 suspensions during the 2013 season are interesting. I was wondering if perhaps he was a malcontent and that was why the Jets were going to cut him. I am not saying that he was, but the suspensions are interesting.

A couple of other things. I think DD would have made the team, but that doesn't matter much now because he's gone. I do think the 10% claim is off. I have been reading 20 to 30%, w/the most frequent percentage being 25. That's quite a bit more than 10%.

Still, it looks to be a decent trade. Both guys will be free agents after next year and both have holes in their game. We are taking a shot on a former first round pick and gave up a guy who wasn't going to be part of our long-term plan.

j/c:



https://twitter.com/brentsobleski/status/870263702926364672

Cory Littleton was the Rams' third linebacker last year. He was on the field for 11.19% of the snaps.

Just telling you what I read. In fact, I believe there it was mentioned in an article either yesterday or the day before.

It doesn't matter much. He's gone now.

What I have seen missing from people who believe a lot of pressure is the key to everything when you have a very weak secondary is an old, yet accurate adage.

You live by the blitz, you die by the blitz. There are counter moves to consistent pressure which is why you can't rely on a front seven alone.

It's great to see good talent added to our front seven. It's definitely a great improvement in building our team. I just hope people temper there expectations because the job of building our team is still going on.

If Powell is a player at FS, that would be unbelievably HUGE for this defense. I mean..........incredibly huge.

Too bad there weren't any decent FS's available in the draft.

Quite true. If there would only have been an opportunity to draft one.

Wait, what!??! lol

Good article with photos, from a few years ago talking about the big nickel defense which is what Williams has used probably more than anyone in the league.

NFL.com

Our best opportunity to draft a starting FS was traded in on a starting SS PLUS an extra 1st Rd pick for next year. Seems like a smart move to me. Maybe that will work out and maybe it won't.

Also Williams using a lot of Tampa philosophy in which we really don't have a FS or SS. I think he will be perfectly fine with 3 big hitting safties on the field at the same time, willing to separate the defender from the ball.

Good point. I was thinking BIG nickel (42.5), with 3 Safety's with this trade, not exclusively, but as matchups dictate, from game plan to game plan.

FS is still a mistery and I am curious to know what Powell might have to offer.

I just had a thought...
Who will the opposing QB yell out ...#so and so is the MIKE...LOL

so, we trade Davis (who would be cut) for a wild card at S ... and net 2 million in cap. I'm good with it.

I think we will learn a lot more about what kind of D we are running and where everyone will line up during camp and preseason. Right now all I care about is the hope that this being a contract year plus Greg Williams light a fire under Pryor's ass and he plays great ball for us. Having to resign him next year would be a great problem to have.... If he doesn't then he leaves and we aren't out much. We weren't going to resign Davis anyway. I like the move even if Calvin doesn't work out. We took a chance to upgrade our team. I don't mind that kind of move.

Calvin Pryor III‏ Verified account

Kyrie>>>>>Curry
https://twitter.com/star_island25/status/742559521088933889



Like him already!

Clearly, it's time to approach him about a contract extension.

I was wondering. I was thinking he ran a cover-3 something similar to Seattle.

Powell, Kindred, Pryor, and Peppers are all hard hitting good tacklers. This will get a little fun watching!

I read the ESPN write up about the trade.

The latter half of it, the columnist seemed confused, because according to them, by trading Davis, we now have "no one to start in between Collins and Kirksey"

I literally died laughing. Literally.

So the FO is willing to trade for other teams players but not for our own players!

This is something the FO needs to get corrected!

I am worried about that also. It is nice to play the majority of snaps in the nickle but if teams rush for 5+ on first down against the defense what good will the nickle do?

....Why are you promoting friendly fire?

I went back and watched his draftbreakdown film and wasn't that impressed. What I saw reminded me a lot of Vers' complaints about McDonald from the Rams. He did have a nice pick against UCF, but other than that seemed a bit overaggressive and took himself out of plays.

He fits Williams "find the ball, see ball, get ball" quote and the aggressive, attacking mind set he wants, but I'm not so sure about the "if the ball goes over your head in a hurry, you're not going to get to do it" part. In his defense, he may have been used in the box more which makes the ball going over his head more understandable, but its hard to tell what he's doing from the broadcast angles a lot of the time.

He does seem to have the ability to operate from a lot of different positions similar to Peppers. I'm still not sure who will be the deep/coverage safety for us, though.

Jason McCourty?