DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Desmond Harrison

I brought this kids name up pre draft in regards to both his character issues and his skill set. I had him rated as having the best LT skill set in the draft. The only thing I had to take into consideration was the level of competition he was up against.

Still, all and all, that doesn't change the skill set. He will need to add some weight and add a little upper body muscle, but when coming from Division 2 that's to be expected.

I certainly didn't have the kid penciled in as a year one starter, but I certainly knew the potential was there. As was mentioned, he is a high risk player given his history, but well worth the risk as a UDFA. Acually, that's no risk at all.

There's two ways to look at this, and we can already see who's lining up where.

1) The Browns are so desperate to find a LT that they're playing an UDFA because they can't find anyone else.

or

2) An UDFA has proven himself so good that the Browns couldn't ignore him. He played his way into the starting lineup.

Of course, it's a little of both. But being the optimist who believes in 2nd chances, I choose to believe Desmond Harrison is the starting LT because he earned it.

JMHO, if you go back to Wylie's videos, you will know he thought Harrison was the most athletic lineman we've got. The young man didn't have enough to eat to keep weight on, he worked for moving company, and admits he's been stupid. What's not to like? America has always been about second chances- lot of immigrants. I'm all for him getting his shot. Now that he's making money, eating good, and playing a game he loves.....things are looking up. We need to use some of money saved on his salary to have a paid good guy companion. Go Browns!!!!

There is no risk in obtaining/keeping him on the roster. However, I think there is plenty of risk starting him at LT against the Steelers. Taylor gets hurt in game 1 and all the "Island of Optimists" dreams go up in a toilet and we are back to a rookie QB.

Hue and the staff has to know this is risky, but they also have to think that Harrison/Bitonio is greater than Bitonio/Corbett.

I guess my point is that I highly doubt this was done because Harrison blew them away when he really hasn't had much of an opportunity to do so. It is much more likely that Corbett has been underwhelming imo.

Like the rest of us, I haven't been in practice the last couple of weeks to watch the match ups when Bitonio faced MG and when Harrison faced MG. But there are a couple of things I can say. If the coaching staff didn't feel that Harrison did a competent job, I don't believe they would be starting Harrison. I can also say from a skill set standpoint that Harrison certainly has the better skill set to play LT than Botonio does.



We disagree but I wouldn't say it's by a long stretch. lol

The real difference we have here is rather basic. Botonio isn't a LT. Botonio won't be a LT. So by playing Botonio at LT you are biding time. You are doing something that has zero chance of ever addressing the LT position on any permanent basis. It's like spinning your wheels for an entire season.

Harrison DOES have the LT skill set. With a few more pounds and a little more strength in the upper body, he stands a chance of being an average to slightly above average NFL LT. Even in his current raw state, his footwork and speed are better than Botonio. So IMO, what you lose in Botonio's experience, you gain in Harrison's footwork and speed at the LT position.

The NFL is a very fluid thing. You can't look at it in a bubble of this week or this season. What we all know that we do need to do is address the LT position. Whether that's now or with a high pick in next years draft. If we have that LT on the current roster, we need to know that and the only real option to find that lies with Harrison.

I don't believe that the risk to the health of our QB's is any higher with Harrison playing the position. But here's the rub. Those who disagree with starting him will use every mistake that Harrison makes as an argument of what a poor decision it was to start him. Even though they will have no idea of how well or how poorly Bitonio would have done playing the same position.

I think the biggest key to all of this will be Fells. Whether it's a raw Harrison or a guy that doesn't have a true LT skill set like Botonio, we're going to have to have some blocking help to shore up that left side. I think that Fells will be key to that.

I don't have a problem with Harrison eventually being our starting LT, I just think it's risky putting a rookie LT in the starting lineup on the first game of the season without ever having seen any game action with the rest of the starting O line and without ever playing against first team defenses in the preseason games.

Which opponent have we faced that would be a better indicator of his skills than facing Myles Garret every day in practice?

That's a fair point. You have to wonder what caused the switch though and it can't just be Harrison blowing them away at practice or against the Lions scrubs. He most likely did show some positive things in those instances, but to scrap the plan you have had all camp makes me think there is a whole lot of shortcomings the original plan had.

To put it this way, I think they said that having Harrison (who might suck) and Bitonio at LG (very good OG) is better than Bitonio at LT (who is below average there) and Corbett (who they think could suck).

Lol.....hope that is clear as mud.

Is he a LT or a gaurd ... ...

As the UDFA’s signings were coming out ... i’d Say half if not more all had backgrounds that would be more suited for a police blotter than a football player ...

Thats who Dorsey is .. its no secret ... character doesn’t even enter into the equation with him .. for the life of me I can’t imagine what Kendricks did that was so egregious ...

Guess maybe cause he lied to us as opposed to whatever it is that checkered there past wasn’t “done” to us ..

Oh well ... dammit .. get over it diam .. he ain’t coming back ...

I see NO WAY they put an unmitigated diseaster out there ... not even take the chance ...

Unless Joel was way worse than we saw in his brief stints in pre-season .. that could be the case .. no clue ..

MY HOPE is this has to do with Harrison’s play and not Bitino wasn’t as good a LT and Corbett stinks ..

We’ll know in about a month ... u guys are all gonna judge him way to early EITHER WAY based off his 1st few games ...

Actually some of u will judge him after the first play .. *L* ...

They are already judging him.

j/c...

And the rooster has come home to roost *L* ... i bet some of Uz guyz didn't even know that we had a rooster = Who's gonna replace Joe Thomas.

Go get'm big fella

I was WRONG AGAIN dawg ... add it to the list ... *LOL* ...

That's the thing though, Harrison has been 2nd or 3rd string almost all preseason so how much practice has he gotten against Garrett and how much time has he had lining up with the rest of the 1st string O Line. Got nothing against the dude I just think we might be rushing it.

He’s been back for about 3 weeks now ... TC was closed by then ...

We have NO CLUE what reps he took where for the last two or 3 weeks ...

NONE ...

This isn’t ideal ..

It was never gonna be easy ... ESPECIALLY THIS YEAR with what was available ...

Does anyone really think Jackson WANTS to lose his job- Harrison wouldn't be starting if he wasn't the best option. He MUST have played well against Miles or Jackson wouldn't have even considered doing what he's decided on.....good luck, Harrison and Go Browns!!!

Well let's try looking at it this way. For the past two weeks practice has been closed to the public and media. Bitonio wasn't made the starter until week two of the pre season. So Bitonio got three weeks of practice at LT. I don't even remember who started week 1. lol

So it seems to me that if Botonio was in the position for three weeks and Harrison has played the position for two weeks that there isn't some vast chasm between the two in terms of practice at the position.

I think one has to keep in mind that Harrison was hurt the first couple of weeks and as a rookie had to work his way up to earn his spot. It looks like he did to me.

Like I said I don't have a problem with Harrison I just think we might be rushing it.

I don't really want to pile onto this quote further, because a lot of people have, but I just wanted to say that 4 years ago Desmond Harrison was a 3 star recruit at the University of Texas and that Corbett was an unranked, unlisted walk-on at Nevada. Desmond dropped because of his Gordon-esque past, Corbett was drafted high because he's proven to be a hardworker. Sometimes you just have to work very hard at something for quite awhile, before you can start to be good at it. I think Corbett will pay off in the long run, as a guard, because he's too hungry and he's sitting behind some great guards who can teach him a lot. While I know edge players have become faster, I'm not entirely sold on 6'4 tackles being the answer to edge players in the long run. Some cases it works quite well, but that's usually because the tackle is a great technician, whether it be Bakhtiari who is a great hand fighter, or Duane Brown who is exceptional at moving his feet (the rest, not so much). I'm not sure I can really see Corbett playing tackle. While I wasn't originally a fan of the Corbett pick, it, like the Baker pick, has really grown on me, unlike previous players whose picks I have disagreed with.

J/C..


If Bill Belichick made this move it would be considered a genius move...


Joe Thomas started as a rookie and has been a pro bowler since day one.


Guess the best thing to do is give it a chance..replacing JT isn't going to be easy to do... Hopefully Desmond can do a good job and grow into this position.

I give Hue a Thumbs up on this...

There's no reason to think our staff doesn't view this as the best move for the team.

My bet is he's taken ever rep with the first team since camp closed.

Yes, he has been, but Bitonio has gotten some reps too.

Alternatively, we could have also gone with Greg Robinson and his experience ... But they still liked the rookie as opposed to a temporary patch.

Their confidence must be pretty high.

Your search for 'desmond harrison clwb419' returned 13 results.

Oldest was Jan 15 2018, and I know that I kept mentioning him mid rounds. On that, I was way off for sure.

I’ve not judged anyone as I haven’t seen him play against NFL (or college) starters yet. However, I’m not burying my head in the sand and pretend that the situation is ideal. He has played seven games of college football and had three weeks of camp......as i said either we have lucked upon the biggest diamond in the rough since Brady or we are doing this because the other options are worse.

I hope you guys are right and he is the guy but considering I have never seen him do it (even in pre season) I will prepare myself that this isn’t going to end well.

Here is to you optimists being right!

Who said he was the guy? ..

U must have missed this ...

IT ISN’T IDEAL ...

It was never gonna be easy .. especially with what was available ...

I am HOPEFUL but he could be a BUM for all I or any of us know ...

A few thoughts:

--When Joe retired, there wasn't going to be any "ideal" situation.

--We tried for Solder, but the Giants overpaid.

--There weren't any highly rated LTs at the top of the draft.

--The coaching staff and probably the FO have moved guys around in trying to find the best combination.

--I don't think they are trying to lose. Not sure how some people think they know more about this particular OL than our staff does?

--They probably have determined that Harrison/Bitonio is greater than Bitonio/Corbett. Not sure why that is such a big deal or more "risky" than the other way around. Corbett hasn't played a down in an NFL game either.

--I am not making any claims as to who is better. I have no clue. It comes down to whether you trust the coaches and FO to make the right decision or not. I would guess they know more about this than all of us do. LOL

--I also think that if it is not working, they will continue to move guys around.

--And again............there was never going to be an "ideal" situation once Joe retired.

Desmond Harrison

NFL Draft & Combine Profile - Desmond Harrison

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/desmond-harrison?id=32462018-0002-5598-6694-4117d81ad24e

One other thing to consider. Who would the coaching staff and FO be more partial to considering their draft status? Corbett or Harrison?

Good point.

This kind of surprised me, because I thought Bitonio and Corbett looked pretty good. That being said, I trust the guys getting paid to make these decisions. As a Browns fan, I hope he studs out.

I'm swimming over to the Isle.


His college coach also coached Andrew Whitworth, and that coach was blown away by this kid's talent. Between that, our OL coach Wylie, and Hue's words of just wanting to see it a little more to make sure it was real, I'm buying in.... this was a move they made because he took the job, and it has the benefit of moving Bitonio back to his LG spot.

No doubt this has to be the better option to the staff. I don’t remember anyone suggesting they are doing this to lose. As I said to Pitt earlier they viewed the combo of Harrison/Bitonio to be more desirable than Bitonio/Corbett.

The real question is Harrison that good or is Corbett that bad right now? I have my uneducated guess opinion on what is probably the case, but we won’t know until they play.

Good news is if Harrison is the guy we can shore up other areas heading into next year when our playoff window should open......and if he struggles 2019 has some good OT prospects unlike last year.

I don't understand how anyone can logically conclude that because Harrison will be starting at LT that it must mean Corbett is bad. What it really says is Harrison is a natural LT with the measurables and skill set the team is looking for while not sacrificing their top NFL LG.

I look at Corbett this way, he is our insurance policy for Tretter in the grand scheme of things. Tretter got manhandled a few times last season and let us not forget Dorsey and company could have kept him in GB, they didn't. I believe Tretter ultimately is the weakest link on the line at this point in time as far as job security.

I believe Harrison, from different reports and just little tidbits offered up by coaches and players etc, showed promise the day he was brought to Cleveland in the spring. However, his TC didn't start like they wanted and Coleman just wasn't the answer they were looking for so Joel became the place holder until he was healthy and they could go back to experimenting with Harrison. This put Corbett into the position of getting his feet wet at LG instead of C considering Zeitler was also out for most all of TC aswell.

Corbett was speculated before the draft as a C or G in the NFL with a lot of people leaning towards C. I don't think it is fair to think that Corbett has failed as much as the plan with the injury's couldn't fully take shape. I feel Tretter is on rather thin ice. He has already acknowledged he gained weight and that he struggled last season and if Corbett is as smart as they say and can learn the calls and understand all that he sees. I believe will see him if Tretter struggles again or next season for sure. Just my 2 cents and sorry I know this is about Harrison but I felt compelled to offer my opinion after reading through all the posts.

and releasing Tretter next offseason would be a $1.5 million cap hit, BUT, it would also be a $5.25 million cap savings.... so, you're likely onto something there.

I agree with and like most of your post, but just wanted to point out that John Dorsey was long gone from Green Bay when J.C. Tretter was a free agent (Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith were still around).