DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Position Battles

That has nothing to do with the 800 poind gorilla in the room that nobody is talking about.
The Browns now have over 7 front 7 players who have no business being on the field in crunch time and can't stop the run, or hold the line.
Rochelle, Curtis Weaver, Weatherly, Jordan Elliott, Wims, Winovich, and Tommy Togiai -who is yet to prove himself.
Now, with analytics,
We've already seen in the past, that the dummys on the sidelines will take the stars off the field,
there was a point in a game last year where they took Myles Garrett, and Clowney, and whomever the Nose tackle was, M. Jackson I believe, off the field, I presume to see how they would do, and the defense went backwards on every play, and in a couple of plays gave up a score.
So we already know, the team won't shy away from putting these guys who can't play against real competition onto the field, and all as a group.
So we can presume the Browns defense is going to get ran all over, like a 1980's Atlanta falcons team, or a 1980's saints team,
it is going to be a real disaster.
We know that the lesser players get snaps on the field.
Snaps on the field are too important to have a plethora of guys who whiff on tackles and can't hold the line on the field at the same time.
The 800 pound gorilla in the room is
the Browns have too many of them.

(Yes, it there has been a year this bad before, it was the year when at linebacker, the Browns said, (ehh, were fine cutting anyone who can play we'll get a bunch of unproven guys, and it was the first year of the 3 drafted linebackers, Andra Davis, Ben Taylor, and whomever the 3rd one was.
It was, iirc, the year that the ravens runningback ran for almost 1 million yards against the Browns, combined in their 2 matchups.
Because,
see,
You can't just put a bunch of guys on the field that YOU KNOW CAN'T PLAY, and expect, in the NFL, that it will be anything other than a total disaster.

But I'm overreacting, I tend to,
but hey.
I'll overreact Today,
Y'all can overreact at 4:30 pm on gameday, when you begin to see the results of having
nobody who can stop the # # Run!

Let's face it - Njoku has not earned that contract. His play on the field has been fair to middling, with flashes of athleticism. He's being paid for potentially taking all that god given athleticism and becoming the TE he should be.... The guy is a man child, physically a freak. But without consistently getting open, catching and blocking - the physical tools mean little. Hoping the FO got it right. They got it all wrong with Austin Hooper.

Njoku has earned that contract, whether you can see a good TE when he's in front of you, or not.

You can't catch it if the QB is still holding it. Njoku did consistently get open and block.

When they got Hooper, we needed a TE. When they got rid of him, it was also the right move. Kind of like Baker.

i love chief, but too many times he's got his QB killed by straight up missing a block. I remember one his rookie season that damn near murdered Kizer. and he had one or two where the defender ended up getting a clear shot on Baker.

he's been under utilized, but it does work both ways. TE's have to at least not be a liability in the run/passing game where they are required to block or chip. He needs to be at least adequate in that department. Hell, i think we saw more Bryant than chief at one point, and i bet a big reason is because Bryant earned reps by not being a crap blocker.

i've defended chief a lot, but this year he really needs to show it. Baker loved using his TEs, but chief didn't get many reps. Watson will throw to anybody, so if he STILL doesn't get much reps/targets, then we can officially say that it's all on him. Especially with Amari, Bryant, DPJ and our RBs, njoku won't have any excuses on the field from a play calling perspective.

Mark Andrews, Travis Kelce, Gronk, and all the other big time TEs we have in this league are also not massive liabilities in run/pass blocking. if chief wants to be among that group, he needs to put together a full season.

imma call him a bust if Bryant ends up with more targets than him this season.

Hooper..... I'll never forget him. Every time he caught the ball he fell down.

Just wrapping this in to several comments and not just at you.

I am not talking about Hooper.

No matter the reasons, Joke hasn't played all that well. Maybe this will be the year. Maybe this will be like the past "maybe" years we were hoping for, yet they never came.

Trust me, I am not rooting against the guy. I am all for him being as good as many of you think he is.

Five Cleveland Browns camp position battles: Who's No. 2 (at receiver) behind No. 2 (Amari Cooper)

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story...-jordan-elliott-taven-bryan/10046281002/


BEREA – There are plenty of knowns about the Browns as they head into training camp.

Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney are a known one-two punch on the edge of the defense. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are the same in the backfield.

There are, however, some unknowns the Browns hope to answer through the course of training camp. Or, at least, provide themselves with a clearer idea of how a position group figures to look, even if it could change as the regular season progresses.

What's below is a look at five such position battles for the Browns which figure to be in the spotlight during training camp.

David Bell, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Anthony Schwartz in fight for No. 2 receiver
There's no question who the No. 1 receiver figures to be for the Browns. He's the one wearing No. 2, newly-acquired Amari Cooper.

Who emerges as No. 2 behind Cooper, though, remains a major question. That's not to say there aren't options.

Donovan People-Jones, Anthony Schwartz and David Bell are all mid-to-late-round draft picks in the past three years. All three are also seen as distinct possibilities to emerge as that No. 2 option behind Cooper.

Peoples-Jones, the 2020 sixth-round pick out of Michigan, led the Browns in receiving a year ago with 597 yards and was fourth on the team with 34 catches. Schwartz, the 2021 third-round pick out of Auburn, had 10 catches for 135 yards in an injury-plagued rookie year.

Bell, the third-round pick out of Purdue in April, is the intriguing one. The rookie flashed his talent during OTAs and minicamp, but what remains to be seen is if that can carry over into camp and the games.

Jordan Elliott, Taven Bryan, Perion Winfrey hope to answer defensive tackle question
Nine of the Browns' 11 starters on defense a year ago return. The two not back reside at the same position: Defensive tackle.

The Browns made big offseason splashes at quarterback, receiver and even defensive end with the return of Clowney, but their biggest move to address the interior defensive line was fifth-year pro Taven Bryan. A free-agent signee from the Jacksonville Jaguars, Bryan had played in 63 games, accumulating 86 tackles and 5.5 sacks, along with one forced fumble and one pass defensed.

Beyond Bryan and seven-year pro Sheldon Day, a holdover from a year ago, is a collection of young players all still trying to make their mark. That includes 2020 third-round pick Jordan Elliott, 2021 fourth-rounder Tommy Togiai and a fourth-round pick this year, Perrion Winfrey.

Elliott has started four of the 32 games he's played since being drafted out of Missouri, and has a combined 41 tackles and 0.5 sacks. A former Ohio State Buckeye, Togiai played in six games as a rookie. He had 16 tackles and 0.5 sacks last season.

Cornerback beyond Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II
When healthy, the Browns boast one of the NFL's top cornerbacks in Denzel Ward. On the other side, Greg Newsome II showed more than enough to give them confidence he can be the perfect complement to Ward.

After that, it's questions. Some questions are due to youth, some due to health.

The Browns traded Troy Hill, their primary No. 3 corner a year ago, on draft weekend. That was after they had made Mississippi State's Martin Emerson their first selection of the draft in the third round with the No. 68 pick.

Emerson provides more youth to the position. However, what the Browns really want to see is Greedy Williams, a 2019 second-round pick, be able to build off his 16-game 2021 season.

Williams, who missed the 2020 season due to a shoulder injury, would provide a veteran alternative to play on the outside opposite Ward when Newsome slides into the slot. If he's unable to do that, it forces Emerson or A.J. Green – who's played 14 games in two years after being called up from the practice squad – into that role.

Running back behind Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt
Much like cornerback, the top of the running back depth chart isn't just good, it's elite. Chubb and Hunt give the Browns exactly what one wants in the position.

It's not even that they are lacking in depth behind those two. Instead, it may be a glut of backs the Browns are dealing with.

Along with those two is D'Ernest Johnson, who signed a one-year extension with the team in June after two seasons of showing flashes of greatness when pressed into duties. Johnson averaged 5.3 yards on 100 carries a year ago, including 146 yards in a Week 7 win over the Denver Broncos and 123 yards in the season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.

It's not just Johnson, though. Demetric Felton Jr. was drafted in 2021 out of UCLA ostensibly to be a running back, although he's also lined up multiple times at receiver.

Then there's rookie Jerome Ford, who was taken in the fourth round out of Cincinnati. How he factors into the equation, especially if Felton gets more time in the backfield than he does at receiver, remains in question.

Anthony Walker, Jacob Phillips and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah at Mike linebacker
VersatilThis is really an example of the versatility the Browns believe they have at the linebacker spot. A year ago, Anthony Walker Jr. was primarily the Mike linebacker, with then-rookie Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah at the Will and Sione Takitaki at the Sam.

This year, with a healthy Jacob Phillips in the mix, that Mike spot could feature any number of combinations. Defensive coordinator Joe Woods indicated during OTAs that anyone from Walker to Phillips to, even, Owusu-Koramoah could slide into that role.

In that latter situation, Walker or Phillips could actually side to the outside linebacker spot that Owusu-Koramoah normally plays. It's a situation the Browns have tinkered with already during the offseason program, and will likely do the same in training camp.

Video: Browns DL coach breaks down Perrion Winfrey's exciting tape

https://brownswire.usatoday.com/2022/07/16/perrion-winfrey-browns-chris-kiffin-nfl-draft/


There were many who pegged DT Perrion Winfrey as a potential target of the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft. Instead, the team traded out of the second round but still wound up adding Winfrey in the fourth round. We will find out if his fall was for a reason or if he becomes the next Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, a steal.

Not only does Winfrey have Browns fans excited about his potential to plug a big need but his first media availability provided a lot of energy and excitement as well.

Since being drafted, we’ve seen Winfrey putting up big weight in a workout, predicated as a day three draft pick that could start and make the preseason ‘All-Rookie Team.’

Our Josh Keatley broke down what Cleveland is getting from Winfrey as well.

As the team ramps up to training camp, Nathan Zegura hosted defensive line coach Chris Kiffin to look at some of Winfrey’s tape:



Important to note how Winfrey was used in college, playing over the center, and still being able to make an impact. In Cleveland, as discussed, the Oklahoma star will be used to get penetration as a 3-technique or 2i defensive tackle.

The combination of speed, power and motor shown in the video could combine to help Winfrey live up to the hype surrounding him this offseason. We will see what happens as training camp opens up in a little over a week.