DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2014 NFL Season Looking Back: Lions 13 - Browns 12 What will you be watching for?

A question I ask myself every time I watch the Browns...what am I watching for?

In all seriousness, what in the game are you going to be paying attention to?

For me is, outside of the obvious QB play, I want to see how the offense as a whole is. Are they struggling in camp because our D is so good, or are the just plain bad? Or, is it just that it's a new playbook?

Not that any of that will really be able to be gleaned from one preseason game, but it might shed some light.

On D, I want to see if we're as good as some people have said we should be.

On ST, I want to see if Cundiff is still kicking well.

I'm going to be watching the ZBS and the running game first then I wanna see what I think of our QB's.

QB's Backup OL DB's RB's WR's LB's ... alot GO BROWNS

I will be looking to see how much Jim Leonard has left..

Can Armonty Bryant continue his upward trend?

Kirksey playing the ILB

Isaiah Crowell as the 3rd RB.

to see if any receiver not named Gordon has soft hands

Hoyer and Manziel.

QBs.

West and Crowell.

Snead.

Kirksey and Poyer.

Interested in all of those. They all might be starters at some point this season.

I wont get to watch until sunday but there is so much intrigue with this team.

Rookie LG,
Greco vs Gikley

The run game and this new zone stretch scheme

All the questions about these receivers

How does Haden and skrine look when they cant grab

Kirksey vs Robertson
Can this front 7 get a pass rush?

I want to see this new tough guy attitude that Pettine has been preaching.

Hoyer trying to prove he is more than a 3rd string backup in this league.

OO and in case no one has heard there is this other QB looking to make all of his critics eat their words.

all this drama and its freaking preaseason!!!!

I'll be watching for an offense that will surprise me with its effectiveness.
Yet I anticipate disaster on all fronts.

QB play. Inside LB'er position. Virtually all WR(s) (Snead, C. Johnson, A. Armstrong specifically)...

Will try to be keeping an eye on the o-line and who is plugged in at guard and etc as' well.

The battle between skrine and Gilbert.

It's preseason ....so I expect a lot of vanilla, and the overall performance of the D and O won't worry me as much as looking at how individuals look and flash their ability in a limited way.

Hoyer and Manziel.... I think I always played better at game time than practice, wonder if Hoyer is the same because when he was given his opportunity last year he immediately shone brighter than Weeden had. Manziel I want to see if he can play with discipline and scramble only as a last resort. Hope he doesn't take any big hits.

OL - vs a very good DL unit on the Lions. Especially interesting to see Bitonio in there. Also interested to see the guy we picked up from Seattle play in the 2's.

Tate, West, Cromwell - want to see how they all look. I liked Dion Lewis a lot before he was hurt ... will be looking to see if I think he has a spot on the roster.

Gilbert, Kirksey, Desir .... All going to get my attention.

Anxious to see how our OL, especially Bitonio, handle two very good DT's in Suh and Fairley. I'm hoping Austin and Hawkins show something at their spots, and also interested in the competition at backup RB between Baker, Crowell, Lewis, and Ogbonnaya. On D, I'll be watching our new ILBs and SS along with Mingo. I'm also holding my breath that the new rules re: illegal contact haven't ruined the game. Nothing worse in football than a penalty 1st down after you had a team stopped. It deflates a defense, and it drives me to drink.

Gilbert won't be playing this preseason game.

How come?

The dreaded groin strain.

Good topic of conversation and there were a lot of good replies.

--I think we will all be focusing in on Hoyer and Manziel. LOL...let's not kid ourselves. I know I will probably be over analyzing each move they make.

--I'll watch the the OL as much as I can and see if the ZBS is working. I will see if Bitonio is as good as advertised, if Schwartz can play w/out constant help, and who performs better between Grecco and Gilkey. The biggest thing though is this new scheme going to improve the run blocking, which is an area that has been notoriously weak for the past few seasons.

---Like others, I want to see how well Kirskey and Robertson play at ILBer.

--I wanna see the WRs and see if they can create separation, run disciplined routes [which is tough to do on TV,] and catch the ball.

--It will be interesting to see if all the talk about us being a tough football team will be evident. Detroit is a chippy team, so I want to see how we react to all of that. And if we are tough, will it be flashy tough w/a lot of dumb penalties, or truly tough by proving it before the whistle blows.

Mostly I watch games simply because I'm a fan. I just like Football.

But tonight there are a couple of things that I have interest in watching.

The Oline: Offensively, this to me (and I'm sure everyone) is where it all begins.

The LB's: we changed up that unit adding Dansby and Kirksey (who has apparently been a camp surprise) And I wanna see how they use Sheard and Mingo.

DB's: I think we all know what we have in Haden. Skrine made major strides from year one to year two, what will he look like year three? And of course I wanna see how our two new CB drafts picks fair.

I won't make any assumptions about receivers or QB's or RB's this game. I don't remember any year where the Offensive skill positions were close to being ready. (that's kind of a joke really because I don't remember the last game of any year where the Offensive skill position players were ready LOL)

The defense, becasue that is what I always watch.

Particularly Kirksey,

Also very curious to see how DL lines up and what kind of scheme we will be using..

Would like to watch the safety play but on TV that is difficult as they follow the ball

Great topic Brownsfansince79,

I'm going to be watching a little of everything, but mostly looking for how the personal chemistry along the trenches looks. I expect some jitters early in the first series but as the series plays out, are the lines moving synchronously or are they looking lost and missing a lot of blocks on O and tackles on D. I will not be looking as much at the penalties this game as I will in the second and third game.

We have to remember the coaches may not necessarily run plays that you would expect, or that they would run, in a regular season game because they may use a particular situation to test a player, or play, to determine what the reaction/result is and whether they need to work on one aspect or another that really has no focus on "winning" the pre-season game.

It will also be interesting to see how long they keep Hoyer in before switching over to Manz. I really like Hoyer, as a person, and hope he gets a real opportunity to showcase what he has learned over the last 6 years. Even if he pans out to "only" be a back-up (lord knows I wish I could be "just" a NFL back-up QB), we would have on hell of a good, home town, back up that sets a great example of how to always be prepared to be the starter. Just my 2 cents worth. Go Browns!!

Mitchell Swartz - to see if the reports of him getting regularly blown up are true. If so, that is the weak link in our OL.

WRs, namely Snead and Johnson - do we have some hidden talent at WR....or is this going to be another season with absolutely no depth to a mediocre corp (provided Gordon is absent).

QB's of course, even Shaw and Thigpen.

Living in the Toledo area me and the fellas decided to go so I will be there live tonight. Dark Mingo Jersey and Browns' hardhat. In the remote chance I make it on camera, lol.

I want to see Bitonio and the OL in the ZBS.

Tate, West, and Crowell. Looking forward to seeing what these guys can do. More so West and Crowell than Tate who has experience in this type of offense.

The secondary, with all of its various parts. Skrine, Gilbert, Desir, Whitner, Leonard, etc.

Mingo's overall progress and Kirksey against the run since many are skeptical about him as a run defender. Also should be very interesting to see Robinson defend against Bush and then see Kirksey do the same, hopefully.

I think it will be interesting to see the DL depth which will be crucial to the overall success of that unit.

Can receivers get open and finish plays? Who impresses from that group?

I'll take a look at the QBs too.

In general .....

I will watch for how Manziel handles an NFL offense. Can he get the team in and out right .... can he play under Center, how quickly and decisively does he make plays. That's a lot to look for in what will probably be 10-15 throws.

I want to see how our RBs look. It's funny. I loved the idea of bringing in Ben Tate, and really like his talent ..... but West has really won me over from what I have heard of him so far. I also hope to see Crowley, and how Baker does in this offense. (which should fit his skills perfectly)

I want to see who steps up at WR. Who makes the tough catches? Who shines? Who drops balls? Who makes big plays? I really want to see how this Snead kid looks.

I also want to see how Kirksey looks at ILB. There has been a lot written about him early on, so I want to see how he shows up live in a real fake game.

Oh, and also, there is a young TE named Kyle Auffray, who is said to be turning heads in camp.I wonder if he is able to make plays and stand out. I kind of like our TE corps with Cameron, Barnidge, and Dray ...... but this Auffray kid is supposed to really be showing up. I want to see if he does in this fake game.

Agree with you on Baker. I know Crowell is an intriquing prospect to many, but Baker showed up really well last year in actual NFL games. He showed speed to-and-through holes along with sufficient power to break tackles. Kid runs to daylight very well. I think he'd also be useful as a kick returner.

j/c

I'll be looking at two rookies playing at MAJOR weak areas last year ... Bitonio and Kirksey

First pre season game is a trench watch for me !... A whole lotsa talk about both .. Need to see it with my own eyes ..

I actually think Greco will be more effective in this system. I think losing the weight shows that he knows it as well.

No, I heard them. A couple of reporters on Sirius NFL radio mentioned it, and it was concerning. I think a poster here said something about it also.

Ok, cool.

Thanks, I assume the poster was at camp so probably saw something.

I will watch the DLinman over him to see, he should get a good test tonight against Detroit's line.

Course our Dline isnt exactly swiss cheese

Yeah, I seem to recall a poster reporting that about Schwartz as well. I can't remember who though.

I will say that I haven't heard anything about Schwartz having any competition for his starting job though, so the coaches must be satisfied with his performance thus far,

I do think that our Tackles are getting a good workout given the reports about Mingo's speed, and how fast he looks thus far in camp.

I said something negative about Schwartz, but it was only from watching a couple of Manziel clips and I noticed guys flying by Schwartz. That isn't exactly a very valid observation, so if I was the poster who you guys got that from.......I would not take it as evidence. It was just a couple of plays when NFL network was doing yet another segment on Manziel. I just noticed Schwartz and they didn't even mention him. No big deal.

Everything especially Manziel.

I'm still not impressed with him. The way he throws and all.

I know that a still shot seldom tells gthe entire story, but looks like an ole' block on Mingo.

Coming from the backside.... there is a big hit in waiting, the kind that gets a QB hurt ... or in our case a 15 yard penalty... lol

Textbook, especially that footwork.