This is one I wanted and I bet/hope it's a reasonable contract. I said "second tier" earlier this morning so we'll see.

Love this signing.

Yeah, I'm digging the contract too. It's essentially Pocic's contract on the other side of the ball.

Nice!

j/c,

He did a spin move sack that was reminiscent of #78 "Big Daddy" the dancing bear ... smooth!

I really like this signing and the contract is less that I thought it would be. Now, grab Jones from Denver, Allen from Arizona, or Tomlinson from Minnesota.

I liked Okoro when he was coming out of Oklahoma...Small frame but bullish (was superb on the edge at Oklahoma) coming to the Rams, he had to learn to play LB (obviously a big transition that takes time, and high odds or probability that it never works) He seemed to excel in Houston and odd fronts playing an end role again. Not a bad signing, in our DE rotation...thought he would be somewhat cheaper...then again everyone's getting paid (and Pocic went cheaper than many predicted, so that's a win)

Ogbo brings a physical presence to the defense and looks to play with a bit of a nasty streak...I like those characteristics...

Now we have the complement to Myles. This signing makes Myles a better player and bigger threat for the opposing O. Tough name to pronounce though. We'll just call him double O.

A lot to like - very high ceiling when coupled with MG on the other side.

j/c...

I think this is a good signing.

I'm just going to call him OB

When spelled out phonetically, it’s easy to pronounce. I got this.

We had practice when Chris Ogbonnaya was on the team.

Interesting signing, every indication is there is a high ceiling for DE Ogbonnia Okoronkwo.

He showed real promise the last 8 games of 2022.

There are a few questions I have about him though:

At 6'1" and 235 lbs, he's very small for a DE especially compared to Clowney who was 6'5" and 255 lbs. Shedding 300 lb plus lineman in the run game will surely be difficult.

He never started a game in 5 years in the NFL until week 11 in 2022, maybe a late bloomer?

Okoronkwo had a PFF Grade of 75.1 for 2022 while Clowney was graded at 75.8.

Concerns about the Berry thought process of going smaller when they already have run defense issues.

If Ogbo continues to play like he did the last 8 games of 2022, the Browns have made a serviceable replacement for Clowney. However, I wouldn't classify this move as an upgrade the defense was looking for at this point. Time will tell but his size really worries me.

Great resign of Pocic, it doesn't upgrade the offense (since he was here already) but it does eliminate a position question mark. Day 1 of the tampering period filled two holes but I wouldn't classify them as upgrades that the team needs. We appear to be a little slow out of the gate, maybe our day is day 2!

Why are you here?

Those are good observations, thanks steve. The haters can pound salt, I like to live in reality. This guy could be outstanding for years to come or show up as the guy who never got a start. My gut says he'll show up hungry and your worries will never materialize. That's not to say he will be outstanding for years to come, but I think he will put in the work and effort to try. And I think most players coming in who actually want to come here try a little harder too.

Think steve has the numbers transposed in his weight. He's listed 253# every where I see. He's basically the same size as Harold Landry who Schwartz was with in Tennessee last season.

Why, because I ask if anyone else sees a possible issue with the signing? Let me ask you, do you want the Browns to get to a Super Bowl? Because if you do, like I do, you certainly have seen weaknesses in the team that we both expect Berry to address. Now I said Ogbo has a high ceiling - am I wrong? I said Ogbo showed real promise the last 8 games of 2022 - was I wrong? Is Ogbo extremely small for a DE?

Was not one of the major concerns for the Browns DT's in 2022 was the fact that they were too small and was pushed around with ease? Please enlighten me and tell me that the Browns run defense was adequate and we need no help on the line. If we do - and we do - signing a DE that is 4 inches shorter and 20 lbs lighter than our previous starting DE isn't exactly beefing up the line which by the way was the #1 concern on this forum. That doesn't mean he can't do it because he has a high ceiling but that doesn't change the fact that he's small for the position. I apologize if that observation ruffled your feathers.

As far as the slow start, I just seen where DT Jones DEN is signing with Seattle. I see DE Davenport NOS is signing a 1-year deal with the Vikings. They were 2 players on the Browns radar.

j/c...

You're right, I have the numbers transposed for his weight. 6'1" to 6'2" is his height. Still small when you consider Garrett is 6'4" and 272 lbs.

Because he gives us a much better value then Clowney did and for less money. For the sake of change, could you try to live in reality?

Dude looks powerful. He was throwing linemen out of the way

Wonder if he can bring his position coach with him? Nice to see someone play with good leverage, shed blocks/blockers, and use multiple pass rush moves effectively. Watching him drive Orlando Brown into Mahomes with the long arm was pretty impressive, and does a pretty good job putting the size concerns to rest (mostly) for me. Did it to 6'6" 326# Dennis Daley, too.

Uh... I think this guy can teach Garrett how to contain and tackle.

They are like complete opposites of each other when it comes to the run.

He's younger than Clowney, with I'm sure, a much better attitude and desire to play and get better.

Berry took a shot on the big names or was doing his homework for this offer because I'd bet as high as PFF was on this guy; Berry noticed. As a matter of fact, I think he was target number one for Berry and Depo in the pre-FA meetings. The entire FO, including Haslam, hangs on PFF's every word. I like considering them and their info in the convo, but I'm not ready to call the FO's apparent addiction to PFF an advantage. Sometimes this targeting method we use works, sometimes not. Signings like this are an opportunity to land a franchise-caliber player relatively cheaply IF he continues to add onto and grow from late last year. That's always the big if.

Khalil Mack Height 6′ 3″, Weight 247 lbs
TJ Watt Height 6′ 4″, Weight 251 lbs
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo Height 6’2 Weight 253


Now I’m not saying he is as good as those two but I don’t think his size is a real big problem.

If he can defend against Teller and Conklin in camp, he can defend against anyone. So we'll know in the preseason if this guy is the real deal or if last year was an aberration in an otherwise non-stellar 5 year NFL career. I'd like to know who was in front of him all of those years that kept him off the field with numbers like that. So, it's easy to see the skepticism; it's not without reason. This pick is a solid gamble.

I don’t think this signing isn’t somewhat risky. I just don’t think his size is an issue. I forgot to add Takk McKinley to the list. He is 6’2 260. I’m sure there are others that play the edge around the same size

j/c...

He surely seems like a good player on film … let’s hope he stays healthy and continues his upward progression

Yeah, his size isn't really an issue. He's young, has produced and is relatively inexpensive. The window in which he has produced is a small sample size but there's no reason to think it's incidental. From every indication this was a great signing.

Weight certainly isn't an issue, and if he has the motor to move that weight quickly, then he has all the power needed, but hidden in the height number is arm length. It's the difference between nearly getting there and getting there, or swiping at the ball and batting it out of the QBs hand.

Not knocking him at all, especially since I know next to nothing about him as a player, I'm just expounding on things a little.

Valid and interesting point. I decided to see if I could find his arm length.

It's 33.75 inches. https://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=27210

Then I decided to see if I could find the average arm length for NFL Edge rushers.

It's 33.53 inches. https://www.mockdraftable.com/positions?position=EDGE

Not long, but not short. Just a tad longer than average.

And, to perhaps mute my own point even more, I just looked up Khalil Mack and TJ Watt specifically, and both are in the exact same ballpark as Ogbo. Mack's arms are actually shorter, and TJ's are a tad longer.
Still, the body as a whole factors in, I reckon... body length up to the arm pits will have an effect on total overall reach. It's all very minimal, but "it's a game of inches".
The thing that came to mind when I wrote the initial comment was how many times we've seen Myles swipe and *just* miss by the length of a fingertip.

Still, I guess there's something to be said for "close enough".

It was a good point. I found it interesting because it translates to the field. That's why I looked it up. Having arms too short at that position makes it tough.

Seems that the better metric to use at the Combine would be to have them stand on tip-toes and reach up as high as they can without bouncing or jumping. That's Total Length.
A good secondary metric being from hips or waist up to fingertips as that is Hinge Length, or how far away from your base that you can reach.

Great Signing Berry ...

Solid! Strong player.... had a good year with texans last year....

j/c...

I love that people living outside the city already know us as "The Land"

Did this guy literally call his contract correctly from the jump? I'd give him so much more credit if he wasn't wear a winter cap indoors.

Yes, I caught that tid bit too ... pretty good prediction.

Lolz.

Finally got around to reading this last night. Excellent read. Burns always does a great job.

Good watch.


I did get a good laugh out of him saying "a lot of people get caught up trying to pitter patter"..

He probably learned a lot from playing with Von Miller.

j/c...

I can't tell if this is legit or not. Don't think he's eligible to wear 7 if he's listed as a DE. Are we listing him as a LB? Maybe, because he was listed at LB for the Rams he can still use LB #s, but I thought that was only if one were keeping the old number.

Didn't they trash the numbering system? I thought it was now players can wear any number but I'm not sure how it works now.

Newp.

From the Wikipedia


Wikipedia link

They have a good chart that doesn't paste well.

They didn't totally trash it though it was modified for many positions. The DL wasn't one of them.

What number can defensive lineman wear?

Defensive Linemen: No change. May wear numbers 50 to 79 and 90 to 99. Linebackers: Can now wear numbers 1 to 59, and 90 to 99. Under the old system, they could wear 40 to 59, and 90 to 99.

https://howtheyplay.com/team-sports/NFL-Jersey-Number-Rules-Explained

That article gives a full explanation of how the uniform number rule was changed.

It indicates he would have to be listed as a LB in order for him to wear the #7.