Another view of Peter King’s stat of the week regarding running backs
April 23, 2012Report: Derek Lowe’s World Series ring and trophy stolen
April 23, 2012According to an article by Pat McManamon from March 30th there probably isn’t anyone on the Browns working harder this off-season than offensive lineman Jason Pinkston. Pinkston is headed into his sophomore season as an NFL player after being selected by the Browns in the fifth round of the NFL draft. He was thrust into a starting position as a rookie when Eric Steinbach went under the knife for back surgery. After an uneven but overall promising first year, how does Pinkston respond? He jumps into training with LeCharles Bentley where the workouts are hard, the training is unpredictable and comprehensive to even include diet. Is this just a guy working to get better at guard, or is Pinkston readying himself for a shot to be the Cleveland Browns’ right tackle this year?
Maybe I am thinking way too much about all this. The Browns – most notably Pat Shurmur – have stated time and again that they like Pinkston as offensive guard. The Browns’ actions backed this up when they cut ties with Eric Steinbach. That being said, the door isn’t closed on Steinbach returning for less money than he was scheduled to make. Heading into the draft where the Browns want everyone to think that right tackle is a major position of need, why would they tip their hand that a former left tackle from Pittsburgh was poised to make the move to right tackle in the off-season?
Back to LeCharles Bentley. He is the one working with Pinkston and he has also been one of the ones who has been most vocal that you can’t just take a guy like Matt Kalil and push him from the left side to the right side. According to Bentley, the switch from left side to right side takes more work than that. When Bentley says that I believe him. Why wouldn’t I? He took Alex Boone from NFL pretender to the point that the 49ers extended him until the end of the 2014 season with a deal that gave him a $1.7 million signing bonus and decent annual salaries of $540k, $950k, and $1.2 million. That’s a pretty amazing turnaround for a guy who went undrafted and struggled with alcohol abuse. Even in his truthfulness though, is Bentley tipping his hand that maybe he is grooming the next right tackle for the Browns?
Imagine what Bentley and Pinkston could be accomplishing this off-season. Maybe just maybe they are grooming the next starting right tackle for the Cleveland Browns. We are talking about a guy who is 6’4″ and over 300 pounds. We are also talking about a guy who played right tackle for a season at Pitt before playing two more seasons as a left tackle.
Cleveland media keeps sniffing around it and the Browns keep denying any switch is in the plans. As I said, heading into the draft, I can hardly blame them for denying it. Let’s just say that I wouldn’t be totally shocked if Pinkston ended up working at the right tackle spot in training camp this year. Based on the results of other guys who have bought into the LeCharles Bentley school I would be lying if I said I wasn’t kind of excited by the prospect assuming my conspiracy theory turns out to be true.
24 Comments
well, if Pinkston ‘could’ be a RT, then we could wait till the 3rd round to fill the LG spot with Brandon Brooks (Miami, OH).
however, Heckert has noted several times ad nauseum that Pinkston is an OG. If he moves to RT, then I think something went wrong. I believe one of the biggest reasons for him being inside instead of outside was his arm length was among the shortest OL prospects last year. On the inside, strength (and short arms) rule the day. On the outside, having that extra reach can be crucial on the speed rushers.
regardless of where he plays, heartening to hear of a young man doing everything possible to transform himself from fifth round longshot to legit NFL starter. Hard not to pull for him.
Between him and Skrine, Heckert did a nice job finding quality in the late rounds last draft.
and hopefully Hagg.
and hopefully Hagg.
I would argue Pinkston has already transformed himself after getting thrown to the wolves last year. If I’m not mistaken, he started all 16 games for the Browns last season.
This is the 3rd article I’ve read this offseason about Pinkston’s offseason work. Here’s hoping it pays off, for all parties involved.
I don’t see anyway Pinkston has the feet to play RT. You mentioned speed rushers… I think they run around him with ease. Sounds like a really bad plan to me… but maybe Pinkston only looked like he was set in concrete because he was playing OG. I’d be thrilled if it worked out… but I’m overly skeptical at the moment.
left him out b/c really hard to tell what you have in a db until he actually gets thrown into the fray covering intended receivers. But if they picked up a halfway viable cover guy in the 7th round that would make ’11 an excellent draft.
why does his training include PULLING things? Is he practicing for all those holding penalties at RT this year?
as long as Bentley is teaching him how to do it without getting a flag, then he’s got to have that strength too (LCB was really good in NO at that)
I thought Hagg looked like a keeper in the last 4 games last season after getting past his injuries. I think he may develop into a decent DB.
I wondered if Pinkston was a possibility at RT after Heckert’s press conference a week ago or so. He didn’t name Pinkston but regardless like you said they’d need to draft an OG then at least.
Wow, what a workout that would be!
Don’t be silly. I would guess that’s a back work out.
A friend of mine works out with LeCharles and Pinkston and he told me that theres a night-and-day difference between Jason when he started working out there and where he is now. Said he came in a little fat and now hes pretty built. Now i dont know how much that will actually transfer over to football but im really looking forward to see how much he progresses this year. As a Browns fan im naturally thinking pro-bowl
hes practicing his kick slide, i hope. a resisted kick slide is good practice if making the switch to tackle.
When Mike Holmgren claims that Colt McCoy is his guy, I believe
him as much as people believed John Elway when he stated, matter of
factly, that Tim Tebow was his guy and he was going to stick with
him…lol. Colt McCoy is what the Cleveland Browns are stuck with,
until the Browns management is able to get an NFL caliber quarterback
for their team. What do you get when you put the best NFL line and the
best receiving corps together with Colt McCoy, that’s easy…a losing
NFL football team. It’s not rocket science, and no matter what spin
Mike Holmgren puts on it, when he tells himself the truth, he knows
that currently the Cleveland Browns don’t have a single NFL caliber
quarterback on their team and he knows it. To give you a
perspective here, Tim Tebow is a 5 times better NFL caliber quarterback
than any quarterback currently on the Cleveland Browns roster!!!!
That fact is pretty sad when you sit down and think about it, and it
clearly shows how bad the Cleveland management has done the past
several years!
Greco would be a better option at RT, but he also could be the starter at RG.
Hagg was covering Cinci’s TE Gresham in the second game. Tough assignment.
Having quick feet could mean just as much at G, considering how often they pull.
This Pinkston story is legitimately the best thing I’ve read about the Browns in awhile.
What’s not to like? Bentley should train every Browns offensive lineman.
When Mike Holmgren claims that Colt McCoy is his guy, I believe
him as much as people believed John Elway when he stated, matter of
factly, that Tim Tebow was his guy and he was going to stick with
him…lol. Colt McCoy is what the Cleveland Browns are stuck with,
until the Browns management is able to get an NFL caliber quarterback
for their team. What do you get when you put the best NFL line and the
best receiving corps together with Colt McCoy, that’s easy…a losing
NFL football team. It’s not rocket science, and no matter what spin
Mike Holmgren puts on it, when he tells himself the truth, he knows
that currently the Cleveland Browns don’t have a single NFL caliber
quarterback on their team and he knows it. To give you a
perspective here, Tim Tebow is a 5 times better NFL caliber quarterback
than any quarterback currently on the Cleveland Browns roster!!!!
That fact is pretty sad when you sit down and think about it, and it
clearly shows how bad the Cleveland management has done the past
several years!
LeCharles for head coach.
Funny that is what I was thinking too