No. Thank YOU.
July 30, 2008Tribe Bloggers on TV
July 30, 2008The Orange and Brown Report asked if I would do a piece for them about the line play during training camp. I jumped at the chance. Anything for some access…
Quick- what was the strength of the Browns last year?
If you said offensive line, Phil Savage agrees with you. Now, what was the biggest weakness? If you said defensive line you get a second jewel in your Browns crown.
Savage attacked that problem area in the off-season, which has been well documented. Heading up to practice Monday night, I expected to see a good battle. I was disappointed however. It wasn’t much of a ‘battle’. It was more like a one-sided thumping, and you won’t believe who was on the receiving end of said thumping.
The defensive line had an easy time with their offensive counterparts. And that was sans Corey Williams, who was sitting out with muscle problems. Shaun Rogers is flat-out unblockable when he wants to be. He shoves Hank Fraley or Eric Steinbach 3 yards at will. The scary thing is when he shoves both of them back 2 yards at the same time. He has some quickness and a touch of athleticism too. He knocked down another pass Monday, to add to his interception last week. On the ends, Antwan Peek is giving Kevin Schaffer everything he can handle, but Thomas is just stone-walling Kamerion Wimbley. Shaun Smith just keeps getting better. His development could be the X-factor on this defense. More on that in a minute.
The feeling around press row was the same- the defensive line is ahead of the offensive line so far in camp. Now to be fair, the majority of the plays called during 11 on 11 drills are passes. In fact Monday night there were only 3 or 4 running plays called, and I believe only 1 was with the starting units. So that phase of the game gets an incomplete.
Wouldn’t you expect the offensive line, which played together all last season to have the edge on the defensive line to this point? Particularly since several of the new pieces on the D-line are playing in a new scheme? Joe Thomas doesn’t-
“Um no, that’s normal for training camp. It takes a lot longer for an offensive line to pick up all the different blitzes that a def brings. Offense is just that much more complicated. They are all new together but all those guys have played for a lot of years in the NFL. This isn’t their first time around the block. They all know the different defenses they play so I think they‘ve got some really good players that can gel pretty quickly.”
This should be good news to Browns fans though. Assuming the O-line hasn’t regressed, which it shouldn’t have, this means the defensive side of the ball is catching up. At least in terms of pass rush. The strength of the offensive line is their athleticism. They are best against speed rushers and leading Jamal around the end. Steinbach and Fraley are not pro-bowl caliber against the bigger linemen. This could very well be a part of why the defense has been able to put pressure on the QB in camp.
Speaking of Rogers, the knock on him in Detroit was that he didn’t give his best effort every play. He could be an all-pro for a play or two, but then he just took up space for a couple plays. I hate to admit I could easily see that happening. There were two plays Monday night where the big man didn’t even get set before the ball was snapped, which makes Shaun and Robaire Smith so important. If these two are able to keep Rogers rested by giving the Browns quality minutes it could mean the difference between Rogers having a pro-bowl season, and another year where questions are asked about his desire.
Another intriguing development is rookie Alex Hall. Hall figured to have a difficult time even making the roster as a 7th round draft pick, but his play has some wondering where the Browns might be able to use him. Hall had several teams contact him on draft day telling him they were very interested in signing him to an UFA deal before the Browns used their last pick on him. Strangely enough, Hall might have had an easier time making those teams. Phil Savage doesn’t like to give up on his draft picks, and I have to imagine Hall will end up on the practice squad at the very least. Then again, he could be trade material if the Browns end up going after a CB.
One thing is certain however, this line is a serious upgrade over the ’07 model.
Photos courtesy of The OBR’s Jeff Wills. Thanks!
9 Comments
I don’t know anything about Alex Hall, but if hes having a good camp and we don’t have the room for him then best case scenario would be one of the teams that was interested in him has someone go down with an injury in camp and then they become really interested in him.
I’m pretty excited to see this revamped D-line in action this year. Although this is Cleveland so I’ll try not to get too hyped up.
Nice write up.
Hoy
Thanks for the work on this. I can’t wait to see the second or third pre-season game, once CWilliams is back and more comfortable with his assignments. I’m very glad to hear about Peek playing well in practice, since it was a bummer that he got hurt last year and wasn’t able to continue to build on his great camp and first couple of pre-season games from 2007.
Excellent work Rick. I won’t hold it against Wimbley that he can’t get by Joe Thomas….nobody else could last year, either. I love that guy.
Rock- you couldn’t find a nicer guy than Joe either. Absolute down to earth fun guy to chat with!
Great write-up, Rick. I’m passing this on to friends who are Browns fan down here in Kentucky. They never hear much about their fave Ohio teams as we are all force-fed the Reds and Bengals!! They will be glad to know that there is hope in Cleveland this year!
well said, sir. i chuckled when i read the name of the post (same name as my band) and by the end you had me nodding in agreement, something i rarely do. These guys look hungry this year – looks like they all know the pieces are in place and all they have to do is go out and play good consistent football to get into the postseason.
maybe, just maybe, we can be waiting for THIS year.
Anyone else see that Pittspuke’s punter went down for the year with a torn ACL? They brought it none other than OUR BOY PAUL ERNSTER.
Their special teams were already middle of the road. This can only hurt them, and anything that hurts them I am all for.
I was at practice Monday on the friends and family side and was watching the O Vs. D lines and I totally agree with you about the D-line being ahead of the O-line. I just chalked it up to being early for our O-line but I took it as a good sign for the D-line. I saw Issac Sowells get put on his back 3 different times, so hopefully he never has to play. But, the D-line is going to be amazing if they stay healthy, there’s just too much talent there.
Obviously, the Browns are also calling the plays on both sides of the ball – that must give the defense an advantage, because they’re not struggling to adjust to what they believe the offense is doing (as they would in a real game).