In just a glimpse, Myles Garrett shows off his repertoire

The Cleveland Browns won their first preseason game on Thursday, beating the New Orleans Saints 20-14. There were a lot of exciting moments of the game that has really given fans some hope going into the season. One of the biggest outcomes of the victory was the impressive play by the Browns rookie class, especially from Myles Garrett and DeShone Kizer. Kizer completed 11 of 18 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown, while Garrett had a tackle for a loss and a quarterback hit.

We have all focused on Kizer, who deserved the attention after his impressive debut, but Garrett’s game may have been overshadowed. In his preseason debut, Garrett showed off a wide variety of his expansive repertoire in just a quarter of play. He gave Browns fans a taste of what they can expect from him going forward. In that glimpse, we saw his athleticism, power, explosive first step and pass rushing skills. Here are four plays from the game that illustrate these four impressive traits that Myles Garrett possesses.

Athleticism

Garrett’s athleticism just popped off the screen from the very beginning. He just looked liked a player who, we as Browns fans, have not seen in quite some time. Here is an example of this freakish athleticism.

This play was a negative play overall, but it showed a glimpse of the amazing athleticism of Garrett. The run by the Saints running back Alvin Kamara should have been stopped at the line of the scrimmage, but Kamara broke Browns linebacker Tank Carder’s tackle attempt. So once Kamara broke through the tackle, he shot around the corner and headed up the sidelines. As the Saints running back did this, Garrett was in the face of a blocker about two yards in front of the running back. When he saw Kamara get loose, Garrett immediately turned around and shot up the field, running in tow with the back. The No. 1 pick was able to win the race and beat the running back to the sideline and meet him there to finish off the tackle. He did not seem to run like a normal 6-foot-4, 272-pound athlete. It was eye popping.

Power

With the freakish athleticism he possesses, Garrett is remarkably strong with great power to his game. He is able to win with athleticism or with strength and power. Here is an example of the brute power Garrett has in his game.

In this play, Garrett is in a pass rushing situation versus the Saints pass play. He comes off the edge and immediately attacks the New Orleans left tackle. He initially goes with a speed rush around the edge, but he changes directions and attacks the tackle with a straight bull rush, showing off his power. He is able to completely plow the tackle backwards, causing the tackle to fall backwards. The left tackle holds onto Garrett and brings him down with him, which should have been called for a holding. Yet, the play still illustrates the immense power the young pass rusher has in his game.

Explosive First Step

Garrett has the ability to explode off the snap and produce an explosive first step off the line. His explosive athleticism allows him to be one of the first out of his stance and gain a quick advantage against the opposing lineman. Here is an example of this explosive first step.

Garrett lines up on the edge on the outside shoulder of the left tackle. He wins this battle with his first step. When the ball is snapped, Garrett explodes out of his stance and into the backfield before every other lineman. He is out of his stance and a few yards up field before the rest of the offensive and defensive linemen are even able to get their heads up. Garrett gains the immediate advantage against the left tackle, causing the tackle to have to catch up with the speed rush. This gets the tackle off balance, which Garrett identifies and decides to go after. He shoots back inside of the tackle and performs a hump pass rush move, pushing the tackle into the quarterback. He was once again held by the tackle, but he was still able to get a quarterback hit. The explosive first step allowed this whole play to happen.

Pass Rushing Skills

As you have already seen, Garrett has an array of pass rushing skills to rush the passer. He showed off the power bull rush, the speed rush, hump move and now the spin move. Here is an example of his pass rushing skills, in particular the spin move.

In this play, Garrett is rushing on the left edge against the Saints left tackle. The No. 1 pick fires off the snap and immediately attacks the left tackle. But rather than perform a bull rush, Garrett makes a quick spin move to the inside. He is able to get the inside advantage against the tackle, but the tackle is saved by his fellow guard who comes out to help stop Garrett from getting a clear path to the quarterback. But, the spin move worked against the tackle, who became off-balanced when Garrett performed the move. The last three plays show his immense array of pass rushing skills.