Thursday Tribe Take: Fixing Franmil
August 22, 2019Browns Lose a Defensive Battle in Tampa Bay, 13-12
August 24, 2019Coming into the season, the Browns quarterback depth chart was considered to be pretty set in the top two spots. Obviously, Baker Mayfield is the starter, but after him, it was said to be a certainty that Drew Stanton was the backup quarterback. That left the Browns with the question of whether they would take a third quarterback and whether Garrett Gilbert, David Blough or someone outside the organization would fill that role. However, Garrett Gilbert had other ideas.
Through two games, Gilbert has completed 27 of 41 passes (65.9%) for 286 yards and two touchdowns. In Saturday’s second preseason game versus the Indianapolis Colts, he started the game and had a great showing. He completed 13 of 19 passes (68.4%) for 151 yards and two touchdowns. The performance against the Colts should thrust him into the conversation of not only making the squad but also giving Drew Stanton a run for his money as the team’s No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart.
Though Stanton has the advantage as the veteran quarterback with a multitude of starting quarterback experience, Gilbert has shown the ability to run the Browns offense with precision and success this preseason. So, what does Gilbert bring to the table?
His performance against the Colts illustrated many things teams look for in a backup quarterback. The first skill set is the ability to run the offense smoothly, knowing where to throw the ball and when. Here are a couple of examples.
The first play is a play-action pass with a pull action by the guard to portray a run play. Gilbert knows he has to be quick in order to take advantage of the mirage of the play-action that fools the linebackers. The Colts linebackers all bite hard on the fake, allowing wide receiver Rashard Higgins to run free across the field on a crossing route. Gilbert has to get rid of the ball before the linebackers recover and before the pressure gets close to him. Once Gilbert turns around from the fake, he quickly throws it to Higgins for a good gain. Gilbert knew what he had to do in this play.
In the second play, Gilbert has two options on the play. He can either hand the ball off or throw a quick pass to wide receiver Jaelen Strong on the right. Gilbert takes the snap and keeps his eyes on Strong throughout the handoff action. He sees the corner playing off of Strong and so Gilbert decides to pull the ball and sling out to Strong. He does this extremely quick before the corner had time to break on the route. It was a good illustration of Gilbert’s quick read recognition skills.
A backup quarterback will face a lot of pressure coming at them when they are thrown into a game at a moment’s notice. So, the quarterback needs to run with the punches and remain calm under the amount of pressure he has now that he is leading the offense. Gilbert showed the calmness attribute against the Colts in a variety of ways.
In the first play, Gilbert had been faced with a myriad of bad snaps from center Austin Corbett and this play was yet another one. The snap was high and it caused Gilbert to mishandle the snap and drop it. But, he was able to stay calm, pick the ball up and have the presence of mind to not take the sack, but rather elude the pressure and throw the ball away without instant. It was a nice example of dealing with adversity.
The second play is an example of his ability to stay in the pocket and deal with pressure from the pass rush. The ball is snapped and Gilbert is faced with a defense in zone coverage keeping close eyes on the mid-level of the field. This caused Gilbert to have the wait and keep scanning the field until one of his receivers got open. However, while waiting, he was faced with the oncoming pressure. Nevertheless, the quarterback was able to stand tall in the pocket and find wide receiver D.J. Montgomery for the first down.
These two attributes, dealing with pressure and running the offense smoothly, are two big things a good and reliable backup quarterback has in his arsenal. Though, what makes Gilbert even more intriguing and worthy of the backup job is his throwing talent. Here are just a couple throws that show what kind of arm talent he has.
The first throw here is just a perfect placement throw. He saw that the corner had his back to the ball, so he threw the pass to Montgomery on the right sideline. The pass was on target and in stride to the receiver. Gilbert threw this accurate pass while throwing off his back foot, showcasing what kind of arm he really has. In the second play, Gilbert shows off his accuracy and zip. He was able to throw the pass between two defenders in stride to Montgomery. He threw it through an extremely small window. That was a high-level pass.
Gilbert has some more chances to continue to show that he deserves the backup quarterback spot. I think he has already convinced the coaches that he deserves a roster spot. In my opinion, if he continues to show the skillset I illustrated above, then it will be hard to argue having the aging Stanton in front of Gilbert on the depth chart.