Can This Draft Start like our 1978 Draft?
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Aw, Ghoolie is going to hate this but I'm easily entertained. Watched the Pro Bowl, and with 10 out of 10 Joe is in pretty exclusive company. ESPN heaped some praise on him. Hey Tom, you can cut the crap now- every one of the 10\10 club is in the HOF. Thomas can't help it if the rest of the team sucks.
"Just four other players in NFL history — Merlin Olsen, Mel Renfro, Barry Sanders and Lawrence Taylor — were named to the Pro Bowl in at least the first 10 seasons of their careers. All of those players are Hall of Famers; only Olsen, with 14, went over 10."
When you say Tom - I'm guessing you mean Ghoolie. I've always been a huge Joe Thomas fan.
One of these days people will figure out Ghoolie isn't here to talk football (ie; wasting time trying to convince him a 10 time Pro Bowl player doesn't suck).
When you say Tom - I'm guessing you mean Ghoolie. I've always been a huge Joe Thomas fan.
One of these days people will figure out Ghoolie isn't here to talk football (ie; wasting time trying to convince him a 10 time Pro Bowl player doesn't suck).
Of course I meant the other Tom.
Joe is probably a lock first ballot HOFer when he hangs 'em up. -
When you say Tom - I'm guessing you mean Ghoolie. I've always been a huge Joe Thomas fan.
One of these days people will figure out Ghoolie isn't here to talk football (ie; wasting time trying to convince him a 10 time Pro Bowl player doesn't suck).
Of course I meant the other Tom.
Joe is probably a lock first ballot HOFer when he hangs 'em up. Of course I meant the other Tom.
Joe is probably a lock first ballot HOFer when he hangs 'em up. You mean the other, other Tom?
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You mean the other, other Tom?
The Ghoolie Tom. Sheeze, we have the Tom-Tom club.
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Our new scout has found just the player we are looking for-no more failed picks.
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Winter is getting long as the season is but a distant memory if we are now chatting about the next TE for the Cleveland Browns
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O.J. Howard always seems to save his best work for the post season. Here's his first matchup with Clemson as a junior the night he became a National Champion. A couple TDs and some nice seal blocks (like the one on Henry's first TD run). He had well over 100 yards receiving in that game. Barnidge will be 32 this year; and I think this kid will be a great target at 6'6". He also played well in the Senior Bowl. There's a lot of room for improvement especially in staying with his blocks longer but I think this guy has the frame to be a dual purpose TE like a Jason Witten with better gears. I'd hate to see Baltimore or Pittsburgh draft him. The last time we drafted a guy in round 1 to play TE here from Alabama - we frequented post seasons throughout his Hall of Fame career. We could do a lot worse - and have repeatedly.
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Martellus Bennett is still a FA.
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Barn is a decent receiving TE with a knack for finding holes in a zone and above average hands. But he is a liability as a blocker and has issues vs. competent man coverage.
What troubles me more is his YAC... or lack of it. I looked before this season's start at his YAC and it was not good. I grade in can't remember him doing anything this year to improve that.
YAC is an area where I think Devalve can improve the TE position, but he's not a blocker either
I see OJH as a significant upgrade in those two areas, blocking and YAC, without diminishing the positive aspects of the position. In short, I see him as one of the best, most well-rounded TEs to enter the league in years.
"When you have a shared vision it is a lot easier to make unpopular decisions." - Paul DePodesta "When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less." - Paul Brown Complete 2017 Browns Board Mock: http://thebrownsboard.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46196 -
Barn is a decent receiving TE with a knack for finding holes in a zone and above average hands. But he is a liability as a blocker and has issues vs. competent man coverage.
What troubles me more is his YAC... or lack of it. I looked before this season's start at his YAC and it was not good. I grade in can't remember him doing anything this year to improve that.
YAC is an area where I think Devalve can improve the TE position, but he's not a blocker either
I see OJH as a significant upgrade in those two areas, blocking and YAC, without diminishing the positive aspects of the position. In short, I see him as one of the best, most well-rounded TEs to enter the league in years.
Barn is a decent receiving TE with a knack for finding holes in a zone and above average hands. But he is a liability as a blocker and has issues vs. competent man coverage.
What troubles me more is his YAC... or lack of it. I looked before this season's start at his YAC and it was not good. I grade in can't remember him doing anything this year to improve that.
YAC is an area where I think Devalve can improve the TE position, but he's not a blocker either
I see OJH as a significant upgrade in those two areas, blocking and YAC, without diminishing the positive aspects of the position. In short, I see him as one of the best, most well-rounded TEs to enter the league in years.
Well articulated! I was sort of surprised at how well Howard consistently hustled into position to be an effective blocker (seeing plenty of room for growth though). I hope people watch that whole highlight of the Clemson game I linked up in my previous post. He was the game changer in that passing game the last time Bama was crowned a National Champion. I'll guarantee a guy like Ozzie Newsome that played at Alabama will be all over this kid. I keep reminding myself that if you take this guy away from a true freshman QB and put him in an NFL offense that leans on a TE - he can be a significant.
As for Barnidge, he turns 32 in September and I posted the huge difference between his 2015 and 2016 stats (understanding part of that wasn't all his fault). When I watched some of his highlights, he almost looked like he was fighting some pain more than defenders. He looked like he was waddling side to side. I remembered hearing more about his blocking skills when he arrived than what he had done receiving so if those are diminishing too - the timing of an O.J.Howard couldn't be any better. It's not that I don't like DeValve. In fact, I think I'd prefer to see him in the slot in the near future. My concern with DeValve is he seems too injury prone to count on. I like his talent though...
This probably won't mean a thing to a lot of us outside of me; but after the Senior Bowl I saw 2 guys wearing a Cleveland Browns baseball cap on their domes. They were O.J. Howard and Davis Webb.
I welcome the only Defensive Coordinator to earn a Superbowl Ring in New Orleans while understanding Revenge of the Nerds is a sequel. "Come get some!" -
Winter is getting long as the season is but a distant memory if we are now chatting about the next TE for the Cleveland Browns
Winter is getting long as the season is but a distant memory if we are now chatting about the next TE for the Cleveland Browns
To quote The Citadel: Winter is here.
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Winter is getting long as the season is but a distant memory if we are now chatting about the next TE for the Cleveland Browns
To quote The Citadel: Winter is here.
To quote The Citadel: Winter is here.
Freedom of speech also means others have a freedom of listening or choosing not to. This is why there's a menu of topics to choose from right? I'll continue to understand the reason a message board exists for a passionate fan base like we have is because people want to talk about their favorite team year round. Since there's Bowl Games, All Star games and pre-draft workouts that will impact where players go in the draft all throughout Winter - I'm glad we have an ideal place we can discuss this.
To understand our journey ahead, me must first understand where we have been. This includes what has worked well every bit as much as what has not. For example, the TE position we drafted with a purpose to upgrade in 1978 became the foundation and focal point for my 2 favorite QBs (Sipe and Kosar) of my lifetime as a fan. Ozzie's ability as a college WR to transition as an NFL TE opened up opportunities for our WR Corps and our QBs to become very efficient. Playing gridiron chess when you can dictate/manipulate where you want the Safety via an attack piece Ozzie eases everything.
Lindy Infante preferred to stretch defenses horizontally from sideline to sideline, which would eventually allow Kosar some uncontested deep routes all the while Ozzie commanded attention in the seams. In essence, this wasn't a tough place to play QB at all. I'll even venture to say, Ozzie was a pretty good blocker in the 2nd and 3rd tiers of defenses; but he wasn't a huge help with trying to set the edge of the first tier. Howard looks like he can be good at helping to set the edge IMO...
New school fans that never saw our 80s teams frequenting post seasons - won't see the TE position value like those of us that witnessed it. I don't mean any disrespect in saying that. This thread shows me there's prolly a lot more young guys besides Bacon thinking what the flock is so earth shattering about a TE?
I welcome the only Defensive Coordinator to earn a Superbowl Ring in New Orleans while understanding Revenge of the Nerds is a sequel. "Come get some!" -
Even better how about we start this draft like our 1996 draft.
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Barn is a decent receiving TE with a knack for finding holes in a zone and above average hands. But he is a liability as a blocker and has issues vs. competent man coverage.
What troubles me more is his YAC... or lack of it. I looked before this season's start at his YAC and it was not good. I grade in can't remember him doing anything this year to improve that.
YAC is an area where I think Devalve can improve the TE position, but he's not a blocker either
I see OJH as a significant upgrade in those two areas, blocking and YAC, without diminishing the positive aspects of the position. In short, I see him as one of the best, most well-rounded TEs to enter the league in years.
Well articulated! I was sort of surprised at how well Howard consistently hustled into position to be an effective blocker (seeing plenty of room for growth though). I hope people watch that whole highlight of the Clemson game I linked up in my previous post. He was the game changer in that passing game the last time Bama was crowned a National Champion. I'll guarantee a guy like Ozzie Newsome that played at Alabama will be all over this kid. I keep reminding myself that if you take this guy away from a true freshman QB and put him in an NFL offense that leans on a TE - he can be a significant.
As for Barnidge, he turns 32 in September and I posted the huge difference between his 2015 and 2016 stats (understanding part of that wasn't all his fault). When I watched some of his highlights, he almost looked like he was fighting some pain more than defenders. He looked like he was waddling side to side. I remembered hearing more about his blocking skills when he arrived than what he had done receiving so if those are diminishing too - the timing of an O.J.Howard couldn't be any better. It's not that I don't like DeValve. In fact, I think I'd prefer to see him in the slot in the near future. My concern with DeValve is he seems too injury prone to count on. I like his talent though...
This probably won't mean a thing to a lot of us outside of me; but after the Senior Bowl I saw 2 guys wearing a Cleveland Browns baseball cap on their domes. They were O.J. Howard and Davis Webb.
As for Barnidge... I remembered hearing more about his blocking skills when he arrived than what he had done receiving so if those are diminishing too...
Your memory is better than mine... I don't remember hearing anything about Bran's blocking when he arrived... good or bad.
I do remember that he sat behind Jim Dray, who was a good blocker at the time, but whose skill in that area went mysteriously south in his final season with us.
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To quote The Citadel: Winter is here.
Freedom of speech also means others have a freedom of listening or choosing not to. This is why there's a menu of topics to choose from right? I'll continue to understand the reason a message board exists for a passionate fan base like we have is because people want to talk about their favorite team year round. Since there's Bowl Games, All Star games and pre-draft workouts that will impact where players go in the draft all throughout Winter - I'm glad we have an ideal place we can discuss this.
To understand our journey ahead, me must first understand where we have been. This includes what has worked well every bit as much as what has not. For example, the TE position we drafted with a purpose to upgrade in 1978 became the foundation and focal point for my 2 favorite QBs (Sipe and Kosar) of my lifetime as a fan. Ozzie's ability as a college WR to transition as an NFL TE opened up opportunities for our WR Corps and our QBs to become very efficient. Playing gridiron chess when you can dictate/manipulate where you want the Safety via an attack piece Ozzie eases everything.
Lindy Infante preferred to stretch defenses horizontally from sideline to sideline, which would eventually allow Kosar some uncontested deep routes all the while Ozzie commanded attention in the seams. In essence, this wasn't a tough place to play QB at all. I'll even venture to say, Ozzie was a pretty good blocker in the 2nd and 3rd tiers of defenses; but he wasn't a huge help with trying to set the edge of the first tier. Howard looks like he can be good at helping to set the edge IMO...
New school fans that never saw our 80s teams frequenting post seasons - won't see the TE position value like those of us that witnessed it. I don't mean any disrespect in saying that. This thread shows me there's prolly a lot more young guys besides Bacon thinking what the flock is so earth shattering about a TE?
Freedom of speech also means others have a freedom of listening or choosing not to. This is why there's a menu of topics to choose from right? I'll continue to understand the reason a message board exists for a passionate fan base like we have is because people want to talk about their favorite team year round. Since there's Bowl Games, All Star games and pre-draft workouts that will impact where players go in the draft all throughout Winter - I'm glad we have an ideal place we can discuss this.
To understand our journey ahead, me must first understand where we have been. This includes what has worked well every bit as much as what has not. For example, the TE position we drafted with a purpose to upgrade in 1978 became the foundation and focal point for my 2 favorite QBs (Sipe and Kosar) of my lifetime as a fan. Ozzie's ability as a college WR to transition as an NFL TE opened up opportunities for our WR Corps and our QBs to become very efficient. Playing gridiron chess when you can dictate/manipulate where you want the Safety via an attack piece Ozzie eases everything.
Lindy Infante preferred to stretch defenses horizontally from sideline to sideline, which would eventually allow Kosar some uncontested deep routes all the while Ozzie commanded attention in the seams. In essence, this wasn't a tough place to play QB at all. I'll even venture to say, Ozzie was a pretty good blocker in the 2nd and 3rd tiers of defenses; but he wasn't a huge help with trying to set the edge of the first tier. Howard looks like he can be good at helping to set the edge IMO...
New school fans that never saw our 80s teams frequenting post seasons - won't see the TE position value like those of us that witnessed it. I don't mean any disrespect in saying that. This thread shows me there's prolly a lot more young guys besides Bacon thinking what the flock is so earth shattering about a TE?
You don't have to convince me. TEs are one of the most important weapons on any NFL team these days. I would only add that I think the Browns have pretty good one in Barnidge. He can be called a "Pro Bowl" TE. And a really good second one would be nice as well. DeValve may in fact become that.
If I questioned the TE position (I don't think I did) it was only to say that I think this team has much bigger holes to fill.
But, yea, a good TE can be a QBs best friend.
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Freedom of speech also means others have a freedom of listening or choosing not to. This is why there's a menu of topics to choose from right? I'll continue to understand the reason a message board exists for a passionate fan base like we have is because people want to talk about their favorite team year round. Since there's Bowl Games, All Star games and pre-draft workouts that will impact where players go in the draft all throughout Winter - I'm glad we have an ideal place we can discuss this.
To understand our journey ahead, me must first understand where we have been. This includes what has worked well every bit as much as what has not. For example, the TE position we drafted with a purpose to upgrade in 1978 became the foundation and focal point for my 2 favorite QBs (Sipe and Kosar) of my lifetime as a fan. Ozzie's ability as a college WR to transition as an NFL TE opened up opportunities for our WR Corps and our QBs to become very efficient. Playing gridiron chess when you can dictate/manipulate where you want the Safety via an attack piece Ozzie eases everything.
Lindy Infante preferred to stretch defenses horizontally from sideline to sideline, which would eventually allow Kosar some uncontested deep routes all the while Ozzie commanded attention in the seams. In essence, this wasn't a tough place to play QB at all. I'll even venture to say, Ozzie was a pretty good blocker in the 2nd and 3rd tiers of defenses; but he wasn't a huge help with trying to set the edge of the first tier. Howard looks like he can be good at helping to set the edge IMO...
New school fans that never saw our 80s teams frequenting post seasons - won't see the TE position value like those of us that witnessed it. I don't mean any disrespect in saying that. This thread shows me there's prolly a lot more young guys besides Bacon thinking what the flock is so earth shattering about a TE?
You don't have to convince me. TEs are one of the most important weapons on any NFL team these days. I would only add that I think the Browns have pretty good one in Barnidge. He can be called a "Pro Bowl" TE. And a really good second one would be nice as well. DeValve may in fact become that.
If I questioned the TE position (I don't think I did) it was only to say that I think this team has much bigger holes to fill.
But, yea, a good TE can be a QBs best friend.
You don't have to convince me. TEs are one of the most important weapons on any NFL team these days. I would only add that I think the Browns have pretty good one in Barnidge. He can be called a "Pro Bowl" TE. And a really good second one would be nice as well. DeValve may in fact become that.
If I questioned the TE position (I don't think I did) it was only to say that I think this team has much bigger holes to fill.
But, yea, a good TE can be a QBs best friend.
Some good points - thanks Gips! The only thing I'll disagree with is where Barnidge is at now vrs where he was in 2015 when he made the Pro Bowl. Here's what I typed earlier in this thread:
I feel like Barnidge's performance wasn't just slipping because our our QBs - he looked like he lost some quickness and dropped a lot of catchable passes (out of character). He went from 79 rec for 1043 rec yards 65.2 ypg and 9 TDs in 2015 down to 55 rec 611 rec yards 35.2 ypg and 2 TDs in 2016. The yards per catch also decreased by about 2 yards as well. He wasn't that good of a blocker either, which all caught me off guard following the only Pro Bowl season of his career. He will be 32 in September so I don't get the sense he has a lot left; but I could certainly be wrong about such a hunch.
From the title I carefully selected, it would remind me a lot of our 1978 if the pick of the litter on defense can team up with the next talented target (OJ Howard) we draft out of Alabama to play TE here. This one is 6'6" tall with a nice catch radius and some raw but intriguing blocking skills that can be refined. I put a link of his game vrs Clemson from 2 years ago somewhere in this thread to show you how lethal he can be in the passing game, while he also had some nice blocks (ie; the one on one outside where he got great position inside to seal off the Clemson DE for a long TD run by Henry). He seems more dual purpose than he'll probably get credited for while the Clemson game highlight will display his X-factor to a downfield passing game. Not only am I intrigued by his talent; but I'm also worried Ozzie Newsome remembers how important Shannon Sharpe was in preventing Dilfer from killing Dilfer. If we don't draft OJ Howard, just be prepared to watch him helping Baltimore or Pittsburgh.
If the pick of the litter on D can give us the consistency and productivity of a Clay Matthews toward whatever their specific role will be in tandem with what OJ Howard's dynamic can open up, could be the killer combo we've longed for in round 1 all this time. The draft is deeper in the secondary plus we get 2 defenders back from injury (Des Bryant and Nate Orchard), which should accimate well to Williams' schemes/alignments.
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You don't have to convince me. TEs are one of the most important weapons on any NFL team these days. I would only add that I think the Browns have pretty good one in Barnidge. He can be called a "Pro Bowl" TE. And a really good second one would be nice as well. DeValve may in fact become that.
If I questioned the TE position (I don't think I did) it was only to say that I think this team has much bigger holes to fill.
But, yea, a good TE can be a QBs best friend.
Some good points - thanks Gips! The only thing I'll disagree with is where Barnidge is at now vrs where he was in 2015 when he made the Pro Bowl. Here's what I typed earlier in this thread:
I feel like Barnidge's performance wasn't just slipping because our our QBs - he looked like he lost some quickness and dropped a lot of catchable passes (out of character). He went from 79 rec for 1043 rec yards 65.2 ypg and 9 TDs in 2015 down to 55 rec 611 rec yards 35.2 ypg and 2 TDs in 2016. The yards per catch also decreased by about 2 yards as well. He wasn't that good of a blocker either, which all caught me off guard following the only Pro Bowl season of his career. He will be 32 in September so I don't get the sense he has a lot left; but I could certainly be wrong about such a hunch.
From the title I carefully selected, it would remind me a lot of our 1978 if the pick of the litter on defense can team up with the next talented target (OJ Howard) we draft out of Alabama to play TE here. This one is 6'6" tall with a nice catch radius and some raw but intriguing blocking skills that can be refined. I put a link of his game vrs Clemson from 2 years ago somewhere in this thread to show you how lethal he can be in the passing game, while he also had some nice blocks (ie; the one on one outside where he got great position inside to seal off the Clemson DE for a long TD run by Henry). He seems more dual purpose than he'll probably get credited for while the Clemson game highlight will display his X-factor to a downfield passing game. Not only am I intrigued by his talent; but I'm also worried Ozzie Newsome remembers how important Shannon Sharpe was in preventing Dilfer from killing Dilfer. If we don't draft OJ Howard, just be prepared to watch him helping Baltimore or Pittsburgh.
If the pick of the litter on D can give us the consistency and productivity of a Clay Matthews toward whatever their specific role will be in tandem with what OJ Howard's dynamic can open up, could be the killer combo we've longed for in round 1 all this time. The draft is deeper in the secondary plus we get 2 defenders back from injury (Des Bryant and Nate Orchard), which should accimate well to Williams' schemes/alignments.
Some good points - thanks Gips! The only thing I'll disagree with is where Barnidge is at now vrs where he was in 2015 when he made the Pro Bowl. Here's what I typed earlier in this thread:
I feel like Barnidge's performance wasn't just slipping because our our QBs - he looked like he lost some quickness and dropped a lot of catchable passes (out of character). He went from 79 rec for 1043 rec yards 65.2 ypg and 9 TDs in 2015 down to 55 rec 611 rec yards 35.2 ypg and 2 TDs in 2016. The yards per catch also decreased by about 2 yards as well. He wasn't that good of a blocker either, which all caught me off guard following the only Pro Bowl season of his career. He will be 32 in September so I don't get the sense he has a lot left; but I could certainly be wrong about such a hunch.
From the title I carefully selected, it would remind me a lot of our 1978 if the pick of the litter on defense can team up with the next talented target (OJ Howard) we draft out of Alabama to play TE here. This one is 6'6" tall with a nice catch radius and some raw but intriguing blocking skills that can be refined. I put a link of his game vrs Clemson from 2 years ago somewhere in this thread to show you how lethal he can be in the passing game, while he also had some nice blocks (ie; the one on one outside where he got great position inside to seal off the Clemson DE for a long TD run by Henry). He seems more dual purpose than he'll probably get credited for while the Clemson game highlight will display his X-factor to a downfield passing game. Not only am I intrigued by his talent; but I'm also worried Ozzie Newsome remembers how important Shannon Sharpe was in preventing Dilfer from killing Dilfer. If we don't draft OJ Howard, just be prepared to watch him helping Baltimore or Pittsburgh.
If the pick of the litter on D can give us the consistency and productivity of a Clay Matthews toward whatever their specific role will be in tandem with what OJ Howard's dynamic can open up, could be the killer combo we've longed for in round 1 all this time. The draft is deeper in the secondary plus we get 2 defenders back from injury (Des Bryant and Nate Orchard), which should accimate well to Williams' schemes/alignments.
If Garrett were to have the career of Clay Matthews, and if Howard had the career of Ozzie....sure, I would take that. (but we still need a Brian Sipe or Bernie Kosar....and where we gonna get that? No supp draft or 13th round available any more)
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Some good points - thanks Gips! The only thing I'll disagree with is where Barnidge is at now vrs where he was in 2015 when he made the Pro Bowl. Here's what I typed earlier in this thread:
I feel like Barnidge's performance wasn't just slipping because our our QBs - he looked like he lost some quickness and dropped a lot of catchable passes (out of character). He went from 79 rec for 1043 rec yards 65.2 ypg and 9 TDs in 2015 down to 55 rec 611 rec yards 35.2 ypg and 2 TDs in 2016. The yards per catch also decreased by about 2 yards as well. He wasn't that good of a blocker either, which all caught me off guard following the only Pro Bowl season of his career. He will be 32 in September so I don't get the sense he has a lot left; but I could certainly be wrong about such a hunch.
From the title I carefully selected, it would remind me a lot of our 1978 if the pick of the litter on defense can team up with the next talented target (OJ Howard) we draft out of Alabama to play TE here. This one is 6'6" tall with a nice catch radius and some raw but intriguing blocking skills that can be refined. I put a link of his game vrs Clemson from 2 years ago somewhere in this thread to show you how lethal he can be in the passing game, while he also had some nice blocks (ie; the one on one outside where he got great position inside to seal off the Clemson DE for a long TD run by Henry). He seems more dual purpose than he'll probably get credited for while the Clemson game highlight will display his X-factor to a downfield passing game. Not only am I intrigued by his talent; but I'm also worried Ozzie Newsome remembers how important Shannon Sharpe was in preventing Dilfer from killing Dilfer. If we don't draft OJ Howard, just be prepared to watch him helping Baltimore or Pittsburgh.
If the pick of the litter on D can give us the consistency and productivity of a Clay Matthews toward whatever their specific role will be in tandem with what OJ Howard's dynamic can open up, could be the killer combo we've longed for in round 1 all this time. The draft is deeper in the secondary plus we get 2 defenders back from injury (Des Bryant and Nate Orchard), which should accimate well to Williams' schemes/alignments.
If Garrett were to have the career of Clay Matthews, and if Howard had the career of Ozzie....sure, I would take that. (but we still need a Brian Sipe or Bernie Kosar....and where we gonna get that? No supp draft or 13th round available any more)
If Garrett were to have the career of Clay Matthews, and if Howard had the career of Ozzie....sure, I would take that. (but we still need a Brian Sipe or Bernie Kosar....and where we gonna get that?
Gip. if we get Garrett.than Howard & trade for Jimmy G @#33. I will be streaking downtown Philly as The Spectra Streaker. save my seat
(hey, it's your day off,mine too,enjoy) -
Some good points - thanks Gips! The only thing I'll disagree with is where Barnidge is at now vrs where he was in 2015 when he made the Pro Bowl. Here's what I typed earlier in this thread:
I feel like Barnidge's performance wasn't just slipping because our our QBs - he looked like he lost some quickness and dropped a lot of catchable passes (out of character). He went from 79 rec for 1043 rec yards 65.2 ypg and 9 TDs in 2015 down to 55 rec 611 rec yards 35.2 ypg and 2 TDs in 2016. The yards per catch also decreased by about 2 yards as well. He wasn't that good of a blocker either, which all caught me off guard following the only Pro Bowl season of his career. He will be 32 in September so I don't get the sense he has a lot left; but I could certainly be wrong about such a hunch.
From the title I carefully selected, it would remind me a lot of our 1978 if the pick of the litter on defense can team up with the next talented target (OJ Howard) we draft out of Alabama to play TE here. This one is 6'6" tall with a nice catch radius and some raw but intriguing blocking skills that can be refined. I put a link of his game vrs Clemson from 2 years ago somewhere in this thread to show you how lethal he can be in the passing game, while he also had some nice blocks (ie; the one on one outside where he got great position inside to seal off the Clemson DE for a long TD run by Henry). He seems more dual purpose than he'll probably get credited for while the Clemson game highlight will display his X-factor to a downfield passing game. Not only am I intrigued by his talent; but I'm also worried Ozzie Newsome remembers how important Shannon Sharpe was in preventing Dilfer from killing Dilfer. If we don't draft OJ Howard, just be prepared to watch him helping Baltimore or Pittsburgh.
If the pick of the litter on D can give us the consistency and productivity of a Clay Matthews toward whatever their specific role will be in tandem with what OJ Howard's dynamic can open up, could be the killer combo we've longed for in round 1 all this time. The draft is deeper in the secondary plus we get 2 defenders back from injury (Des Bryant and Nate Orchard), which should accimate well to Williams' schemes/alignments.
If Garrett were to have the career of Clay Matthews, and if Howard had the career of Ozzie....sure, I would take that. (but we still need a Brian Sipe or Bernie Kosar....and where we gonna get that? No supp draft or 13th round available any more)
If Garrett were to have the career of Clay Matthews, and if Howard had the career of Ozzie....sure, I would take that. (but we still need a Brian Sipe or Bernie Kosar....and where we gonna get that? No supp draft or 13th round available any more)
Did we get an MVP season out of Sipe before or after Ozzie Newsome showed up? Brian Sipe was a 13th round pick rumored to have the arm strength of a teenage - female punt, pass and kick participant. So, what was necessary to help a QB like Sipe? 1) The 1st round QB (Mike Phipps) we traded up to #3 overall to take in 1970 never became the franchise QB we needed him to be when it wasn't a QB friendly atmosphere here (especially while the 4.3 speed and HOF talent of Paul Warfield was being used in Miami to prevent defenses from loading up the box to stop Csonka, Morris and Kiick). 2) Making Cleveland an easier place to play QB right? Sipe's career took off in 1978 with 2906 yds, 21 TDs; and in 79 he had 3793 yds 28 TDs; and the MVP year of 1980 he threw for 4132 yds and 30 TDs at a time that was unheard of. In 81, he threw for 3876 yds and 17 TDs before he met up with father time in season #11 in 1982.
Another thing that happened is an undrafted Reggie Rucker went from a career journey man (w/Cowboys, Giants, NE) at WR to the best year of his career in 1978 with 893 yards on 43 receptions for 20.8 yards per catch and 8 TDs. The next year Rucker had 749 yards at 17.4 yards per catch and 6 TDs. What changed specifically? Ozzie stealing Safety attention to ease the matchups for the WRs outside. BABOOMBA! Ozzie's 1st 2 years, he averaged 15.5 and 14.2 ypc but his TD receptions went up from 2 to 9 while his rec went from 38 to 55. Either it's just a coincidence only or when we added Ozzie in 78 - both Sipe and Rucker began to play the best football of their careers.
When Infante arrived in 86, he used Ozzie masterfully while he was spreading defenses horizontally and challenging grey areas of zone transition where LBers dwell to bury the blitz with RBs combining for about 123 receptions. This also opened the seams even more where Ozzie remained the gridiron chess piece for Infante to dictate where he wanted the Safety. He used his Hall of Fame TE to manipulate the Safeties and his RBs to bury the blitz. Therefore, we didn't really seem to skip a beat if we had Pagel or Don Strock (when he was Grandpa Munster's age) because the design of offense tailored to our personnel made the 80s teams enjoying Ozzie's X-factor the easiest era here to play QB. What's the biggest complaint when Couch was here as a #1 overall? We didn't protect him well which is true. Having said that, we didn't exactly provide him with anything special at TE either...
I remain stuck on pause with if this team isn't equipped to handle/protect a 1st round investment at QB, I've already seen the conclusions to the sequel since the early 70s. Outside of 1 supplemental draft 32 years ago, what reasons do I have to think this franchise and its fan base is all of a sudden ready for a QB at #1 or #12? Last year we went with 2 first year starters at WR while Gary Barnidge turned into Rip Van Winkle without an alarm clock on the best salary of his career. I LIKE him but we have to remember how much is left on a guy that never had a huge ceiling in the first place.
Did you watch the video of OJ Howard vrs Clemson in the link I added to the thread earlier on? I'll guarantee you'll understand what I liked about his X-factor in that game plan Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 in. A 6'6" target with an ideal catch radius for prospect that catches passes with his hands? Then all we'd have to do is upgrade our slot receiver position from Tom Thumb to Seth DeValve; and I think we ease the matchups of the 2 WRs outside considerably.
The alternative is pretending this draft has a legit first round QB (or that we are even close to having the right setting to protect an upper 1st round QB investment) while many scouts and draft analysts paid for their research are calling this a weak QB class. We've been there - done that before rinsing and repeating it. The teams always kicking our asses let the draft fall to them. Here's our chance - why blow it? The first round in 1978 (Ozzie Newsome & Clay Matthews) sparked up our glory years in the 80s to follow regardless of who played QB or Coordinated the Defense.
As I already previously typed (and it may not mean a thing), I only saw 2 guys willing to wear Cleveland Browns baseball caps immediately after the Senior Bowl. They were OJ Howard and the QB Webb (who wouldn't need to be picked in round 1).
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