2014 Browns: Defensive Line
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New defensive-minded HC, new DC... Let's talk about the "heart" of our D, the linemen...
Really not too much to talk about with this group, and I mean that in a good way. Of all the position groups, this is where the Browns undoubtedly have the most talent and depth.
2013 Starters: Phil Taylor NT, Ahtyba Rubin DE, Desmond Bryant DE
Others: John Hughes DE, Billy Winn DE, Armonty Bryant DE, Ishmaa'ily Kitchen DT, Brian Sanford DE
This group did a very good job for the most of last year; however, pressure on the QB seemed to decrease after D.Bryant started dealing with injuries. Armonty Bryant was a bright spot from our rookie class, and performed well in limited snaps. Speaking of limited snaps, Taylor is off the field way too often (only played 48% of def. snaps) so I'm not sure we utilized him the best. Hughes and Winn continue to impress, and provide great depth.
Free Agency: Nobody.
BUT, 2015 Free Agency is looming and we have 2 starters on the line to look at (luckily guys usually play pretty well during contract years). Rubin makes over $8mil/year, and does not match that production. Winn or Hughes could easily start in his spot, in my opinion, so I don't see him coming back unless it's discounted. Also, I might consider using him as a trade piece this offseason if anybody was interested. Taylor will be making $2.5mil/year in 2014, but will probably command over $8mil to keep him around. He is a great NT, but for only playing 48% of snaps, I'm not sure if he's worth it.
2014:
Looks like we'll be starting the same guys as last year, and probably keeping Hughes, Winn, Bryant, and Kitchen around for depth. Sanford will probably have some competetion as he has been on/off the team for the last couple years now. We don't need to look at FA for any upgrades b/c A-we can't afford it, and B-this group is really good.
Looking at the draft, I might consider a late-round nose tackle in case we lose Taylor and Rubin.
If you're Mike Pettine and you're looking at this group, what might you think as far as when/how to get the most out of these guys? I know he calls plays from a lot of sets, with really no base, so maybe you call it a 4-3/3-4/4-2-5 hybrid. I wonder which of these guys get in under which formation, and who steps up. Pressure on the QB is SO important in the NFL now, and I feel confident that our d-line is the "rock" of our defense and should set the tone for a great year on that side of the ball...
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If there is going to be a hybrid 4-3/3-4....then I would think that perhaps both Sheard and Mingo might be considered DEs in that 4-3 formation.
I mean, basically that is what the likes of Charles Haley and Kevin Greene did in their ......not quite HOF yet.....careers.
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yes. sheard mingo and krueger are true DE and either played that before coming to the browns or right out of college.
i wouldn't consider anyone else on your list a true DE except maybe bryant but he'll be relegated to another position after we draft clowney.
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Can we talk about trading Taylor now?
On Taylor... if attempts to extend him at a reasonable price fail, then why not trade him now? Get value for him now? Especially if we are heading back in the direction of a 4-3 (which IMO we need to due to 3-4 LB deficiencies). There have to be a couple NFC teams running the 3-4 that would salivate at the thought of putting Phil in the middle of their line.
I love Big Phil as a NT, but I feel he's wasted as a DT... in part because he is such a great, space-eating, lateral-pursuing NT, but also because I think he falls a bit short in the DT role which includes an added measure of pass pressure generation. I know he had 4 sacks his rookie season, but only had 1 in his 8-game second-season at DT.
Call me crazy, but I think Rubin, Wynn and even Hughes are more complete DTs... but none, with the possible exception of Hughes, are anywhere near Phil as a NT.
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he might not get a lot of pressure on the QB but he sure stuffs the run pretty damn good which is what i want from a NT.
sign the guy. franchise ward. draft clowney (if we go back to a 4-3) add another LB and corner and SS and watch the havoc we wreak on these dopes in our division.
our defense will be so freaking good they'll have to come up with a name for themselves.
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I have really high hopes for Mingo, add some muscle he can be a star
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he might not get a lot of pressure on the QB but he sure stuffs the run pretty damn good which is what i want from a NT.
sign the guy. franchise ward. draft clowney (if we go back to a 4-3) add another LB and corner and SS and watch the havoc we wreak on these dopes in our division.
our defense will be so freaking good they'll have to come up with a name for themselves.
he might not get a lot of pressure on the QB but he sure stuffs the run pretty damn good which is what i want from a NT.
sign the guy. franchise ward. draft clowney (if we go back to a 4-3) add another LB and corner and SS and watch the havoc we wreak on these dopes in our division.
our defense will be so freaking good they'll have to come up with a name for themselves.
So basically we just have to improve 40% of the defense to be awesome? Damn we're close...
I'll say it again...
If we are in fact going to make the best use of the players we have, then we go back to the 4-3 as our base D.
If we go back to the 4-3, then Sheard and Kruger go to DE.
If we go back to the 4-3, then even for it, we have way too many DT's.
If we have way too many DTs, then one way to thin them is to trade one of the best NTs now playing... and great NTs are premium value guys...
You can't keep them all...
"Hello Houston, does Romeo have any interest in Phil Taylor? He's yours along with our 1.4 and 3.19 for your 1.1 and 2.1..."
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you really think houston will trade out of the #1 when they have a texas QB coming out of college station and they've pretty much given up on schaub?
unless they consider casey keenum (sp?) as their new franchise guy the fans would go nuts if they didn't pick JF.
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you really think houston will trade out of the #1 when they have a texas QB coming out of college station and they've pretty much given up on schaub?
unless they consider casey keenum (sp?) as their new franchise guy the fans would go nuts if they didn't pick JF.
you really think houston will trade out of the #1 when they have a texas QB coming out of college station and they've pretty much given up on schaub?
unless they consider casey keenum (sp?) as their new franchise guy the fans would go nuts if they didn't pick JF.
they don't want manziel dude, they're just saying they do cause they know there's a couple teams in the top 5 that do. They'll trade down with that team and still have a shot at Clowney...which is who they want. They havne't given up on Schaub after one bad year where the whole team sucked.
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you really think houston will trade out of the #1 when they have a texas QB coming out of college station and they've pretty much given up on schaub?
unless they consider casey keenum (sp?) as their new franchise guy the fans would go nuts if they didn't pick JF.
you really think houston will trade out of the #1 when they have a texas QB coming out of college station and they've pretty much given up on schaub?
unless they consider casey keenum (sp?) as their new franchise guy the fans would go nuts if they didn't pick JF.
It was a "for instance"... I've been saying that HOU will take JM... so there's that.
Point was that Big Phil has significant value as a NT... and if Romeo is going to run the 3-4 (pretty safe bet there) he'll need a NT because there is not one on the Texans roster... not of Phil's caliber anyway...
It never hurts to ask...
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you really think houston will trade out of the #1 when they have a texas QB coming out of college station and they've pretty much given up on schaub?
unless they consider casey keenum (sp?) as their new franchise guy the fans would go nuts if they didn't pick JF.
they don't want manziel dude, they're just saying they do cause they know there's a couple teams in the top 5 that do. They'll trade down with that team and still have a shot at Clowney...which is who they want. They havne't given up on Schaub after one bad year where the whole team sucked.
they don't want manziel dude, they're just saying they do cause they know there's a couple teams in the top 5 that do. They'll trade down with that team and still have a shot at Clowney...which is who they want. They havne't given up on Schaub after one bad year where the whole team sucked.
I think they've given up on Schaub.
Team was bad yes, Schaub was especially bad. They replaced dude with an undrafted guy. Fans cheered an injury and burned his jerseys. He's done there IMHO.
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