@orion said:

“not a dump truck anymore... you’re a Ferrari.”

...I kinda' felt like we needed a dump truck.

@orion said:

When the Cleveland Browns selected DT Siaki Ika in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft, it seemed that the team found their big nose tackle, plugger. Soon after, the team released “the call” video that was made to Ika where DC Jim Schwartz told him that he was a “not a dump truck anymore... you’re a Ferrari.”

Fans, media and Ika were all confused by the statement.

The logic all made sense: A player who was better in college at setting an anchor than creating penetration doing the same at the NFL level. The problem becomes that Schwartz’s “Ferrari” comment is now understood by Ika, as shared by The OBR:

“Real fast, explosive, and vertical,” Ika said. “It’s a little bit different than I’m used to. To get here to a system where everything goes forward, vertical, and disrupt, I’m excited about it.”

So that is what Schwartz meant?

Taking a large human whose athletic testing scores were not great and asking him to do more athletic things than large human things? Just looking at his “Relative Athletic Scores” gives you a simple idea of what Ika is best at (hint: Its not the areas in red):

It is possible that Cleveland’s front office and coaches see something in Ika that his testing doesn’t show and was not readily apparent on film. It is also possible that they have confidence in their own ability to mold the former Tiger/Bear into a dancing bear.

For now, the concern is that the Browns are trying to “square peg, round hole” a player they spent a third-round pick on. Could it work? For sure. Is it a risk worth pointing out? 

 The film, when singled up or playing a shade, showed pretty consistent push and ability to get into a single gap upfield.

 The RAS, while not great, echoes what I said about taking height and weight into consideration.   Ika is taller, heavier, has a greater wingspan, yet still has a better 10 yard split than Tommy togiai. I don't really focus on shuttle or 3 cone for IDL. Elite change of direction for IDL has little correlation to success.  His ability to burst vertically to disrupt zone runs was pretty apparent at times.   So if I saw that, then there's no way professionals missed it.  

 The 'round peg, square hole' is... tired. 

 I said this about Ika and Mazi Smith - because of their builds, they'll be cliched as the 2 gap nose.   Ika is playing under an aggressive 1 gap coach, Mazi is doing much of the same under Dan Quinn.  By no small coincidence I linked both rookie players also by their coaches, who share similar structures in their fronts, but also in their overall blitz percentages and 4 man stunts. 

 This really is no great mystery. If you find a big man who can win against a variety of blocking schemes, like what the Browns and Cowboys believe they have done, then you have a nice chess piece to help rebuild the foundation of this defense.

Fans, media and Ika were all confused by the statement.

The logic all made sense: A player who was better in college at setting an anchor than creating penetration doing the same at the NFL level. The problem becomes that Schwartz’s “Ferrari” comment is now understood by Ika, as shared by The OBR:

“Real fast, explosive, and vertical,” Ika said. “It’s a little bit different than I’m used to. To get here to a system where everything goes forward, vertical, and disrupt, I’m excited about it.”

So that is what Schwartz meant?

Taking a large human whose athletic testing scores were not great and asking him to do more athletic things than large human things? Just looking at his “Relative Athletic Scores” gives you a simple idea of what Ika is best at (hint: Its not the areas in red):

It is possible that Cleveland’s front office and coaches see something in Ika that his testing doesn’t show and was not readily apparent on film. It is also possible that they have confidence in their own ability to mold the former Tiger/Bear into a dancing bear.

For now, the concern is that the Browns are trying to “square peg, round hole” a player they spent a third-round pick on. Could it work? For sure. Is it a risk worth pointing out? 

Fields was actually recognizing and doing better in passpro and fits second half of last season than Phillips ever did. You can do a lot worse with the final rostered LB who gets snaps.. He was projected as the "poor man's JOK" in that draft and that's nearly exactly what he's developed into.

@kvoethe said:

What are we gonna do to help our weak LB corps?

We need Anthony Walker to play 17 games…and JOK too.  The depth here is very suspect. 
 

I will say my piece here again we had three levels of failure last season right in the middle of defense.  Safety play was awful at times, LBs especially bad at times (we made a midseason trade to correct it) of course IDL.  I gave our Front Office a pass too - you can’t fix it all in one offseason especially when we were searching for a QB last year.  Fast forward another year and the excuses need to go away at some point and these picks over the years need to start to develop. 
 

Joe Woods leaving is a plus. 

@kvoethe said:

We got a old guy from philthy

@texasag1969 said:

Find weaker safeties to make them look better in comparison.??

We got a old guy from philthy

@syd said:

i don't no man how bout beefing up the front line ? oh wait they did that

You beat me to it Syd.  Sorry for repeating what you already wrote.  

@kvoethe said:

What are we gonna do to help our weak LB corps?

Getting better IDL/DTs via free agency and the draft were impressive efforts to help a LBer Corps that lost 4 LBers to IR in 2022. That should keep a lot of interior OL off of the LBers. Adding Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz should also help this unit a lot.  My guess is he can get more out of JOK than Joe Woods did. Anthony Walker has been a good LBer for the Browns (and the Colts previously).  

FWIW, I remember a lot of us were worried about the LBer Corps heading into the 2020 season.  The Browns finished that year with an 11-5 record and a post season win at Pittsburgh's dump.

Trust the process.

@kvoethe said:

What are we gonna do to help our weak LB corps?

Berry was a guest on ESPN Cleveland’s radio show yesterday and stated the Browns still have some moves in the works:

ESPN Cleveland@ESPNCleveland

Andrew Berry said the Browns could still be looking for veteran help via free agency or trade 👀👀👀

May 4, 2023 249 8View on X

@kvoethe said:

What are we gonna do to help our weak LB corps?

i don't no man how bout beefing up the front line ? oh wait they did that

@texasag1969 said:

Find weaker safeties to make them look better in comparison.??

Well played!!!

@kvoethe said:

What are we gonna do to help our weak LB corps?

Find weaker safeties to make them look better in comparison.??

@nickers said:

Its uncanny how everything just falls into their laps to them and the Ravens every draft and all Cleveland can do is this!....

You are wrong!! We are a multi-skilled team in the FO!!  ?

@orion said:

Yeah, many say the damned Steelers had a good draft.

Its uncanny how everything just falls into their laps to them and the Ravens every draft and all Cleveland can do is this!....

@korsou-dawg said:

Apparently the state of Pennsylvania is good at drafting.

Yeah, many say the damned Steelers had a good draft.

I was extremely happy when the Browns drafted Wypler….talk about a steal!

One is an enormous road grader, the other an athletic center who excels in a zone blocking scheme.

I know they played on the same OLine in college, but they seem like two completely different scheme guys. 

Tillman
Tillman was among the few top prospects with prototypical X measurables. He has good size, he is physical and he attacks the football in the air. With the additions of Tillman and the trade for Elijah Moore, Deshaun Watson will have more options in the passing game entering his second season with the team.
Ika
The Browns have made it a priority to improve the interior of their defensive line this offseason, and they continue that with the addition of Ika here. A mountain of a man at 358 pounds, he isn’t just a run defender, registering a 76.4 PFF pass-rushing grade in 2022.
Jones
There were questions about Jones’ conditioning/commitment that likely contributed to his slide down boards, but there’s a lot of reason to bet on Jones’ talent at this stage of the draft. His size and length afford him room for error, and he has enough movement ability at his size to have success as a starter. Jones earned 80-plus PFF grades as the Buckeyes’ starting right tackle in each of the last two seasons.
McGuire
Cleveland adds a good power rusher to complement Myles Garrett. He has NFL size and power with the potential to be a plus run defender. Despite average burst off the edge, he put up an 84.5 true pass-rush grade in 2022.
DTR
Thompson-Robinson is the definition of a “gamer,” a classic football cliche, with the desire to make something out of nothing on seemingly every snap. This can work against him, of course, with a lot of turnover-worthy plays as a result. However, his 77.4% adjusted completion percentage ranked 15th in college football and he offers great rushing ability.
Mitchell
Cleveland adds another Northwestern cornerback on top of 2021 first-rounder Greg Newsome II. Mitchell did well to match wide receivers stride for stride in trail technique in college, and he’s a willing tackler with a 76.0 run-defense grade.
Wypler
Wypler was the 54th-ranked player on the PFF big board, making this one of the better value selections in the draft in our eyes. He earned 79.0-plus PFF grades in each of his seasons as a starter for the Buckeyes, excelling as a zone run blocker (89th percentile over the last two seasons) specifically. Pair that with plus athleticism, and this looks like a steal for Cleveland.

Apparently the state of Pennsylvania is good at drafting. Either that, or that consensus big board was a big stinking turd. 

Jack Lichtenstein@jacklich10

The Eagles, Steelers, and Browns knocked the draft out of the park according to the consensus big board!

Patriots and Lions... not so much

Apr 29, 2023 240 28View on X

So I watched some clips today.  Very undersized S/LB…but pretty good playmaker for an undrafted guy…we will see.