7.) Legs For Days
Besides the quarterbacks, the only real bright spot for the team might be the kicker and punter. I would include special teams, but then I remembered all the returns called back, TWO leverage penalties, the offsides that didn’t force overtime, etc. Travis Coons won the kicking job in the preseason as a relative unknown. He is still perfect on FGs this year going 16 of 16. The only problem is we have yet to see his range with his long being 44 yards on the year. He is 14 of 16 on XP which is less than desired but when you look at the amount of kickers let go and struggling this year I would gladly keep him for next year.
In about the only good move Farmer made, he brought in punter Andy Lee from San Francisco for a 7th round pick. Lee is sixth in the NFL in average and net, 47.8 and 42.3 respectively. He is also tied for fourth with 19 punts inside the 20. For an offense that can’t get going, field position is huge for the defense. Lee is definitely an improvement over Lanning who was 22nd with 44.3 and a net of 39.2 in 2014, and 25th before that with 43.8 yards and a net of 37.9. I will spare the details of Reggie Hodges being second worst in the NFL in 2012 and Brad Maynard being dead last in 2011. The legs in Cleveland are looking good this year and going forward.
8.) We Still Can’t Stop The Run
The Browns ranked 32 against the run last season. What did the Browns do? They gave John Hughes an extension, signed Randy Starks, drafted Danny Shelton in the first round, and traded up to grab Xavier Cooper in the third round. The Browns this year rank 32nd against the run. They put time and effort into improving the position and still manage to be dead last in the NFL. It’s unbelievable to me that they can spend that much into trying to improve the position and come up so short. There has to be some blame on coaching scheme because the players up front are not terrible. There isn’t a huge game changing player on the line but Shelton has the potential to be. The depth is there so it’s not guys getting tired.
This also goes into an article I wrote previously about the Browns biggest need. They spent the time to replace the guys right up front who take on the blockers but did nothing to fix the guys after them to clean it up. The only move they did was drafting Orchard to replace Sheard and that’s more a pass rushing role. Where is that athletic guy in the middle who has the natural ball instincts to make tackles and shed blocks? The Browns need to look long and hard at the linebacker position this offseason because the pass rush isn’t there from guys like Orchard and Mingo. Kruger may be on his way out if the price is right. Dansby isn’t getting any younger and while I like Kirksey and Robertson they are good players but they would fit better in Dansby’s role and finding a guy like a Patrick Willis who can make all the plays inside. No matter what they do they need to figure out how to stop the run soon.
9.) Legion of Vroom
I remember early only when our secondary was being compared to Seattle. There was an honest debate of which defense was going to be better, the Seahawks or the Browns with Haden, Whitner, Gipson, and Skrine. Skrine has since moved on but was supposed to be replaced by the 8th overall pick Justin Gilbert. While the Seahawks have their Legion of Boom, the Browns this year are the Legion of Vroom. That vroom is the sound from all the receivers that have just torched our secondary all season. The struggles begin with Gipson and Whitner not being able to stay healthy in the secondary. The Browns instead have turned to Justin Poyer to start a lot of games in their place. I was never a fan of Poyer with the Browns, especially when he was at CB let alone safety. The Browns spent a fourth round pick on Ibraheim Campbell this year, and he looked great in the pre-season and at stopping the run from the strong safety position. Do the Browns start him, no? At corner the Browns have been even worse. For all the corners we had and the depth I thought would be there, it couldn’t be more far from true.
With Haden missing a good chunk of the year, it has been a rotation of 32 year old Tramon Williams and a revolving door at CB. We’ve seen former first round pick Justin Gilbert in there who now has gone to becoming a healthy scratch over some of these next guys. K’Wuan Williams would be my pick for the next corner who had a good rookie year last year after going undrafted. He hasn’t been as successful compared to last year but is serviceable as a third corner. The Browns also used former fourth round pick Pierre Desir of Lindenwood. He had a lot of potential coming out of college but playing far less talent would need some time to adjust to the pro game and he still seems to be struggling with it. The Browns also got their first chance this week to look at sxith rounder Charles Gaines who came off the IR after putting together a good preseason but also struggled.
The one that blows my mind though is Johnson Bademosi. The only reason Bademosi is on the team is because he is among the best gunners on special teams, a really rare niche. He belongs at safety if anything, but not getting a lot of snaps at corner over Gilbert, Gaines, Desir, and Williams. There is nothing you can say to justify it and it showed big time Sunday. When you put this talent out there at corner, with guys who don’t have the size, speed, or experience to play with the big boys then we are going to continue to see what we do every Sunday. Bash Joe Haden for his performance this year all you want, but he is by far the best talent we have in the secondary and any chance we have of saving something this season.
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