Flugel

No, when Chubb got promoted - Dorsey looked at the numbers favoring Duke over Hyde; and he kept Duke as our #2 RB and traded Hyde. Hyde only contributed 3.3 ypc while Chubb gave us 5.2 ypc and Duke provided 5 ypc. Again, I see that as Dorsey showing Duke in the same season he gave him a raise/contract extension "I believe in you." The raise plus the decision to keep Duke over Hyde are 2 different examples of showing Duke he believes in him. When the Chargers used a 1st overall pick on a QB despite already having Drew Brees - Brees didn't throw a temper tantrum demanding a trade. He showed up for camp while Philip Rivers held out for the length of training camp. Brees responded by leading his team to an AFC best 12 wins and making his 1st Pro Bowl - not bad considering SD sucked bad enough the year before to be holding the 1st overall pick. Duke has a similar situation in the sense his major competition for the #2 RB spot can't play the first 8 games. Duke can either continue complaining - or giddy-up and get after it. Duke is the only guy on the Browns I see complaining.

I don't want this to come off as insulting because I enjoy the majority of your posts. Even when I don't agree with you - you make enough points to the extent I understand where you are coming from. In this case, I feel like you're choosing part of the picture over the bigger picture so hear me out. Do we really want Dorsey running a Sorority House more concerned about whose feelings are hurt today? Or, do we want him continuing to upgrade talent on the roster so we can finally talk playoff football for a refreshing change? This involves guys proving they deserve their contracts within the challenge at hand. Haven't we seen enough of where nice guys finish yet? Dorsey is here trying to put that 1-31 football (that deserved complaints) far behind us as soon as possible. Feelings are going to get hurt; especially if someone that's being paid well for his limited role is being challenged to perform well enough to stay/help us improve. Dorsey can answer the media any way he wants; especially if it's about a guy he just gave a raise/contract extension to as recently as 2018. When Chubb emerged as our feature back (over Carlos Hyde that was ranked in the top 100 players the season before); Dorsey traded Carlos Hyde not Duke. That's 2 different examples of Dorsey showing Duke he believes in him while you're making yourself more concerned about his "not yet" comment. Most players know the average length of NFL careers so they're wired not to question the "not yet" that begins the day they sign their 1st NFL contract. If you perform well - your career lives on. Duke is getting 8 games to prove why Dorsey believed in him. I'd be more nervous that his actions show he feels threatened he can't handle it in lieu of a "I'll leave Dorsey no other choice but me" mentality. Is it possible Duke also understands nobody wanted to give up anything on their roster to trade for him during the draft when they can just draft someone of equitable talent for a rookie contract? The lad needs to dictate his worth to this team when he gets his opportunities this year. For example, when Nick Chubb got 3 carries for over 100 yards where only the goal line stopped 2 of them - guess who earned more playing time? I think we all know that the media DOES have to ask or their version of "not yet" changes to replaced by someone that does ask.

Precisely! He paid Duke extremely well considering he was just a part time RB on a team that just went 1-31 prior to the extension. As the RB position is getting stronger - Duke's workload is getting challenged by a stronger competition. Baker isn't the guy putting "I before team." He's the one saying step onto the train your teammates are on - not in front of it. When Baker showed up here as a 1st overall pick/talent - he was told he wouldn't play right away (if at all as a rookie). He didn't have a public tantrum about it. He shut his mouth and went to work. When he got the chance to play - guess what he did? He PROVED he deserved to start. He performed well enough for his teammates to view him as a credible leader. IMO, Duke was a decent RB on a bad team. Now that we have a much improved team - decent doesn't cut it any more at least in terms of how reps are divided up. For example, Carlos Hyde was voted by his peers as 1 of the top 100 football players in the NFL prior to coming here. When Nick Chubb also got the chance to play - he had 3 carries for over 100 yards against the Raiders where the only thing stopping 2 of those was the goal line. The 5.2 yards per carry he was achieving left nobody (including Hyde) questioning his promotion to our work horse RB. Hyde got traded and Duke remained decent; but not the to extent I understand his feeling of entitlement today. We've always had RBs that can catch the ball well on 3rd downs whether it was Calvin Hill in his mid 30s, Greg Pruitt spelling Mike Pruitt late in his career, or the undrafted Herman Fontenot in 86.

Appreciate hearing that Aggies. Your son has a great outlook that will serve him well. Kids will play hard for him especially if they can see the rewards for their efforts. And that's when it not only gets fun; but it opens them up to coaching (ie; he's not stronger than you - your pad height was just too high). I'll share one of my favorite memories when I was a Head Freshman Football Coach. I had this kid that showed up a couple days late due to a delay in the physical. He had a wirey build and never played organized football before. Even worse, all that bottled up energy had to wait (before he could practice in pads and engage in contact with teammates) so we had quite the talkologist on our hands Almost immediately, he started talking and chirping with the "I'm gonna" stuff while he was watching the contact drills. He called himself "Killerhurts." I quietly LOVED the confidence, enthusiasm and competitive fire while I hoped it wasn't just an insecurity mask of another reality. One of the Assistant Coaches said "I'll be surprised if he lasts 1 week; but I really hope I'm wrong cuz the kid is hilarious to have around!" 2 days later Larry Killerhurts joined his teammates; and at the end of practice there wasn't 1 kid or coach that doubted him. In the process, he stopped letting his mouth do all the talking since his pads said all they had to. For being one of the only kids without organized football experience, he looked like the most seasoned kid out there - give or take a fundamental or 2 (ie; ball security) that can be solved with practice reps/drills. We already some great foot speed on the team; but nobody had this kid's jets. He had some vicious hits. Needless to say he was a LBer and FB. When it was time to vote for team captains, the QB was nominated and a couple other kids. I asked we only have a few nominated to vote on - anyone else? Here came Larry with "How bout myself?" Guess who got the most votes? That level of high school football had restrictions on how far you could send someone in motion prior to the snap (motion man couldn't pass the Tackle). Anyway, one of my favorite plays I ran out of a straight T was Thunder motion quick pitch right/left to our FB. I took the backside RB and put him in motion so he could join the play-side RB lead blocking for Larry. We had a lot of success with that play. Larry would comeback to the sideline all excited after scoring a TD - "Coach, I got loose!" After one of our games, Larry's foster care father came up to me and introduced himself. Then he said "this is the happiest we've ever seen Larry. He actually feels like he is an important part of something good. He's had a hard life where his biological parents were shot dead on their front porch right in front of Larry. The only positive thing beside him not getting shot was he was young enough to be in diapers in terms of how much he remembered. All he talks about is football and how much fun the coaches make it." I had no idea what he had ever been through or that he was even in foster care. Just to be a part of one the few bright spots in this kid's life meant the world to me. Aggies, THIS is the type of stuff I cherished most about coaching. I also loved showing kids if they challenged themselves to perfect the doables we ask of them daily - there is a reward on game day for doing so. Rinse and repeat that and you gain a love for the game that leaves you wanting more. Looking back, I feel really fortunate I had coaches that did that for me with all different styles. It was great to be able to do the same for others when I got the opportunity.

Is there any other QB that competed in the Championship Game every year they played (in this case all 10 years)? I think some people look at comp % and assume the Browns carried a Trent Dilfer to all 10 Championship Games. With all the praise and overrating Joe Namath got for his ONLY Championship - multiply that by 10 appearances/7 Titles and remind me why NFL history needs to pedestal his greatness more than Otto's? Graham and his coach was the birth place of the WCO the Joe Montanas, Steve Youngs, Brett Favres, and Patrick Mahomes would later try to emulate and advance. That said, after Montana - how many of those QBs won more than 1 SB despite all those stats? Before we had airports all over the country/world and an air force that could win us wars - wasn't Kitty Hawk pretty important? Putting this in perspective, as great as Jim Brown was - Cleveland only won 1 Championship because of him. I also think it was way more than a coincidence, the frequency of participation in Championship Games for the Browns decreased dramatically when Otto's 10 year career ended. When we do this kind of comparison, you have to take into consideration rules weren't being changed to promote more passing and protection of passers. Today, I think of Brady and BB like I think of Otto and Paul Brown. Coincidentally, Brady grew up a 49ers fan watching Bill Walsh orchestrate Paul Brown's offensive concepts through Joe Montana.

Glad to hear that Aggies! Pretty amazing how the guy refuses to cave in to his physical handicaps every single day. The video doesn't show that he takes a bus and works a full day as a CSR with that handicap prior and then he has a 1 hour bus ride to coach the kids after it. The SC Featured story on ESPN includes that part. Above all, he's a really gifted coach the kids play really hard for.

While true Aggies, is there any other way to find a Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State), Larry Allen (Sonoma State), Leon Lett (Emporia State) , or Ali Marpet (Hobart) dominating competition enough for intrigue? Isn't it also conceivable guys on DI powerhouse teams can get overrated like Trent Richardson, Dee Milliner, Chance Warmack, Vernon Gholston, Big Daddy Wilkinson, etc... So what else should we look at regarding Forbes? Size, strength, and the metrics assessing quickness, agility, explosion etc. He ranked with elite in many of these except for wing span (which places him more at the position I think he can help us most at). I like where we landed him in a round that says let's develop the lad. That said, he might not require as much patience as we may think. A lot of his things that need tweaking are very doable IMO.

Some good points Tour. Thanks! He does have a tendency to spring up too quickly into a higher pad height. Speaking of wasted steps. What I could work with is he doesn't belly back when he pulls or traps. By staying tight to the line of scrimmage it reduces the steps and works well with his quick feet at getting there in time to be efficient. I saw quite a few examples of that in the film. What I don't like about pulling/trapping Guards and Tackles together is if the Tackle is quicker than the Guard, it either slows up the Tackle or he trips over the Guard (which I could see happening in programs with less scholarships). That makes life incredibly easy for the defenders that originally lined up across from them to swoop in behind them and stop the play for a loss. The hardest thing for newbies to it all is they don't always trust the linemen next to them are firing out so the tendency is to angle the first steps backward rather than than laterally. "Coach what if someone gets jacked up backwards?" Then you're not bei A lot college Tackles have far less training at trapping and pulling than many of the Guards so it isn't uncommon to see some things that might need to be coached up. The good news is that hop can be solved and improved in stances and starts. That's where I learned how to do it as a teen back in the day. If I can learn it - anybody can. In fact, when I coached at the high school level in an offense that always had the guards on the move trapping and pulling - I don't remember too much difficulty with them picking it up. Teams knew we did a lot of that so it was our job to make sure we didn't have anyone in their stance leaning to tip off the play. Part of that process, is having the right kids for the position. The other part is teaching something to them that is very doable with practice and repetition. All that said, Cleveland has had problems in the past with how quickly some college Tackles have picked up the art of tapping and pulling. The 1 guy that comes to mind was the late round small school pick with red hair and freckles that overcame a heart defect (whose name escapes me). Anyway, injuries threw him in at LG next to Joe Thomas before he was ready. I remembered seeing him belly back away from the line of scrimmage to the extent he collided with the playaction (fake handoff setting up the misdirection trap) and he smothered the whole thing in our backfield. That's not the way you want to learn how to do it. If you're going to change a guy from Tackle to Guard in an offense that likes mis-direction traps or leading sweeps/bootlegs with a Guard - you better spend significant time on stances and starts at the beginning of the year or you've flushed the entire opportunity down the toilet IMO. Also, when you change a guy's position mid-season - he may not have all that down yet. Then you gotta be patient with growing pains like I mentioned about the small school feller - while Cleveland was a place running out of patience at the time he turned a trap play into a football follie. For whatever all that's worth, I think most of Forbes' issues are coachable.

Folks I caught this compelling 15 minute story about the will of a man overcoming adversity; and how it inspired kids as their Head Football Coach on Sports Center Featured. I thought this might be worth sharing so I hope you enjoy it!

What do they call that creamy lookin stuff someone shot all over Vag's chin? Gomer's Pile...

For some reasons, I have a really good feeling about this kid. Love the way he stays with his blocks and finishes people... I think he could provide the reliability we need at RG to replace Zeitler with.

I remember posting my immediate concerns about the loss of Zeitler when we traded him to address of Dline that only had 2 very reliable starters on it (MG and Ogunjobi) and depth issues. If we wondered why the Rats ran a 10k with the football on our last matchup with them - our dline was a big part of that. I would have loved to keep Zeitler. That said, we can replace Joe Thomas and our RT in 2018 and still achieve a better record than 1-31 football from 2016 and 2017 - we can overcome the loss of Zeitler. How? It can start by setting up a competition with vets possessing experience and starts as well as promising younger guys. This time last year, Robinson began the year as our backup RT (largely due to $ committed to Hubbard). As the year unfolded, Robinson emerged as a reliable LT. I think we have qualified contenders to make RG a solid spot for us. Despite hearing Forbes will get a shot at OT - I still think some college tackles are better suited to play OG at the next level (ie; Eric Steinbach, Joel Bitonio, Marshal Yanda, Robert Gallery, Tony Madarach). 2 of those guys were criticized as Tackles but respected as Guards. Forbes has ideal trapping and pulling skills as well as explosive assets that should cream of the crop his asss here to taking on the DTs from 320-350 lbs. All that said, stay tuned....

Great summary Mike! After Grossi was unsuccessful at predicting Baker would disappoint like Manziel only this time at level of a 1st overall pick being flushed down the toilet; he set out to make OBJ the very next Andre Rison type of disappointment. Grossi and Mary Kay Yeahbut are more interested being the first ones to invent the hole in the new ship being constructed hoping it's another ship sinker. Grossi's agenda has been clear since the day OBJ got traded here (without OBJ's knowledge I might add). He'd rather focus on putting the message out there as often as he can that we just signed another Andre Rison. Once this creates a band wagon picking up passengers and recruiting other media members - guess who's all proud he was first to create it all once again? The second this franchise wins consistently, guess who disappears like a Houdini rabbit? There is no way that guy wants this franchise to win; because he's gained far too much personally from all of it's short comings and tragedies. I often wonder when we lost this team if Grossi wasn't more depressed about losing the ability to instigate and invent more problems than merely just losing the franchise that's been embedded in our family traditions, community and culture. The guy has a God complex that easily recruits people trained to be cynics. They will defend him like you see people in various cults defending their cult leaders who took advantage of their vulnerabilities pretending to have their best interests at heart while he's the only one that profits from doing so. YEAH, we sucked for a LONG time so the rock star FAs/vets weren't interested in touching this place. Even OBJ didn't really have much of a say in the trade if I remember it right. There's been years we've had a lot of money and the alibi for never bringing in the most talented vets available was they wanted to win. The vets we did get via trade or FA usually were flawed or had best football in the rear view mirror. We got so used to all that - we almost stopped questioning the FO for leaving so much money unspent while overpaying/overcompensating on others when we had to at least sign somebody. Grossi and Mary Kay Yeahbut have been waiting for an opportunity like OBJ. What can be better than being the man behind creating a cult following of cynics because a superstar veteran is missing voluntary practices in May? Remember when Seth Wickerscam wanted to be first to predict the end of the dynasty in NE the offseason after NE beat Atlanta in the SB? Yeah, he juiced up a story that there was a 3 way War of the Roses Divorce taking place between Brady, Kraft and BB. And why? Tom Brady was missing voluntary OTAs in May while pictures of him and his wife horseback riding outside of the country surfaced. Here's the thing, a true professional that has worked his tail off to get where he is - never stops putting in the work during the off-season. If anyone ever reads up on OBJ - a lot of sweat and busting tail has gone into his earning the spotlight. And when he had the brutal compound ankle fracture - a lot of hard work went into him getting back to the same level of performance. Just like Tom Brady, OBJ has repeatedly proven he knows how to strength and condition his way to the level of performance that makes him a superstar regardless of Grossi's agenda throughout April and May... In the end, if anyone wants to trust Grossi or Mary Kay because Cleveland USED TO suck - than keep trusting those 2. That said, Cleveland has some sports writers without shadey agendas that are worth the read. T Pluto and Steve D are pretty good at telling it like it is. When criticism is warranted - they provide it. But they also put some effort and passion into their research that's made for some great reads throughout the years. Grossi and Mary Kay Yeahbut are nothing more than Colin Cowherds so I choose not to buy what they're selling. That said, Jerry Springer dominated the #1 viewer ranking for years in daytime television thanks in large to his biggest critics feeding those ratings with their insatiable all you can eat appetite. Colin Cowherd tries to do the same thing. The same fans in here are still his most reliable ratings feeders to the extent he's become a repeat subject heading with countless views and participants. If you feed something - it strengthens and grows. If you starve it - it withers and dies. If we're still feeding Grossi and Yeahbut - we need a new hobby...

Speaking of a slow emergence. Once upon a time we signed OG Barry Stokes, who was cut 3-4 times early on in his career. He started at LG on our only playoff team this side of 1999; and played well. We also had another guy (Shaun O'Hara) that was undrafted out of Rutgers in 2000 starting for us on that same line in 2002. Like I said, offensive linemen can get better with experience especially if they're given the chance to do so... Trench wars don't take place on paper or in PFF Cliff Notes. Never have - never will. It's about how they work together as a unit. Last year, we had a rookie QB set a record for TD passes and a rookie RB average 5.2 yards per carry. Those impressive results from 2 rookies on an NFL learning curve don't reflect a weak line nearly as much as they reflect a balanced attack behind our line.

Thanks for sharing your research about Zeitler! That said, nobody is saying they didn't appreciate him any more than any non-troll said they didn't appreciate Joe Thomas. What I'm saying is if we can overcome the losses of Joe Thomas and the RT in 2018; there's no reason we can't overcome the loss of Zeitler in 2019. While PFF is a good tool to use - it doesn't mean you should stop watching what's unfolding in front of you and surrender all your opinions to it. The reasons a lot of defenders have to resort to arm tackles that talented RBs can easily break is because they have often been blocked well enough to either be out of position or have other parts of their body preoccupied with trying to disengage from blockers. Chubb's been putting great after contact results on film since his freshman year in the SEC blended with better stop watch speed than Sony Michel to make Dorsey interested enough to draft him in upper round 2. That didn't start with Zeitler while we're happy it continued behind our line. Like I said in the Corbett thread, nothing about 5.2 yards per carry from our rookie RB with 996 rush yards & 8 rush TDs while only starting 9 games reflected a weak offensive line. And if we had a rookie QB breaking the record for TD passes as a rookie - what part of that reflects our line is weak? The Browns were winless in 2017 and that continued in 2018 before Baker came in and erased a deficit against the Jets. I think it's more than a coincidence the Browns went from winless to 7-6 in all games Baker played in. What changed, in particular, for our offensive line was their challenge went from unreasonable to doable. Because we had a QB getting rid of the ball quickly and accurately - the pass pro ratings of Bitonio, Zeitler, and Tretter inevitably improved. Meanwhile that was also lowering defensive volume in the box also helping our line to the extent our stats in the running game improved quite a bit. That had to improve the run blocking ratings of our interior as well. Once upon a time Greg Robinson could barely play 1 interior line position on the right side in St Louis so I'm guessing some of this helped him too... Having said all that, here's the doabilities our offensive line still had to focus on: Being first to contact and beating defenders to the punch/position and area (which should favor guys that know the count and where the play is going); ideal pad height up top and ideal base below for good leverage and preventing over-extension; and staying with the guy until after the pass is gone or it's an ideal time to block someone in the next tier. Anyone remember that training camp video of Myles Garrett getting pissed at Greg Robinson? That wasn't his own asss breath he got sick of... As they had to replace both Offensive Tackles in 2018 - I never got the impression they looked weak doing so. That said, there were times I felt they could have and should have been more consistent like any other area of the team. In response to 1 of those times after a forgettable outing in Tampa, Greg Robinson got a chance to replace the undrafted FA Harrison (who was sick) at the right time to play the best football of his career in the LT spot nobody could have envisioned (where we once had the reliability of 10 consecutive Pro Bowl efforts). Not bad considering the idea to yank Bitonio out of niche and comfort zone or going with Harrison was worse. Hollywood may have this looking like the next Jed Clampett struck oil; but someone in our FO had the wherewithal to realize maybe all this former 2nd overall talent needs is the right opportunity at the right time. Land ho! Right now, there's an opening for a starting job at RG that some candidates with recent starting experience were brought here to compete for. There's also a rookie (Forbes) that put excellent trapping and pulling skills on tape while various workouts have him ranking with elite in tests that measured explosion. Everything I spoke about regarding the doabilities in the last paragraph, he can do. The best record we ever had with the trio of Thomas, Mack and Schwartz was 7-9. Now that the line we had last year helped us improve from 0-16 to 7-8-1 while our rookie QB broke the record for TD passes as our rookie RB averaged 5.2 yards per carry - people are arguing that the offensive line is weak? There's an old saying if you fail to prepare then you should prepare to fail. I don't think anyone failed to prepare for the opening at RG to blend with the 80% of our line returning...

While true Steve - the context of that point was what team improved more the Giants or Browns in pertinence to Barkley vrs Mayfield for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Again, the VOTE process rewarded the bigger market not the better impact in 2018.

Nice job with that Gips! I don't think the offensive line is nearly as weak as some are making it out to be. Last year, the big worry/concern offensively was LT especially if we were ever going to put our 1st overall pick and investment on the field. I'll get to that in a second. The best record Cleveland ever had with the trio of Joe Thomas, Alex Mack and Mitch Schwartz was 7-9. 2 of those guys made the Pro Bowl while Schwartz played well. Now all of a sudden, Cleveland improves from 0-16 to 7-8-1 (and 7-6 during games their rookie QB played in) in 2018. How does that happen if our offensive line is weak? Another rookie in our offense RB Nick Chubb had 9 starts, averaged over 5.2 yards a carry and finished with 996 yards rushing and 8 TDs on the ground. Again, I'm not seeing the weakness on the oline. Were there times they could have been more consistent? Sure, just like all areas of the team right? So, last year the worry about this team was Left Tackle and what had been done to replace Joe Thomas. The concern was we only had Bitonio feeling his best NFL niche is OG, 1 undrafted FA Harrison; and if those didn't work we were going to have to try to tap what the Rams couldn't via former 2nd overall pick Greg Robinson. Who knew the best prize would be behind door #3? This year we shift this worry to RG and what had been done to replace Zeitler. Only this time, it looks like the FO added a few guys that started games in 2018 as well as a promising young prospect like Forbes to set up quite a challenge for the starting job at RG. There's also the possibility Corbett emerges as the guy they thought they drafted, which wouldn't suck. As we've seen over the years, not everyone emerges immediately especially on the offensive line. This year we only have to replace 1 starter on the offensive line compared to replacing 2 starters in 2018 (and 1 of those was a LT with 10 Pro Bowls). I think our FO can do it.

Which team improved more - the Giants or Browns? The FAN vote only rewarded the bigger market not the better impact. That was as hard to predict as the sun shining in Florida during the summer. The closest thing you're ever going to see to any human walking on water is a rookie QB taking over an 0-16 franchise in Cleveland and leading it to a 7-6 record in the games he played. Just 2-3 years ago, both conferences had an Offensive Rookie of the Year. Hunt was the AFC Offensive Rookie of the Year and Kamara was the NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year. Just out of curiosity, what was the compelling need to stop doing that in 2018? I guess we need to count our blessings that the idea of switching to a draft lottery didn't enter Roger Goodfella's head yet in 2017 and 2018...

19 reps is DBs, RBs, and WRs territory so if that punch is as important as you emph above - DID they really put too much stock in his combine numbers or just the ones they considered most important for his NFL niche? JMO, but wing span and punch seems way more important to offensive tackles that can face DEs lining up out wide (without any help from the TE). As important as that is for OTs, the ability to cover ground laterally as quickly as possible is what made Joe Thomas elite. OGs don't have nearly as much ground to cover laterally when they face the 320-250 lb DTs in the smaller area between Tackle and Center. They still have to have quick feet for pulling, trapping, reach and hinge, getting to the next tier and beating defenders to an area they only have to seal. Any combine assessments relevant will probably be important to our scouts. Like I said in my previous post, what improved Corbett's attraction was the week of practices at his college all star game. The 1 on 1/Okie drills and the flexibility to kick inside. Keep in mind, none of that involved the NFL complexities that can slow a prospect down to paralysis of over-analysis during his learning curve especially if the prospect has the type of perceived flexibility where they want him learning Guard, Center an Tackle. Before the draft I frequently mentioned how much Hernandez intrigued me. When we didn't pick Chubb at #33 I was like "what the HELL did they possibly find wrong with Hernandez?" He had it from the workout to the game tape (at least against the level of competition he faced). And then in preseason I saw the same Jamie Meder (we ended up cutting) jack Hernandez up backward into the backfield to stuff a run for a loss. Just to make sure, I watched the replay and thought to myself maybe this is what guys that watch way more film of draft prospects than me saw. The Youtube stuff usually only shows us their best moments and it ain't always against competition that will be playing at the next level. I haven't been very patient with Corbett so far which is WHY I asked what made him more gotta have than Nick Chubb at 33 overall. While I appreciated you reciting what took place, it didn't change my feeling about how important is was to nail that first pick of round 2. As I said, there was a great deal of relief and celebration shown by a very experienced Dorsey in the draft process when we selected Corbett; so I'm guessing they put the time in on him that I never did as a fan that could only ask "we drafted who?" In other words, they don't Cliff Notes study this stuff like many of their biggest critics do. For the most part we agree Gumbs. It looks like they've brought in some resumes with NFL starting experience as well as an explosive guy like Forbes to compete. I'm not buying that Forbes is a tackle first any more than Greg Robinson can only play on the right side of the line. FWIW, during the span we had the trio of Joe Thomas, Alex Mack and Mitch Schwartz - the best record we had was 7-9. Last year, we went 7-8-1 with the Harrison & Robinson at LT, Tretter at Center and Hubbard at RT. They all return plus Bitonio as we await who wins the job at RG.

I hope not. Ogunjobi had a really good year for us in 2018. Plus, while upside continues to unfold with him - his first contract is very cap friendly. Signing Richardson upgraded the other DT spot. IMO, adding McCoy where he is at today in terms of age + wear and tear means he can help us most rotating in with the 2 younger starters. Keep em all fresh and they should all just get better IMO. We needed more talent and depth at DT and the trio of Ogunjobi, Richardson and McCoy brings us that...

Barring an unreasonable volume of injuries, I like how we stacked up on the oline. There's quite a few guys above with a sufficient number of starts under their belts to offer us good camp competitions and reliable depth aside from seeing what a rookie like Forbes is capable of. It's also conceivable that younger players get better with experience and the right kind of strength and conditioning guidance. Check out the careers of guys like Paul Farren, Tony Jones, Cody Risien, Hank Fraley, Greg Robinson and many others to see what's possible in that realm. At this time last year, who thought we had a decent solution for the retirement of Joe Thomas especially considering we spent a 1st overall pick on a QB?

Not true at all Gips! He knows where Baker put his alma mater and how he jumper cabled this franchise to just 8 losses from an 0-16 record the year before as a rookie. Anyway, if it was reported 10 teams were interested in you - would it be wise to just visit the 1st team that might not be willing to pay you nearly what others could and accept their very 1st offer? On the radio here, the hosts like to remind fans that fail to appreciate McCoy's 6 Pro Bowl efforts on the field all he's done for the community off the field - exactly how long Suh remained without interest in free agency in comparison to how many teams are competing for McCoy at this time. My guess is McCoy will visit a few teams interested in him and pick the best blend of money and post season opportunity. That should make Cleveland a finalist IMO. However, I think our biggest challenge (besides Ratville) is him wanting to stay in Tampa's division so he can face them twice a year. And I thought our fanbase used to be brutal toward the little feller Colt McCoy. If you heard the Hatefields and Hatfields on the sports radio down here - they make it sound like this McCoy is Oklahoma's biggest bust since the Boz. And that's the kind of sting that might land him in Carolina or New Orleans. Although New Orleans doesn't have a whole lotta money left to pay a 31 year old DT somewhere between 11 and 13 million $ this year.

It is interesting math Gumbs! It IS possible when he impressed teams at the combines in the Okie drills and for his perceived flexibility playing another position inside - it was a false positive. For example, did all the elite defensive linemen attend that all star game/week of practices to show us where Corbett stands among guys that will make NFL rosters and start? Forgot where I heard it, but it was rumored other teams were interested in Corbett in round 2 as well. That's fine; but I still wonder what specifically made him more gotta have than Nick Chubb in round 2? I still remember the cameras on Dorsey celebrating that pick like he landed the steal of that draft. For all I know, time and patience could prove him right. All that said, I like the competition setting up here on the right side. Even though I've read they're giving Forbes a shot at Tackle, the way he can trap and pull (as well as his elite rankings in tests measuring explosion) - Forbes is my dark horse for the RG spot. He looks REALLY polished on film. He doesn't belly back off the line of scrimmage when he traps and pulls, keeps ideal pad height, and does a good job with his feet so that he doesn't over extend.

I'm not sure there's anything I can tell you that will make you feel better Clevsies. I still don't think we got the full story in terms of the why they only wanted him using 2 of the moves he's been taught. I do think there are reasons the man behind the decision never got to share in the way this info went public. If not, things are adding up here like A2+B2=ABBA His position coach Clyde Simmons was a 2 time All Pro and 15 year vet with a 19 sack season and 13 sack season on the resume as a DE. Same guy coached Robert Quinn to 19 sacks in 2013 (a single season franchise record) and helped get Aaron Donald off to a great start hurrying/sacking passers. Hard to see a handcuffing mentality from Simmons there. Bruce Smith also worked with MG on moves and fundamentals thanks in large to GW initiating it. That's a pretty good wealth of knowledge and instructions Williams helped equip MG with. That's why it seems weird GW would do all that only to restrict the volume of moves he wants out of MG if had zero reason to do that. It doesn't make sense especially when GW got career best seasons out of Kearse (as a rookie playing a brand new position) and Will Smith in the same seasons he coached both of those defenses to SBs. Pretty good track record for getting career best sack totals of out talented DEs that doesn't have me thinking chicken shitt DC at all. MG made the Pro Bowl the first season he was healthy in Cleveland. That may not make you feel better; but it's pretty good start to build on. If MG is disappointed like you are - that can be a good thing in the sense we won't have to worry about anyone needing to light his fanny. It's lit! We'll see what happens this year...

While true, it's also possible MG isn't very good or nearly as polished at other moves (he had all off season ahead to work on) to the extent Cyde Simmons and GW didn't want him wasting any important game reps on trial and error. You gotta remember this was the first season he wasn't playing though an injury that kept getting re-aggravated so he's off to a good start. If his biggest asset is 1st step explosion, you hold that hostage with the reaction to tackle mode you speak of. MG is a #1 overall pick here to dictate not react. I think he was doing really good with that so much so that when he was beating a lot of guys - MG began to complain none of the officials were calling what he felt were blatant holds, rinse and repeat. Quite a few of those came when he already got past the tackles that grabbed him from behind. Just me; but I would have rather had Myles not say anything and work on these other moves in the off season. If he shows a position coach or DC the new moves are worth tapping - they'll give it a green light. The constant decisions go for it 4th and 1 stuff when we had the ball should remind you GW isn't a conservative kind of guy at all. Not only that, when he got the HC job in Buffalo years ago - he said on a radio interview that he often chipped in to help the STs in practice and the lateral they call the Music City Miracle from Frank Wychek to Dyson on the KO Return Unit was his idea they practiced until the right situation presented itself. Nothing conservative about the guy. I'm not saying we can't do better at DC; but I am saying GW probably had good enough reasons to just help MG make a Pro Bowl. In our gridiron chess table - the rook didn't need to be a queen. At least not yet...