The Offensive Line | Barking Hard

The Offensive Line

OconRecon

OconRecon

If you're juiceless, you're useless
I think many here would agree, it's not the shambles the national media would like to have everyone think. We lost Mack and Schwartz, both who had their fill of Cleveland apparently - so who wants guys who don't want to be here. Not Hue for sure, nor any of us.

The current roster includes:

74 Erving, Cameron OG 6-5 313 23 2 Florida State
65 Johnson, Kaleb OG 6-4 316 23 1 Rutgers
75 Bitonio, Joel OL 6-4 305 24 3 Nevada
61 Bowie, Michael OL 6-5 320 24 4 Northeastern State (Okla.)
62 Gerhart, Garth OL 6-1 310 27 2 Arizona State
77 Greco, John OL 6-4 318 31 9 Toledo
67 Pasztor, Austin OL 6-7 308 25 4 Virginia
73 Thomas, Joe OL 6-6 312 31 10 Wisconsin
69 Ladson, Erle OT 6-6 346 24 1 Delaware
68 Boffeli, Conor G 6-4 304 24 1 Iowa
78 Bailey, Alvin T 6-3 320 24 4 Arkansas
79 France, Dan T 6-5 315 25 1 Michigan State
00 Coleman, Shon OL 6-7 310 R Auburn
00 Drango, Spencer OL 6-6 315 R Baylor
00 Mike Matthews C 6-2 294 Texas A&M

Fwiw, the shirts-and-shorts O line has been JT-JB-Cam-JG-MB

JT and JB are set.
Cam's the center, well, it's his job to lose, it's his best position, and he is a driven "student of the game" type of player.
Greco is avg at worst, and maybe a little better than avg

Then RT will be the best of Pasztor, Bowie, Coleman, and Drango. Decent chance one of them doesn't suck.

Most of the "experts" have Drango bumping to guard, but Hue says he'll open his Browns tenure competing for the RT spot.

Additionally, Hue's scheme should help our o-line. I liked Flip, but he was green. Hue is not.

You could argue of all the rooms on offense (WR, RB, QB, TE, and O line), this still may be the most settled and stable.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Browns *potential* starting O-line: <br><br>LT - Thomas<br>LG - Bitonio<br>C - Erving<br>RG - Greco <br>RT - Coleman<br><br>All of them started at LT in college.</p>— Brent Sobleski (@brentsobleski) <a href="https://twitter.com/brentsobleski/status/727530343536967680">May 3, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

(sorry to start another thread guys, but I love the O line)
 
Don't ever apologize about starting a thread Ocon :P. The only topic I really want to keep centralized is QB because it can bleed in to so many other discussions.

I've been saying all offseason that losing Mack and Schwartz is not the end of the world. That rookie we drafted should compete for a spot and I wouldn't be surprised to see Pasztor to starting somewhere. I expect improvement from Erving playing in a position that he is dedicated to and one natural to him plus being in good shape this year. The right side of the line is a free-for-all but I trust the coaches to pick the best to win.
 
Browns have steadily drafted OL and it'd paid off in a ton of competition here. Remember that over the last few games Erving started playing better, even though he wasn't at center yet, or settled into one position. Pasztor was a bit of a revelation, part of that ending three game stretch averaging over 160 yards rushing a game with more of a spread, not so bunched up (we'll see more of that with RG3).

Easy to forget that Michael Bowie started a lot of games in Seattle's Super Bowl run and they hated losing him. He's healthy now. Then we drafted Shaun Coleman and Spencer Drango along with bringing in Alvin Bailey. Oh, and Mike Matthews. There was decent competition for him so maybe he adds 10 pounds of muscle and sticks.

Lots of talent here. Same for WR/TE and I actually like our RBs a lot. If RG3 reverts to the guy he was in college and his rookie year, this could get real fun, real fast. Fast being the key word with RG3 and Coleman!
 
Yeah, it's interesting to see how the OL group has steadily grown and improved to the point that I don't even know if either OL draft pick makes the roster outright.

I mean, we actually DRAFTED competition for one kinda-sorta open spot on the line. That's kinda crazy, no?

But a lot -- a LOT -- hinges on Erving living up to his pick/potential. If he looks like Pancake Cam in live action, RGIII will become RGRetread pretty quickly.
 
While there maybe a lot of competition I'm not sold on talent. Bowie may be healthy, but who knows if he'll get back to the level he was at when starting for Seattle. If he can't and Erving still sucks this offensive line looks really thin and will rely on Coleman or Bailey at RT, Greco at Center and Pazstor at RG.

I can see the defenses overload on the right side already.
 
I hope RG can throw well rolling to his left.....For the homers with blinders on....imagine if this was pittspuke fielding this o line...we load the rt side and go after them with everything we have.... surely they and everyone else will do the same. I fear for RG's health behind this swiss cheese configuration.... down set OUCH
 
Brownsfan1956 said:
I hope RG can throw well rolling to his left.....For the homers with blinders on....imagine if this was pittspuke fielding this o line...we load the rt side and go after them with everything we have.... surely they and everyone else will do the same. I fear for RG's health behind this swiss cheese configuration.... down set OUCH
Click to expand...

Do you see any strengths on the team?
 
It's numbers, which is part of Moneyball. Sure, maybe Bowie or Coleman or Drango or Bailey or Erving or Pasztor won't live up to the hope. But ALL of them failing? Not likely unless you're just determined to be pessimistic.

One of the national guys tweeted that he remembers Drango going into his senior year as a possible/probable first round pick. He was curious why he fell to the 5th. Coleman was often predicted for round 2 (and right tackle, hence round 2), had a minor red cross for his knee, but it was just an MCL.

Nobody comes with a guarantee, but we already have the best left tackle in football, a near first rounder at left guard, and a first round center. Greco is a very good right guard (and a former 3rd round pick) who's been playing upper-third starting guard for a few years now. The best of the five guys above not named Erving will start at RT... and the best of that kind of bake-off is gonna be very good.

The Browns have continued picking OL (Bitonio, Erving, Coleman, Drango), so I'm not sure why we'd feel an negativity about it.
 
Yep, ...

JT - 1st rounder
JB - near 1st rounder
Mack - 1st rounder
JG - quality FA
Schwartz - near 1st rounder

... and we sat near the top of the draft.

Coaching and QB-ing and skill guys matter. Ray believed build the line, create big holes, and any decent RB can run wild.

Placing all the emphasis on the O line didn't work. Maybe it was lack of everything else, but for now, I'm glad to see attention to other aspects.

Maybe an RB instead of a WR would have been nice in the draft, but when Hollywood Higgins stares you in the face, you take him.

Who's our O line coach again? One of those would be nice this year. Keeping Cam at one position also nice.

Mike Matthews is supposed to be a mean cuss. One of two centers who didn't give up a sack last year. He's undersized with non-traditional arm length, but heck, he's worth $7500 guaranteed just to see. He's a little undersized, about the size of Jeff Faine.
 
I like my players to have this approach. Positive and productive attitudes can only help. Really rooting for this kid.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's s GREAT day to be ALIVE!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Blessed?src=hash">#Blessed</a></p>— Cameron Erving (@BigErv_75) <a href="https://twitter.com/BigErv_75/status/727818103850209281">May 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
I really think something interesting will be done with the right side of the line.
I can easily see it being Pasztur & Coleman.

Drango can turn into a nice pick.
If he came out last season, he was going to be a 2nd Round pick... he was a LT pegged potentially for the top 10 of the draft heading into the 2014 season.
Drango's knock since is that his feet aren't light. He doesn't look the part of the top college LT... but he's EFFECTIVE like it. His guys just DON'T get to the QB, and he's a real mauler in the run game. Super smart, too & high character.

I think CLE took him not out of need or a plan for him, but because he was so much higher on their board as a value than about anyone else in the 5th Round when they took him. You just take those guys, and they have a way of working into your lineup.


Shon Coleman and Spencer Drango were niiiice picks... probably top 5-6 OL on our whole draft board of all OL.
 
The offensive line is going to be a challenge, no doubt. We'll see who can play and who can't and get ready to draft some better linemen next year if need be.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what our coaching staff can do with all our young O-linemen.
 
Really plays into Peter King's awesome article on the Browns' very defined new approach: Over a long period of time, the draft is seen as what it is, a numbers game. About half the top third of round one make it... and about half the bottom third of round one make it. The best teams are built through the draft and the best drafts are about quantity.

Take more shots and you'll hit more bullseyes. Take fewer shots, even higher up, and you'll hit fewer bullseyes.

On the line, the Browns have brought in a lot of guys to compete, not randomly mind you but based on their analytics and scouting. Erving, Bailey, Coleman, Drango, Pasztor, Bowie, and Matthews compete to replace Mack and Schwartz. That's seven guys, each with reasons you should expect them to be good or even very good.

And two guys leaving whose presence didn't end up meaning shit as far as the bottom line.
 
Shep said:
Really plays into Peter King's awesome article on the Browns' very defined new approach: Over a long period of time, the draft is seen as what it is, a numbers game. About half the top third of round one make it... and about half the bottom third of round one make it. The best teams are built through the draft and the best drafts are about quantity.

Take more shots and you'll hit more bullseyes. Take fewer shots, even higher up, and you'll hit fewer bullseyes.

On the line, the Browns have brought in a lot of guys to compete, not randomly mind you but based on their analytics and scouting. Erving, Bailey, Coleman, Drango, Pasztor, Bowie, and Matthews compete to replace Mack and Schwartz. That's seven guys, each with reasons you should expect them to be good or even very good.

And two guys leaving whose presence didn't end up meaning shit as far as the bottom line.
Click to expand...


The reality is that the guys brought in may end up better fits for Hues system then the zone blocking strength guys that left.

I do expect Bitonio to be a lot better fit then he was in the ZBS and he was good there. Also Greco is a better fit in a power blocking scheme. Thus my problem with Erving whose best attribute is his feet and not his power. The guys we drafted are in no way ZBS guys. They are a bit nasty, which I love.
 
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