The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Browns on lookout for tackles and combine
The Browns will be looking for offensive tackles at the scouting combine this week, Jeff Schudel writes. Plus, why didn’t Koby Altman take questions after John Beilein’s departure?
The NFL Scouting combine begins Feb. 25 in Indianapolis, and that means the Browns’ hunt for offensive linemen and at least one safety has officially begun.
The Browns have the 10th pick in the three-day draft, which begins April 23, after finishing 6-10 last season.
Anyone who watched the Browns play last season would conclude offensive tackle is their most pressing need. Offensive tackles would probably be more accurate.
The Browns already informed free agent-to-be left tackle Greg Robinson they will not re-sign him, and that was before Robinson was arrested at the Mexican border Feb. 17 on charges of marijuana possession with intent to distribute. Customs officials allegedly found 156.9 pounds of marijuana in a car in which Robinson was a passenger. Former Colts receiver Jaquan Bray was driving, according to reports.
Robinson was paid $5.5 million in base salary in 2019. This is not the 1960s, when NFL players needed offseason jobs to feed their families. Why he would plan on selling pot “is beyond my apprehension,” as a Browns receiver from 30 years ago once said, and a topic for another day. Safe to say, though, Robinson is finished in the NFL.
Pro Football Focus ranked Robinson in the bottom half of qualifying left tackles. PFF ranked Chris Hubbard 36th of 38 qualifying right tackles.
As an aside, it should be noted Robinson and Hubbard were acquired by former general manager John Dorsey as free agents in 2018. Now it is up to new GM Andrew Berry to clean up Dorsey’s mess.
NFL.com analyst Charley Casserly, listing one player for each NFL team, has the Browns taking Alabama tackle Jedrick Wills with the 10th pick. Wills is 6-foot-5, 320 pounds.
Wills is one of the most impressive tackles in the draft,” NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote. “He has basketball-caliber foot quickness and the quick hands of a boxer, and all of it is wrapped in a stout, powerful package of bad intentions. His game is tailor-made for the NFL, and his range of success is good starter to All-Pro.”
Tristan Wirfs of Iowa, 6-foot-5, 322 pounds, is another tackle the Browns will likely concentrate on in Indy. CBSSports.com has them taking Wirfs with the 10th pick. Zierlein is not as high on Wirfs as he is on Wills. He believes Wirfs’ best spot might be at guard.
“If Wirfs can learn to
play inside out and add a more effective jumpset into his repertoire, he could take a big step forward,” Zierlein wrote. “Consistency of play could take some time, but he has the ability to become a good starter at either right tackle or guard. “
The website 247sports. com has the Browns taking tackle Andrew Thomas from Georgia. He is 6-foot5, 320 pounds and a “Day One starter” who could play either tackle spot, according to Zierlein.
Coaches, general managers and coaches attending the combine are more interested in the results of physicals and what they can glean from interviewing potential draftees. The workouts are important, but more so to verify what scouts have already determined by watching games live or game tape.
Workouts again will be televised by NFL Network from 4 to 11 p.m. Feb. 27-29 and 2 to 7 p.m. on March 1.
The following groups will go through drills on these days: Feb. 27 — tight ends, quarterbacks and wide receivers. The Browns are in the market for a tight end. Feb. 28 — place kickers, offensive linemen, running backs and special teams players. Feb. 29 — defensive linemen and linebackers. March 1 — defensive backs. The Browns need a free safety because they do not plan to re-sign Damarious Randall.
• The Browns could fix at least one tackle spot in free agency, which begins March 18.
Jack Conklin could be a perfect fit at right tackle. He is 25 years old, so his best football should be ahead of him. Picked eighth by Tennessee in the first round of the 2016 draft, Conklin started 16 games as a rookie and in 2017 and 2019. He suffered a knee injury in 2018 and missed nine games.
There will be competition for Conklin because he is young and an experienced starter.
Brandon Scherff is
headed to free agency after five years starting at right guard for the Redskins. The Browns should make signing him a top priority to upset another Dorsey fumble — trading right guard Kevin Zeitler to the Giants for broken down defensive end Olivier Vernon.
Altman in hiding
Koby Altman is fortunate he is not general manager of the Browns or Indians — the two Cleveland pro teams fans are passionate about. Instead, he is general manager of the Cavaliers, so he can get away with not being at team headquarters Feb. 19 to face the media and answer questions about John Beilein resigning as head coach 54 games into a fiveyear contract.
The Cavaliers are on their fourth head coach in 16 months — Tyronn Lue, fired six games into the 2018-19 season, Larry Drew, fired after going 19-57 the balance of last season, Beilein and now J.B. Bickerstaff.
Altman should have been in Independence to explain why he and team owner Dan Gilbert miscalculated when they thought Beilein would be successful in the NBA after 41 years as a college coach. Beilein did not make the transition well and resigned after going 14-40.
Altman should have been there to explain why he believes Bickerstaff will have more success — assuming Altman does believe that. This is Bickerstaff’s third try at being a head coach. So he was fine dealing with reporters, but he was on his own with no support from his boss.
And then there was Kevin Love.
Love did speak to reporters. He praised Beilein for the impassioned speech Beilein made in front of the team that night after his resignation because official. After that the Cavaliers practiced for the first time under Bickerstaff as head coach.
“It’s not just one man,”
Love said Feb. 19. “Just seeing him being vulnerable and treating us with empathy and respect … For him to look us all in the eye, that willingness to do that, that’s big. That’s real man stuff right there.”
And then Love said: “Us players, I think we in some ways, in a lot of ways, we could have been a lot better. Naturally, we have a lot of young players on this team. The veterans were trying to figure out ways to help the young fellas as well as the coaching staff. When you look at things in their entirety and as an accumulation, that’s when you start to see the story.”
Others have made the jump from college to pro basketball successfully. Brad Stevens was an assistant coach at Butler from 2001-07 and then head coach there from 2007-08 through 2013 before being hire by the Celtics. He is still there. The difference is Stevens was only 36 years old when he was hired. Beilein was 66.
It is fair to wonder if Beilein would have been more successful had Love been a firmer bridge between Beilein and Love’s teammates.
I didn’t know that
… Until I read my Snapple bottle cap.
The density of Saturn is lower than that of water. Saturn would float if it could be placed in a gigantic bathtub. … John Adams was the only president to be defeated by his vice president, Thomas Jefferson. … Abraham Lincoln’s dog Fido was the first “First Dog” to be photographed. … In 1916, Jeanette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress. … Galapagos turtles can take up to three weeks to digest a meal. … There are more French restaurants in New York City than in Paris. … Queen Cleopatra of Egypt was not Egyptian.