The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Wills has been ‘a sponge’ so far
New O-Line coach Callahan teaching techniques via video
Bill Callahan has been a puzzle solver his entire coaching career, so piecing together the Browns’ offensive line in a virtual world with no handson coaching is no big deal for him.
“I went through 72 offensive line combinations in two years at Washington,” Callahan said May 14 on a Zoom conference with reporters covering the Browns. “We were just riddled with injuries.”
Callahan has been coaching for 40 years. Most of that time has been spent coaching offensive lines in either college or the NFL.
This is Callahan’s first season with the Browns after five years with the Redskins. He is trying to convert rookie first-round draft pick Jedrick Wills from a college right tackle to an NFL left tackle and trying to find a right guard.
Right tackle Jack Conklin, signed in free agency after four seasons with Tennessee, is also new to the Browns. Conklin is familiar with the wide zone blocking scheme Callahan is teaching with Zoom and other forms of social media while NFL facilities remain closed because of the novel coronavirus.
As for Wills, Callahan has total confidence the 10th overall pick of the draft last month will make the transition smoothly.
“I think whenever you draft a player as high as we drafted Jedrick, I’ve always felt that you have to plug him in and play him immediately,” Callahan said.
“That’s why you draft him. No, that does not concern me, scare me or bother me in any respect. I’m quite confident that he is capable of being our LT.
“We’ve given him a number of drills to do, and we’ve just really started out with real basic things. We’ve gathered a lot of video. He sends the video back and I can coach him through all of the nuances and techniques of what we want to get him into. He’s really a sponge of information. He’s absorbed all the content that you can give him and he wants more. I’m really excited about him. I’m eager to at some point get on the field with him.”
The wide zone blocking scheme head coach Kevin
Stefanski involves the offensive linemen blocking a designated area on run plays rather than man-toman blocking.
“I like it because it has a simplicity to it,” Callahan said. “There’s a physicality you can really grow in. All of those aspects of what you’re looking for in a run game, whether it be toughness, being hardcore, being physical, and not stressing your linemen too much with too many schemes. I think there is a real value in that.
“You talk about a system fit; you couldn’t get a more perfect tackle in free agency than Jack. He fits the mode for the wide zone game and his pass protection sets, how he short sets and he jumps at the line of scrimmage, which is a tough skill to acquire. Then of course in third down and later downs, you can watch him
set vertically and you can see his variance of sets. He has the toolbox and he has the skillset to do quite well.”
Sixty percent of the offensive line could be overhauled. Both tackles will be different and the right guard might be different, too.
“I’m still getting familiarized with all the players,” Callahan said. “I really believe we have some excellent players in there in Wyatt Teller, Drew Forbes, Colby Gossett and Willie Wright.
“There are a lot of candidates. There will be a lot of time for competition. I think that will sort itself out as we move along. It’s always such a change, and we’re just going to keep assessing and evaluating the position as we move forward.”
Teller started the final nine games at right guard last season after replacing Eric Kush.