The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
McDowell signing working for Browns
Bringing in defensive lineman Malik McDowell has paid off, based on early returns, Jeff Schudel writes. Plus, thoughts on the Indians winning recent trades.
It took all of seven seconds for Malik McDowell to make an impact after five years of not playing in a meaningful football game.
McDowell, not Andrew Billings, started at defensive tackle for the Browns on Sept. 12 alongside Malik Jackson in the season opener with the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes handed the ball to running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire on Kansas City’s first offensive play. McDowell shot quickly through a gap in the Chief’s offensive line and spilled Edwards-Helaire for a two-yard loss.
McDowell last played in 2016 at Michigan State. The Seahawks drafted him in the second round in 2017, but he never played for the Seahawks because he suffered a severe head injury in an ATV accident and then was arrested four times. He spent three months in jail.
The Browns took a chance on him and McDowell rewarded them, just as he said he would.
Whether McDowell starts against the runoriented Texans in the Browns home opener Sept. 19 will be revealed the first time Houston has the ball. But he played 69 percent of the defensive plays (45 snaps) against the Chiefs and did nothing to have his playing time diminished.
“I was really happy for him on that (first play),” defensive line coach Chris Kiffin said. “The way we play kind of fits him — attack, penetrate, disrupt, get off and make plays and then once you get off and attack, then get to the ball.
“There’s still a lot for him to learn and get better at. Just refine the technique getting back to football, understand those blocking schemes and experience being out there. Everything is going to be a first for him. Now we’re in the home crowd so he’s going to wonder why it’s really loud on third down when he’s out there. With him, it’s fun to watch the growth, but there is still a lot to work on.”
Joel Bitonio, the starting left guard, got a closeup view of McDowell in training camp. Starters face the scout team in practice once the season is underway. Bitonio also got a scouting report on McDowell from Browns right tackle Jack Conklin who was McDowell’s teammate at Michigan State.
“Jack was like, ‘Yeah, he was a beast at Michigan State. When he was in his prime at Michigan State, he was killing people.’ And he kept evolving, kept evolving and then all of a sudden he’s starting for us in the first game, playing well. It’s pretty impressive.
“You give people second chances in this life, and some people take advantage of it. It’s a great story and hopefully he keeps it rolling.”
McDowell put on 14 pounds since the start of training camp in late July.
• If you watched the Browns-Chiefs game, you might have choked on your pretzels or screamed at the television when you saw Browns returner Donovan Peoples-Jones grab at a punted ball after a Chiefs player touched. PeoplesJones did not take the ball away cleanly and Chiefs defensive back Chris Lammons ended up with it at the Browns’ 1, but it was the Browns’ ball.
It turns out it was a heads-up play by PeoplesJones.
“Their entire crowd didn’t know the rule, and I don’t think half of their team knew the rule, but our guys knew the rule,” Browns special teams coach Mike Priefer said. “We cover that a lot.
“When our opponent punts the ball, if they touch it first, we can pick it up at no cost, meaning we can pick it up and run 30 yards and fumble and if they recover, we get the ball where they touched it first. It’s the rule of first touch on a punt team. That’s why on our punt team, if we’re going to down the ball. We want to down the ball and hand the ball to the official so they don’t have an opportunity to pick it up and run with it.”
The Browns’ return game still needs polishing, though. Rookie Demetric Felton returned one punt for four yards and one kick for 13 yards. Priefer said Felton was nervous in his pro debut.
Tribe winning trades
It has been written before, but it is worth repeating; Indians president Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff come off on the good end of trades much more frequently than the other way around.
We used this space last week to praise trading pitcher Mike Clevinger and outfielder Greg Allen to the Padres for pitcher Can Quantrill, catcher Austin Hedges, infielder Owen Miller, outfielder Josh Naylor plus infield prospect Gabriel Arias and pitching prospect Joey Cantillo.
The Indians facing former Tribe pitcher Corey Kluber in their game with the Yankees on Sept. 17 in the Bronx is a reminder of how they fleeced the Rangers in December 2019.
The Tribe traded Kluber to Texas for outfielder Delino DeShields and relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase.
Kluber was injured in his first start for the Rangers. They did not re-sign him after the 2020 season and he signed as a free agent with the Yankees. He threw a no-hitter in the spring and was injured in his next start. He pitched six shutout innings against the Tribe on Sept. 17, but the trade with the Rangers was still won by the Indians.
DeShields did not pan out, but Clase certainly has. He has pitched 62 2/3 innings over 64 games and has 23 saves. He hasn’t been perfect, as his 3-5 record reflects, but he is only 23 years old. He doesn’t qualify for arbitration until 2024 and isn’t a free agent until 2027.
Acquiring players with years of club control remaining is paramount to trades Antonetti and Chernoff make.
Franmil Reyes and lefthanded pitcher Logan Allen were acquired in a three-team trade in which the Indians sent pitcher Trevor Bauer to the Reds. Bauer won the Cy Young Award in 2020, but the Reds could not afford to keep him. He signed a three-year, $104 million contract with the Dodgers, and now his future is in doubt after being accused of sexual assault by a San Diego woman.
Reyes has 29 home runs and 77 RBI in 101 games with the Indians this season. He is arbitration eligible this coming winter. He doesn’t hit free agency until 2025.
Allen is a work in progress, but he is a lefthanded starter and only 24 years old, so the Indians aren’t about to give up on him just because he is 1-7 with a 7.11 ERA. He might need another year in Columbus before he is ready. He was part of the rotation to start the season but clearly was not ready to face Major League hitting.
I didn’t know that
… until I read my Snapple bottle cap.
The king of hearts in a deck of playing cards is the only king without a mustache. … Elephants are capable of swimming 20 miles a day. … Forty is the only number whose letters are in alphabetical order. … Spiny lobsters migrate in groups of 50 or more, forming a conga line on the ocean floor. … Plants can run a fever if they get sick. … Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.