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 Verfasst am: 15.01.2019, 09:24 Titel:
Cleveland Browns Training Camp 2018: S Preview |
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| http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/baker-mayfield-jersey , Part 1 At last, we are on to our final positional preview for Cleveland Browns training camp! We will take a look at the safeties in two parts; part one will look at the starters and the two players most closely behind them on the depth chart.Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports1. Jabrill Peppers - Starting Strong SafetyHeight: 5-11 | Weight: 213 lbs | Age: 22Experience: 2 years | College: MichiganIt took long enough.After seeing Jabrill Peppers stuck as the deep free safety for most of 2017, Gregg Williams has finally come around on the obvious decision to move him to the box as a strong safety in 2018. Williams will tout the invaluable position versatility that Peppers now has as a result of last year, but I don’t care what he says, it was his worst personnel decision by far last year.Peppers needs to be near the line of scrimmage where he has a better chance at making an impact on the ball as opposed to dictating whether teams throw it deep or not. According to Pro Football Focus, Peppers played 88.2% of his snaps at free safety from Weeks 1-15 as a rookie, with poor results (i.e. remember how many poor angles he took when having to come up to make a tackle in the open field). However, in the final two weeks, only 32.1% of his snaps were at free safety due to an injury to Derrick Kindred, and Peppers responded with “his best run-defense grade of the year” in Week 16 and an interception to go along with a solid outing in Week 17.Final Roster Odds: 100%Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports2. Damarious Randall - Starting Free SafetyHeight: 5-11 | Weight: 196 lbs | Age: 25Experience: 4 years | College: Arizona StateThe Browns acquired Damarious Randall from the Packers this offseason and made the immediate decision to switch him from cornerback to free safety. The past three years, he has mostly played cornerback in the NFL, but has experience at the safety spot from his college days at Arizona State. The Browns’ front office is also familiar with Randall.In terms of his personality, there is no doubt that Randall isn’t afraid to be a talker. He mixed it up on social media last year regarding Josh Gordon after the two faced each other in Cleveland. Then, this offseason, he openly cheered for Steph Curry against the Cavaliers, and had his “jersey promise” tweet go so viral that it became the most viral sports tweet by an athlete of all time.I personally liked some of the feisty play I saw out of Randall last year. I don’t know how that translates to the free safety spot where he will be lonely without a player within 30 yards of him. The main element I am looking for is how his open field tackling is if Randall ends up being the last line of defense. Here is what the Browns’ defensive backs coach said about Randall a few weeks ago:Final Roster Odds: 99%Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports3. Derrick Kindred - Backup Strong SafetyHeight: 5-10 | Weight: 210 lbs | Age: 24Experience: 3 years | College: TCUMake no mistake about it: Derrick Kindred is still in Gregg Williams’ plans on defense. Even though we were up in arms about Jabrill Peppers not being the starting strong safety last year, the truth is that Kindred did a fine job as the starter in his own right.This offseason, Williams said Kindred was “one of the best strong safeties he’s had the chance to coach in his career in the run game and zone pass game.” Kindred was one of the Browns’ top-5 graded defenders last season and is definitely a force as a run-stopper. The task for Williams will be how he finds playing time for both Kindred and Peppers. This is a great case where Williams should see it as a blessing rather than a curse, because he can substitute and mix-and-match to keep guys fresh. I think there could be times we also see three safeties in the game Authentic Baker Mayfield Jersey , with Peppers playing more of a specialty role depending on the package.Final Roster Odds: 99%Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports4. Derron Smith - Backup SafetyHeight: 5-10 | Weight: 200 lbs | Age: 26Experience: 4 years | College: Fresno StateDerron Smith was a 6th round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2015, so Hue Jackson had some familiarity with him. He only had 13 career tackles with Cincinnati before picked plucked off of their practice squad in mid-November of 2017. Smith played in 7 games with the Browns, registering 4 tackles.The Browns will be looking for a backup free safety in camp this year, but Smith won’t have much of a leg up for that spot compared to the four undrafted rookie free agents who will appear in Part 2 of our safety preview. Smith has primarily been a special teams contributor, but maybe a change of scenery and being in camp with the team for the first time will help him make more of an impression.Final Roster Odds: 30% With their defense unable to stop anybody, the Buccaneers fired their coordinator and got a better showing — and a slump-busting win — the next time out.The Bengals won't be doing anything so drastic, even though they've got significant issues that came to the forefront during their second-worst drubbing under coach Marvin Lewis. All they can do is hope players get healthy and things get better before it all slips away.Their matchup Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium could be a pivotal moment heading into the season's midpoint."I still believe we're in great shape," Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd said. "I don't think we're a bad team or we're coming off a week we can't overcome. But we've got to tighten up now."Tampa Bay (3-3) ended a three-game slide that cost defensive coordinator Mike Smith his job. He was replaced last week by former Bucs assistant coach Mark Duffner, who simplified the game plan. The Buccaneers held Cleveland to 305 total yards and had five sacks during a 26-23 overtime victory .The showing was encouraging, and so is the upcoming schedule. Tampa Bay is nearing the end of a stretch of four road games out of five, with one more at Carolina next week. Then the Buccaneers play four of five at home."How we won the game Sunday — if we continue doing that, I think we'll be fine," said defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who has had a sack in each of the last five games.It's not so clear cut for the Bengals (4-3), who have squandered much of their fast start with a last-minute home loss to Pittsburgh and a 45-10 loss at Kansas City last Sunday night. The defense got shredded for 551 yards, the offense managed a season-low 239 total yards, and there were missed tackles and botched plays that figured in their second-biggest margin of defeat during Lewis' 16 seasons.The game on Sunday begins a favorable stretch for the Bengals: four of five at home. They've already fallen out of first place in the AFC North and can't slip any more behind."This game is important for us, and we want to end the first half of the season the right way," quarterback Andy Dalton said.Five things to watch at Paul Brown Stadium:BETTER DThe Buccaneers' defense was much better vs. Cleveland Greg Joseph Jersey Elite , but it still ranks last in pass defense. Middle linebacker Kwon Alexander and backup linebacker Jack Cichy suffered season-ending knee injuries against the Browns, forcing a shuffle at the position. Adarius Taylor moves from outside linebacker to the middle, and Devante Bond — who rejoined the team last week after being released in September — takes over at the outside spot."That's a great linebacker we lost," Pierre-Paul said of Alexander.THIRD TIMEJameis Winston makes his third start since returning from a suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. The Buccaneers' offense is ranked No. 1 in the league. Winston threw for 365 yards against the Browns but was sacked four times, threw a pair of interceptions and lost a fumble, a reminder of his biggest problem: turnovers."It's costing us points and putting us at risk," offensive coordinator Todd Monken said.DALTON'S CHALLENGEDalton got off to his best start since 2015 , throwing for 11 touchdowns in the first four games. The offense has stalled in the last three, with Dalton throwing for only four touchdowns. The Bengals have been hurt by the loss of two tight ends and running back Giovani Bernard. They were one-dimensional in the drubbing at Kansas City, with receiver A.J. Green accounting for 110 of their 139 total yards in the first half. They'll be looking to get running back Joe Mixon and the other receivers more heavily involved against the Buccaneers."A.J. is going to get his — he deserves it, and he should," Dalton said. "He's a big part of why this offense has been successful throughout the years. But if we can spread the ball around, it helps."FLAT AND FLATTENEDThe Bengals' defense played its sloppiest game in Kansas City, with missed tackles helping the Chiefs pile up those 551 yards. Cincinnati's defense is ranked second to last in the league in yards allowed and third worst in points allowed."We've just got to have that fire," cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said. "We didn't play with enough fire."OLD FRIENDSLewis and Bucs coach Dirk Koetter have been close friends since they were teammates at Idaho State from 1978-80. They were in each other's weddings. They remain close even as they get set to try to beat each other."When you're playing each other, I don't know if you'd say it's special because both guys want their team to win," Koetter said. "We'll be rooting against each other."AP Sports Writer Fred Goodall contributed to this report. Custom Chicago Bears Jerseys |
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