The Opening Drive 12/5: Finishing Mailbag Questions and Friday Special Teams Analysis
It's late but full of great questions and details. Kickoff your weekend the right way.
Happy Friday, everyone! We’re back for the usual here at BFB where I finish up any leftover questions from the latest Mailbag Edition of the podcast — which you can listen to here.
Let’s get it rolling.
Anyone else getting 2018 vibes from this draft? Multiple options for QB in the top 10, but none are the clear and obvious choice. There’s also an intriguing toolsy option who will probably go late first round. Browns, Jets, and Cardinals all are candidates again to pick a QB in the top 10.
We just need to find our guy so I can stop dwelling on past mistakes and Jake can finally break down some good QB tape.
Mason Herman
I need that good quarterback tape! I will say I do think there is a strong chance there can be more than the three popular names who end up coming out and approach the top of the first round. If LaNorris Sellers and Arch Manning do decide to make the leap then I will agree with you. Right now, though, it feels like three guys with one of them going in the later first round.
I could argue that Judkins, Fannin, and Jeudy are the only three starting caliber offensive players under contract next year. Is it even possible to field a competitive offense next year? Who would you consider re-signing?
Jacob Deitrick
I think they will have some work to do on that offensive line but there are enough mid-level talents to give them a chance. But there is no doubt they will need to get aggressive on the surrounding weapons and land some of these picks to get things moving in the right direction and it is far from guaranteed. The following are names I would prefer to see come back (either through rookie contract or another one-year deal) outside of who you mentioned:
Teven Jenkins
KT Leveston
Dawand Jones
Cedric Tillman
Malachi Corley
Jamari Thrash
Joel Bitonio
Luke Wypler
Zak Zinter
Dylan Sampson
Have you seen growth from Tommy Rees as a play caller from his first game to current? In a world where Kevin stays next year (as Brad has pointed out - he doesn’t necessarily act like a coach on the hot seat) is there a chance that a Tommy Rees offense could be top 15? I feel like Jake has been less critical of some of the play designs and sequencing since Rees took over, but that might also just reflect Jake’s exhaustion with the whole offensive mess.
Andres
I have seen a more encouraging process from Tommy Rees than I did from Kevin Stefanski this season. He is doing his best work to get the ball into the players hands at the right parts of the field and pairing his run and pass better than earlier in the season. I still think they lack the necessary creativity and their players don’t buy in enough to the process in place but that is why we are discussing bigger changes. Rees interviewed at Penn State and I do think more colleges will come calling for his services. Remains to be seen.
If the Browns were to double down on receiver within the first four rounds of this draft, what are some of your favorite complimentary prospects that you would be interested in selecting?
Ryan
Carnell Tate paired with Germie Bernard (Alabama) would be two fun style fits. Another would be Makai Lemon and then Omar Cooper Jr. from Indiana in the late second or third round. Good stylistic meshes there. We will dig into those details this off-season.
What is Jon Stephanson’s football resume? Dude is awesome on the defensive breakdowns...
Dave Streett
He’s a fantastic high school football coach here in Central Ohio. He runs a defense as a coordinator and we are lucky to have his insights.
Lots of feelings about how badly the Browns draft. This may be a better topic for the offseason. Comparing Browns hit rate by position by round compared to league averages to see if they have a blind spot on certain positions or if it just feels that way as we suffer through another season. Thanks!
Roy Huck
I promise you Roy we will dig into those exact details this offseason. It is a huge draft coming to capitalize off what they did this past season. Can’t wait to get into those details.
Below you’ll find the latest in the BFB catalog for supporters to dig into. Click the link to become a supporter if you haven’t already, and enjoy all the latest from Browns Film Breakdown.
Latest Podcasts:
Latest Film Rooms:
Latest Articles:
Below you will find your weekly Special Teams update in the form of EPA. After another rough performance, the Browns have locked in one of the worst units of the season yet somehow there are a few worse than the current version we are watching weekly.
DVOA is far less kind to the Browns, though. They have one of the worst special teams DVOAs through 12 games since 1978. The Browns are dead last in net punting value, 28th in kickoffs and punt returns, 27th in kick returns, and 23rd in FG/XP.
Punt Return
Gage Larvadain and the punt return team had a nightmare day. He fumbled his first return but was fortunate enough to recover it while on the ground.
His next return had a team-driven mishap where his own man blocking the gunner ran into him and nearly forced a nightmare.
Then the nightmare hit as Larvadain muffed one off his chest that handed the game over to the 49ers at that point. No evaluation really needed here. Just catch the ball.
Punt Coverage
For the day, Corey Bojorquez averaged 44.5 yards per punt so it wasn’t an awful day all around but the day was mired by the one single return. Sky Moore took this one
Bubba Ventrone noted this week with the media, “yeah, if you go back and watch the clip, we have seven guys right at the point of attack. We need to just make a tackle.”
Bojorquez is still among the worst in the league for EPA results and is not consistently helping out his coverage unit because of kicks that travel too deep without proper hang time or misses on the directional kicking.
Adding to this, since Ventrone took over as special teams coordinator in 2023, the Browns are the only team in the NFL that has allowed 3 touchdowns on kick AND punt returns.
No other team in the NFL has allowed more than 3 return TDs during that timeframe.
Kickoff and Kickoff Return
These phases were quiet on the day but the Browns didn’t generate much of anything on most of their returns. Below you will see how they have struggled to generate positive field position.
The highlight of the day, or well the low-light, was Malachi Corley catching the football at the 6-yard line right on the sideline instead of letting this ball simply roll out of bounds. Cannot happen. He could have also just placed his foot on the sideline while catching the ball for the same impact to get the ball out to the 40-yard line.
From Ventrone: “So, what you can do in that situation – I think that the ball had enough momentum on it that it was going to just go out of bounds anyway. But we tell our guys that if it’s close and the ball was like, say the ball is like rolling near the sideline, establish your foot out of bounds and then you can contact the ball, and the ball would go to the 40. So, I just think, being a…I would say, he’s new to the position, hasn’t had a ton of experience back there. I think with experience that he’ll continue to improve and get better. Obviously, it was unfortunate when the drive start there, but I’m confident that these guys are going to continue to work and push through it.”
Field Goal and Field Goal Block
Quiet day for this phase as the Browns didn’t get a single kick out of Szmyt. They didn’t attempt any field goals and went for a two-point conversion on their lone touchdown. The 49ers attempted two short field goals that the Browns did not aggressively rush.
Overall Special Teams Grade: (F) If I could go lower with this grade, I would. The most annoying part is being in Week 13 and still having these issues persist week after week. The punt coverage is as bad as the NFL has and they miss so many important details. Special teams has directly cost the Browns games in two of their last four games. Unacceptable.
Browns Film Breakdown will return soon with some fresh All-22 weekend content.
Only question is if Ventrone will have some high level company when he is shown the door. Such has been the mediocrity, my feelings are, yes.