Cleveland Browns: Week 2 film room session
Danny Shelton struggled in his rookie season as he admitted he was unprepared and played at a heavier weight. This season, Shelton has got straight to business as the Browns second-year nose tackle lost close to 30 pounds this offseason to get faster and more athletic to play in Ray Horton‘s defensive fronts.
Thus far in the two weeks of the season, Shelton has showcased his strength and athleticism to play stout against both the run and pass. In the season opener against Philadelphia, Shelton was one of the highest graded defenders for the Browns by Pro Football Focus.
Top #Browns DEF grades @PFF:
— Dawgs By Nature (@DawgsByNature) September 12, 2016
ILB Chris Kirksey: 83.2
ILB Demario Davis: 78.9
S Jordan Poyer: 76.4
CB Joe Haden: 75.9
NT Danny Shelton: 72.7
Shelton has done an excellent job overall of fighting off double teams, clogging the middle and finding the ball carrier to make stops around the line of scrimmage. The lighter Shelton has also been able to play on third downs as he has collapsed the pocket and forced pressure a few times so far.
Danny Shelton #55 fights double team, goes with play flow to make run stop for no gain. Shows athleticism/strength, much improved thus far pic.twitter.com/6qYDzODFrZ
— Eric Szczepinski (@eszczepinski2) September 20, 2016
On this play, Shelton is double-teamed by the center and right guard on a power run play to the right side. Shelton does an excellent job of using his strength to fight the double team and go with the natural play flow.
The result is that Shelton meets the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage to make the tackle for no gain. Shelton shows his athleticism and strength to not only absorb the double team but fight it off and make positive plays for the defensive front against the run.