Cleveland Browns: Can Austin Pasztor be fixed?

Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Austin Pasztor has been the subject of much angst for Browns fans. He has problems in pass protection. Can they be fixed?

Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Austin Pasztor has been the brunt of many Browns fans’ frustration. His play this season has been less than stellar and fans have a legitimate reason to be frustrated. Against the Miami Dolphins, he had the unenviable task of blocking Cameron Wake, who made Mitchell Schwartz look silly a few years ago.

For all of Pasztor’s problems in pass protection he does provide an adequate push in the running game. His presence has helped the Browns become the fourth best rushing team in the NFL. So for all negative that comes in the passing game, the silver lining is his run blocking.

But can Pasztor’s troubles in pass protection be fixed? Before we can examine this question, we must first have a basic understanding of rules of pass protection. This will allow us to have a trained eye when examining his flaws.

LeCharles Bentley explicates the three most important rules of pass protection. Austin Pasztor should be following these basic rules in pass protection.

Get out of the stance

The first rule is to get out of the three-point stance and into a pass protection position. This may seem overtly basic, however, most offensive linemen who played in spread system in college exclusively use a two-point stance. If these same linemen played in a spread system in high school, they will need a lot of coaching by the time they reach the NFL. (The same can be said for the use of leverage in run blocking as well.)

Coming out of a three-point stance, the lineman’s back should be curved, upright and he should be bending at the knees in order to stay under the defender. Staying under the defender is important for gaining leverage when punching.

In the tweet above, Pasztor fails to get into a set stance before engaging the defender. As a result, he never regains his balance and the defender is able to overpower him on the way to the quarterback. Notice also lack of bend in his knees, this robs him of power in his punch. Pasztor struggles with linemen who can convert speed to power because he is not in position to punch with leverage at the point of engagement.

Can this be fixed? Absolutely. Pasztor needs to be quicker off the ball. He needs to be in position to engage the defender from a stance that will provide leverage.

Create Space

The second rule of pass protection is to create space between the lineman and the defender. Better put, the lineman needs to place himself between the quarterback and the defender. The only way to accomplish that is to create space off the line of scrimmage repositioning the offensive lineman between the quarterback and defender.

The Cleveland Browns use a slide step technique as described in LeCharles Bentley’s video. In his book, A View From the O-Line, Howard Mudd dedicates an entire chapter to detailing why this type of protection is the wrong choice for NFL teams given the proliferation of the spread offense in college. For Mudd, the slide step requires an excellent athlete with experience performing the slide technique in order to be successful in the NFL. Mudd prefers the dish protection technique.

Here the dish protection is used by the New York Jets. Instead of creating space, they immediately engage the defender. This allows for more space between the offensive lineman and the quarterback for a bigger pocket. Mudd recommends that teams with lineman that have difficultly creating space, like Pasztor, should use dish protection. This solution will not work in Cleveland because the Browns have the only player Mudd recommends should use the slide step protection in Joe Thomas.

The challenge for the Browns as a team is to find a right tackle who can excel in slide step protection. Reviewing once again that sack fumble Austin Pasztor gave up against the Dolphins, Pasztor fails to get into proper position between the quarterback and defender at the point of engagement. He may simply lack the athleticism to play a slide protection step.

If that is the case, the Browns need to find his replacement at right tackle sooner than later. The problem is that potential replacements, Spencer Drango and Shon Coleman, came from spread systems who use exclusively two-point stances. They need time to learn to play with leverage from a three-point stance. Their best option at right tackle may be Cameron Erving who excelled at left tackle coming out of Florida State’s pro-style offense.

Is this part of Pasztor’s game fixable? Probably not. He is best suited as a guard because he lacks the athleticism to perform the slide step.

Play Inside-Out on the Defender or Dictate Terms

The third rule of pass protection is to play inside-out on the defender, thereby dictating to the defender where he will go. The ability to dictate terms is what separates good linemen from bad linemen. The ability to out think the defender is key. The offensive lineman must be a mastermind who can reposition defenders with their feet and stance. Here is where the real fun of playing offensive line emerges.

The reality of football is the offense dictates to the defense. For the defense to win, it must find a way to take the power of dictation away from the offense. As a result, football has become primarily a mental game. That is why the most important trait of a quarterback is not arm strength. Instead, it is the ability to read defenses and deliver a pass accurately under pressure. Cody Kessler does this well and is why he has a good chance of succeeding in the NFL despite his limitations. But I digress.

An offensive lineman must dictate terms to a defender on pass protection by how they initially set up before engagement. In the slide step protection, a tackle must play inside out. This keeps the inside protected and opens the outside door. The effect of opening the door is that the defensive linemen sees an easy victory around the tackle. However, the route around the tackle is longer, creating more time for the quarterback to throw the ball.

Let’s look once again at Austin Pasztor giving up the sack.

On this play, Pasztor actually sets up in correct inside-out leverage. He forces the defender outside taking the longest route to the quarterback. This route actually makes the Pasztor’s job easy. All he has to do it run the defender behind and around the quarterback who should either throw the ball or step up in the pocket.

In this particular play, the tight end is unable to get in position to receive the screen pass. The delay forces Kessler to hold on to the ball too long. The result is the defender beating Pasztor who failed to both stay low thereby gaining leverage and to beat the defender to the point of engagement. Nonetheless, had the screen play effectively materialized, Kessler gets rid of the ball on time and avoids the hit and fumble.

Can this be fixed? Austin Pasztor consistently gets inside-out position on defenders. This is not a major area of concern for him.

Should the Browns decide to continue with Pasztor at tackle, they must recognize his weaknesses and address them. They must be addressed by improving technique but also schematically by providing help. Right now teams are showing overloading blitzes causing the Browns to slide protect away from Pasztor leaving him one-on-one with defenders. The Browns must find new ways to block the left side overload look thereby preventing Austin Pasztor from being on an island.

As Browns quarterbacks know, Pasztor island is long way from paradise.