Cleveland Browns: Three brutally honest insights

Browns need help at guard

If Spencer Drango is the primary backup interior offensive lineman, then the Browns are in some serious trouble. It befuddles me how Drango continues to play with the first-team offense. Beyond praying for Kevin Zeitler to return, Browns fans need to pray that general manager John Dorsey can pick up a swing interior lineman after roster cuts.

Drango has proven that he cannot start in the NFL at guard or at tackle. To my knowledge he has yet to try his hand at center. There is a place for players like Drango in the NFL. But Browns fans should be hoping that place is not Cleveland.

Austin Corbett is improving at left guard but continues to struggle with the details. Although this may sound negative, it is not. Corbett has improved significantly since his first preseason game. He is starting to understand the difference of playing in the interior as opposed to playing in space. He has shown excellent growth.

However, as he transitions he is continuing to struggle with the finer points. Corbett was consistently late on his pulls against the Eagles. The problem is with his first step. As a tackle, he naturally wants to gain space by taking an initial step backwards. But at guard, the pull step needs to gain ground toward the targeted area. If it does not, the guard will be consistently late, as Corbett was against the Eagles.

This is an easy fix. But it will need to be fixed. The left guard position is the primary position from which pulls and misdirection occurs. If he were a right guard it would not be as prominent. But at left guard it sticks out like a sore thumb.