Cleveland Browns: Fat Kids Rule!

The second half of the season has seen a resurgent Cleveland Browns team, and while enormous credit must be given to the Fat Kids of the offensive line

The second half of the season has seen a resurgent Cleveland Browns team, and while enormous credit must be given to the interim coaching staff and Quarterback Baker Mayfield, the Fat Kids of the Offensive Line have also been throwing their weight around as the year has progressed.

The most astonishing statistic is that the Browns allowed Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield to be sacked 23 times under head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley — among the league’s worst — but after the switch was made to Gregg Williams and Freddie Kitchens, there have only been three sacks the past five games. This is the best performance in the NFL!

The new coaching staff is relying less on the dropback pocket passing style preferred by Haley and Hue, are finding ways to help Mayfield get out of the way of the rush, including greater use of the spread formation and quick openers.  Likewise, Mayfield is rightly receiving a great deal of attention for his quick release, and he’s improving rapidly. But some of the credit must also go to the offensive line.

Knock on wood, but so far the OL has four players who have played each and every snap on offense:  LG Joel Bitonio (75), C J.C. Tretter (64), RG Kevin Zeitler (70), and RT Chris Hubbard (74).

The blue chippers are Bitonio, Tretter, and Zeitler, all of whom are highly regarded veterans. Bitonio was drafted by the Browns, whereas Tretter came as a free agent from Green Bay and Zeitler was pried loose from Cincinnati. Bitonio was a Pro Bowl alternate last year, and Tretter and Zeiter have been in the conversation at least, though neither has made the trip to Hawaii.

RT Chris Hubbard was signed from the Steelers, aided and abetted by Todd Haley, who pleaded his case to the Browns. As a result, he was signed to a five year, $36.5 M contract. In the early going, he received quite a lot of criticism. However, if the line is averaging less than one sack per game, then everyone must be doing a pretty good job of pass protection.

At LT, the puzzling Desmond Harrison began the season, managing to somehow beat out the following aspirants:

Spencer Drango, who started 10 games there last year), Austin Corbett, who was the first man selected in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft, Shon Coleman, who started 16 games on the right side last year, Joel Bitonio, who is the starting left guard, but might also be able to play left tackle to get someone else into the lineup at guard.

It was very surprising when the Browns announced that it would be Harrison to start at left tackle.  Harrison began his career at Contra Costa Community College and transferred to Texas, but was suspended several times at Texas for different offenses including failed drug tests.

Eventually, he found his way to the West Georgia Wolves where he restarted his career.  Consequently, he is a little older than the average prospect (28 at the time of this writing), and he is listed at 295 pounds, which is on the light side for an NFL tackle. Eventually, he found his way to the West Georgia Wolves where he restarted his career.  Consequently, he is a little older than the average prospect (28 at the time of this writing), and he is listed at 295 pounds, which is on the light side for an NFL tackle.

So there you have it. Normal fans might have seen an undersized, older player from a small school who got suspended a lot and failed drug tests.  However, the keen eyes of Hue “the Whisperer” Jackson and his faithful accomplice Todd Haley saw something very special in Harrison. Lo and behold, Drango was cut outright and Shon Coleman was traded to San Francisco for a seventh-round pick, Bitonio moved back to left guard and voila!  Desmond Harrison became the starting left tackle.

Even as the Browns were giving up sacks at a horrifying rate, the press buzz on Harrison was surprisingly positive. His debut against Pittsburgh was especially memorable, as he was flagged three times for penalties and the Steelers sacked Tyrod Taylor seven times. But three weeks later,  @PFF_Browns tweeted that Harrison had the 11th best offensive (72.9) and pass-blocking (84.5) grades among all tackles in Week 4 allowing just 1 pressure in 48 pass-blocking snaps. 

That sounds amazing.  However, that particular game was a 45-43 loss to Oakland (i.e., no one played much defense on that particular Sunday), and much of Harrison’s impressive performance was accomplished versus Bruce Irvin, who was eventually cut by Oakland. If you play defense in the NFL for a living and you are cut by Oakland, this is not good! Overall, Harrison is ranked by Pro Football Focus as the 64th best Offensive Tackle in the NFL.

Following Game 8, Harrison mysteriously became inactive due to an undisclosed illness, and the enigmatic Greg Robinson took his place. This also coincided with the firing of Hue Jackson and Todd Haley.

In contrast to Harrison’s patchy college career, Robinson was a star at Auburn. He was drafted second overall by the St. Louis Rams in 2014, but came to camp overweight and out of shape and underperformed. Ultimately he was traded away for a sixth-round draft pick and then released, and thus was available to be signed by the Browns.

Robinson is judged by Pro Football Focus, as well as other sectors of the sporting press, to be playing at a somewhat lower level than Harrison. For whatever reason, the press seems to have bought into the narrative that Harrison is some kind of “diamond in the rough” discovered by Hue Jackson.

In other words, with Harrison in the lineup, the Browns had the worst sack rate in the league (4.1 per game). With Robinson in the lineup, they have had the best sack rate in the league (0.6 sacks/game). That’s hard to reconcile with the notion that Harrison is a better player than Robinson.

Maybe the Browns should try to keep this unit together because they are outstanding.  The combination of improved play design, a quicker release from quarterback Baker Mayfield and improved offensive line play (low grades given to Greg Robinson notwithstanding) are leading to the best pass protection stats in the NFL.