Cleveland Browns: Offensive line is disrespected
By Joel W. Cade
The Cleveland Browns have possibly the best offensive line in the NFL. Yet none of them make the Pro Bowl. The disrespect for this Browns team continues.
The Cleveland Browns have made a remarkable turn around since firing Hue Jackson. From what we have seen from the players and especially quarterback Baker Mayfield, it sounds like the players did not like him too much. This flies in the face of “but the players love Hue” narrative.
Since his departure, the Browns offensive line has played out of this world. Their level of play is best exemplified by a simple statistic. Prior to firing Hue Jackson and former offensive coordinator Todd Haley, the Browns gave up 61 hits on the quarterback. Since firing them and promoting Freddie Kitchens to offensive coordinator, the Browns have given up 7 total quarterback hits. This is seven hits over a seven-game period.
For those who struggle with math, that his roughly 7.5 quarterback hits per game for the first eight games of the season. In the following 7 games, the Browns average one quarterback hit per game.
There are a lot of reasons that have contributed to the success of avoiding quarterback hits. Here are a few.
First, the Browns changed left tackles. Let’s be honest, Desmond Harrison was good against below average players. But when an average or above average player faced him, Harrison was overmatched. He was a virtual machine at giving up quarterback hits and holding penalties. Replacing Harrison with Greg Robinson was a good move that helped protect Mayfield.
Second, the Browns changed their protection scheme. Instead of staying with the traditional pocket scheme, they changed to modern pass protection or dish protection after the bye week. Modern pass protections has the tackles short setting the defensive ends. This style is perfect for Robinson and has contributed to a resurgence of his career.
It has also put Baker Mayfield back into his comfort zone. Oklahoma used this style of protection. It keeps all the pass rush action in front of Mayfield allowing him to see what is coming. This newfound vision has allowed him to avoid and escape the rush.
Who would have thought just doing something that already worked would work in the NFL? Apparently, Freddie Kitchens thought it would.