Dawgs By Nature
The quarterback completion begins.
Mandatory minicamp for the Cleveland Browns has wrapped up, as it took place from June 10-12. Here is a recap of some of the headlines from the past few days.
1. Spotlight on the Rookie Quarterbacks: The fact that we have a quarterback stat tracker for OTAs + minicamp is amusing, compiled by ESPN Cleveland. With that said, we can still use the data to tell us a few things related to rep counts and how these periods obviously favor offense vs. defense, something that will change once training camp rolls around.
Overall, the reps were distributed pretty evenly, except for QB Joe Flacco, who received about half the amount of reps as the others. Combined, the quarterbacks threw for 26 touchdowns to 1 interception.
Many eyes are on rookie quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. Here is a clip below of Sanders throwing a touchdown after looking off the defense:
And then here is a clip of the lefty Gabriel throwing a strike for a touchdown:
A good summary of some thoughts from Mary Kay Cabot is here, based on the reps the quarterbacks are receiving. In a nutshell, the perception is that Sanders is strictly playing against the third-teamers, as the team projects him as a developmental player still. Gabriel, and veteran Kenny Pickett, have been getting first-team reps as the team tries to assess whether they work well with the offense, to help judge starter vs. backup candidates. Of course, there’s also the thought floated out there that the Miami Dolphins could be interested in trading for a Browns quarterback at some point.
So, what did we learn from the quarterbacks during mandatory minicamp? Nothing that we didn’t already know, but it’s nice to see each of the quarterbacks getting reps and performing well in the early stages. Let’s see what happens when training camp hits, and those defensive backs are more feisty and the pass rush is closer to game speed.
2. Tight Window Catches Can’t Hurt: The Browns pretty confidently have TE David Njoku and rookie TE Harold Fannin atop their depth chart at tight end, but who will be the third tight end? Cleveland only has five tight ends on the roster right now, none of whom are undrafted free agents. During this week of practices, TE Tre’ McKitty, a fourth-year player out of George, was a frequent target of the quarterbacks, snagging some nice catches in tight windows.
3. Stick that Big Paw Up There: Cleveland strengthened the defensive tackle position this year with No. 5 overall pick DT Mason Graham, as well as veteran DT Maliek Collins. While defenders can’t make big plays with contact, one of the safe things they can do is stick their hands up, which the veteran did twice on Thursday:
4. We Need a Rebound Year From...: ...CB Martin Emerson. He was my projected breakout star prior to last season, and then in my...
