Don't know if he'll
amount to much, but it was nice to see that the Browns signed a nose tackle this
week. Louis Leonard, a rookie released by the Chargers and Rams, shares his
names with two of the greatest boxers in history and weighs roughly as much as
both of them combined.
By now it's as
obvious as a punch in the nose that the defensive line is the limiting factor to
the Browns' success. It's a concern I have expressed
repeatedly:
- in March of '05,
with the new regime sold on switching to a 3-4 and converting two more linemen
into Browncos
- in the spring of
'06, when not a single defensive end was drafted or signed as either a veteran
or rookie free agent
- again this fall,
when the depth chart along the defensive front left me grasping back into the
past, as I am wont to do.
I was among those
fans hoping that Babatunde Oshinowo would develop into a credible option, if not
at the nose, then at end. That would have made the draft day deal of '06 a slam
dunk for Phil, right in Ozzie's face. Now it's clear to see that Mt. Washington
is over the hill, Roye (perhaps the most valuable Brown of the expansion era) is
a rotational end at best, "Down Goes" Fraser is still a severe liability against
the run, and Kelley doesn't hold the line like a man his size should.
Robaire Smith is the
best lineman on the roster right now, really the only solid one. We need Shaun
Smith and maybe LL (only the second such initialed player in Browns history) to
develop in a hurry. The two DEs draftees on the practice squad will need much
more time to grow into their positions, if they ever do.
It's a sad, even
desperate, situation, and it seemed preventable. Everyone knows the importance
of stopping the run. It's been a longstanding problem. It's not like the unit is
devastated by recent injuries. Blame the over-reliance on Jason Fisk first and Ted Washington next at the crucial nose tackle position. Re-signing Nick Eason may not have been the
answer, but he did accept a vet minimum one-year deal from the Steelers and is
seeing plenty of playing time for a top-flight defense.
Anyway, I want to
briefly note the departure of Scott Player (the extra punter cut to make way for Leonard), the latest oddity in Browns history.
We shan't see the likes of his single-bar facemask again. It harkens back to the origin of the face mask itself (invented by Paul
Brown and first worn by Otto Graham in 1953) and the strange fact that three of
the last straight-on placekickers all played for the Browns (Don Cockroft, Steve
Cox, and Mark Moseley).