Getting left tackle right

Before starting, it must be pointed the Browns’ offensive line this season (if there is a season) will be infinitely better than last season’s sad group.

That said, remarks made recently by the new position coach for that unit of the 2020 Browns should not be taken too seriously. At least not yet. Here are a few reasons why.

Bill Callahan is considered by many observers as one of the best offensive line coaches in the National Football League. Has been for years and he has the résumé to back it up. But he has a tendency, as do position coaches, to occasionally engage in hyperbole.

He has been around the NFL since 1995 – with the exception of a four-year stint at Nebraska – in a variety of capacities. He is one of just a few rookie head coaches to lead a team (Oakland) to a Super Bowl (XXXVII). The Browns are his sixth NFL team.

He inherits incumbents at center (JC Tretter) and left guard (Joel Bitonio).

In a videoconference with the Cleveland media recently, Callahan gushed about the Browns’ selection of Jedrick Wills Jr. with their first pick in the college draft. Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta said Wills was the top tackle on their board.

After listening to Callahan, who probably lobbied hard to put Wills there on that board, one can understand why. “You could feel him on film,” he told the media. “He came alive on tape and you got excited about what he was doing.”

An almost visceral way of explaining what he saw. He continued.

“He’s got those intangibles that show up in tangible ways on film,” he said of someone who is a mere NFL infant. “You watch him finish, you watch his detail and technique, you watch his consistent effort and his stamina throughout the game from start to finish and . . . that’s what appealed to me.”

Whoa! That sure sounds as though Wills has All-Pro written all over his 6-4, 305-pound frame. This is as can’t miss as can’t miss can get.

No wonder fans who pay rapt attention to talk like that are getting excited about the rookie from Alabama, who will be thrown into the pro football fire playing on the opposite side of the line as the one he played for the Crimson Tide.

Wills, who played a smidgen at left tackle in high school before switching to the right side until now, is the presumptive heir apparent to future Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas, who retired in 2017.

“I’m quite confident he is capable of being our left tackle,” said Callahan. “They are going to go through some lumps and they are going to have times when they are going to get beat, but the best in the game get beat.”

Wonder if Callahan knows that Jack Conklin, the Pro Bowl right tackle the Browns signed as a free agent, was an All-America left tackle at Michigan State? The only reason the Tennessee Titans switched the college walk-on to the other side was because Pro Bowler Taylor Lewan had the left side locked down.

So the best offensive left tackle on the current roster is listed on the depth chart as a right tackle. That would be Conklin, whose experience on that side dwarfs Wills’ experience at the position, Callahan’s effusive praise notwithstanding.

Why not keep Wills at the position that garnered him all this attention and subsequent lofty draft position? He’d be much more comfortable there in his rookie season whereas all Conklin would need to do is quickly relearn to play a position he has always played until the NFL.

Muscle memory would return a lot quicker with Conklin than Wills. “From a muscle memory standpoint,” said Callahan, “you’ve got to get into a groove and a lot of that depends on the training and all that.

“But when you’re grooving a player, they need constant consistent reps day in and day out to get their game up to the level you want it.” Sure sounds a lot easier for Conklin than it would be for Wills.

“You talk about a system fit,” said Callahan. “You couldn’t get a more perfect tackle in free agency than Jack. . . . I’m really looking forward to digging down in the trenches with him and seeing how we can tweak some things and help his game.”

Maybe, just maybe, somewhere along the line between now and the start of the season (if there is a season), Callahan will discover the best and quickest way to strengthen the line will be to slot Conklin on the left side and Wills on the right.

That way, right guard, which Callahan labeled “up for grabs,” becomes the only slot that might cause concern. “I really believe we have some excellent players in there in Wyatt Teller, Drew Forbes, Colby Gossett and Willie Wright,” he said. 

Chris Hubbard, who struggled a right tackle the past two seasons and is now tethered to the bench, is an outside possibility at guard. “I really like Chris,” said Callahan. “I think he’s got a lot of value and a lot of upside and definitely will help us at some point.”

Upside at age 29? With seven seasons in the NFL? Hyperbole cuts in many different directions.

Throwing darts, part II 

If you’re still here, congratulations. You’re either curious to see how dumb I can be or you’re a glutton for punishment. We now continue with the back half of the 2020 season for the Browns. We pick it up with . , ,

Week 10, Sunday Nov. 15 vs. Houston, 1 p.m., FOX – Every time the Browns play the Texans, the haunting thought crosses the minds of many Browns fans. Deshaun Watson, who many still believe should have been the Browns’ second first-round pick after Myles Garrett in the 2017 draft, has developed into one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. The Browns unwisely swapped the No. 12 pick in that draft for a first-round choice in 2018 who turned out to be Jabrill Peppers, who was with the club for one season. If that hadn’t happened, Mayfield would not be the quarterback of this team. OK, the game. It’s a good thing this one is at home because the new Browns are winless in five trips to the Texas city. Won’t help in this one. The Texans prevail with a pair of Johnsons, David and old friend Duke Jr., making life miserable for the sagging Cleveland run defense. The Texans will not miss DeAndre Hopkins, Watson’s favorite receiver the last three seasons, who was shipped to Arizona. The addition of veterans Brandin Cooks and Randall Cobb should offset the loss. (L)

Week 11, Sunday Nov. 22 vs. Philadelphia, 1 p.m., FOX – Third straight home game and looking for their first victory of the month. Won’t get it as the fans get restless as the Browns slip to 4-6. Too much Carson Wentz (yet another Browns reject), receivers Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Marquise Goodwin and rookie Jalen Reagor, tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. Wentz will put the ball up a lot against a Cleveland secondary still experiencing problems. He averaged 38 throws a game last season. That’s because the Eagles’ run game is ordinary. The no-name Eagles’ defense is anything but ordinary. It’s coming off a 43-sack season. Mayfield will be under fire all afternoon from defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s unit as the homestand winds up 0-3 with four of the next five on the road lurking. (L)

Week 12, Sunday Nov. 29 at Jacksonville, 1 p.m., CBS – For some reason, the Browns have always had problems with the Jaguars ever since they entered the league as an expansion team in 1995. The Jags have won 12 of the 16 games between the teams (6-2 in Cleveland) since the return. This one was originally scheduled to be played in London, but the pandemic scuttled that. It’s a sign that this year will be different. Yep, the Browns snap a three-game losing slide with an improbably easy victory as Mayfield torches a vulnerable Jaguars secondary and Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt take turns gouging the Jacksonville run defense. (W)

Week 13, Sunday Dec. 6 at Tennessee, 1 p.m., CBS – If there was ever a revenge game this season, this would be the one. Browns fans last season harbored thoughts of the postseason as the season got underway against the Titans at home. The pres-season hype all but handed the Browns, coming off a 7-8-1 season, an invite to the playoffs. The Titans grabbed on to a gigantic needle and thoroughly burst those thoughts to smithereens with a 43-13 victory . . . and it wasn’t even that close. The undisciplined Browns under rookie head coach Freddie Kitchens were their own worst enemy, committing 18 penalties for 182 yards. It was an everything-that-can-go-wrong-will kind of game. It won’t be much different this year down in Nashville, mainly because quarterback Ryan Tannehill, coming off a career year, is now in charge of the offense. Last year, he watched from the bench as Marcus Mariota piloted the upset victory. It won’t be 43-13 this time, but it will end the Browns one-game winning streak. So much for revenge. (L)

Week 14, Monday Dec. 14 vs. Baltimore, 8:15 p.m., ESPN – The Browns enter having lost four of their last five games, a season rapidly falling apart (again) and the AFC’s best team itching to sweep the season series. Every once in a while, especially when the nation drops in for a peek, strange things happen in the NFL. Call them “on any given Sunday” moments. Substitute Monday for Sunday and you get an idea where this is going. The Browns will play as they did when they hammered the Ravens early last season in Baltimore and come up with yet another an eye-blinking, where-in-the-world-did-that-come-from stunner. Everyone contributes on offense, especially a line that keeps Mayfield clean, and a defense that stifles the league’s best offense all evening. (W)

Week 15, Sunday Dec. 20 at New York Giants, 1 p.m., CBS – Two straight weeks in the New York-New Jersey area in what had to be a scheduling screw-up. The first sees the Browns coming off their huge upset of Baltimore into a game Odell Beckham Jr. has waited nearly two years to play, getting his first crack against his old teammates. The Browns’ wide receiver, having a solid season with 79 receptions, 1,101 yards and eight touchdowns, comes through, adding another eight grabs, 98 yards and a touchdown to his season totals, but it isn’t enough. That’s because Saquon Barkley continues to prove he’s the best running back in the league, shredding the Cleveland defense for more than 200 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns, one via Daniel Jones’ only scoring pass of the game. The Giants defense throttles Mayfield & Co. The best the 6-8 Browns can do now is finish at .500. (L)

Week 16, Sunday Dec. 27 at New York Jets, 1 p.m., CBS – Mayfield and Jets quarterback Sam Darnold hook up for the second time in three years – Darnold missed last season’s game with mononucleosis – and this one won’t turn out any differently than the first two for Mayfield, 2-0 against the Jets after a 23-3 victory in week two last season. That’s the game where Beckham busted an 89-yard pass and run that opened up fairly tight game in the third quarter. This time, the Cleveland defense after last week’s debacle suddenly remembers how to play well when the opposition has the football and shuts down Darnold and the solid running game featuring Le’Veon Bell and grizzly veteran Frank Gore. The offense, meanwhile, plays just well enough to inch closer to the .500 mark. (W)

Week 17, Sunday Jan. 3, 2021 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m., CBS – Remember what happened the last time the Browns faced a strong division opponent at home? Yep, I’m talking about the mid-December beatdown of the Ravens in front of a national television audience. Well, it’s going to happen again as they start the new calendar year off right by snapping Ben Roethlisberger’s personal seven-game unbeaten streak against them, reducing his record against them to a still-ridiculous 24-3-1. How are they going to do it? The same way they knocked off the Ravens – with smart, mistake-free football, rewarding a coaching staff determined to set the tone for season two. Mayfield caps his comeback season – only 11 interceptions after the 21 he threw last season – with touchdown passes 25 and 26 aided by a relentless ground game that made it easier to operate the offense. (W) 

The 8-8 finish will be met with mixed reviews. Those who predicted a better record will cite underachieving as a reason they were wrong. Those who believed Stefanski isn’t any better than his predecessor will say, “Told you so.” And then there are those who fall in between and use a .500 record as a launching pad toward a more prosperous future. Consider this a launching pad.