http://www.nationalfootballauthority.com/2011/11/cleveland-browns-offensive-line.html
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
ClevelandBrowns.com
By Daniel Wolf
Senior Writer
The Cleveland Browns have had their fair share of issues on offense this season, which is really just a nice way of saying they have big problems.
After Sunday's loss to the Houston Texans, former St. Louis Rams and Browns offensive lineman Ryan Tucker was on WKYC Channel 3's show Browns Insider, talking about Cleveland's offensive line.
Tucker played in the NFL for 12 seasons at right tackle and right guard, and knows a thing or two about playing in the trenches.
While showing only a couple replays from the Texans game, Tucker pointed out something very interesting in each of the examples shown—the young and inexperienced offensive guards are two of the biggest problems in the pass protection. They are also a big reason why quarterback Colt McCoy continues to get beaten down every Sunday, not to mention a reason as to why the passing game is as inept as it is.
Starting left guard Jason Pinkston is a rookie, and starting right guard Shawn Lauvao is a first-year starter who is only in his second year in the NFL.
Tucker pointed out how the guards were not finding Texans linebacker Brian Cushing pre-snap, since he was moving around from the right to the left side on Sunday. When Cushing moved around, and he did that quite a bit, Tucker said the guards were not aware of his movements and cited how it was also the fault of both center Alek Mack and McCoy for not picking up Cushing's movement.
Both guards Shawn Lauvao (pictured above) and Jason
Pinkston are a big part of the problem on the O-Line.
(ClevelandBrowns.com)
This led to Cushing punishing McCoy over and over again. Tucker also mentioned how the guards should have kicked out to pick up Cushing on his blitzes and failed to many times. Cushing finished the game with a sack, a quarterback hit and several pressures on McCoy.
In other words, Tucker is implying the offensive line and McCoy are going through the learning pains of having two first-time starting guards, along with a center and quarterback who are learning a new offensive system—the West Coast offense.
To help support Tucker's observations, reference was made to on ProFootballFocus.com (PFF). If you don't have a subscription to this site, you're really missing out on some fantastic statistical breakdowns, all the way down to individual plays.
Per PFF, the Browns guards have given up a total of three sacks, nine quarterback hits and 21 quarterback pressures. Important to note these numbers are more than the totals from the right tackle position, which has been a problem for the Browns offensive line all season-long, too.
At right tackle, Tony Pashos, Artis Hicks and Oniel Cousins have all spent time at the position, collectively allowing two sacks, six quarterback hits and 23 quarterback pressures.
So, for as bad as Cleveland fans—on Twitter—are complaining about right tackle, know that both guard positions are equally bad, if not worse since it is a combination of two positions and not just one.
This goes to show how important losing left guard Eric Steinbach really was for the offensive line this season. Hopefully, next season, he can get healthy, continue to play at a high level, help the line and help mentor both Pinkston and Lauvao into becoming better guards.
It should also be noted how starting left tackle, Joe Thomas, and Mack are both rated in the Top 15 of their respective positions (Thomas No. 4 overall tackle, Mack No. 14 overall center) by PFF's ratings system. They have given up a total of three sacks, two quarterback hits and 11 quarterback pressures, combined.
) was a LT in college and was immediately converted to RT once he was drafted by the Vikings. Not that he's a "world beater" but Jason Pinkston was a LT for Pitt and he was brought in as a RT/G candidate for the Browns.
