Terry's Talkin' Sports

Finally, a PD writer that I can quote on the board without feeling the need to take a shower afterwards (uhhhhh...Grossi...so unclean...it won't come off...IT WON'T COME OFF!!! (collapses in a heap, sobbing).

Anyway, here's some of Pluto's comments on Jones's development in the offseason:

>>Perhaps the most important player on the Browns defense this season is Sean Jones, who also may be the player who is expected to benefit the most from the change of defensive coordinators. Jones struggled in his relationship with Todd Grantham. This is not to put the entire blame on Grantham, because Jones also had trouble making calls in the secondary after taking over for Brian Russell, especially early in the season. Grantham could be a screamer at times, and Jones can be introverted. It was not a good mix.

Now Jones will be under Mel Tucker, who built a strong bond with Jones as secondary coach. It is critical that Jones have a good year and show leadership, because he is the veteran starter in the secondary. Now 28, Jones is in his fifth season. His fellow safety is Brodney Pool, who is only 24. The starting cornerbacks are Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald; both will be 23 by the opener. Yes, veteran Terry Cousin is on the team as a nickel back, but this is Jones' secondary to lead. One of Tucker's big jobs is to get the best out of Jones.
One of the problems between Jones and Grantham concerned coverage of tight ends, a problem for the safety. In the second half of the season, some adjustments were made. Linebacker Leon Williams also showed he was better covering tight ends than Jones. And Jones hit harder than some of the linebackers. As GM Phil Savage said: "Sean was one of our few guys last year who drove people backwards after he hit them. I think we'll see more of that from some other guys this year."

Jones is in the final year of his contract. He has 10 interceptions over the past two seasons and is capable of making some big plays. He's not done it consistently. He was on the field for 100 percent of the defensive plays a year ago. The Browns have had some preliminary contract talks, but nothing serious. They probably will wait until after the regular season before deciding how to handle Jones' contract for 2009 and beyond.

Another difference with the defense this season is coach Romeo Crennel and Tucker are vowing to keep it simple. The plan is to have four to six basic things prepared each week, and then use them. Often, the Browns worked on 10, even 15 wrinkles, and then used two or three, which bothered the players. The goal is to play a basic Cover-2 defense with the front seven doing the heavy duty work of keeping the running game under control and bringing some heat on the passer to save stress on the secondary.<<

I like the sound of the development, and the fact that Pluto used the phrase "the end of the regular season."

Dennis

quote:

Originally posted by Dencyguy:
Terry's Talkin' Sports

Finally, a PD writer that I can quote on the board without feeling the need to take a shower afterwards (uhhhhh...Grossi...so unclean...it won't come off...IT WON'T COME OFF!!! (collapses in a heap, sobbing).

Anyway, here's some of Pluto's comments on Jones's development in the offseason:

>>Perhaps the most important player on the Browns defense this season is Sean Jones, who also may be the player who is expected to benefit the most from the change of defensive coordinators. Jones struggled in his relationship with Todd Grantham. This is not to put the entire blame on Grantham, because Jones also had trouble making calls in the secondary after taking over for Brian Russell, especially early in the season. Grantham could be a screamer at times, and Jones can be introverted. It was not a good mix.

Now Jones will be under Mel Tucker, who built a strong bond with Jones as secondary coach. It is critical that Jones have a good year and show leadership, because he is the veteran starter in the secondary. Now 28, Jones is in his fifth season. His fellow safety is Brodney Pool, who is only 24. The starting cornerbacks are Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald; both will be 23 by the opener. Yes, veteran Terry Cousin is on the team as a nickel back, but this is Jones' secondary to lead. One of Tucker's big jobs is to get the best out of Jones.
One of the problems between Jones and Grantham concerned coverage of tight ends, a problem for the safety. In the second half of the season, some adjustments were made. Linebacker Leon Williams also showed he was better covering tight ends than Jones. And Jones hit harder than some of the linebackers. As GM Phil Savage said: "Sean was one of our few guys last year who drove people backwards after he hit them. I think we'll see more of that from some other guys this year."

Jones is in the final year of his contract. He has 10 interceptions over the past two seasons and is capable of making some big plays. He's not done it consistently. He was on the field for 100 percent of the defensive plays a year ago. The Browns have had some preliminary contract talks, but nothing serious. They probably will wait until after the regular season before deciding how to handle Jones' contract for 2009 and beyond.

Another difference with the defense this season is coach Romeo Crennel and Tucker are vowing to keep it simple. The plan is to have four to six basic things prepared each week, and then use them. Often, the Browns worked on 10, even 15 wrinkles, and then used two or three, which bothered the players. The goal is to play a basic Cover-2 defense with the front seven doing the heavy duty work of keeping the running game under control and bringing some heat on the passer to save stress on the secondary.<<

I like the sound of all of that.

Dennis

Thanks for sharing the intertesting article Dennis!

Sean Jones was the second leading tackler on this team with 96. I think he's pretty solid all the way around. Obviously, the crappy play of our front 7 and the inexperience of Wright early on - made his job extra challenging. That said, he made some VERY big plays for us in close ballgames. I still remember Dumb Ass throwing an INT and giving the Jets the ball inside our own 20 yard line (prolly even closer) and Jones intercepting the Jets at the goal line to dig DA out of another self-induced hole.

I think the overrated Roy Williams in Dallas gets a lot more credit for performing a much easier job. Didn't Ware have 14 sacks cutting the opponents' time to throw in half? You put that guy in our defense in 2006 and he can't do what Jones did. I think if Jones has a better front 7 to work with in 2008 - you're going to see a Pro Bowl caliber Safety in Jones. I wish our LBers had the same ambition to "drive people backwards."
- Tom F.

I was going to type Sean Jones into the thread about who we could least afford to lose due to injury. He'd be a GIANT hit to our secondary.

That's been my biggest gripe for a couple years. No one hits people and drives them back. No one is physical. Hopefully that changes with the new line and Bell coming in. Eric Wright showed to be a good tackler last year, too.

quote:

Originally posted by Dawg the Bounty Hunter:
I was going to type Sean Jones into the thread about who we could least afford to lose due to injury. He'd be a GIANT hit to our secondary.

That's been my biggest gripe for a couple years. No one hits people and drives them back. No one is physical. Hopefully that changes with the new line and Bell coming in. Eric Wright showed to be a good tackler last year, too.

VERY good points Bounty. The thing that impressed me most about Wright was his tackling ability.

Here's our top 11 tacklers from 2007 and 3 of the top 5 were secondary guys:
D'Q Jackson 101
Sean Jones 96
Leigh Bodden 88
Leon Williams 85
Eric Wright 76
Andra Davis 67
Shaun Smith 62
Brodney Pool 58
Robaire Smith 56
Kam Wimbley 51
Daven Holly 48

SOMETIMES the volume of tackles can be misleading because it could mean some is being picked on. For example, when Miami played us it was clear their game plan was to get Ronnie Brown mismatched up against our LBers so Ronnie Brown had 9 receptions for 69 yards on top of his 19 caries for 101 yards. Guess who was the guy tackling Brown on the overwhelming majority of those 9 receptions? D'Q Jackson. I though Holly was our best cover guy so I understand why his tackle volume was lowest. He was REALLY underrated for his ability to use the sidelines and stay on the hip. That said, I adored McDonald when I saw him.

I think our secondary is only as good as our front 7 makes them out to be. If our pass rush and ability to stop the run upfront improves - we change the ergonomics and success rates of playing in our secondary significantly IMO. For example, Jamir Miller helped make an average group of DBs in 2001 the conference leaders in intercepting opposing QBs. It's NICE to lead the league in something as important as that.
- Tom F.

Sean Jones becomes a household name this year.. Probowl candidate.

For this defense to be good to elite, I think Jones and Jackson have to have Pro Bowl type seasons. Pool needs to improve like he did the last part of the season. McDonald, Wright and Cousin need to stay healthy. The four horsemen up front are going to make all the difference in the world, especially with the solid depth at linebacker.

Now it's up to the players. The system's in place, a better, more player friendly coordinator and more experience across the board.

quote:

Originally posted by SEZ.EJ:
Sean Jones becomes a household name this year.. Probowl candidate.

From your mouth to God's ears....or something like that.

Sean Jones definately turns the corner this year.

Doug