Moving forward with Duane Brown

[JayCee]

How comfortable are you guys moving forward with Duane Brown?

I was browsing the forum on walterfootball.com, and came across a thread discussing the most disappointing rookies this season - Brown was mentioned along with his 11.5 sacks allowed.

http://www.walterfootball.com/forum/...ead.php?t=8027

While 11.5 sacks is high, I was surprised to see his name mentioned. He's obviously going to have to get his match fitness up, but when he was out there he looked solid. Most of the pressure normally came up the middle.

Pretty tough start to your rookie season playing the Steelers, Colts, Ravens & Vikings and their pretty good pass rushers.

[wolf123]

Very!!

[Carr Bombed]

I like Duane Brown alot and while some posters try to dog him out (youngtexanfan) he was probably our best run blocking Olineman on the field. On many of Slaton's biggest runs that he had Brown was 20 yards down field running stride for stride with LBs and throwing mulitple blocks. (the guy is special in the run game) The guy is athletic as hell and under Gibbs will turn into a good pass blocker. People need to keep in mind that he hasn't played the position that long and had the worst baptism by fire than any other rookie tackle in the draft (just look up our schedule and see the DEs/3-4 pass rushers that he faced this year). He has all the tools and will be a quality player.

I like Duane Brown alot and have no problem with him being our LT.

[keyser]

I'm OK with Brown in that I think he'll be adequate and is young enough that we don't need to worry about finding a replacement in the short term. We can finally say that LT is not one of our highest priorities. I don't have much hope for him becoming a dominant LT, though, and if the opportunity came to get a significant upgrade (I think the top 4 LTs in this draft might all fit that description, but I don't expect any of them to be there at pick 15), I would go for it.

[Carr Bombed]

Jason Peters (the guy Duane Brown is mostly compared to) didn't knock people's socks when he first came up either. Alex Gibbs is known for taking players like this and turning them into pro bowl type players. Also I don't understand why some people expected this guy to come in and dominate.....he's still learning the position, was one of the most athletic players in the draft, has all the tools, and will only get better under Gibbs.

I think we'll see a much better Duane Brown year 2 than we saw in year 1. (pass protection wise, because as far as run blocking he was great)

[keyser]

Originally Posted by Carr Bombed

Jason Peters (the guy Duane Brown is mostly compared to) didn't knock people's socks when he first came up either. Alex Gibbs is known for taking players like this and turning them into pro bowl type players. Also I don't understand why some people expected this guy to come in and dominate.....he's still learning the position, was one of the most athletic players in the draft, has all the tools, and will only get better under Gibbs.

I think we'll see a much better Duane Brown year 2 than we saw in year 1. (pass protection wise, because as far as run blocking he was great)

I don't know if this was referring to me, but I never expected Brown to dominate, especially this year. I felt like he was a bit of a reach when drafted, and I think he has performed about as I expected, so far - solid but not spectacular. He seems good enough (especially if he improves a bit, as I'd hope) that we can rely on him long-term, and I don't see a reason to actively look for a replacement. But, I also don't think he's going to become a star LT - as I said, I think there are probably 4 players in this year's draft who are better prospects.

Don't misunderstand - I would love to be wrong, and I hope he becomes an all-pro level LT.

[steelbtexan]

I hope hop our new S&C coach helps Duane with his S&C.

I have high hopes for Brown with a full offseason of professional weight training and tutaledge under Gibbs.

[Carr Bombed]

Originally Posted by keyser

I don't know if this was referring to me, but I never expected Brown to dominate, especially this year. I felt like he was a bit of a reach when drafted, and I think he has performed about as I expected, so far - solid but not spectacular. He seems good enough (especially if he improves a bit, as I'd hope) that we can rely on him long-term, and I don't see a reason to actively look for a replacement. But, I also don't think he's going to become a star LT - as I said, I think there are probably 4 players in this year's draft who are better prospects.

Don't misunderstand - I would love to be wrong, and I hope he becomes an all-pro level LT.

My post wasn't directed at you, I just think this guy will eventaully turn into a excellent LT who's perfect for this system. I like Duane Brown alot and I'm also not one of those BPA guys. (A sin on here I know.....I feel if you have a hole, than fill it...we needed a LT and we filled it) If you look at our most successful drafts so far it was all about needs, not highest rated players...i.e. Mario Williams. Was Duane Brown the best available player....no, but I feel teams should draft to fill holes, Duane Brown was the right pick for the zone blocking scheme that Gibbs wanted to run and while there might be better prospects in this draft, that doesn't mean those prospects are better for this system. Duane Brown is a super athletic tackle (TE turned Olineman...classic zone blocking LT) who was physically built for this system....I can see why Gibbs was high on him. (with a rookie LT, we smashed all our previous running records) I think he's only going to get better in this system

[Jackie Chiles]

I was underwhelmed with his pass protection but like so many have mentioned he really had a nasty list of pass rushers he had to deal with. Watch the pro bowl and those tackles are being schooled by the same pass rushers Duane had trouble with so its not the end of the world. I think his development next season will be one of the keys to the entire year and since there is so much room for improvement I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about him. The line protected better as a whole the 2nd half of the season and we probably return everyone.

[nunusguy]

1560s John Harris gives Brown a C- for his rookie year and says he was more successful as a pass-blocker than a run-blocker ? While I respect Harris's opinion, I thought DB showed more promise/skill as a run-blocker ?

[mussop]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

1560s John Harris gives Brown a C- for his rookie year and says he was more successful as a pass-blocker than a run-blocker ? While I respect Harris's opinion, I thought DB showed more promise/skill as a run-blocker ?

I see it the same as you. There were times he looked lost in pass blocking.

[TimeKiller]

I thought he was hell on wheels as a run blocker.

If anybody is going to lay the hammer down on the young man they should take a closer look at his ROOKIE year. Was given the job, kept it, performed fairly showing improvement over the weeks against tough, tough defenses and blitzers. The one thing anybody can say with no counterpoint is the conditioning thing but they set the difficulty level to All-Madden and turned him loose.

If the opportunity came to get another LT and put him inside at G I'd be willing. I don't think his passblocking is such that he's locked up the LT spot, I think it's just adequate.

[Thorn]

Duane Brown has a bit to go as a fully fledged LT, but he is not nearly as big a concern as the multiple positions on the defense that need attention. I'm not worried at all about Duane Brown.

[TimeKiller]

He's not even the biggest concern on the O'line...

[b0ng]

I love him as a run blocker and I expect his pass pro to improve with practice.

I've noticed that a lot of the people who think he is horrible are self apponted "draft guru's". His choice screwed their mock up and a lot of times the credit won"t be given if it's deserved.

He gave up entirely too many sacks, however, his abilities in the run game were such positive boons that it'd be silly to discard him after 1 season.

Remember the days when olinemen weren't total busts if they didn't dominate from openening day of their rookie years?

[Hervoyel]

Originally Posted by JayCee

How comfortable are you guys moving forward with Duane Brown?

I was browsing the forum on walterfootball.com, and came across a thread discussing the most disappointing rookies this season - Brown was mentioned along with his 11.5 sacks allowed.

http://www.walterfootball.com/forum/...ead.php?t=8027

While 11.5 sacks is high, I was surprised to see his name mentioned. He's obviously going to have to get his match fitness up, but when he was out there he looked solid. Most of the pressure normally came up the middle.

Pretty tough start to your rookie season playing the Steelers, Colts, Ravens & Vikings and their pretty good pass rushers.

I'm not certain of the exact numbers but I want to say that Chester Pitts allowed 12 sacks his rookie year. Then he cut it in half the following year. Seth Wand allowed something along those same lines his first year starting but then he never got a chance to come back the next year and improve on that performance. Rookie LT's do that (allow a lot of sacks) and they get better. I want to see what kind of improvement he makes.

[WolverineFan]

Well he came in as a rookie and didn't suck so that's a good start. He actually played pretty well for a rookie LT and he was only a tackle for 2 years in college. He was a TE before that, so I'm excited to see how much he improves.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

I'm not certain of the exact numbers but I want to say that Chester Pitts allowed 12 sacks his rookie year. Then he cut it in half the following year.

15.5 sacks as a rookie--5.75 his 2nd year.

[Hervoyel]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

15.5 sacks as a rookie--5.75 his 2nd year.

See, even better improvement from Chester than I thought. I'm certain that Duane Brown will improve next year and I think it will be significant improvement. This season I think it was obvious that he was busting his butt and was being very hard on himself when he made mistakes. He appears to care which in my mind is half the battle. He doesn't seem to expect success to just "happen". I think if he can get another year (hopefully two) with Alex Gibbs in his helmet he'll be special.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

See, even better improvement from Chester than I thought. I'm certain that Duane Brown will improve next year and I think it will be significant improvement. This season I think it was obvious that he was busting his butt and was being very hard on himself when he made mistakes. He appears to care which in my mind is half the battle. He doesn't seem to expect success to just "happen". I think if he can get another year (hopefully two) with Alex Gibbs in his helmet he'll be special.

I think there is every reason to expect improvement. Winston needs to rebound as well. He had a bad pass protection year. I wonder if the guys were so focused on the run game they let their pass protection slip. Brown getting it down to 6-8 sacks and Winston back down to 3-4 with corresponding reduction in QB pressures allowed would be a very scary thing for opposing D's.