00:00Man who covers the Browns for the Chronicle Telegram.
00:03You can read all of his work at brownzone.com.
00:05He's Mr. Scott Petrack.
00:06Hello, Scott.
00:07Scott, how are you, man?
00:09I'm good.
00:09How are you guys?
00:10We are well.
00:11Thank you very much.
00:12Jerry Judy is flashing four fingers about the quarterback.
00:16Does this mean anything?
00:18I don't think it does.
00:19I don't either.
00:20That video, I'm not sure that's real.
00:23I kind of stayed away from that.
00:24I just retweeted the Judy saying it was garbage.
00:27So that's how I'm treating it as of now.
00:30I would agree with you completely.
00:32Okay.
00:33There you go.
00:34That's a good thing.
00:35Rookies in town, quarterbacks in town, and now we get things rolling later on this week.
00:43Where's your head right now?
00:44What are you thinking about this football team?
00:47It's a good question, Jeff.
00:49I mean, obviously, quarterback dominates the thinking and the conversation.
00:54They need better quarterback play if they're going to be any better than they have been
00:58the last couple of years.
01:00Does Todd Munkin help that by himself?
01:03Maybe.
01:04But I think you're going to need just improvement from whether it's Deshaun Watson or Sanders.
01:10They have to play better than they have in their recent history with the Browns.
01:15And beyond that, I have questions about the defense.
01:19You know, I know they're bringing a bunch of guys back, but it's no Miles Garrett.
01:22It's no Jim Schwartz.
01:24I think there's some depth issues on defense, but they cannot afford a drop-off because the
01:30offense is still a work in progress.
01:32I think special teams are still a work in progress.
01:34So you need that defense to be a top-ten unit.
01:36I think for this team to have any chance to make a jump from five to eight or nine wins
01:42or whatever it would be.
01:44So I just have questions, Jeff.
01:46I think it's, while it feels like there's a lot in place, and I like the roster overall,
01:50and I like the youth of it, and I think there's not that many questions when we talk about
01:54battles, I have some major questions about this team.
01:58Give me a couple things that you're going to have an eye on during camp, Scott.
02:02Outside of the quarterbacks?
02:04Outside of the quarterbacks.
02:05Okay.
02:06Yeah.
02:08Yeah, you know, I'll go with the offensive line first.
02:10I want to see how that plays out.
02:12You know, we know four of the five starters, but we don't know where two of the guys are
02:17going to wind up.
02:18Does everybody stay healthy?
02:20Is DeJuan Jones simply your swing tackle, or does he make a push?
02:23Because George Warhop, the line coach at the end of minicamp, was really complimentary
02:28of Jones and wasn't ready to say, yeah, he's just a swing tackle backup.
02:32So I want to see how that plays out.
02:34Does Parker Brailsford look like he can handle the NFL at 290 pounds as a rookie center?
02:40If not, it's probably Elton Jenkins inside its center, and then you've got to figure out
02:44right guard.
02:45And then how do they gel, right?
02:47Is Spencer Fano, you know, he's going to be your left tackle.
02:50Is he ready to be a left tackle in the NFL?
02:52Can he protect the blind side?
02:53Do you have to give him, you know, chips and double teams to help him out?
02:57So I've got questions about the offensive line, and I'm going to watch that.
03:02And then Jared Verse, you know, talk about losing Miles.
03:05They're counting on Verse to have a huge impact on this team, and rightfully so, and he's played
03:10really well for two years with the Rams.
03:13But how does that translate here?
03:14How does he do, you know, in those shoes of Miles Garrett?
03:20Does he feel that pressure?
03:23We know he's a different kind of rusher.
03:25How does that translate?
03:27How does that translate to the other 10 guys?
03:28Because we know the impact Miles had.
03:31So I think I'm going to spend, when I'm not watching a quarterback, spend some time watching
03:35the guys in the trenches.
03:38You mentioned Spencer Fano.
03:40I'm excited about him.
03:41I loved the fact that Andrew Barry came out on draft day and said, yeah, he's our left tackle.
03:49And, you know, we play him at left tackle.
03:51Even though Fano worked out at other positions at the compound and everything else.
03:55And, Scott, we're going to get into this in a little bit here.
03:57And even though he's almost been exclusively a right tackle, he was in high school, and
04:04he was in all but his freshman year in college.
04:08And I'm glad they're going to put him there and let him go.
04:11But on the other hand, they sure he can be a left tackle in the NFL?
04:15You just touched on that.
04:16They're pretty confident about that.
04:19Yeah, they are sure, Jeff.
04:20Now, they could be wrong, right?
04:22They're wrong about other things.
04:24But they are confident that it's not that big a deal to go from the right side to the
04:29left side.
04:29And it's not, I mean, there's footwork issues you have to work through when you make that
04:35switch.
04:35But they don't think it's like, oh, he's only going to face good pass rushers on one
04:41side.
04:41Because you get good pass rushers everywhere across the front from both tackle spots.
04:48So that's not the issue for them.
04:49And they are confident that he can make that switch.
04:52I think it does help that he played left tackle for that first year at Utah.
04:57And then it's also, you know, he's got great feet.
05:01Like, that's the thing about Spencer Final.
05:04And when you watch his tape at Utah, whether it's left side or right side, he was really
05:08athletic, really good feet.
05:09And that just translates when you're trying to play left tackle at this level.
05:14Scott Petrack joining us on the Wise Heart Right We Make It Right call, Kyle Wright Hotline.
05:18You can read him at the Chronicle Telegram and, of course, brownzone.com as well.
05:22A little bit early on, you mentioned the defense.
05:25What do we expect to see from this defense?
05:28Do you think it's just going to be essentially control C, control V from what we watched out
05:33of Jim Schwartz?
05:33Or are we going to see more zone and that kind of stuff in there as well as Rutenberg
05:37takes over?
05:39I do think it's going to be pretty much cut and paste from what we saw with Schwartz.
05:45You know, that's part of the reason that Munkin hired Rutenberg was because he was going
05:50to keep the same system that he's familiar with that system.
05:53They kept all the assistance on defense.
05:56So we're not going to have a whole lot of change, I don't think.
05:59And, you know, I've thought about, well, could they go to the more zone and maybe that helps?
06:05Maybe it helps because you cover guys because you don't have Miles Garrett, so maybe they
06:08have to cover longer.
06:09But Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell, they are man corners.
06:13I think that's where they excel.
06:15So if you see more zone, I don't think it's going to be a ton more zone.
06:18Now, maybe you see more pressures to try to make up for that pass rush that you could
06:22be missing with Miles.
06:24I could see that.
06:25But I think overall, systemically, what the system scheme is going to look like, is going
06:30to look a lot like what we've seen the last three years with Jim Schwartz.
06:34Scott Petrack joining us, Chronicle Telegram.
06:36Should we be concerned that Malik Collins is starting out on the PUP list?
06:41No, I think that's to be expected given that it was the torn quad and it was pretty late
06:46in the season.
06:48You know, and it's the PUP list, this PUP list, he can come back at any time.
06:52So until I hear differently, I don't think that's a huge concern.
06:55But I will say, they need Malik Collins.
06:58He was so good last year.
06:59Wasn't he?
07:00He was their second best lineman outside of Miles Garrett.
07:03And so yeah, they need him and then they need Mason Graham.
07:06Like that's another guy you need to see take a huge step from year one.
07:10I thought he was fine last year, but a half sack's not going to cut it when you're trying
07:14to replace 23 sacks by Miles Garrett.
07:17The other one that I had my eye on, Scott, was the fact that it seems like the cornerback
07:21position is a little bit on the thin side, especially once you get past Denzel Ward and
07:25Tyson Campbell.
07:26Do you think that's because we're going to see a lot of E-man in there as a third safety,
07:32almost like a slot corner?
07:33Or do you think something might be on the way to help bolster that?
07:38I don't think it's because of McNeil-Warren.
07:41And I think it's because corners are tough to find and Andrew Barry's trying to find
07:46them, but you know, he just, I think they were counting on Don Jones to be the third
07:50outside corner.
07:51He didn't practice in the off season.
07:53He was hurt and then he failed his physical.
07:54So they waived him with the failed physical designation.
07:57So then they go and bring in Damari Mathis because they need a guy that can play that third
08:02outside corner spot behind Ward and Campbell.
08:05So Mathis is 18 starts with the Broncos.
08:07Smith last year with an ACL, but to me, he looks like your front runner right now.
08:12I know he just got here to be that number three guy, but I'm with you.
08:15I think that there is some depth concerns there.
08:19I think there's some depth concerns of linebacker where there's not any proven talent behind
08:23Swessinger and Williams, Quincy Williams.
08:27But it's just hard to find really good corners with this size to play outside and to play man,
08:33you know, down in, down out.
08:36I am a little, I won't say concerned.
08:39I'm curious about what Todd Munkin does at tight end.
08:43Last year in Baltimore, you had Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely.
08:47Well, congratulations to you.
08:49That's, that's fabulous.
08:51Can he get Harold Fannin to take a step?
08:53And I wonder what role Joe Royer plays, the former Ohio state tight end who went to Cincinnati
08:59and was, was really good as a junior and not quite the season as a senior.
09:03I wonder how much we're going to see of him this year, Scott.
09:06And I would think it's going to be a significant amount.
09:08Yeah, it might be Jeff.
09:10The only pushback I would give there is to me, he strikes me more as receiver than tight end.
09:15So he might be in the same mold as Fannin.
09:18You know, I don't know if he's an inline blocker type of guy.
09:20So Fannin's out there 85, 90% of the snaps.
09:25I don't know if you see those two guys together and let this third down.
09:28You know, maybe I'm wrong.
09:29Maybe, maybe Royer lines up in the backfield a little bit, fullback, H-back.
09:33But he's got some receiver skills.
09:35There's no doubt about that.
09:36You know, I think you're going to see Blake Whitehart out there a good amount.
09:40He can be, you know, you may be your number two.
09:44You know, Carson Ryan, the seventh round pick feels like a fullback to me.
09:48So, you know, I think we're just going to see numbers in tight ends, but I think it'll
09:53be dominated by Fannin because you don't have Njoku anymore.
09:57I know we've yet to see anybody onto the field and all that stuff.
10:00So anything said here, we'll be taken with a grain of salt.
10:04How, which, which we usually never do with what you say, Scott.
10:08Never.
10:08Absolutely.
10:09It's always gospel, but this will, we'll give you some leeway.
10:11But Cedric Tillman, how much, how much wiggle room do you think that guy has on the roster?
10:19Oh, not much.
10:21I mean, to me, the top four spots are accounted for, right?
10:25Judy Bond and the two rookies.
10:28I think they keep six, you know, maybe seven, but I don't know if there's a seventh guy that
10:33you're, is going to make you keep that over a 10th lineman or a, you know, fifth safety
10:39or whatever that conversation would be.
10:43You know, I think Tyson or Tyler Wallace has a spot.
10:47So that only is one.
10:48And it's one for Tillman, Thrash, Loverdan.
10:53And, um, I don't know, you know, Tillman has the height that nobody, the size that nobody
10:58besides Denzel Boston has.
11:00I think that gives him an edge.
11:02Um, but if he has a rough camp or gets hurt, like he's been known to do, um, I don't
11:09think
11:09they're going to go out of their way to keep him.
11:11I love the fact that Andrew Barry brought in two wide receivers this draft.
11:17Uh, Isaiah Bond last year.
11:19I love the fact that he brought in two running backs to retool the running back room last
11:25year with, with Judkins and Sampson love Fannin love the idea of Royer only problem with all
11:32that.
11:32You have nobody who's played more than one season in the NFL, Scott, is that a, is that
11:37a concern as they get this thing rolling and do they need to address that?
11:43Well, I don't, well, we could argue if they need to Jeff, I don't think they're going
11:47to, um, I think Andrew Barry's content with the youth movement.
11:52And I think that's across a bunch of positions.
11:55So I think you're going to have to get used to it being really young and maybe there's
12:00some growing pains that are going to be involved there.
12:03Um, you know, you hope Jerry Judy bounces back and solidifies things at receiver and helps
12:10the, gives the young guys time to come around.
12:13Um, but you're right.
12:14I mean, it's a really young group.
12:15And if you go Shadur Sanders is a quarterback in Quinchon Juggins is going to be a running
12:20back.
12:22You know, you're looking at Titus Howard, Elton Jenkins, and Jerry Judy, the only guys
12:28of the top in Zion Johnson, I guess the only guys off the top of my head that have been
12:32in the league more than a couple of years.
12:39Scott, I'm ready.
12:40Like I'm trying to, I'm trying to figure out where to like, I actually, we need to get
12:45some bodies on the, on the field and let's see what this whole thing actually looks like.
12:49Cause I'm interested more than anything to see how much of an evolution this offense
12:53takes with Todd Munkett from what you've seen to this point.
12:56Are we just going to see a whole lot more shotgun spread it out, call it out and let's go.
12:59Or do you think there's more nuance to come?
13:02No, I think there's nuance.
13:03I don't have a great feel yet for how it's going to look different with Munkett than Stefanski.
13:09I think you'll see more motion.
13:12I don't know if, I mean, Stefanski ran a bunch of shotgun, Munkett ran some under center.
13:17Like, I don't think that's where it's going to jump out at you.
13:20I think motion.
13:21And I think the key is going to be like those key situations on third down.
13:26What's the play call on at the goal line?
13:28What's the play call?
13:29Like that's where Todd Munkett can make a huge difference.
13:32I'm not saying that his system won't be different, but I think that's where, if you're going
13:37to see a big jump, that's where it's going to come into play.
13:40Hit him straight, my friend.
13:42All right.
13:42Last question for you really quick, Scott.
13:45Will Todd Munkett have a voice by the time we get to the first preseason game?
13:48Oh, he might not have a voice by Wednesday.
13:53Thanks, buddy.
13:54See you, man.
13:54All right.
13:55See you guys.
13:55Scott Petrack, BrownZone.com.
13:57Read Scott's coverage at training camp.
13:59He's all over it all the time.
14:00He's all over it all the time.
14:01We'll see you go back.
