There we go -- some recognition for Cleveland Browns defensive end Jabaal Sheard after all. Sheard was named to the Pro Football Weekly/Professional Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team. He was one of two defensive ends selected, with the other honor obviously going to the Houston Texans' J.J. Watt.
It was also kind of a surprise to see that Sheard wasn't the only Browns rookie on the list. The team's first-round selection, defensive tackle Phil Taylor, also made the list. The other defensive end selected was the Buffalo Bills' Marcell Dareus.
Based on playing time, the Browns had three other rookies who could have been considered for the All-Rookie Team: fullback Owen Marecic, offensive guard Jason Pinkston, and wide receiver Greg Little. PFF didn't pick a fullback, so that ruled out Marecic. Pinkston played the entire season, but never blew anyone out of the water and was only stable by the end of the season. Little had an up-and-down year, but no where near enough to match what A.J. Green, Julio Jones, and others accomplished.
As far as PFW/PFWA's All-Pro Team, it should be no surprise that Joe Thomas was selected as one of the offensive tackles:
Since entering the league in 2007, Thomas has never missed a snap, anchoring the Browns' line from Day One. He had another dominant season in '11 despite the rest of the Browns' offense struggling. Thomas is as solid as they come at one of the more important positions on the field in both the run game and pass protection.
0 recs | 96 comments
we are a DE away from having a sick front 4
Gabe Durrant - January 17, 2012
I am thinking we should be modeling ourselves after the Giants on D. Keep drafting pass rushers and let these guys just make it hell for the opposing team.
Roger Dorn - January 17, 2012
Agreed. I would love to grab a pass rusher with our later first or second round pick.
notthatnoise - January 17, 2012
Itd be wise to draft a pass rusher with the second round pick.
4th overall: needs to be used on justin blackmon, which would dramatically improve the offense. blackmon 1st string, little 2nd string and massaquoi 3rd string. that sounds absolutely stellar.
22nd overall: needs to be used on a right tackle or right guard…this would dramatically improve the right side of the line. Joe Thomas, Jason Pinkston, Alex Mack, Eric Steinbach (return from injury), 1st round draft pick RG. and our offensive line will be outstanding.
and finally with the second rounders we can get a pass rush…we need to address our biggest problems first and those are the receivers and the right side of the offensive line
Jonngotti - January 17, 2012
You don’t even know that Blackmon will be there.
HenryDawg - January 17, 2012
The offensive line was pretty average last year (I feel like this should be in the banner for the site). That isn’t one of our top two needs.
Besides, need is only one factor when drafting players.
notthatnoise - January 17, 2012
I have a theory now that most of these people are somewhat fair weather fans who go on first impression, watched the first 4 games, saw Oneil Cousins get lit up and basically strung that vision out for 16 games. I’m sure most of them wouldn’t even know our starting RT missed all that time and had a bum leg the rest of it. I’m sure they also have no clue how much Pinkston and Luvao improved over the year.
HenryDawg - January 17, 2012
Injury prone is the problem there.
Aussie Brown - January 18, 2012
Right, but his performance wasn’t bad. Taking the whole season, our line was pretty average in pass protection.
notthatnoise - January 18, 2012
I agree, but Pashos’ injury history makes me think we need to draft an RT, just in a later round. Definitely not round 1 or 2.
Doc's Kid - January 18, 2012
I would be fine with rd 2—easily. Pashos isn’t getting younger.
rufio - January 18, 2012
I figure DE or LB, whichever we don’t go with in round 1. I expect a 3rd round RT would still be successful.
Doc's Kid - January 18, 2012
If there’s one there I would be fine taking a LB or DE too. I don’t think you take a guy that high just because he plays the position that you happen to need. He’s got to be good.
rufio - January 19, 2012
Of course. Sorry for not saying it explicitly. I thought it was assumed.
Doc's Kid - January 19, 2012
I will take mercilus over mike adams 100 times out of 100.
bross09 - January 17, 2012
absolutely
PaduaDSP - January 18, 2012
I’m just glad that this year, unlike three years ago, we can actually focus on positional drafting at these handful of positions as opposed to taking the BPA overall for lack of warm bodies. However we dice it up, we have deficiency at O skill, run stop and pass rush. Our line played fairly well but Steinbach could be a liability and somewhere along the way they forgot how to block when we played Baltimore.
The New Kardiac Kids - January 18, 2012
The Giants are amazing at making diamonds in the rough into all-pro caliber players.
Simmsinns - January 17, 2012
They just know how to scout the position. Most of their quality rushers were drafted in the 1st or 2nd.
Roger Dorn - January 18, 2012
I stand by what I said, whether it’s due to awesome scouting or awesome coaching, or a combination of both.
Simmsinns - January 18, 2012
Both. And now that they have that culture there its even easier. Every young DE they get can learn from Tuck, Osi, etc.
rufio - January 18, 2012
Winning breeds winning.
Simmsinns - January 18, 2012
This would make me so happy.
Bernie19Kosar - January 17, 2012
agreed. that’s where my mind was going when I was typing this. maybe Benard can come back next year and fit into the DE role a bit better, and I wouldn’t mind drafting one in the top 3 rds this yr (obviously depending on the board). good pass rush makes EVERYTHING better.
Gabe Durrant - January 17, 2012
Giants, Texans too. You can never have enough pass rushers.
rufio - January 18, 2012
Well deserved
dirtyjoe - January 17, 2012
I rewatched the Browns Steelers game in Cleveland and Sheard and Rubin were really strong against the Steelers. I agree we have a potentionally very good D-Line, and with signing DQ we are only a player or two away from a strong defense that can win games for us. Young D-Line too
champion64 - January 17, 2012
Gocong looked good on the strong side. I don’t know if he can cover TEs though. Add a fast WLB and RDE plus Ward coming back is a pretty nice look D for only a couple of years worth of work. Plus it actually has some depth with Paxson, Shaeffering, Benard and others.
HenryDawg - January 17, 2012
Paxson does fairly well coming off the bench. He’s at the right place at the right times.
Brownie's Year - January 17, 2012
I like our depth on the line.
notthatnoise - January 17, 2012
If Gocong takes over Fujitas job on the strongside, is Maieva our man on the weakside? I’m thinking not and would like to see us pick there over (higher than) RDE.
LondonBrown - January 17, 2012
Usually you would take a RDE higher than a WLB, and Maiava > Mitchell. I’ve seen a lot of people having us taking Zack Brown with the second one or maybe the 2nd rnd. He’s one of the better 4-3 WLB in this draft.
HenryDawg - January 17, 2012
I also think linebackers who don’t rush the passer are a bit like running backs.
notthatnoise - January 17, 2012
Bingo!
Bernie19Kosar - January 17, 2012
I think Zack Brown is a pass rushing LB, its just not the same as in the 3-4 where he would potentially rush every down. It would be more on blitzes, but we also got torched by having our LBs trying to cover backs and TEs and he has the speed to cover.
HenryDawg - January 17, 2012
I wouldn’t mind going after Trevethan or Spence in the 3rd.
bross09 - January 17, 2012
I’m with you on Trevethan! He is great at the splash play, always seems to be in the right place. Plus he covers a lot of ground quickly. I’m suprised he does not get more love than he does considering his numbers despite playing for a horrible defense.
southbound - January 18, 2012
Trevathan actually reminds me of D’Qwell Jackson. Undersized LB but a tackling machine.
bbstirrd - January 18, 2012
I think he is much more of a WLB than a mlb. DQ was an undersized mlb. The difference is I thinnk Trevethan is more athletic and better in coverage.
bross09 - January 18, 2012
I love how he can cover ground quickly. good in coverage, can read and react well. great WLB
bross09 - January 18, 2012
I think we have enough non-pass rushing LBs. Draft some guys who can drop into coverage and get after the passer.
rufio - January 18, 2012
Agreed. A great cover LB is needed to keep up with the ever importance of TEs who are basically big bodied WRs.
mr.saturday.night - January 18, 2012
I would almost be more comfortable with an extra safety or CB on the field to cover TE’s.
Bernie19Kosar - January 18, 2012
I think Brown is probably the best 4-3 WLB in the draft.
bross09 - January 17, 2012
I love Fujita, but I am not sure if he has enough left to be a full time starter next year.
bross09 - January 17, 2012
Yep. He’s a stand-up guy, but he seemed slow and out of sync this year.
batard - January 18, 2012
Gocong may not be able to cover TEs well, but he is better at Strong than Weak. There are so many ways we can go in this draft that can make me very happy and one is RG3, mercilus, Zach Brown. That front 7 is automatically awesome and you get a possible franchise QB.
bross09 - January 17, 2012
Gocong can’t be worse at covering TE’s than Fujita.
Bernie19Kosar - January 18, 2012
isn’t this kinda like arguing which turd is shinier?
PaduaDSP - January 18, 2012
Debunked on Mythbusters: you can polish a turd.
The New Kardiac Kids - January 18, 2012
but at the end of the day you still have a turd
PaduaDSP - January 18, 2012
At least it’s shiny.
notthatnoise - January 18, 2012
Cleveland sports sure does have it’s share of shiny turds. :(
The New Kardiac Kids - January 19, 2012
And all you need is water, a fridge, and a lot of spare time.
North Coast Flea - January 18, 2012
That’s what I am thinking.
bross09 - January 18, 2012
Phil Taylor has a boatload of natural ability. I do think he needs to get his motor more in line with a Tuba or he will eventually be a disappointment. Space eaters are great – but you need a DT that is able to disrupt things to justify a 1st rounder. He can be that – but will need to extend more effort to do so. Congrats to both Phil and Sheard.
realmccoy - January 18, 2012
This is all correct.
TheDriveStillHurts - January 18, 2012
Looked a little like he wore down this year to me, hit the rookie wall. He was decently disruptive for a guy that size, or at least got a solid amount of sacks. I’d love to see him put a consistently good year together.
rufio - January 18, 2012
He should really benefit from a full off-season program. Hopefully he follows Tuba around all off-season.
Bernie19Kosar - January 18, 2012
That would be great.
rufio - January 18, 2012
If Blackmon is there, he’s my wish for #4.
Although, I will accept whoever H&H draft with any of our picks, as the top 4 guys from both of the drafts they’ve been charged with have turned out nicely so far.
mr.saturday.night - January 18, 2012
Young hungry guys can maybe help get a solid DE in FA. That last DL spot is a pretty attractive job. A competent guy can do well in that spot.
dabooo - January 18, 2012
OT: Did BOaB get banned? I noticed the link to his profile is greyed out. I wanted to let him know how my San Antonio trip is going.
North Coast Flea - January 18, 2012
Hm, was it because of the Tebow thread?
SpecialBrownie - January 18, 2012
If it was, than I missed it.
North Coast Flea - January 18, 2012
He posted here yesterday so I wouldn’t think so.
HenryDawg - January 18, 2012
Not that I’m aware of.
notthatnoise - January 18, 2012
If you go to the Alamo don’t forget to check out the basement.
Brownie's Year - January 18, 2012
I asked the tour guide* how many people ask to see the basement.
*There weren’t guided tours, he was more of a guy standing behind a podium.
North Coast Flea - January 18, 2012
You know he’s thinking “AH! Everyday it’s that damn joke!”.
Brownie's Year - January 19, 2012
Coincidentally, he told me there is a basement on the premises, just under a different building. It’s where his/their office is
North Coast Flea - January 19, 2012
He probably just says that to make people fell dumb for asking about a basement.
Brownie's Year - January 19, 2012
At first I thought you were saying the guide was doing cocaine.
Doc's Kid - January 19, 2012
That’s LaMicheal James. And it’s crack.
Bernie19Kosar - January 19, 2012
I don’t even know how this one started. But I like it already.
Simmsinns - January 19, 2012
bross*
Hey, I like this too!
Brownie's Year - January 20, 2012
Stop SOAP.
The Licensed Pessimist - January 18, 2012
No please, keep using soap.
Stop SOPA.
SpecialBrownie - January 18, 2012
What’s SOPA?
I thought this was a movement to support the smelly people of the world
The Licensed Pessimist - January 18, 2012
I can’t tell if this is a joke or TLP actually being himself to not lose an argument?
SpecialBrownie - January 18, 2012
This link could take out all of SBN b/c of SOPA
bross09 - January 18, 2012
Yet based on the laws, this link will still work while yours won’t. Both of ours are still illegal though.
Doc's Kid - January 19, 2012
Rofl.
Simmsinns - January 18, 2012
“Sharing is Fleedom” (In my best Braveheart voice)
The New Kardiac Kids - January 19, 2012
Indeeb
North Coast Flea - January 19, 2012
Never said I could do a good Scottish accent. :)
The New Kardiac Kids - January 19, 2012
Were there even any other starting DEs or DTs in the league all of this year besides Watt? I don’t think so.
These were pretty much default picks. Hell even PP and Harris earned roles and they were at the bottom of the league.
The Licensed Pessimist - January 18, 2012
Jordan
SpecialBrownie - January 18, 2012
For now it looks like I got that one right, Golan.
rufio - January 18, 2012
Moon still wins on Robiskie
Doc's Kid - January 18, 2012
And Alex Mack as a NT.
rufio - January 19, 2012
Can’t forget his tattoo of Steinbach ass.
North Coast Flea - January 19, 2012
You crapping on Browns’ players getting accolades?
Knock me over with a feather.
Bernie19Kosar - January 18, 2012
Right, forget the fact that no one else was able to earn a starting job.
rufio - January 18, 2012
Im really excited to see how much they improve with a full offseason. Next year our entire DL needs to show more against the run, we consistently let teams get to the 2nd level and that cant happen.
Justin Kowalczyk - January 19, 2012
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