Browns News

What does Mack mean to the Browns' offensive line?

By Don Delco
NoLogoNeeded.com staff writer

After the 2009 NFL Draft concluded last Sunday evening, the NoLogoNeeded.com staff was able to fully digest and accept (for better or worse) what just happened.

As a result, four questions popped up. We plan to ask and answer these during the next four days.

Here is the tentative schedule:

Tuesday: What does Mack mean to the Browns' offensive line?

Wednesday: Will the wide receivers (Braylon included) work out in the long run?

Thursday: Did the Browns do enough in the draft and free agency to address the defense?

Friday: Is Clemson running back, James Davis, a sixth-round steal?

Click “Read More” for analysis on the Browns offensive line and its newest addition, Alex Mack.

First, let’s hit some highlights (or lowlights, if you prefer) of the Cleveland Browns and its offensive line since the team’s rebirth in 1999.

Two of the Browns’ first three picks in the 1999 expansion draft were center Jim Pyne (first) and tackle Scott Rehberg (third). Pyne started all 16 games for the Browns in 1999 and two in 2000 before retiring in 2001 with the Philadelphia Eagles. Rehberg started 13 games at right guard for the Browns in 1999 before leaving for Cincinnati the next season.

Let’s face it, there was a reason those players were available in 1999 and didn't last long in orange and brown.

Also in 1999, starting left tackle Orlando Brown was injured after getting hit in the eye by a penalty flag thrown by referee Jeff Triplette. He sued the NFL and won $25 million.

Hey, remember the Roger Chanoine experiment from 1999-2002? He started every game in 2001 and opposing defensive linemen rejoiced.

Four years after the expansion draft, the Browns drafted center Jeff Faine in 2003 and three years later signed free agent all-pro LeCharles Bentley. Faine was traded at the 2006 NFL Draft and Bentley blew out his knee on the first day of contact in training camp July 27.

What followed was the Browns great center debacle of 2006:

•Back-up center Bob Hallen was named starting center. He then announced his retirement Aug. 11 due to apparent ongoing problems with his back. The Browns did not have a center.

•On July 30, the Browns signed veteran center Todd Washington as Hallen’s back-up. On August 7, Washington announced his retirement, four days before Hallen.

•The job then went to Alonzo Ephraim, who was signed after Bentley was injured. He was suspended for substance abuse.

•On Aug. 17, the Browns acquired Patriots’ Ross Tucker and seven days later they received Lennie Friedman from the Bears for a conditional 20007 draft pick.

•Finally, on Sept. 2, the Browns traded a conditional 2008 draft pick to the Eagles for Hank Fraley and terminated Tucker’s contract.

Meanwhile, Faine became an all-pro for the New Orleans Saints.

That was the same year the Browns signed free agent Kevin Shaffer as their new offensive tackle. That experiment lasted one season before he was moved to his true position, right tackle.

Browns general manager Phil Savage got back on the horse in the spring of 2007 and signed free agent left guard Eric Steinbach in March. A month later, Savage drafted Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas.

In 2007, the Browns had the NFL’s eight-best offense as they rushed for 1,895 yards and passed for 3,726.

In 2008, Thomas went to his second Pro Bowl in as many seasons, but the Browns finished 4-12. New head coach Eric Mangini was brought in. Mangini loves ball control offense via the run and his seemingly first course of action was to build a stronger offensive line.

In free agency, Mangini and general manager George Kokinis signed the Browns new starting right guard, Floyd Womack, and right tackle, John St. Clair, as well as a blocking tight end, Robert Royal.

Last Saturday, Mangini drafted California center Alex Mack at No. 21.

“Mack is an intelligent, experienced lineman who possesses excellent leadership qualities,” wrote Chris Steuber on Mack’s Scout.com profile. “He has great size and strength and is a good athlete. He’s aware of his surroundings, is quick off the line and tough at the point of attack. He’s a technician who uses his hands to his advantage and mauls the opposition until the whistle is blown.”

So what does Mack mean for the offensive line?

By playing in the AFC North, the Browns face a 3-4 defense six times a season. Throughout the NFL, this style is popular once again as more teams are adjusting to this scheme.

For an offensive line, the center position becomes even more critical. Finesse centers are no longer desired since they have a habit of getting abused by larger nose tackles.

Fraley has played a solid 10 years in the NFL was exposed by those 3-4 nose tackles last season.

ESPN.com’s Len Pasquarelli has noticed the trend that more teams are looking for that quality center.

“The old thinking that teams could treat the center position almost as an afterthought, with late-round draft picks predominant, has changed dramatically in the past few years,” Pasquarelli wrote. “And the primary instrument of change has been the increased deployment of the 3-4 defense.

“Offenses now require a stout snapper and blocker who can hold up against the 3-4 front, and handle, oftentimes one-on-one, the opposition's nose tackle. Because of the 3-4 defense, there aren't many centers in the league who weigh less than 300 pounds. Fact is, the 300-pound center has become the norm, rather than the exception.”

Mack is 6-foot-4, 312 pounds and one strong dude. At the combine, he lifted 225 pounds 31 times. According to Mack’s scouting report provided by The Orange and Brown Report, Mack grades at 7.4 in his ability in the running game, the area Mangini wants to succeed in the most.

“What separates him from most centers is his good understanding of angles and positioning. He is a productive blocker in-line whose balance and leverage allows him to quickly get in the way of a defender.”

If not this season, Mack will anchor the offensive line next season after Fraley’s contract expires in 2010.

Mangini followed this same formula with the New York Jets as he drafted left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson fourth and center Nick Mangold 29th in the 2006 NFL Draft and signed Pro Bowl guards — Steelers left guard Alan Faneca in 2007 and Lions Damien Wood in 2008 — in free agency.

With the Browns now possessing a solid starting offensive line with some depth in second stringers Isaac Sowells (LT), Kurt Quarterman (LG), Dustin Fry (C), Rex Hadnot (RG), Ryan Tucker (RT) and Steve Heiden (TE), Cleveland joins the Jets among the NFL team’s with a top-tier offensive line.

Hey, it only took 10 years.

April 28, 2009 at 12:14 PM

Comments

Overjoyed with this pick and the draft in total. Mack was my man and I thought he would be gone by our 2nd pick. Glad the Browns were not stupid enough to take that USC middle linebacker.

April 28, 2009 at 11:42 AM by paulbip

i think cincy still runs a 4-3. but four out of sixteen is still significant when they're division games.

April 28, 2009 at 3:35 PM by barry

Yup... Cincy does run a traditional 4-3. I associated Marvin Lewis with the 3-4.

You know what they say, don't assume...

April 28, 2009 at 4:08 PM by Don_NoLogoNeeded.com

Great article. Good draft. I gave the Browns a solid B+
go Brownies

April 28, 2009 at 11:18 AM by Dr. Nathaniel Bostic

What does Mack mean to the Browns' offensive line?

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