Rookie Report Week 12: at Cleveland Browns
Early draft picks are nice. No, really, they are. They would provide ample fodder for the 2016 version of Rookie Report. But I hope you, as fans, haven’t sold your souls to the devil for the #1 draft pick just yet. Even in seasons of despair, there come moments such as Monday night’s kick-six where the Baltimore Ravens still make you leap out of your seat and restore your pride as a fan.
Call it bizarre, call it ugly, (it was probably both), but the win in Cleveland was incredible.
Before turning to the rookies, I want to praise the performances of unheralded players such as Matt Schaub, Brent Urban*, and Shareece Wright, all of whom deserve credit for various contributions to the victory.
Now on to my beloved rooks.
Let’s start with Kaelin Clay. First of all…who? Clay, a former Utah Ute measuring 5’10” 195 lbs, was taken in the sixth round by Tampa Bay this spring, bounced around to Detroit, and was eventually signed by Baltimore two weeks ago.
A returner specialist, Clay showed great vision and acceleration on his fantastic 82-yard punt return for a touchdown. I always credit special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg and the blocking more often than the returner on such touchdowns, but Clay had some work to do with this one.
He made two quick juke moves to avoid the first defenders, but kept his eyes downfield to set up his blocking. He pressed the ball up on a path along the numbers of the field to allow Maxx Williams (circled below) to gain leverage on his man.
Clay’s acceleration through that crease was excellent, and he quickly found another gear to seal the score. If Clay can show an unwavering ability to secure the ball on special teams, the youngster could provide a possible returner option moving forward.
—
Javorius Allen toted the rock as Baltimore’s lead rusher, taking 12 carries for 55 yards and bringing in 4 catches for 29 yards. Allen ran strong, made defenders miss, and graded out as the Ravens’ second highest offensive player at +2.6 according to PFF. He showed quickness and power from start to finish, dragging tacklers and gaining hidden yardage late as the Ravens tried to ice the ballgame.
John Gruden spotted it before I could bring it to you here, but Buck’s pass block on the blitzing linebacker in the first quarter was crucial, as Matt Schaub was able to set and deliver a 9-yard pass. The rusher had tons of space to convert the blitz into pressure, but Buck stepped up and filled nicely.
The highlight of Allen’s night was a good example of power and tenacity as he took a simple check down pass from 13 yards out, broke two simultaneous attempted tackles and flashed into the endzone for his first ever NFL touchdown. His celebration was rad too.
Terrance West looked quite good in backup duty as well. It will be interesting to watch this extremely young 1-2 punch for the rest of the season.
—
Tight end Nick Boyle had a bad false start penalty in the fourth quarter. Luckily he atoned for that mistake three plays later with his lone catch for 10 yards on a nice angle route in traffic. Schaub missed Boyle with poor throws on two other targets, but the Delaware product was mostly held in check during his 22 snaps.
Boyle’s position-mate Maxx Williams left the game with a concussion. He played into the fourth quarter, and I hate to speculate, but Maxx’s final of his 15 snaps resulted in no physical contact. If you’ll remember earlier, the Browns’ squib kickoff to end the first half was taken and kneeled on by Williams, but he got hit unexpectedly and looked a bit dazed—I thought the officials should have flagged for a late hit.
Rookie Notes
- Tray Walker and (more surprisingly) Carl Davis were both healthy inactives Monday Night. Davis has seen a steady decrease in playing time over the past few weeks.
- Daniel Brown, a wide receiver that many liked in preseason action, recorded 7 snaps in his first ever regular season NFL action. Unfortunately, Brown looked confused that there was a possibility the ball would be thrown his way on a fourth quarter pass into the endzone.
* Some may be wondering why, if this was Brent Urban’s NFL debut, he is not considered a rookie. Here is an explanation, c/o our salary cap/roster guru Brian McFarland: “Accrued Season – A player earns an Accrued Season if he is on full pay status on the team’s 53-man roster, Injured Reserve (IR), or Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) (except if the injury is non-football related) for 6 or more games in any one season.” Therefore, Urban’s 2014 season on IR counts as an accrued season. For this same reason, Breshad Perriman will not be a “rookie” in 2016.
