Three Nuggets on Browns From an Eagles Vantage Point
For the Cleveland Browns there has been no shortage of opposing views and hot takes given about what happened in Philadelphia during joint practices with the Eagles. Particularly on Wednesday, the day after, social media was in a frenzy of overreaction.
To cut through the noise I decided to seek out a counterintuitive source for any clues on what to expect out of the Browns and to measure where the team is with the preseason coming to a close.
In my opinion, the Philadelphia Eagles in house media team is the cream of the crop when providing coverage of the team to fans. They produce a ton of great content and the acumen of the people who produce it is top notch.
I decided to check out one of the best in breaking down players and the game and that is Fran Duffy, who hosts the Eagle Eye in the Sky podcast. I tuned into his latest episode where he and his guest Chris McPherson recapped both days of joint practices with the Browns.
You can check out the full episode here.
While it is an Eagles centric show, I knew going in that the discussion would happen from an Eagles context but knowing Fran, I also knew he would be dropping nuggets about what he saw from the Browns. The following are things discussed that I believe are noteworthy in regard to the Browns.
1. Browns are a big team
The first thing that jumped out to both was the size of the team overall. You can go down the roster position by position and the size was apparent. Duffy likened it to 2015, when the Eagles had practices with the Ravens. He said Andrew Berry has built this team to win the AFC North.
2. Browns corners hold their own against Eagles star pair of receivers
McPherson got a first hand look at the Eagles offensive skill players going against the Browns defensive backs. He mentioned Denzel Ward specifically as being a stand out during the sessions and ultimately said that the Browns corners held their own against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
3. Cedrick Tillman was the one guy that really caught Fran's eye
Duffy said "he made a lot of plays, with the first team, with the second team, against good corners for the Eagles. He showed up in a big way and I think Cedrick Tillman is a guy who might make some big plays for the Browns this year."
They had many complimentary things to say overall, and like many have already reported it seemed the Browns had an impressive first day and the Eagles responded on day two. The preseason game on Thursday should be a good match with both teams having talented rosters.
