Cleveland Browns: Emmanuel Obgah’s Development

The Cleveland Browns selected a player with remarkable upside in Emmanuel Ogbah, but his utilization and development will be critical if he’s going to contribute as a rookie.

Given his athleticism and upside, it was a surprise when Emmanuel Ogbah was available for the Cleveland Browns to select with the 32nd overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. Not unlike Corey Coleman, selected 15th by the Browns, Ogbah proved extremely productive at Oklahoma State but is largely a piece of clay to be molded.

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The Browns have made the decision that Ogbah will be an outside linebacker in their scheme, but in reality, he should be simply called an edge rusher. The reason is that while Ogbah is currently being groomed to play outside linebacker, his impact as a rookie may largely be with his hand in the dirt.

The Browns drafted Ogbah to improve the team’s borderline nonexistent pass rush. As much as it is important for him to work on run fits and even drop into coverage on occasion, his value to the Browns is going to be based on how often he can affect opposing quarterbacks.

At Oklahoma State, Ogbah was an every down defensive end that would occasionally be on his feet. Even so, Ogbah’s lack of technique was apparent, even as productive as he was.

Despite the fact that his athletic testing was better than a player like Aldon Smith, the Browns coaching staff has remarked that they have been surprised at how athletic he was in private workouts with him and then in drafting him.

The reason is that Ogbah gets caught thinking too much on the field. Rather than reacting to the play and immediately springing into action, Ogbah often stops to process the information, so he looks slower because he is late to the play or out of it entirely. Instead of being able to showcase just how strong and athletic he is by making plays, he’s using those assets to try to make up for a significant disadvantage at the start of the play.

Not surprisingly, when he was on time or just attacked, even when he was wrong, Ogbah was a far more dangerous and productive player.

In addition to attempting to get Ogbah to read and recognize what’s happening faster, the simplest way minimize issue is to reduce Ogbah’s role. Given what the Browns need from him, the most obvious way to do that would be to always have him attacking the quarterback and if the ball goes elsewhere, simply chase it.

The other issue that hurt Ogbah in college was the fact he didn’t have a plan as a pass rusher. He just threw one of a few pass rush moves at the opponent and hoped for the best. It looked every bit as unnatural and chaotic as it sounds.

Ogbah has to develop a better feel for what moves are appropriate and when depending on how the offensive lineman is playing him. And before the snap, have a pretty good idea of is going to happen, so he isn’t trying to improvise every time he comes off of the line of scrimmage.

In some ways, this is a product of Ogbah being so gifted. He could run by opposing or overpower college lineman almost at will. But as impressive as his college production was, he still left a lot of meat on the bone because he was so raw.

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That’s a mixed blessing. It’s good that he was able to produce in spite of being so raw because there’s a lot of room for improvement. That also means there’s a lot of work ahead of him since NFL caliber offensive linemen are obviously better equipped to stop him.

That would suggest that Paul Kruger and either Barkevious Mingo or Nate Orchard would start at the outside linebacker spots in base looks. In obvious pass rushing situations, Ogbah could come in and attack the quarterback, likely from a defensive end spot in an even front.

This would appear to be the most prudent way to focus Ogbah on pass rushing effectively, so the Browns can improve one of their weakest areas on the team and should be how the Browns approach the situation.

However, the Browns could opt to go on a different path given the makeup of their roster. Because of the overwhelming amount of youth on the roster, the Browns might decide to dump the youth on the field and let them figure it out, hoping to guide them along the way. This might especially be true with the guys they picked for this team.

With good coaching and the necessary football acumen from Ogbah, this could result in improving leaps and bounds as a player. Ogbah would rack up a ton of experience and learn from failures, both on the field and in the film room.

The problem is sort of the same trap the Browns fell into the last time Ray Horton was defensive coordinator. He put too much on young players too fast and they weren’t able to handle it, resulting in poor play and little if any improvement.

The Browns are supposed to be going simpler under Horton this time to fit the youth and inexperience on this roster, but Ogbah is coming in so raw that even that could be overwhelming.

The other big flaw with this concept is if this coaching staff decides to throw rookies on the field incapable of doing the job, it’s going to aggravate the rest of the locker room. Players like Ogbah may feel alienated being put in positions they aren’t ready for as older, better players are increasingly bitter because they, understandably, feel they are getting screwed in a sport where careers are so short.

This could really work to undo this coaching staff before it gets started. The staff also seems smart enough to avoid this trap. As a result, Ogbah will likely be focused on a specific role and if he can outperform and get ahead of schedule, he will earn playing time accordingly.

If Ogbah starts processing the game faster and reacting appropriately, it’s going to be difficult to keep him off the field, which would be great news. In the event he doesn’t, at least they are working with him on the most important aspect of his job while hopefully giving the Browns a badly needed pass rush boost.

An even front with Ogbah as a defensive end in obvious passing situations could look really good if all the players involved perform as expected.

Ogbah and Kruger could attack off the edge with players like Xavier Cooper and Desmond Bryant attacking from the interior. It provides a good deal of size and athleticism to attack the opposing quarterback. Mingo and Orchard could come in for Kruger if he needs a blow. Mingo and Orchard could also be used as a stand up rusher coming on the blitz to try to overwhelm the opposing pass protection..

If Ogbah can get on the field and affect the opposing quarterback, that would be a productive rookie season. Should Ogbah be able to earn playing time on more running downs and prove effective, that would constitute a substantial success for the rookie as well as the team.

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Emmanual Ogbah’s potential is off the charts, but there’s a reason he lasted until the 32nd pick in the draft. If his talent translates and he’s developed properly, the Browns could end up with a player like Ziggy Ansah, who was a diamond in the rough when the Detroit Lions got him. If not, it’s another Barkevious Mingo situation where the player might be capable, but their development was botched from the start of their career and from that point, it’s trying to fix the damage done.