NFL Sunday notebook: Among Week 1 matchups are Urban Legend vs. Reality Check, Najee Harris vs. Dead Horse
Here we go, Urban Meyer. The clock is already ticking.
Another Jimmy Johnson? Or another in a lineup of hype-heavy coaches who brought immense credentials from the college level — Chip Kelly, Bobby Petrino and Steve Spurrier, among them — only to fall flat on their playbooks in the NFL?
The Meyer Era for the Jacksonville Jaguars begins today in Houston, wrapped with the presence of a wonderful quarterback prospect in Trevor Lawrence and all the promise that a man who won national championships at Ohio State and Florida can strike gold in the pros.
Johnson, by the way, started off with a blue-chip rookie quarterback, too, in Troy Aikman. He wound up becoming the first coach to win a national championship and a Super Bowl and was recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But Johnson also started 1-15 in 1989.
So, here’s to a little patience for Meyer. Only “patience” is a word that Meyer absolutely hates when it comes to football.
“There’s no four-year plan,” Meyer told Paste BN Sports during training camp. “First of all, it’s not fair to the players. It’s a September 12 plan.”
That sounds good enough. Yet NFL reality checks include the need for talent. While coaching at college powerhouses Florida and Ohio State, Meyer typically enjoyed talent mismatches. That won’t be the case in the NFL — Lawrence may very well become another Peyton Manning, but opponents will be bringing the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Ben Roethlisberger. A deep talent pool is essential. It’s just that in the NFL, developing that edge is much more difficult when Bill Belichick, Sean Payton and Mike Tomlin are in the same race.
As it stands now, the Jaguars will roll out against the Houston Texans needing to show that a team that was worst in the league last year has found a way to fortify a defense that was horrible against the run and impotent in rushing the passer in 2020. And what good will Lawrence be if they can’t protect him with the rebuilt O-line?
We’ll see.
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Meyer has already had some high-profile stumbles. He hired a strength coach who lasted all of one day in March after blowback about Chris Doyle’s track record in college for making racist comments to Black players. What a boneheaded move to make that hire in the first place.
Then there was the Tim Tebow experiment. It’s tough to dog Meyer too much for at least giving his former, Heisman Trophy-winning Florida quarterback a shot at an NFL comeback as a tight end. Tebow quarterbacked Meyer to two of his three national championships. When the blocking, or lack thereof, was revealed after they put on the pads, though, Meyer didn’t prolong the stunt. Credibility restored.
So, yes, he can adapt. And there will have to be more of that along the way on his NFL journey. Meyer has also demonstrated some wisdom in tapping Johnson for insight. And Johnson told him all about the draft capital he’s inherited, which can jump-start the rebuilding process. Like Johnson as he embarked on the NFL in 1989, Meyer comes with first-hand knowledge of so many players who graduated to the NFL draft this year and others coming in the next few years. That’s a built-in residual benefit of his hire. At least it should be. What he does with it represents a serious swing factor.
Asked to identity the traits of his “prototype” player, Meyer insisted that it’s not about the measurable.
“Every great player and every great coach, and I imagine every great executive, shares this commonality: It’s not size, speed and it’s not the ACT score,” Meyer told me. “It’s being a competitive maniac. He just doesn’t lose. Every great player I’ve been around, every great coach, they just didn’t lose. They find ways to win.
“Don’t think you’re going to out-smart people. Competitors beat smart people every time. If there’s a bunch of smart people going against competitors, I know who I’m betting on.”
Shad Khan, the Jaguars owner, knows. He bet on Meyer, who brings a sparkling 187-32 record from the college ranks. For all that he accomplished in Columbus, Ohio, and Gainesville, Florida, though, his success at Bowling Green and Utah is not to be overlooked. He built programs that were not football factories.
Now comes the challenge of turning around the NFL equivalent of a franchise without a rich tradition. It’s no wonder that in Jacksonville, not far from where Meyer had magic at Florida, the buzz is off the charts. They are starving for a winner. During the camp practices open to fans, the electricity resembled the game-day experience.
“The vibe, energy, joy and hope is unprecedented in my nine years here,” Khan told Paste BN Sports as he watched an early camp practice.
Can they sustain it?
“You’ve got to build on it by winning,” Khan said. “That’s the only way you do it."
And the clock is ticking.
Browns are out to buck history
Browns vs. History: Baker Mayfield and Myles Garrett weren’t even born the last time the Cleveland Browns put together back-to-back winning seasons in 1988 and 1989, but two of the most prominent players on the team that opens Sunday with a playoff rematch at Kansas City have heard all about the history.
“What’s that got to do with me?” Garrett told Paste BN Sports during a training camp interview.
In one sense, it has nothing to do with Garrett.
On another level, it has much to do with Garrett, Mayfield and the rest of the Browns because they can distance themselves from the sorry results that frustrated one of the NFL’s most loyal fan bases for decades. Last season, the Browns had a winning record (11-5) for the first time since 2007 and earned the franchise’s first playoff berth in 18 years.
“When it comes down to the history of what it was and some of the things that have happened, I wasn’t here,” Mayfield, drafted No. 1 overall in 2018, told Paste BN Sports. “Yeah, I’m proud to play for a franchise that’s tradition-rich and people care about it, but none of that stuff matters when we’re playing in Week 1, Week 2 and so on. It’s about what we can do in 2021."
The Browns, who earned a wild-card berth and scored a first-round upset at Pittsburgh, are pressed to prove that last year was no fluke as reigning NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski begins his second season. That would be some fresh history, to become a legitimate threat in the AFC after so many years of building, so many new regimes and so many false starts.
“When I got here in 2017, it wasn’t the greatest start,” said Garrett, chosen No. 1 overall, alluding to the 0-16 season. “But since then, we’ve had steady growth, a maturity.”
It will take that to buck the trend that has little to do with the current Browns. Still, it’s worth noting that in the four cases over the past 31 years when the Browns produced a winning record (2007, 2002, 1994, 1989), they followed up with some horrible results: 4-12, 5-11, 5-11 and 3-13.
Najee in Black and Gold
Identity check: Mike Tomlin is rather practical when considering whether the Steelers will improve their rushing attack after uncharacteristically finishing dead last in the NFL last season.
“We will be better,” Tomlin, whose squad opens Sunday at Buffalo, told Paste BN Sports. “Are you kidding me? We’re talking about a running game that was 32nd in the league, right? We’ve got nowhere to go but up. Know what I mean?”
The Steelers averaged an NFL-low 3.6 yards per carry in running for a league-low 84.4 yards per game in 2020. Even when Pittsburgh invited dreams of an undefeated season in starting 11-0, the imbalance was palpable as Ben Roethlisberger stayed under extreme pressure to carry the offense, and the running game couldn’t produce in key situations. The regression of the offensive line and injuries that hampered since-departed James Conner were just two of the issues.
The revival of the rushing attack could be best personified by first-round running back Najee Harris, who brings a complete package from Alabama as runner, receiver and blitz-protector.
“Keep watching,” Tomlin said of Harris.
Harris knows why he landed in Pittsburgh. It’s the extreme need. Yet he insists that he hasn’t been reminded of it much from people inside the Steelers compound.
“They don’t want to beat a dead horse,” Harris said. “It’s already in the air.”
Follow Paste BN Sports' Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.