No, we don’t think Mike Pettine should be fired – WFNY Podcast – 2015-09-09
September 9, 2015Video: Braxton Miller’s spin move gets the ESPN Sports Science treatment
September 9, 2015It takes a special kind of player to be named to Grantland’s “Triangle All-Stars.” It’s not always the best players; it’s not always the most talented—that’s what postseason awards are for. But for the annual All-Star team picked by Grantland’s own Robert Mays, it’s about which players make Sundays the most enjoyable. Who does the most with the least? Who has just enough crazy in them to make a generic fan tune in and watch their team play? Who is the kind of player that sends web nerds across the country straight to their gif-maker the second he does it again?
And while this year’s team of Triangle All-Stars has the expected names like Houston’s J.J. Watt and Baltimore’s Steve Smith Sr., the Cleveland Browns were represented on the defensive side of the ball thanks to free safety Tashaun Gipson.
Here’s Mays:
For the past two years, Gipson has been a constant cutaway-highlight presence in my life. It feels like he picks off a pass every week. He has 11 interceptions in the past two seasons, more than anyone in the league other than Richard Sherman. Where he blows his competitors away, though, is what he does with the ball after it gets in his hands. Gipson’s 301 turnover return yards are far and away the most since 2013.
As Gipson is a free safety, plenty of his interceptions are of the overthrow or tipped-pass variety, but there’s something to be said for always being in the right place at the right time. Lining up to block a field goal against the Raiders, as Oakland showed it was faking, Gipson moved from the right side of the line of scrimmage all the way to a free safety spot on the opposite side of the field before finally tracking back across to snatch the throw from Matt Schaub, who now throws picks as a holder, too.
An undrafted free agent just three seasons ago, Gipson patrolled the second-best pass defense in football last year, and in a secondary that includes two former first-round picks, it’s the guy no one wanted who makes the biggest difference.
Mays is spot on. Fans may not recall as Gipson was forced out of action over the second half of the season, but there was a stretch where No. 39 was hawking deep passes like vintage Junior Griffey. While the Browns secondary is rife with talent, it’s the safety net provided by Gipson that allows for Mike Pettine’s aggressive, press-coverage defense to take hold.
How the team values Gipson remains to be seen. Seeking a multi-year extension heading into this past winter, the restricted free agent settled for a one-year tender which pays him a hair over $2 million. This regime has been a bit cold with it’s own free agents, letting players like Buster Skrine head to New York while handing out one-year tenders to the rest. It’s a year like this that can only serve to fuel a player like Gipson, but the Triangle All-Stars also serve as a reminder that things can go incredibly wrong—Cleveland’s Dion Waiters was a co-captain of the basketball edition less than a year ago.
10 Comments
I’ll miss you!
In 2016, you can have either Tristan Thompson or Tashaun Gipson playing for their Cleveland team but at a premium salary, who ya got?
Gipson is the first real ball-hawking safety the Browns have had since Felix Wright. TJ Ward had finally figured out the passing game when he left, but the clip above really shows that Gipson has the instincts, hands and ball hunger that you can’t teach. Not sure what the Browns are waiting for. He’ll get his money if he stays healthy, but the Browns will probably lose the guy if they wait to make sure he does.
Oh, Tristan, that’s easy. Gipson is the superior player in his sport. But Tristan playing as he did last year can help a Cleveland team get a championship this year. Gipson playing at an all-pro level won’t help the Browns get even close.
This will help give us a better picture of how Farmer thinks.
Is he a strictly cost/ability ratio guy? What is his MO?
If Campbell is 75% as good as Gipson, but 50% cheaper, that may tip the Farmer Stat-O-Matic Compulator in favor of letting Gipson go.
If this is how Farmer is going to run things, we’re in for some more lean years. :/
Great question. I’d go with Gipson because he deserves it and plays a sport where on any given play he could lose his life. Thompson on the other hand is a 10 point 8 rebound bench player who just found himself in the right place at the right time.
as I commented on the other thread, I’m not so sure that Farmer is a straight stat guy. Me, I’d rather he overpay to keep Gipson. Because at this stage I have little confidence in his ability to find another high level player, at any price.
For the Browns to be in cap-hell, they would actually need to find a QB who is worth something and pay him a long-term salary. It was almost too laughable for me to write.
exactly. by the time gipson’s contract is up, the browns QB-OTF will probably still be on a rookie deal.
gipson …