Every coach tries to beat the drum for his players.
It’s not in the job description, but it comes with the territory.
You want your employees to be recognized for the work they do.
The only problem is that no one has to agree with you or the way you choose. Like recently when Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski used hyperbole to praise DE Myles Garrett.
Asked about his frustration with the lack of currency, he took the opportunity to “get on the podium”, in his own words. He said:
“He’s the best player in the league right now with the best defence.” “He’s dominant as a defensive player and that’s why he’s the Defensive Player of the Year. “
I don’t think it’s close,” he said, adding that the football culture was too close. “
I don’t know if there’s anyone in the same industry as him.”Let’s start with the obvious.
It is absurd for the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, who play in the same division as the Pittsburgh Steelers, to think that none of his players are in the same league.
Joined by OLB T.J. Watt twice a year. Every year since he took over in Cleveland, he’s been healthy and seen Watt lead the league in rushing.
It saw Watt win Defensive Player of the Year honors. He saw Watt sack him eight times.
That’s not in recognition of all the other great quarterbacks in the league, like Micah Parsons,
Aaron Donald, Maxx Crosby, Daniel Hunter and Roquan Smith, or the great seasons that DaRon Bland and his five picks had. six.
Of course, there is a strong argument to be made that Garrett is the best quarterback in football and better than Watt.
I cant do this. But we expect the Browns coach to do so. What I didn’t expect was to hear him say that he didn’t know anyone else in the industry.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin called Watt the best defensive player in the world.
But don’t say there was anyone around. Maybe Stefanski will try to hit the boards hard and end up winning Defensive Player of the Year, even if his guy doesn’t.
As you know, Garrett has not recorded a sack in his last four games.
He made six tackles in that span, one of which was a pass defensed.
According to Pro Football Reference, he has just three quarterback sacks in four games.
Do we often do statistics? Of course it is. It’s much faster than watching a tape, and unless you’re getting paid professionally to watch everything, die-hard fans don’t have the time or resources to devote to tearing down other people’s movies, let alone actually watching them.
But we think it suffices to say that Stefanski’s exaggeration is outrageous.
