Cleveland Browns Guard Joel Bitonio Quietly Standing out as NFL's Best Rookie
He might not yet be well recognized because of the position he plays, but Cleveland Browns left guard Joel Bitonio has quietly been as consistent and as positively impactful as any rookie in the National Football League through the first five weeks of the 2014 season.
Slated to be the team’s starting left guard since the first day of offseason workouts, the second-round pick from Nevada has played every snap at the position through the Browns’ first four games.
Most rookies expected to make the transition from playing left tackle in the Mountain West Conference to playing inside in the NFL would struggle, at least initially, in their first professional season.
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Seemingly unfazed by the challenge, Bitonio has arguably been the Browns’ best offensive lineman so far this year—and that’s saying something, as the No. 35 overall pick is sandwiched between two Pro Bowlers, left tackle Joe Thomas and center Alex Mack.
You won’t see Bitonio’s name in the box score, and you might not notice him if you’re casually watching a Browns game. Take a closer look, however, and you’ll see that Cleveland appears to have come away with one of the steals of the 2014 draft class.
It’s not easy to have to change positions on the offensive line while simultaneously adjusting to going up against the best football players in the world week in and week out. Just ask Greg Robinson, who was expected to make the same transition to left guard from the left tackle position he played at Auburn, yet has failed to earn a spot in the St. Louis Rams’ lineup despite being the No. 2 overall pick.
That hasn’t stopped Bitonio from making it look easy. The 2013 first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection has shown no growing pains in the first quadrant of his rookie campaign.
It helps to some extent that he gets to play between two star veterans, but as you’ll see in the following images, Bitonio has done plenty to impress on his own.
The No. 1 thing that stands out about Bitonio is his athleticism.
Bitonio made a name for himself leading up to this year’s draft at the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine, where he finished among the top five offensive linemen in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump, three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle, according to NFL.com.
| 40-Yd Dash | Vertical Jump | Broad Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yd Shuttle |
| 4.97 seconds | 32 inches | 9'6" | 7.37 seconds | 4.44 seconds |
The explosiveness and lateral agility that Bitonio put on display at the underwear Olympics have translated to his on-field play.
Pull blocking is one of the things Bitonio does exceptionally well. He is quick out of his stance and can maneuver his way to the right side of the line before the running back has even received the handoff.
An excellent example of Bitonio’s pull-blocking ability came against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, when he decleated strong safety Troy Polamalu in a running lane on the right side to spring Terrance West to a 29-yard gain.
West still had to make two defenders miss on his own on that play, as he ran by Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons and cornerback Cortez Allen en route to his big gain, but Bitonio’s ability to neutralize Polamalu from the play—on a play he started from the other side of the center—made that run possible.
Bitonio can also use his forward explosiveness to accelerate to the second level and pick up downfield blocks on linebackers, like he did on an 11-yard run by Isaiah Crowell against the Tennessee Titans last week.
Bitonio quickly reached Titans linebacker Wesley Woodyard five yards downfield then drove him back up the middle an additional three to four yards, giving Crowell the space and time he needed to burst up the middle and then break right away from Woodyard for additional yardage.
Good at sustaining blocks downfield, Bitonio can cover ground in multiple directions to make a crucial run block, much like he did on Timmons to enable a 16-yard Crowell run in Week 1.
Timmons was in position to make a tackle, but Bitonio, whose consistent motor has also been standing out, did not give up on the play and finished the block just in time for Crowell to cut inside.
Bitonio’s athleticism and ability to quickly track down and latch onto defenders enables him to make a huge impact as a run-blocker, but his foot skills are also a key asset in pass protection.
Drawing from his background of playing on the exterior of the line, Bitonio can quickly kick-slide out and pick up a rusher on the edge if necessary, like he did to neutralize 2013 second-team All-Pro Jurrell Casey in the following example from last week’s win over Tennessee.
While Bitonio has made plenty of highlights already with his movement skills, he also demonstrates the ability to win in a phone booth. Despite being relatively small for a guard at 6’4”, 305 pounds, Bitonio consistently holds his own in one-on-one battles of strength.
Bitonio is not often going to drive defenders straight back off the line of scrimmage, but he wins with his ability to turn his body and move defenders away from the ball.
On one play against the Baltimore Ravens in Cleveland’s third game, Bitonio led Crowell to a 14-yard touchdown by turning inward on Ravens defensive end DeAngelo Tyson and clearing him away from the edge.
When Bitonio has been driven back this year, it’s been a result of him playing too high in his stance. He has a tendency to sometimes play too upright, which can allow a defensive lineman—like Baltimore’s Haloti Ngata in the following example—to gain a leverage advantage and move Bitonio backward.
If Bitonio can improve the consistency of his pad level, his game would be nearly flawless.
Could Bitonio Be the Offensive Rookie of the Year?
No is the answer to that question if Associated Press voters follow precedent in selecting the best first-year players in the NFL after this season.
The AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award has been in existence since 1967 yet has never been won by an offensive lineman (or tight end). It puts the chances of any player whose primary responsibility is to block, even one playing at as high a level as Bitonio, at highly unlikely to win the award.
That said, there is no offensive skill-position rookie to this point who has proven himself to be worthy of winning the award.
The favorite would seemingly be Carolina Panthers wide receivers Kelvin Benjamin, who has 24 receptions for 367 yards and three touchdowns through his team’s first five games and ranks seventh overall in our Bleacher Report Rookie Rankings. Even he, however, has been plagued by dropped passes and needs to be more consistent the rest of the season to be a viable candidate to win.
Mistakes for Bitonio, who ranks No. 1 in the B/R rookie rankings, have been few and far between. He has not allowed a single quarterback hit and is rated by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) as the league’s fourth-best guard so far in 2014.
It would shock the world if an interior offensive lineman made history by taking home the trophy, but it’s a decision that Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski, among others, believes the voters should at least consider if Bitonio continues to play at such a high level.
Immediate Dividends Should Lead to Long-Term Satisfaction
Cleveland allowed the NFL’s third-most sacks (49) in 2013, and its rushing offense tied for just 27th with only 86.4 rushing yards per game.
Through its first four games this year, Cleveland has allowed just five sacks and ranks fourth in the NFL with 143.5 rushing yards per game.
Improvements at the quarterback and running back position have played a big part in those turnarounds for the Browns offense, but so has Bitonio. While he has been a clear upgrade with his consistency in pass protection and his ability to make challenging run blocks happen, his addition has also enabled Cleveland to stabilize the right guard position by moving John Greco into that spot.
As the Browns move forward, potentially into an era of dynamic dual-threat quarterback Johnny Manziel starting, the 22-year-old Bitonio’s value should only increase, assuming he stays healthy and continues to develop.
Bitonio is an optimal fit at left guard in the zone-blocking scheme Cleveland’s offense now runs, and his foot skills make him exactly the type of player the Browns will need up front if they ever turn to starting Manziel, whose high-energy style of quarterbacking requires an agile line that can move as its signal-caller does.
His experience playing tackle also gives him the versatility on the outside of the line if needed there. That shouldn’t be the Browns’ long-term plan; left guard truly is the position that suits him best, in part because he lacks the length of a prototypical offensive tackle, with arms that only extend 33.875 inches. His ability to step in at that position in case of injury, nonetheless, increases his value to the franchise.
There was no reason to be surprised when the Browns selected Bitonio, as he addressed one of the team’s biggest needs and looked to be a good fit all along (one of the few mock draft predictions I got right this year).
He would have been long gone by the 35th pick, however, if it had been expected that he would play so well so soon. While the Browns’ two first-round picks from this year’s draft have barely seen the field thus far, they’ve certainly gotten a first-round-caliber contribution from their early second-round choice.
All screenshots taken through NFL Game Rewind and illustrations made by the author. All measurables and statistics courtesy of NFL.com unless otherwise noted.
Dan Hope is an NFL/NFL Draft Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
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