FanPost

Why the Jamon Brown signing is an amazing one

I’ve seen a lot of criticism about the recent signings of Jamon Brown and James Carpenter by fans and while I'm in no way a professional I decided to look at the signings myself based on the film, stats, and what's already been said. Like I said in no way am I a pro so don’t take anything that I say to heart, but for now, this is my opinion on Jamon Brown. ( this article ran a little longer than I wanted but please stick with me).


First and foremost, this man is a behemoth. I say this with all the kindness in the world and its something that's not only needed, but coveted in what should be a change of pace, style, and scheme for our new O-Line and Offense. 6’6" and 340 is something that’s sure to make Matt feel a lot safer, and the speed and hustle that comes with that size is an added bonus. When you look at Jamon on film you can see him hustling most if not all of the time, whether it's moving from one block to the other in a swift move, powering up to the 2nd level, or springing downfield in front or next to the back, he is making his presence known. I wouldn’t be telling the whole story if I didn't tell about the downplays though, and although I only saw a few it seemed like once Jamon thinks the play is far enough away of on the other side of the field he does slow down a little or doesn't do much. This isn't that concerning to me though because like I saw on a Robbert Woods touchdown from his time in LA, he might slow down or stop when the play is 20 yards away and on the other side of the field, but when he sees it coming back to his side where he is running again. Another notable and impressive part of his game is his use of his arms. It sounds like kind of a basic thing to say about a lineman but it stuck out immediately to me (watched a film session by some giants reporter and I literally noticed about 10 or so seconds in). There's power and force in his arms and you can see him controlling his blocks and in most cases moving them out of the play of exactly where he wants them to go. This was demonstrated a lot in his first game in blue vs the 49ers. On a particular pass play, you can see Jamon using his right arm to pass off a blocker to the tackle next to him while keeping his left free and staring down a blitzing player. He holds the block with his right arm long enough for the tackle to take on the block, but lets go of the block with his right arm in time to completely pancake the blitzer and take him out of the play. Even on plays where he's seemingly beat, you can see him still using his arms to engage with the rusher and try to hold him off for as long as possible. He can also bulldoze players out of the way plain and simple. He has the strength to drive his feet, extend his arms, and run through guys often flattening them and moving to the next block, this is something extremely impressive and if brought over to the team will be extremely fun to watch. These qualities will be helpful when it comes to blocking for Matt, and even if he only shows them part of the time, playing alongside Alex and Jake should go a long way and help boost his play even more. Jamon has also been labeled as a locker room leader and a great teammate which is never a bad thing when adding players to a team. Last but not least this signing was a cap space savers dream and for a team with little wiggle room in the cap and holes on the o line as well as some defensive holes these signings were smart. We got some needed offensive positions done within the free agency faze (just signed a top blocking tight end as im typing this) and we have 9 draft picks in a defense-heavy draft to go after the defensive spots we need.


The negatives deserve some attention as well though. 8 penalties and 3 sacks in 8 games are interesting and shouldn't be ignored. Penalties also should not be a complete dealbreaker for fans though. They’re undoubtedly concerning but with a vet and Pro Bowler like Alex Mack next to him, Jamon could learn to be more disciplined on those false start penalties and holding penalties. As far as the sacks are concerned, compared to how much Matt Ryan has been hit this past year or so 3 sacks shouldn’t set of "release him" alarms already. The PFF grade is one last and overrated thing to address. With all due respect to PFF, their system and grading are sometimes unreliable. Case in point is Matt Ryan missing the top 101 list while QBslike Baker, Goff, and Deshaun made it above him. With all due respect to those guys, Matt Ryan almost hit 5,000 yards and had a 35/7 TD/INT split which are by far better numbers than those QBs. individual play is important in deciding how good an individual is and while I don't know what goes into their grading system, I do think the bad play of the people around Jamon influenced his grade. Even if you do want to trust the grading system though, bounce back years and comeback years.


All in all, I believe there are great upsides with this signing and even though there are some downsides, we filled a gap that we obviously needed work in. Even if the move doesn't work out we still have Fusco and Carpenter as a backup plan (whichever doesn't start). Dan trusts these signings, Thomas trusts these signings, I trust these signings. Once again though I am not a professional, nothing I say is technically credible, and I could be absolutely wrong in this. This is my personal opinion based on what I saw from research and reports from his time with the Giants and Rams. I might write one of these for James Carpenter but I’ve also got some other ideas to write about. To keep up follow me on twitter @falconsdiary (shameless plug) and tell me your guys opinions below.


<em>This FanPost was written by one of The Falcoholic's talented readers. It does not necessarily reflect the views of The Falcoholic.</em>