Portrait » The Cincinnati BengalsZero-Snap Spotlight series continues

<em> Chase Winovich Jersey Boys , this time looking at defensive end Ryan Brown.</em>The Zero-Snap Spotlightseries is underway, diving into theCincinnati Bengals roster with looks at the players that aren’t familiar to many fans. As this series indicates, the trait that all of these players share is that they have yet to play a down in the NFL. Thus, they are unknown — but that doesn’t mean it will be that way for long.I’ve begun the series by coveringAndrew Billings,Marcus Hardison, and David Dean.To continuethings, I’m delving into yet another defensive lineman on the roster: Ryan Brown.Article continues below ...College is, among other things, meant to be a place for growth and improvement. As a player that appeared to ring true for Brown, with him showing both on a year-to-year basis throughout his four years at Mississippi State from 2012-15.He began as a small piece of the rotation, picking up 15 tackles, one tackle for loss and 0.5 sacks as a freshman. He capped his college days with 39 tackles, eight tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and five pass knockdowns in his senior season.That improvement was nice, but not all that noteworthy. A largeportion of it isdirectly tied to his role expanding over the years, rather than him becoming more complete and impactful in his snaps.That thought is confirmed by his draft profiles. His listed strengths tended to be basic and muted; the NFL.com version is littered with ordinary phraseslike “hard worker”, “decent” Youth Julian Edelman Jerseys , and “good”.More from NFL Spin ZoneLos Angeles Rams: Culture change should mimic Dodgers, not Lakers33m agoTennessee Titans: What to expect from Kevin Dodd in 20171 h agoLos Angeles Chargers: Is 10 wins possible in 2017?1 h agoNFL 2017: Top 10 non-quarterback MVP candidates2h agoCleveland Browns: The importance of Matthew Dayes2h agoMeanwhile, his list of negatives appears to go on for days. Everysentence seems to come with startling absolution. “<em>No</em> functional play strength”. “<em>Can’t</em> generate penetration or push”. “Once blockers latch on, <em>he’s finished</em>“.It’s no wonder he ended up undrafted. Working in his favor, though: the depth on the edge for Cincinnati has become abysmal.Carlos Dunlap is a pass rushing stud who knocks down throws with aplomb, but there are no proven, quality options to put with him anymore. Michael Johnson’s play has fallen off a cliff and remained in the gutter since leaving the team 2014. According to Pro Football Focus’ metrics, he posted an 86.0 overall grade that year, but has posted no better than a 47.2 in the three seasons since.Wallace Gilberry is a once-decent backup who has been in steep decline for years. Will Clarke has been as bad as Johnson the past three years, but unlike Johnson those are his only three professional years (Meaning: He’s only been this bad).Obviously something needs to change, and early in the offseason it wouldn’t have been a stretch to think this would seem to portend to opportunity for Brown. The draft probably stacked the odds against him again, however. Jordan Willis and Carl Lawson were added during the middle rounds, and each brings clear strengths Brown will never have.Just look at the draft profiles. Where the strengths inBrown were tepid, they are much more pronounced for both Willis and Lawsonon NFL.com. Phraseslike “explosive”, “well-built”, and “burst” are prominent for Lawson; “excellent”, “proficient” Julian Edelman Jerseys Stitched , and “will not stop” show up for Willis.More from NFL Spin Zone6/27 – Los Angeles Rams: Culture change should mimic Dodgers, not Lakers6/27 – Tennessee Titans: What to expect from Kevin Dodd in 20176/27 – Los Angeles Chargers: Is 10 wins possible in 2017?6/27 – NFL 2017: Top 10 non-quarterback MVP candidates6/27 – Cleveland Browns: The importance of Matthew DayesThose guys have weaknesses as well, but those don’t deal in absolutes the way Brown’s do. Instead of “no” or “can’t”, we see “could”, “might”, or “needs work”. Those are still valid concerns, but there is a possibility of improvement left open. With Brown, that just isn’t the case, and when also considering the strengths in the equation, both Lawson and Willis have a clear advantage for picking up a roster spot.Then, consider Cincinnati’s propensity for holding onto their players longer than they should. There are numerous examples during Marvin Lewis’ tenure where the team has stuck with guys well past their usefulness, and we don’t have to look far. The defensive end spot is littered with prime culprits of that.Johnson, Gilberry, Clarke, and Chris Smith all have been rated as below average or worse in each of the past three seasons by PFF. Yet, they’ve allkept roster spots throughout. With that precedent in place, it’s hard to see much of anything beyond a contract ending naturally actually removing one of these players from their roster spots.The only real way to break through that seems to besome combination of being brought in as a high-value asset (a mid-to-high draft pick or a big free agent signing) and blowing the team away with their talent. Willis and Lawson have their draft position to help them. Brown Youth Rob Gronkowski Jerseys , as an undrafted free agent, does not.Based on the state of Cincinnati’s defensive end depthat this point, I do believe he should be given a good shot for a spot. But that’s not what is being determined here. Rather than a question of “should”, it is more of “will”.While the Johnson/Gilberry/Clarke/Smith grouping hasn’t performed to a level that should warrant keeping around, just having roles in the first place seems to give them an edge to continuing to enjoying a place on the roster. At the least, it will give them an edge over Brown.Next: NFL 2017: Top 10 non-quarterback MVP candidatesHe may not be given a chance to overtake them, and he may be a decidedly limited option by all accounts. Based on what those others have continued to show, however, it wouldn’t exactly hurt to try something different.This article originally appeared on Titans head coach Mike Vrabel turned 45 on Wednesday and he got to turn the clock back as a birthday present.Vrabel’s team hosted the Patriots for a joint practice and that meant Vrabel got to get in some jawing with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. That was a frequent occurrence at Patriots practices when Vrabel was playing for New England from 2001-2008 and taking part in the good-natured back and forth with Brady made it an enjoyable day for the Titans coach.“It was fun. It brought back a lot of memories, just to be able to sit out there and have him make a play and he turns around and says, ‘Mikey, you know you better cover that. You guys need to do this,'” Vrabel said, via WEEI.com. “We had a lot of fun. We have a lot of respect for those guys and can learn a lot from them; how they practice and how they operate.”Vrabel’s not that much older than Brady, but he’s been retired from playing since 2010 so he was limited to bantering with his former teammate while players much younger than both of them joined Brady on the playing field.