BEREA: Nose tackle Danny Shelton has beaten himself up at times for lacking production during his rookie season with the Browns, but defensive line coach Anthony Weaver isn’t sweating it.
That’s because Weaver said he still believes Shelton can meet the expectations placed on him as the 12th overall pick in the draft.
The Browns have whiffed on so many first-round selections during the expansion era, it’s easy for outsiders to quickly — and perhaps prematurely — dismiss Shelton as a bust.
Weaver wouldn’t dare follow suit.
“As high as your expectations are for Danny, they’re even higher for himself. He wants to be a perennial Pro Bowler,” Weaver said Wednesday before the 2-8 Browns began their bye-week break. “He wants to have sack numbers for a nose guard. He wants all those things and because he has that want-to and that will and that desire to do big things and be great, the sky is the limit for him, and I look forward to watching his career progress.”
Shelton has said there’s “nothing really that stands out” about his first professional season, explaining his desire to watch himself on film and “see a different player.”
“Like any rookie, he’s had ups and downs throughout,” Weaver said. “But, overall, I think he’s played very well.
“As a nose guard, you’d like him to have more sacks and things like that, but ... I’m extremely pleased with where he’s at.”
Shelton has lamented his lack of plays in the backfield — he has no sacks and three tackles for loss — through 10 games.
“It’s not even a problem,” Weaver said. “He just has very high expectations of himself. He’s a guy that wants to go out there and make every single play, and that’s how you wish all those guys were.”
Weaver said Shelton should be compared to defensive tackles with similar body types who have played in similar schemes. He pointed to Haloti Ngata, drafted 12th overall by the Baltimore Ravens in 2006 and who’s now with the Detroit Lions, and Domata Peko, drafted in the fourth round by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2006.
Ngata, a five-time Pro Bowler, had 20 tackles and an interception through his first 10 games. He started every game as a rookie and finished with 31 tackles, including one sack.
Peko had 28 tackles, including a half sack, in his first 10 games. He appeared in all 16 games with one start as a rookie and posted 43 tackles, including 2½ sacks, to go along with a forced fumble.
Shelton has started all 10 games and has 20 tackles.
“That’s kind of a grunt position,” Weaver said. “Sometimes the numbers aren’t there. Those guys get a lot of recognition when you start winning.”
Shelton has admitted the run defense ranking last in the NFL (138.8 rushing yards surrendered per game) upsets him. It also finished 32nd out of 32 teams last season (141.6).
Weaver, though, refused to pin blame on Shelton. He pointed out the Miami Dolphins are ranked 31st against the run (135.6 rushing yards allowed per game) after finishing 24th (121.1) last season despite signing four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh this past March.
“Danny’s done really well against the run — solid,” Weaver said. “It takes two [blockers] the majority of the time in order to contain him. Otherwise, he’s going to make a play.
“This game is so unique where you need all 11 [defenders to stop the run]. It’s never one guy that’s going to be a quick fix. It’s going to take us all, coaches included.”
In the spring, Weaver said he thought Shelton had “all the potential in the world to be a three-down player” because of the way he collapsed the pocket as a pass rusher at the University of Washington. Coach Mike Pettine and General Manager Ray Farmer sent the same message to Browns fans after the franchise chose Shelton, who had 93 tackles, including 16½ for loss and nine sacks, last season for the Huskies.
However, the Browns have barely used Shelton on third down. In fact, he has merely been a part-time player, logging 332-of-698 snaps (47.6 percent).
So why aren’t the Browns giving Shelton a chance to be the three-down player they advertised?
“I don’t think it’s anything Danny has or hasn’t done more than Randy Starks has been to two Pro Bowls who has gotten sacks in this league who has gone out there and gotten quarterback hits,” Weaver replied in his recent meeting with reporters. “You have Desmond Bryant, Xavier Cooper, guys who were brought here specifically to get after the passer, and I just haven’t had to use Danny in that role.
“Now with [a knee] injury to Starks [occurring Nov. 15 against the Pittsburgh Steelers], that role will be ramped up for [Shelton].”
Weaver rejected the suggestion conditioning could be an issue for the 6-foot-2, 339-pound Shelton.
“He’s not close to having the highest fat level in my defensive line,” Weaver said. “He works hard at it. He’s always on the treadmill doing those things. I know he might not look the part, but he can run all day and play every snap if need be.”
One of Shelton’s technical flaws the Browns have publicly acknowledged is his tendency to raise his pad level. The importance of staying low in the trenches is Football 101.
“He’s just been so physically imposing his entire life that he can get by sometimes, particularly in the college level, with lesser technique,” Weaver said. “Throughout training camp and all those things, he was getting by, and sometimes he wasn’t going against fourth- and fifth-year guys in the preseason because those guys don’t play. When you’re going against a guy that understands leverage, hand placement, all those things, that’s been in the league for three or four years, they got him a couple times. That’s going to happen to all rookies.”
The issue hindered Shelton most when he faced the Denver Broncos’ zone-blocking scheme Oct. 18. Since then, Weaver said Shelton has showed “marked improvement” in the area.
“Now that he’s playing with lower pads, he’s knocking guys back,” Weaver said. “He’s getting back to the Danny of old.”
And Weaver is convinced that’s a good sign. Time will tell whether he’s right.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.