BEREA: Instead of hitting the rookie wall, nose tackle Danny Shelton has found a way to break through as another lost Browns season mercifully winds down.
“I’ve improved over the year,” Shelton said. “It still doesn’t take away the season that we’ve had as a group, but at the same time, I can look forward to next season, look forward to coming out and playing more like a Pro Bowler.”
Shelton struggled to find footing early in his first NFL season. Allowing criticism from outsiders to bother him and technical flaws such as high pad level contributed to a slower start than the 12th overall draft pick would have liked.
But since Week 9, Shelton has earned ProFootballFocus.com’s second-best run defense grade among rookie interior linemen. Despite the defense’s ongoing issues, he received another positive review from the analytics website for his performance Sunday in a 30-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He posted a career-high seven tackles, including one for loss.
“Sometimes you see rookies that play well early, then it starts to drop off, the proverbial rookie wall,” Browns coach Mike Pettine said. “That’s not the case with Danny. He’s doing a good job, and he’s getting better. He’s learning. There’s no substitute for live game reps. He’s played a good amount of snaps, and he’s getting to experience [facing] veteran offensive linemen and learn the tricks of the trade. I think he’s been able to start to apply them on the field, and he’s got a much better understanding of what we’re trying to do and then even more so what the other team’s trying to do.”
Although the Seahawks rushed for 182 yards on 36 carries (5.1 average) and the Browns dropped from 29th to 31st in rushing defense (134.9 yards allowed per game), the coaching staff was pleased with Shelton. He received the title belt defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil assigns each week to the player who made the most hustle plays.
Some fans and media members have criticized the Browns for distributing the belt after losses and ripped Shelton for wearing it around his waist over an orange lavalava Wednesday in the locker room. He donned the belt again Thursday along with a purple lavalava.
“Everybody has an opinion, but my opinion, I don’t care what they say,” Shelton said. “This is an award. ... I’m going to represent and make sure people recognize that I tried my best that Seahawks game and the result was the result, and I’m going to continue to do what I do.
“It’s equivalent to an average Joe going to work and becoming employee of the week. In my position, my occupation, if you’re out there on Sundays taking care of business, making plays, then you’re going to get recognized. This is our way of getting recognized. It’s a big deal in the defensive room.”
If anyone should be criticized, it’s O’Neil. He’s the one who started the belt tradition, not Shelton.
“When you’re 3-11, you have to find a way to have some fun in the locker room,” O’Neil said. “Otherwise, this becomes pretty brutal. I’m all for it.”
The 6-foot-2, 339-pound Shelton shared the belt with fellow defensive lineman John Hughes following a Week 9 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. He won it outright for the first time in his homecoming game against the Seahawks.
“That’s a reward that we give each week for ‘Play Like a Brown’ plays,” O’Neil said. “We’re rewarding what we think will lead to more victories, behavior that leads to victories. He did the best on the defense this past week. Even though we didn’t win the football game, he put seven or eight exceptional plays on tape that we would consider ‘Play Like a Brown.’ To me, you get everybody playing like that, then that is what we feel like will lead to more wins.”
A University of Washington graduate, Shelton had about 30 relatives and friends in attendance when he faced the Seahawks (9-5) at CenturyLink Field.
“[It was] definitely one of my best games,” he said. “It was a game that was special to me being able to go back home and play in front of my home crowd and my family.”
A couple of months after Shelton signed his $11.7 million rookie contract this past spring, he bought his mother a house in a Seattle suburb.
“I know he had a lot of family in the stands [Sunday], so if he is going to play like that, we’ve got to bring all those family members to every game that we play,” O’Neil said. “He was disruptive. He was in their backfield. He made some good plays. He pushed the pocket in the pass game. He has just continued to get better and better every single game.”
Now Shelton wants to build on his most recent outing with another strong showing Sunday when the Browns visit the Kansas City Chiefs (9-5).
“I want to make a repeat with getting the belt,” he said.
If Shelton doesn’t meet his standards, he’ll be the first to admit it. He has been hard on himself since joining the Browns, telling reporters earlier this year he’s had a rough season. At one point, he even conceded there’s “nothing really that stands out” about his play, expressing a desire to watch himself on film and “see a different player.”
It turns out, Shelton has been beating himself up for years.
“That’s something that I’ve been doing my whole life,” he said. “I wouldn’t be in this position if I didn’t push myself. It’s not only myself that’s pushing me. It’s the outside noises that push me, my family that motivates me, my teammates. That’s what helps me grow every week. I’ve always been like that. I’ve always wanted to prove people wrong, so I always take on challenges.”
The Browns appreciate Shelton’s attitude.
“You want guys that are like that,” Pettine said. “He didn’t walk in here thinking he had the NFL all figured out and knew that there was a learning curve he was going to be on. You want all your guys, as they log more game experience, that they have the ability to use it moving forward and tuck those coachable, those teaching moments away and be able to apply them and not be a repeat offender from a mistake standpoint.”
Shelton has started all 14 games this season and played 461-of-937 snaps (49.2 percent). He has 33 tackles, including four for loss, without a sack.
“As a nose tackle, you’re never going to jump off the stat sheet,” O’Neil said. “You’re going to be a guy that causes a lot more production for people than you getting production. He has been a guy for us as the season has gone on who has been able to get vertical penetration into the backfield, cut a play in half, eat up two blockers a lot at the point of attack for us.
“The more plays, he’ll earn to be out there as a pass rusher and a guy who can collapse the pocket for us. He’s done a really good job for us in the run game. I think that the pass stuff will come.”
Shelton’s teammates are encouraged to see him produce one of his better games in Week 15. It’s a sign he’s poised to finish the season strong.
“You want to see guys growing, not declining,” veteran inside linebacker Karlos Dansby said. “He’s starting to grow. It just takes time. Sometimes it doesn’t happen overnight. It all depends on the system, the scheme, if the guy’s getting it, if they’re playing with the right technique, there’s a lot of things that have to be in place in order for guys to have success in any defense.
“[His future] can be as bright as he wants it to be, but it all falls on him. He’s making strides right now, but now he’s got to take it to another level. He’s just got to continue to do it year in and year out. You can’t take a step back.”
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.