Berea— Assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Brad Seely said he thinks the new rule allowing only two players to form a wedge could be significant.
“I think it will change,” Seely said. “I think it’s a good change for the players in terms of providing safety in the wedge. You can only have two guys in the wedge. I think it will affect return yardage, but I don’t know how it will change it, making it more or less.”
The NFL used to allow three players to form a blocking wedge and now they changed it to two players. Seely said he thinks special teams might be made up of smaller players with the new rules.
“I think you can now have smaller players and more speed on the field because you don’t have as many big guys coming at you.”
Seely said he doesn’t necessarily think there will be major changes brought to the Cleveland Browns approach to special teams under him.
“You’ll see some similarities to what they did in the past, but everyone has their own way of doing things.”
One of the bright spots for the Browns in recent years has been the play of their special teams and Seely said the Browns were pretty good in that area.
“You can always improve,” he said. “You are never the best at everything. This team has been good on special teams from playing against them.”
Phil Dawson and Joshua Cribbs are two key special teams performers and both have missed time in contract matters. Seely knows the importance of the pair.
“Both guys are very important,” Seely said. “Field-goal kicking is very important. Phil has done it for a very long time in a tough environment. Josh has been a pleasure to coach in the minicamps. He’s a veteran who does all the little things to make him successful. “
Seely says he’s not opposed to Cribbs being used more on offense and defense.
“If it helps us win, that’s all the better,” he said. “I don’t know why we’d lessen his load (on special teams). I think he’s a guy you want to get the ball in his hands and he makes a lot of plays on special teams.”