CLEVELAND, Ohio — Throughout the NFL’s offseason program, fans and analysts alike get caught up in the excitement of seeing rookies in team colors for the first time. Reports of impressive throws, catches, and defensive plays flood social media. But as Browns film analyst Lance Reisland repeatedly emphasized on the latest Orange and Brown Talk podcast, there’s one crucial caveat to all these observations: “It doesn’t matter till the pads go on.”
This philosophy, while seemingly simple, carries profound implications for how we should evaluate NFL talent, particularly rookies. The transition from shorts and T-shirts to full pads represents not just a clothing change but a fundamental shift in the game’s dynamics and evaluation metrics.
“I tell everybody it doesn’t matter until the pads go on,” Reisland stated matter-of-factly when discussing Dillon Gabriel’s performance in non-contact drills. This sentiment wasn’t a dismissal of Gabriel’s skills but rather an acknowledgment of the limitations inherent in evaluating players without contact.
The difference between non-contact and full-contact practices is stark. As Reisland explained, “it doesn’t matter if Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders had a terrible summer and everybody was losing their minds. Once the pads go on, that can change in one day. That could literally change in one team session because of how he handles team with live bullets flying around it.”
The phrase “live bullets” is particularly telling – it represents the speed, pressure, and physicality that cannot be replicated in a controlled, non-contact environment. For quarterbacks especially, the true test comes when defenders are actively trying to hit them, when the pocket collapses, and when split-second decisions must be made under duress.
This philosophy extends beyond quarterbacks. When discussing defensive tackle Mason Graham, Reisland offered perhaps his most vivid illustration of the “pads on” principle: “Mason Graham is a guy, I will promise you this, when the pads go on, Mason Graham is a complete nasty human being.”
Graham’s background as a wrestler gives him unique advantages in leverage and balance that simply cannot be showcased without contact. His true strengths – violence, physicality, and nastiness – remain hidden during the offseason program.
For fans, this perspective serves as a valuable reminder to temper expectations based on offseason reports. The real evaluation period begins with training camp and preseason games, when the intensity increases and players must perform with “live bullets flying around.”
As host Dan Labbe noted during the podcast, the limitations of non-contact evaluation extend beyond rookies: “I don’t even know how much of that we’re going to be able to figure out in the preseason. Like, this is stuff that we’re not going to be able to figure out until we see (Sanders) playing real football games against real opponents.”
So as Browns fans continue to follow the development of Gabriel, Sanders, Graham, and other rookies, Reisland’s “pads on” philosophy offers a crucial lens through which to view offseason reports – with cautious optimism and the understanding that the real tests are yet to come.
Want to hear more about why the transition to pads will be crucial for the Browns’ rookie class? Listen to the full episode of Orange and Brown Talk for Reisland’s complete breakdown of what to watch for when training camp begins.
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