Browns offense: The Red Zone play the Browns should be using – and aren’t

The Cleveland Browns have a weapon in TE David Njoku. He has an ability that isn't being utilized that much on the field during games.

The dude can flat-out jump.

There is a football play designed for guys who can outjump defenders. It is a mystery as to why the Browns aren't using it. There is little in the way of defensive maneuvers to defend this play and, if executed properly, it is almost impossible to defend.

It is not a trick play. There is no deception or Tomfoolery. Everybody on both sidelines knows what to expect and what the strategy is.

There are two parts: a timely thrown ball and a pass catcher who can leap higher than anybody else on the gridiron.

Enter Njoku.

Njoku has a 40" vertical jump. He has made many spectacular catches where he outjumps everyone and is able to reach the catch point without defender interference.

The play is called the "Alley-oop." You may know it from the basketball court where it is a staple.

On the court, a guard brings the ball down and then heaves an easy floating pass to the right or left of the rim just inches above the hoop opening. As the ball is coming toward the rim, a larger player moves from outside the lane, runs toward the ball and grabs the pass, and then slams it into the net.

When done properly, it is a dramatic occurrence on the court that excites the crowd and causes the successful team's bench to erupt.

Even though the alley-oop is an offensive play used widely in basketball and is a mainstay, its origins began in American Football.

Started with the 49ers Raleigh Climon Owens, or better known as R.C., was a basketball standout for the College of Idaho. His college roommate was future NBA legend Elgin Baylor. Both men were exceptional rebounders and could jump, but Owens had freakish leaping skills. He had the ability to out-leap defenders but he wasn't the offensive shooting menace that Baylor was.

Owens was taken in the 14th round of the 1956 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers as a receiver and halfback. He was just 6'-3" and weighed 197 pounds, but was shifty, quick, and had long arms. In college, he averaged 28 rebounds per basketball game because of his ability to leap.

At the time, the 49ers were stacked on offense with Y.A. Tittle at quarterback, Hugh McElhenny and Joe Perry in the backfield, with Joe Arenas and Billy Wilson at receiver. Owens played sparingly as a rookie with just 27 receptions for 395 yards.

But that all changed in 1957. The Alley-Oop was invented – by mistake.

The play's first appearance was in a preseason game played in Seattle against the Chicago Cardinals . Trying to avoid a sack, Tittle threw the ball up wildly and Owens outjumped the defenders and came down with it. Nobody really paid the play much attention because it did not result in a score.

But leading up to the Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams who had a tremendous defense each year, the 49ers were practicing methods to create ways to stop the Rams defense with short, quick passes to avoid a tremendous pass rush.

The Rams' offense featured Bill Wade and Norm Van Brocklin who rotated at quarterback. Both could throw long high-arching passes that Rams receivers could locate and make adjustments for the catch. Niners head coach Red Hickey had Tittle throw these types of passes in practice as the scout team so that the 49ers defensive backs could learn how to react and gain some perspective. The scout team is usually the third team guys, which Owens was a member of.

The long plays with Owens as the scout team receiver ended up with a different outcome. Instead of showing the defensive backfield how passes came back to earth, Owens was out-jumping the defensive backs and catching the passes instead. All of them. As Tittle kept heaving them, Owens kept making the catch with sensational leaps over several defensive backs. Hickey then decided to use this as a play, and called it the "Alley-Oop" after a popular French trapeze term used to cue circus acrobats before a lift or a jump.

In the 1930s, a comic strip named "Alley Oop" became conventional.

It would become a part of the 49ers' playbook with Owens outdistancing defenders by as much as two feet. Tittle's high-arching floaters allowed Owens to decide where the ball would finally descend and gave him the opportunity to time his jump as he would outsoar smaller cornerbacks.

Owens once jumped up and blocked a field goal attempt from going over the crossbar during a live game. The following year, the NFL had a rule against it.

The alley-oop in basketball was made famous by David Thompson of North Carolina State University in 1971 with his 44-inch vertical leap. But the play was brought to the court by Al "Airline" Tucker and his brother Gerald.

Their father was "Slick Al" Tucker of the Harlem Globetrotters so the brothers spent a lot of time coming up with trick shots and flashy plays. Both brothers played at Oklahoma Baptist University in an age when dunking the ball was illegal. So, alternate methods were invented.

Gerald would lob passes where his brother would catch them in mid-air and then had an easy basket as he placed the ball into the net.

Later, Thompson would become a three-time ACC Player of the Year using the play and made it mainstream as the focal part of a basketball offense.

The Play In 1957, the 4-1-0 49ers were set to take on one of the NFL's most dominant teams: the Detroit Lions. A home sellout at Kezar Stadium in San Fran was expected.

The game went back and forth until the fourth quarter when the Lions scored three straight touchdowns to go up 31-28. With just 1:20 to play, the 49ers began on their own 38-yard line and with three straight pass completions the offense moved the ball into scoring position with just 11 ticks on the clock. The alley-oop had been successful all season and was the play called.

Two defenders, NFL All-Pro safety Jack Christiansen along with CB Jim David, draped Owens as he ran down the field into the end zone. The ball was lofted very high and as the football descended towards the turf, all three players leaped. At the high point, Owens grabbed the ball over the defenders and scored as San Francisco won, 35-31.

The play looked like a grown man outjumping a pair of high schoolers.

As long as Owens could make an accurate determination of where the ball would be catchable, he would grab it. He had strong hands during a time period when rarely did athletes work out during the off-season. And the term "soft hands" was an accurate description of his pass catching abilities.

The best scenario for the Browns to introduce the Alley-oop is the following. A base offense with a single back, one receiver on the right side while two other receivers line up on the left. Njoku can either be lined up tight on the left tackle pre-snap or begin on the right side and then go in motion towards the left side.

After the snap, the receiver on the right makes a short-out pattern while the two receivers on the left side come across the center of the field and flood the right side which takes at least one safety (and sometimes both) out of contention. Then, Njoku pops out to the left corner of the end zone against either a linebacker or a single safety.

The pass is then heaved with a slow deliberate high arch.

The easy toss allows Njoku the ability to access the pass. He can then determine his positioning, when to time his leap, and how high to jump. It does not matter how many defensive players are involved in the jump ball, as long as Njoku can outjump them all, secure the throw, and protect the catch as he descends toward the end zone.

He has had many circus catches since joining the Browns. The most recent was the grab at the back of the end zone against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7 this year. QB Jameis Winston heaved it and Njoku outjumped three defenders for the catch, then was able to get both feet inside the edge of the end zone back line for a touchdown.

The beauty of this play is that Njoku never has to be technically "open." That emphatically does not matter.

The fact that this play begins and ends in the end zone becomes six points.

As long as Njoku can outjump every defender, there isn't a defensive measure for this play. He wins every time.

Very entertaining stuff.