Brian Hoyer: Don't Go Nowhere!

Brian Hoyer is from the Belichick school of PR, so he won't say some things that he'd like to.

I now believe that part of his problem later last season (I mean aside from the loss of Alex Mack and the shocking decline of the running game) was Kyle Shanahan.

Admittedly, Kyle is highly respected as an offensive coordinator, and has a pretty good track record.  This is by no means a Kyle-bashing session.

But it safe for me to say that Kyle is also regarded as pretty rigid.  He has done great at adapting offenses to different types of quarterback, but once the system is set and the game plan goes in, that's it.

When the running game took a nose-dive, so did Brian Hoyer.  Kyle tried to stick with the run, but when the defense also caved in and gave up a point deficit, he had to start passing.  I think it's pretty dumb to pick on Shanahan for "abandoning the run", and that isn't what I'm saying.

But where was the hurry-up?  Hoyer did quite well in it.  In general, a stalled running game also gets unstalled in a hurry-up, as the defenders get heavy legs and need air.

Defenses can't plot or scheme much, either--aside from some blitzes, they have to play fairly vanilla.  Hoyer exploited that mercilessly.

I get the theory that a hurry-up stresses your own defense by depriving them of time to recover, but the bottom line is that you need to score more points than the other team, isn't it?

As suggested in my earlier blog, I've heard from credible sources that Kyle gets miffed when a quarterback changes plays, and that Hoyer changed a lot of plays when he ran the hurry-up.

Is it possible that a guy as smart as Kyle scrapped the hurry-up (except when he had no other choice) because Hoyer didn't run the plays as scripted?

I would doubt that.  We're getting into the LaCanfora zone here.  BUT according to some of the Redskins players, he's that kind of guy!

Regardless, I'm pretty sure this is what the two front office employees, along with the rest of us, were texting eachother about during games.

Here are reasons why you should have Linta be Browns-freindly, Brian:

1: The new offensive coordinator is young and open-minded, and will listen to you.  He'll preserve a lot of the offensse with which you're familiar, and I'll bet mix in some hurry-up when not absolutely neccessary.

2: The zone-blocking scheme will be preserved, with some gap-blocking added.  (Not sure what that is--traps?  Need more research).  But anyway, Alex Mack will be back, the draft is full of offensive linemen and a further upgrade is almost certain.
You will have a strong running game.  You won't need to carry the team on your shoulders, and when you do you can hurry up (I assume).  You know you can do that, right?

3: You might like Johnny personally, but you know better than me--you will probably beat him out again.  He loves sandlot football, and it will be very hard for him to grind it out in the NFL now.  He just might not be wired that way.

4: ANY quarterback Ray drafts should also need time to develop.  Pettine needs to win NOW, and that is you.

5: After your nose-dive last season, it's doubtful that any team would sign you for starting money, and for sure none would guarantee you that role.
Without that guarantee, you might start the season on the bench even if you DO win the competition.  Behind the draft pick with the "potential", or simply because it was close and you lose out based on experience and/or age.
Here, you know that the Head Coach will make sure you get your fair shot.  Pettine enters his SECOND season, and he really needs to win now to save his job.

I've been extolling the virtues of a new and improved Marc Sanchez, but I'd still prefer the home boy.

The two are similar.  Both can win with strong running games and a little help from good defense.  

But Sanchez started out something like Johnny, and didn't put the work in.  Brian is a grinder and a true professional.  Always has been.  He didn't have to learn it, and it's second nature to him.

Plus he's from here.  He wants to be OUR hero.

My guess is that Linta and the Browns can hammer something out.  It will have to be more than backup money, though.  I'll bet Hoyer is willing to accept lots of incentives, because he believes in himself.

Maybe 5.5 million (guaranteed), with incentives based on starts and rankings which could put him over 11 mil.  I doubt that any other team would match that.

Such a contract, if the guarantees are front-loaded, would allow him to sign on for a longer hitch.  It's trade-freindly, and if he performs as well as he expects to perform, he'll remain a starter and make good money.

Tony Grossi and his interrogators talk about the acl injury and how this might have affected him.  I doubt that.  He's a quarterback, not a wide reciever.

But I suppose that might have been a slight factor for him, since that injury might only be fully healed right about now, and he might have been a little paranoid.

At any rate, if he has the help we know he'll get this coming season, the 2015 Browns with Hoyer can be the Browns we saw when Alex Mack was in front of him.  Let's get this guy back.

It's Not the Right Time to Dump Johnny

In this article by Gary Davenport, a pretty convincing case is made for getting rid of Johnny Manziel right now.

I don't contest anything Gary said, except that he listed a lack of arm strength as one of Johnny's faults.  

The thing is, dumping Johnny now would tip Ray Farmer's hand and deprive him of leverage, both with potential veteran free agent quarterbacks and in potential draft trades.

In re the draft, it would change the whole dynamic.  At 12 or 19, for example, other GMs would know that Ray is likely to grab a quarterback, and trade up to get ahead of him.

So it's not good business.

Then there are a lot of variables.  While it seems unlikely, it is still possible that the kid will start over next season (with a new coordinator and system) with a better attitude and more maturity.

As it is, Manziel is almost worthless in a trade.  Retaining him at least until next year's camps costs zero, and the coaches should know pretty quick if he's still a punk--and dump him then.

This whole Johnny and Josh Gordon hanging out together also got me to thinking.  This is a quarterback and wide reciever, and they might work together.

Both kind of have their backs to the wall, and are persona non grata.  I think it not just possible, but likely that they'll push eachother to stay in the playbook, cut at the right spot, do one more rep--whatever.

Each of these guys individually might be immature and lazy, but together, and knowing what they've got to correct, they might work and study harder.

If you're laughing at this, you don't understand human psychology as well as I do, and probably have a short memory.

I'm not predicting anything.  Just saying it's possible.  If anybody can keep reminding Josh Gordon that he can be the best wide reciever in the NFL, it's Johnny Manziel.  If anybody can make Johnny look good, it's the best wide reciever in the NFL.

Or not.  But let's just see, ok?

And re-sign Hoyer.  There's more good than bad there.

John DeFelippo? Cool!

Sixth OC in six years blahblah.  Who tf cares about what happened under Lerner anyway?  What does Lerner have to do with Haslam?  

When Haslam came here, the NFL "helped him out" with Banner and the great Lombardi.  He wasn't satisfied and fired them.  Big freaking deal!  He was taking off his owner training wheels!

He also fired the coaching staff he had inherited.  Big deal!

He hired and fired Chud in one year.  Ok that one bugged even me, because I liked Chud.  However, the late season collapse was irrefutable.

When you fire a head coach, you almost always fire the OC, because the new head coach will want his own people.

I am confiscating the word "dysfunction".  It has three syllables and is hard to spell, so everybody has glommed onto it because they think it makes them sound smart.

I don't see dysfunction.  I see a third year owner establishing an organization.  He kept Farmer and Pettine, despite rampant rumors of Jimmy's itchy trigger finger.  He tried to keep Shanahan as well, and his departure was Kyle's own decision.

There's no dysfunction in that.  I haven't heard anything dysfunctional except for those boneheads texting eachother (not the sidelines) about Kyle's sometimes mystifying playcalling.

Is an owner saying "let's go get him" about a quarterback during the draft dysfunctional?  Check out those words.  It sounds like a suggestion.  It sounds like Ray could have said "I don't think that would be a good idea."

What--Jimmy would fire him for that?  Get a life LaCanfora Barrett.

Anyway, I haven't seen the ignorant boards yet, but I'm sure a lot of people will call DeFellipo a "last choice" and unproven and stuff, but nobody he's ever worked with agrees.

I like that he actually came out with the word "ego" early on in telling us that he wouldn't change everything just to make it his.  He said all the right things.

I liked what he said about the offensive line, specificly it's athleticism.  It sounds to me like he'll leave most elements of the zone blocking scheme in place.  Like I said.

He even said he'd change his own terminology rather than make the players (especially the quarterback) learn a new language.

I love this guy!  He's pragmatic and logical and (most importantly) able to consciously suppress his own ego.  That's the first and most important thing one has to learn in order to think with one's brain.

Here's how that goes:

"Hey, that's not the play I called!  Oh--that's why." (Instead of "Hey that's not the play I called!  What's he doing?  Dammit!  I don't care if it worked who does the think he is running this offense?")

He isn't just saying all the right things like a politician does, but getting specific.  I'll leave the terminology alone.  I'll keep whatever works.  I like the wide recievers (yeah he said that!)  I'll do whatever I can to smooth out the transition.  I don't know who will be under center.

He sounds just like Head Coach Blunt Force Trauma!  I love it!

Some knuckleheads will try blaming him for Jamarcus Russel, or for Terrell Pryor not emerging into a superstar.  That's like blaming Andrew Luck for being beaten by the Patriots or Rodgers for losing to the Seahawks.

This guy coached Marc Sanchez to the AFC championship game as a rookie.

And I watched some of the Seahawks vs. the Packers game.

Russell Wilson loves football, had a boatload of college experience in a pro style offense, and works very hard--all of which separates him from Johnny Manziel.

However, from a purely physical standpoint, Manziel is quite similar.  DeFellipo lacks the training to perform brain transplants, and can't legally use sodium pentathol or hypnosis, but for sure has something to work with.

It just depends on whether or not Johnny can look at Wilson and say "I want to be like that".  If he cooperates with DeFellipo, he can take a step in that direction.  If he doesn't, he's a bust.  I kind of see it going that way, unfortunately.

Not so for Mariota, Hundley, or maybe even Marc Sanchez.

DeFellipo was one of my own three favorites early on.  He's getting too much credit for Derrick Carr in Oakland, as Carr had a lot of games in college with experience under center.  Still, he made a rookie look ok.

One thing he didn't discuss that I believe he'll do is simplify the playcalling.

Kyle Shanahan came here with an established system which was very hard to learn not just for the quarterback, but the receivers.

Experts I respect commented on it.  They didn't think that all that verbage in a playcall was necessary when players know what they're doing.

This could be a symptom of Kyle's apparent condition (controlfreakitis).  That's insecurity, and is ego-related.  The players didn't like it.  Hoyer was able to master it after awhile, but Johnny wasn't ready for it.

How much of that was him trying to remember all the words he had to say to communicate the playcall?

And knowing that if the player doesn't love the game, he will fail--is it wise to make him HATE coming to work?  

If somebody slipped Manziel some truth serum, I'll bet he'd say "That was bullshit.  I thought I was supposed to play football, not get a PHD.  You run a post, you do a ten yard dig I can do.  I used to have so much fun, til they put me in chains."

Not that I'm a big Johnny fan, or am all that confident that the more user-friendly DeFellipo can necessarily salvage him.  But this guy and (I hope) a better quarterback coach will give him his best chance.

Browns Analysis Analysis

First, Jeff Schudel is pretty good, and this week wrote part of a series rating the extant Browns' units position-by-position.  I generally agree with his ratings of the units on a scale of one to five (five being the highest).

Quarterback was a one.  No choice there.  We can hope Johnny does better, but can't count on it.

Jeff sees Sean Hill as a good veteran to bring in, which I also agree with.  But I still say Sanchez would be better.  I'm kinda tired of the word "mentor", too.  I hope they get a good quarterback coach.

Jeff also dismissed Brett Hundley as a quarterback prospect, lumping him in with the "other guys", and that's patently wrong.  The consensus rates Mariota and Winston as the cream of the crop, Hundley as almost that good, and then the dropoff.

He rates running back as a three, and that's just wrong.  Because there's no scatback change-of-pace guy, I'd go with a four, but West and (especially) Crowell are elite talents.

Jeff also wonders if they will continue to develop with a new offensive coordinator.  Running backs can refine their blocking and pass-catching, and perhaps learn patience, but they don't need any time at all to develop as pure runners.  That's all instinct, and what we saw is what we'll get, period.

Wide reciever (he seemed to include Cameron here) was a two.  I can't really argue here too, since we can't count on either he or Gordon.

I really like the little guys--especially Gabriel, who I'll bet will become like Steve Smith, but two is about right.

Offensive line was a four.  I guess so.  Five being "fine as it is", this means right guard or right tackle could be upgraded, and so could depth, so that's about right.

That's all for that part of Jeff's series.  

In another article, Browns offensive lineman Micheal Bowie is mentioned.  The Browns swiped the young guy from the Seahawks IR.  Per Rotoworld, the guy had nine starts and payed quite well for that elite team!

This move zinged right over my head.  It means that the Browns already have a young stud who will be healthy and fighting for a starting gig even before free agency or the draft.

He can play guard or tackle.  Very powerful, not very fast, but the Seahawks ran a zone blocking scheme.

I hope the Browns don't target Cecil Shorts.  He's injured too much, and he's not better than Hawk, Gabriel, or even the much improved Benjamin.  

In this article on the Browns offensive coordinator gig by Tony Grossi, Tony includes a tweet from Peter King:  "Great job if you want an 11-month gig" (or something).

How utterly ignorant.  Kyle Shanahan wasn't hired by Ray Farmer, and Mike Pettine was not consulted.  Per reports I've been reading, including accounts by Washington Redskins players, Kyle was a blockhead and a "spoiled brat".

I can't confirm this, but somebody even said that he reamed Brian Hoyer for changing plays in the hurry-up!  IF that is true, this guy rates a clinical diagnosis: "Control freak".

As we should recall, Hoyer was just about unstoppable in the hurry-up early in the season.  We all wondered why they never used it.  Maybe now we know.  And I wonder if Hoyer was more obedient later on, after he'd been benched.

Some have said that Marc Trestman isn't a good fit because he likes to throw the ball.  That's pretty ignorant too, because Trestman is a brain, and can adapt his offense to his personel.  Tony seems to get that.

Running an offense is kinda like rocket science, but not that part of it.  Unreliable quarterback plus excellent running backs equal run more duh.

Others point to what happened in Chicago last season.  Well, that was Jay Cutler.  He's not a young kid, he wasn't coachable, many think he's in it for the money and doesn't love the game, and who else did Trestman have after they got rid of his "backup" who made Jay look bad?

It's quite possible that Johnny is another Jay, but he's much younger, so Trestman would have a chance to get something out of him.

Or Mariota.  Or Hundley.  Just sayin.

More on the Browns' Offseason Player Stuff

Earlier I said that the Browns have no shot at Marcus Mariota, but thanks to this article by Jared Mueller and his lackluster Bowl Game performance, I take that back.

Already, the experts (including the ones I respect and use as sources) are picking the guy apart.  If I hadn't known that Ray Farmer was eyeballing him last season, what's being said about him today would make me think that the Browns wouldn't even want him!

Most evaluators are ranking Winston ahead of him due to the closer-to-NFL offense he ran, and despite the fact that he's a punk.

The consensus is, in fact, that Mariota will need time to develop.  In fact, based on what these guys are saying...what the hell is the difference between this guy and Brett Hundley?  They're pointing at all the same warts!  You could transpose the scouting reports!

For now, I'll throw up my hands and admit that I don't know nuttin.  Yet.  However, Mariota could be in range after all, if Ray still wants him.

Although he might have changed his mind and might let Hundley come to him.  Just a wild guess.

I've seen a lot of mocks naming offensive and defensive linemen as the Browns first round picks.  That's okay with me I guess, although I think it's foolish to just write off Phil Taylor and persist in pretending this is strictly a 3-4 defense requiring depth at nose tackle.

Danny Shelton is impressive, though, and if you're going best available, it might be him.  This guy was a man among boys, however, and the experts tell me that he's not going to humiliate pro linemen the way he humiliated college guys.  But they all agree that he can stop the run, and has surprising range for his size. 

Andrus Peat is a great tackle with upside, as he can add more weight to his already massive frame.  He has left tackle athleticism, but is ready to step in on the right side, and fits a zone scheme.  The Browns' do have to plan for who comes after Joe Thomas, too.

I don't hate Mitchell Schwartze or John Greco as much as many fans, as their declines in efficiency also coincided with the loss of Alex Mack.  I'm not sure I understand why, but there it is.

However, Peat (or Scherff) would be a clear upgrade, and they could let Schwartze and Greco duke it out for right guard.  This one move would take care of the depth issue on the line.

No, it's apparent that there's no replacing Alex Mack, but Greco could be servicable, and they could still draft a true center as low as the fourth round.

Some people are saying that Ray Farmer has it etched in stone that he won't draft any wide recievers ever in the top two rounds.  That's baloney, but with the depth at that position and the needs of the team he probably won't use a first rounder on one here.

If the Browns lose Jordan Cameron (or even if they don't) Maxx Williams is a reciever who could be had in the second round.

I do believe that there's a good chance that the Browns will wind up with either Hundley or Mariota.  The permabashers will strafe him because niether is said to be NFL-ready.  I hope he doesn't care.  

He can't count on Johnny Partyboy.  Nor even Hoyer, if he retains him.

Of the veteran free agent quarterbacks, I'm in the minority on Sanchez.  No, I don't think he's a franchise guy.  But I do think he could be better than my man Brian Hoyer (sorry).

Remember, Sanchez took the Jets to the AFC chamionship game as a rookie.  He declined after that, but never truly sucked.

He was knocked for a lack of work ethic himself--but at least didn't party his brains out around the clock.  He did pretty well this past season in a much different offense.

The Browns need veteran insurance for the party boy, and of all the veterans available, Sanchez might be the best.

What about that rookie season of his?  Well, that was the ground-and-pound offense.  He wasn't asked to carry the team.  This is what the Browns are trying to do, and they succeeded at it until Mack went down.

Mack will be back, and I suspect the offensive line will be further upgraded this offseason to enhance that.  If Sanchez could do that as a rookie, couldn't he do it as a seasoned veteran here?  Huh?  Why not?  No really--tell me.

Plus, he's much older now.  Maybe he's grown a work ethic.  Maybe he'll be more now.  Maybe HE is the right guy to put up against junior.

As for Mariota or Hundley, here's a couple names for you: RGIII.  Cam Newton.  The new coordinator will have to try to make something work with Manziel, and they fit.

State of the Cleveland Browns

Terry Pluto in this article wrote the best stuff I've read since the Browns went out with a whimper against Baltimore.  Most of what he wrote is stuff I'd already written, of course, but as usual he found some more:

Like zone blocking.  Will the new coordinator use it?

Terry points out that two key assistants who've been retained use it, and that's the most important thing.  All teams use a little or a lot of zone blocking, and all coordinators understand it.

One ignoramus commenter asked, if zone blocking was so great, why doesn't everybody use it?  Well, because it doesn't rely on road-graders the way conventional man-schemes do.  It relies on speed, quickness, and balance in space.  Not everybody can use it effectively.

Second, it's much more complex than man-blocking, and takes awhile to learn and integrate.  Finally, if you do have a bunch of big powerful "hogs", you do what they do best--which is man-blocking and brute force.

With Thomas, Bittonio, and Mack the Browns have 3/5ths of a zone-blocking offensive line already.  Greco surprised me by losing weight and doing pretty well in it...until Mack went down...but he and Schwartze aren't ideal zone guys.

At any rate, the specific blocking scheme isn't integral to any offense.  Coordinators know that they must run the ball, and will use whatever works best.  Coaching the techniques is up to the assistants.

The real variable is the passing game.  Here, a coordinator usually has some strong feelings.

I'm forced to accept the possibility that somebody in the front office texted Kyle Shanahan during games.  Nobody but Haslam or Farmer would dare.  I really hope it was Jimmy, but then Ray played the game, understands what's happening, and would have been tempted.

I do NOT accept the gossipy narrative about the whole Manziel thing.  Hoyer was sucking--like the vacuum of space.  No, the coaches did not feel that Manziel was ready, but they had to try something.

Mary Kay alludes to implicit front office pressure to start the raw kid.  That's a real good guess!  Because the need was obvious. 

I do buy that Kyle might not have been a big Johnny fan.  Nor Pettine, nor myself--for that matter.  And we've all got a lot of company, including a lot of ex-quarterbacks.

I know that Haslam wanted the guy, but don't believe he forced Farmer to make that pick.  I think Ray Farmer owns that one.  

And I feel very smart today, because I would have taken Teddy Bridgewater instead.

On Shanahan, I can't blame him for wanting tf out of here.  If the text stuff is true, and if he looks at the quarterback situation like I assume he does, he can't feel good about this.

However, as usual I look at the brighter side.

Kyle's passing system was as complex as any in the game.  I find it hard to fault even Manziel for stumbling over some of the calls.  I myself lack the facility to learn a second language, Rosetta Stone or no.

The Browns will probably try to hire a coordinator who runs a simpler system.  Sure, it will be new, and everybody will have to start from scratch all over again, but many blow this stuff out of proportion.

The route trees are still identical.  So are certain reads that every reciever in every system must make.  Every offense uses some timing plays, and the other kind is one every reciever coming out of college can run.

The terminology is the hard part.

A simpler system would give Manziel his best chance to succeed in 2015.  Ditto Public Enemy number one Josh Gordon.  Ditto the rookie tight end that Jordan Cameron might well force them to draft.

Terry says they should cut Gordon, but with Kyle's departure I see that as even more unlikely and unwise.  

He needs to be an adult and show up for meetings and stuff yes, but as for the on-the-field stuff, here again there was Shanahan's system.  Gordon had his own problems with it, and by the way he looked heavy (not in shape) to me too.

A new coordinator with a more user-friendly system might be just what the doctor ordered for both his performance and attitude.

And Kyle Shanahan is not superman.  He and RGIII had a rift in Washington.  What was RG's side of that, I wonder?

Terry expects the Browns to use another high draft pick on another offensive lineman, and so do I.  The loss of Alex Mack did a lot more damage than it should have.  Terry mentioned depth, but I call it upgrade.  If you get another Bitonio, he starts.  Your depth is now the starter he replaces.

Terry doesn't see them drafting a quarterback high, but I think he's probably wrong.  They can't get Mariota and I feel shouldn't draft that punk Winston, but Brett Hundley might well be worth a shot.

But then I don't know.  As I've said, Hundley does have a lot to prove, including everything Manziel had not proven when he was drafted.  But he's not a punk or a screw-up, and that's half the battle.

Terry might have fallen into the "immediate impact" trap.  No, there is no rule that anybody taken anywhere in the top two rounds has to be an immediate pro bowler.  Especially not a quarterback.

The fact is, Manziel could well be another Jamarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf, or whatever.  He could well bomb out and leave a journeyman in charge in 2015.  So now what?

Even if the party boy does well, any quarterback they draft is money in the bank.  That's a future trade of either of the two.

And again on Hundley in particular: I remember all the same stuff that's now being said about Hundley being said about Cam Newton prior to his own draft.  Newton had a lot fewer starts than Hundley has.  Hundley has all the same tools.

The Newton pick that high was widely panned by most of the REAL experts, and the consensus was for him, as it is for Hundley, that he'd need a season or two on the bench before he could be very good in the NFL.

Again, I don't know.  Newton is a rare bird.  But Ray will do his homework, and if he and the new coordinator and quarterback coach think Hundley is like Newton between his ears, they won't hesitate.

Speaking of which, it's known that Loggains pushed hard for Johnny himself, and there can be no doubt that his opinion weighed heavily in that pick.  Probably, I need to point out, more heavily than Jimmy Haslam's.

And now he's gone.  I assume the new guy will be expected to be a better talent scout.

One commentor listed a real athletic fullback as a "need".  One that not only blocks, but can catch and run as well.  This depends largely on the new coordinator, but I wouldn't mind that a bit.

And you can often find those guys in the third round or lower.

Regardless, the new coordinator will stress the run, because he has to with the quarterback situation the way it is.  That's why they might draft more than one offensive lineman in the top four rounds.

They already have two tight ends who can block in-line and move the chains.  If they lose Cameron, as I expect they will, I hope the guy they draft can block better, and doesn't have a glass jaw.

As Terry said, Farmer's comments about elite quarterbacks, taken in the intended context, was right.  Elite quarterbacks don't grow on trees, and most teams have to make do with less.

Here's another great opinion piece on our problem child punk quarterback.  Food for thought.  For those who think with their brains, anyway.

Farmer would probably trade three first round picks for Mariota, but I don't think it's possible for any price, so that's just reality.  That's what Farmer really wanted to tell everybody: DEAL with it.

That's the state of the Browns.  Some bad, some good.  

Deal with that.

Spazz City

Hey Mary Kay: Going forward, I think the Browns should try to sign an experienced free agent quarterback or otherwise (trade) and not anticipate any
of the top three in this draft. I'd try to dump Johnny Manziel, Josh Gordon and Justin Gilbert for whatever we can get and move on. Jimmy Haslam should over-spend on free agents just to get this team caught up. Then they need a good draft in order to address the OL, DL, S, CB, LB, TE, WR, PK, and punt/kick-off return positions. Did I forget anything?

 -- Norm

'Nuff said.  This goober would have dumped Joe Haden, T'Shaun Gipson, Mitchell Schwartze, and a bunch of other guys after so-so ROOKIE seasons.

He's clearly not alone on Gordan, but you're all wrong.  So is Mary Kay for reading into Farmer's remarks that he's already decided to cut him.  I went over them again, and still can't hear that.  I hear disgust and a warning to Gordan, but nothing like a decision to cut the best wide reciever in the NFL.

You're nuts if you cut a talented rookie quarterback after two crappy games.  Are you kidding me?  Maybe if you need to dump salary, but Manziel doesn't make that much.  Nor does Gordon.

This makes retaining them and giving them a last chance pretty much a zero-risk proposition.  Whoever the clown who wrote this is, he doesn't run a business.

Earlier in Hey, Mary Kay, MKC answered a question by telling us what she would do:

Mary Kay would let Johnny know he was on a short leash and would be dumped if he kept partying his brains out around the clock.  She'd go after Mariota hard, but also get a Cousins, Schaub, or Hoyer to make sure they at least have a competent quarterback.

Which all makes sense to me.  But then she said she'd get what she could for Gordon--as like I mentioned, she has concluded that it's all over for him here.  I doubt that.

Terry Pluto mentioned my personal favorite, Charles Johnson.  Ray Farmer put him on the practice squad.  He went to the Vikings and emerged as Teddy Bridgewater's go-to guy.

Ray should start listening to me more, because I told him to draft Bridgewater and keep Johnson.

Too late now.  They've got to give the party boy a chance to come back as an adult.  

The Browns offensive line with Alex Mack was one of the best in the NFL, and without him was below average.  The Browns don't need to do much with the offensive line at all, except get Mack healthy.

Naturally, it would be great to have another really good interior lineman to step in for and eventually take over for Mack, and another guy or so, but it's not a priority at all.

There's a decent chance they'll lose Cameron, so tight end could become a real need.  Cameron will demand the stars and the moon, but as good as he has been, he's been hurt a lot.

Wide reciever could be a need, since they can't count on Gordon.  But Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel are terrific smurf-types, so one taller guy would do.

Running back?  Hahaha!

People are spazzing out over the defensive line now, too.  Rubin probably won't be back, but Taylor, both Bryants, and Winn should be. and for that matter Sione Fua was a pleasant surprise late in the season.  Sione is an inside guy though, and mainly a tackle.

I would go for an outside linebacker myself, although I still say that Mingo was in coverage a lot (as in not passrushing do you get that?), and Eric Martin is pretty good.  But yeah, I'd want to make sure of that.

They don't need any secondary help.  Just depth at safety.  Laugh at me now but believe me later, Gilbert will come back and take the spot opposite Haden over, and now they'll have Buster Skrine on the slot.  Awesome!

I'm kind of depressed about the quarterback situation, though.

Mariota is probably out of reach, and it looks to me like Winston might well be guilty of that rape.  Even if he isn't, we already got Johnny for the punk role.  This guy is pretty disgusting.

Brett Hundley is the third ranked quarterback.  He's a solid character guy and an adult.  He has as much talent as anybody, but he's run a wide-open, simple system (like Manziel's in college), and needs a lot of polishing.

But then, everybody said that about Cam Newton, too, so you can't be too sure.  Hundley could be there without a trade-up, but most real pros would call him a reach in the first round.

But he's a quarterback, so not really.

At any rate, Hundley would be a longshot to start as a rookie.

However, if Farmer believes that he has what it takes to make the pre and post-snap reads in his version of this offense, he should absolutely take him, because he can do everything else.

It's not just about 2015.  It's about 2016 and beyond, too.  Manziel might not be the guy.  They need the guy.  If Hundley can't be that in 15, but could in 16, then you take him, period, and damn the lynch-mob.

Anyway, quit spazzing out.