The signing of Rob Housler mitigates one need going into the draft. I haven't studied the guy yet, or the reason for the decline in his production last season...
But what I do know is that he has been productive, and is only 27 so DUH!
It's like the 28 year-old Brian Hartline: Two and three seasons ago, if you didn't have Brian Hartline on your fantasy team, you were green with envy. Then he has one off year and he's off the map!
I expect Hartline to be the Fantasy Producer he was two and three seasons ago. Why not?
Update: I learned some stuff: Bruce Ariens doesn't value pass-catching tight ends that much. He leans on fast wide recievers and a strong running game. Tight ends must block. That's not what Housler does.
Ariens inherited him, and made the best use of him he could without changing his scheme, but he was never a good fit. HERE, he fits!
It's been said that Housler's production never matched his talent. That's true. However, he came out of the same draft as Jordan Cameron, and what did Cameron do as a rookie? Even as a second-year player? Any decent analyst kind of throws out a tight end's rookie season anyway. It's a big transition.
Nor did Cameron have Bruce Ariens take over the team and say "who's this guy?"
If Housler is used the way Cameron was, he just might go ape----. He's faster than Jordan. A LOT faster.
Now for the trade talk: This is about Mariota, not Bradford, for common sense reasons (see previous entry). (Disclaimer: I mean Bradford without a long-term contract.)
If I'm the Tennessee Titans, I might want Marcus Mariota myself, except I do have Zach Mettengerger. This sounds like Roethsenberger, which is a good sign (I kid. Jeez.) Zach slid in his own draft primarily because he had a severe injury, and was still rehabbing.
As a rookie, he was okay. But we're not grading on a curve here: A rookie on a team without a lot of talent doing "okay" is really good. If you're a Titans fan and don't like Mettenberger, you're not thinking. Dan Marino was the exception, not the rule.
So, if I'm the Titans, even if I think Mariota will eventually be better, I still want to fill my other needs. So I do what they're doing, and make it look like I'm going to draft Mariota.
I know that most of the other GMs are onto me, but it might not matter. Any team that wants to make sure will talk to me, because they know that any other team that wants to make sure will be talking to me.
Now, what do I want? Sam Bradford? No. Frankly as the Titans GM, I think all this Chip Kelly stuff is funny. He's not going to give me three firsts and a second, which is the least I'd want out of a team I see as drafting fairly low for awhile. That's a joke.
Numbers twelve and nineteen? Now there's a starting point! That's two birds in the hand, top twenty picks. But I remember that rediculous RG3 bidding war, and know I can get more.
Probably not as much, though, since everybody now knows that the Redskins are suffering for it now. Not simply because RG got hurt, but because they couldn't draft anybody to help him win.
Twelve, nineteen, and next year's Cleveland first rounder? Hmm. Well, as a GM, I know that Cleveland should win at least seven games, even with McCown. They have an elite offensive line, top-flight slot recievers, massively underrated big running backs, now a pretty scary pass-catching tight end, and a strong defense getting stronger, which a game-manager can win a lot of games with.
That 2016 first round pick could be pretty low, so...huh? Manziel too? Wow! He really really sucked. He's coming out of rehab. But what if...what if...?
Ross Tucker and Solomon Wilcotts are two of my favorite real experts, but they've both disappointed me recently, and yes: I am right. They are wrong.
Ross described West and Crowell as "best used as rotational guys, who you can't expect to carry the load". Solomon later described them as "average".
I expect fans and fake-experts to say this stuff. West and Crowell alternated, ergo niether is a "bellcow". That's right out of the Simpletonian Institute.
They are both every-down bellcow running backs. They're both pretty big, and both get stronger with more carries. The only reason niether one "took over" was because they were BOTH too good to keep on the bench.
Both were rookies, and West had a ton of carries in college. Rookie running backs accustomed to much shorter college seasons tend to hit a "wall" in their rookie seasons right about when the college season ends. Splitting the carries helped prevent this.
If you had Adrian Peterson and Jim Brown on the same team, which one would you park on the BENCH, huh?
No I didn't just say that Crowell and West are that good. I said what I said. But they are both E L I T E talents so no, Ross--Ray Farmer can't even be thinking about Adrian Peterson and his salary and his attitude here.
I personally expect Crowell to pull ahead in this race. He seems a little stronger and a little faster, and could morph into Beast Mode. He also has more tread left on his tires.
As I mentioned earlier, Solomon said he thought that the Browns trading away picks for Marcus Mariota would be a mistake, because the Browns have too many other needs.
I'm kind of flabbergasted, because Solly (and Ross) are two of the smartest people on the planet, and usually actually do their home-work.
They are wrong. I am right. Laugh at me now but believe me later:
Solly, please list the needs:
1: A number one reciever.
This is true. They can make due without one, but it's a missing piece of a championship team for sure.
2: A scary edge-rusher.
Sorta. We now know that Mingo was hurt last season, and I expect more out of Armonty Bryant than others do. Between the two, there's a good chance that guy is already here.
3: A nose tackle.
Who says? Phil Taylor is better there than at DE. This is a Mike Pettine defense, not a Dick LeBeau 3-4. Nose tackle is a simple answer to the complex question of why this defense was so bad against the run last season,
The run-stopping issue is already addressed with the addition of Randy Starks, and the healthy returns of Phil Taylor and John Hughes.
4: QUARTERBACK.
BINGO!
And just what do you think all these free agent signings were about? These were about filling needs prior to the draft. Two wide recievers and a tight end. We can debate about Dwayne Bowe as an upgrade, but Brian Hartline sure as hell is.
Housler vs. Cameron? Historically, you'd have to say Cameron is better. But Housler never had a real chance to do what he does best, and isn't HURT all the time.
Starks was targeted substantially because he takes great pride in stopping the run.
Ray couldn't get everybody he wanted, but systematically ran around with his bucket of mud and filled all the cracks he could.
A lot of people, unfortunately including Solly Wilcotts, haven't looked at these moves or their implications carefully enough.
The defense, aside from the defensive line, inside linebackers, outside linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties is a mess, I admit......
Calling number one wide reciever a need, the Browns need two players. The other one is a quarterback.
Armed with what I get from Mike Mayock, Jim Miller, Rich Gannon, and sources like that, I'll stick my neck out:
Ray Farmer should be willing to trade three first round picks and Manziel to make sure he gets Marcus Mariota. Chip Kelly and Sam Bradford can go pound sand.
Plan B: Glennon maybe. Or not.
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