The point I was making was that Cody Kessler should be just fine with the supporting cast he will have, but I wouldn't be objective if I didn't apply this to Deshone Kizer as well.
The differences here are many. Big Ben had a great year going into his draft. Kizer had a bad year. Ben also had started quite a few more games. As I've explained, level of competition means less for quarterbacks than for anybody else, so don't start.
Big Ben's Steeler running game was led by Jerome Bettis, Duce Staley (for ten games), and Willie Parker, who came on strong in the playoffs.
This crew ran for over 2400 yards and 16 touchdowns at a 4 ypc clip. Their special teams were pretty special too. Their average starting field position was their 33 yard line.
Of course Dick LeBeau, Troy Polumalu, Chris Hope, James Farrior, Larry Foote, Joey Porter, James Harrison, and 19 interceptions certainly helped a lot.
Ben averaged less than 20 passes per game. His yards per-attempt were high, at over 8, and he completed over 66% (god I can see Black Cloud squirming and turning red here. He'll be accusing me of having an affair with the guy again pretty soon.)
But Ben as a rookie didn't often have to rally from behind, or get stuck in third and long situations. The majority of his passes were thrown against defenses that were paranoid about that damned infantry.
Now, let's compare the 2004 Steelers Superbowl Champs to the 2017 Browns. (Here we go with the smirks, head-shakes, and eye rolls well go screw yourselves dammit!)
This Browns offensive line is better. Yes it is, shut tf up SILENCE! Run-blocking, the Steelers line was great, but they weren't as good as this line will be in pass protection. Nobody could take Ben down, and he repeatedly made big plays with defenders dripping off him.
(Note: this was partly because that Ben wasn't great at reading coverage or throwing on time because he was...you know...a rookie, like Kessler was last season, but isn't anymore?)(sorry I got Terrets Syndrome).
The Steelers tight end, Truman, caught 9 passes. He was a blocker. The Steelers essentially ran a 6-man offensive line.
No comparison here. Truman might have been an awesome blocker, but the Browns have two lethal weapons and I'll settle for mediocre blocking ok? ...good no arguments for once!
The Steelers had Plaxico Burress, Hines Ward, and Antoine Randall-El as their top wide receivers (well they called the latter a "flanker"). None of them were deep threats. I repeat: None of them were deep threats. Aside from Willie Parker, the 2004 Superbowl champs were devoid of offensive "playmakers" DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
Indeed, Hines Ward, like Joey Porter and James Harrison, was famous for his cheap shots (oh sorry I mean "blocking").
You see, this was a blunt-instrument offense. Burress was at that time the biggest wide receiver in the NFL. He didn't get open much, but it didn't matter. The 2004 Superbowl Champ offense was a brute force steamroller IS ANY OF THIS SINKING IN YET?
But I digress: There are too many variables to compare the wide receivers. Will Corey Coleman hurt himself getting out of bed this morning? Will Josh get reinstated? But I can roll with Britt and Louis:
Got to give those Steelers a slight edge here. It's tough, because Ward's
(Note: Josh Gordon changes everything if King Dickhead reinstates him.)
The running backs are a wash yes they are gdammit give me a freaking break! 4.9 yards per carry! Crow did that vs eight man boxes! Yeah the Bus was amazing but oh crap I give up the Browns running backs are better than those Steeler running backs, even ignoring their superior receiving skills (except for Parker) and that's just a fact.
I saved this part. Read this carefully. Quarterback:
Big Ben undeniably (irrefutably Black Cloud deal wit it!) did a fine job as a rookie. (He wasn't as good in year two feel better?)
It's that damned knack for pulling off big plays when you think he's sacked, over and over again, that makes any OBJECTIVE analyst give even the rookie Big Ben the nod over any current Browns quarterback at this point in time.
...except Cody Kessler's rookie stats were similar to Ben's (much better TD/Int ratio but way fewer tds, lower yards per attempt, similar percentage and %under pressure long story) on a much weaker team ON A MUCH WEAKER TEAM DO YOU UNDERSTAND MARY KAY CABBOT?
Now, Mary Kay, like many sportswriters and all babies, is attracted to shiny things, like long passes that seem to take forever to come down, so for her, Kizer had to do that exactly once, in training camp, without a pass rush, to convince her that he has to start.
Well, not exactly, since she had made up her mind long before that but I digress.
I have to digress further here, except I'm circling back to the Browns quarterbacks (so it's more like a regression c?:
Deshone Kizer is not Big Ben. He is more of a project than Ben was as a rookie.
He may have an even better arm. He's definitely a LOT more athletic. He's probably smarter; he almost certainly has more potential.
But does he have what they call "heart"? He didn't prove that in college. Ben did. Ben reminds us, every time we see him complete an all-arm pass while being tackled. That stuff can't be taught. Most of you don't understand that. What makes Big Ben is all between his ears, and you might as well say he was born that way.
Mary Kay, check out Cody Kessler again. What a great smile aint he purty? I know I know he's a whole half inch shorter than Aaron Rodgers, only a couple taller than Brees/Sipe and about tied with Montana, but...
As a rookie, he PROVED SOMETHING, OK? In real games!
You people! All you can talk about is Hue Jackson benching Kessler for not going deep enough! So he slapped him down! He didn't kick him off the fkng team! Who tf saw Hue urinating on Kessler's grave?
Back to the future: I was comparing the rookie Big Ben to the Browns quarterbacks plural.
Well, in reality, Cody Kessler approximated Big Ben as a rookie in the most important categories, with less protection, a massively weaker (swinging door) defense, and less reliable receivers.
Knock-knock anybody home?
Back to my first digression (I think): Hue Jackson needs to win games, and will start the best quarterback, period. Deshone Kizer is unlikely to overtake Kessler by game one (if ever I repeat if ever). Mechanical flaws cannot be fixed under pressure.
Ditto Osweiler: Even in Denver, with a lot more help, he didn't match Kessler as a rookie, despite having been in the NFL and understudying Peyton Manning for awhile, and being coached by Gary Kubiak.
Mary Kay and company are fast-tracking Deshone Kizer. Hue Jackson is not. For that matter, niether is DePodesta or Brown. They drafted both quarterbacks. They can trade one of them later.
Mary Kay says they need to start Kizer asap to see what he's got and give him real-game reps. She's wrong. Kizer needs to drill and practice, and do thousands of training reps to render his mechanics automatic and reflexive before he's exposed to a real passrush and insideously diabolical alien presnap looks and post-snap coverage.
He is RAW, Mary Kay. Hue Jackson won't throw him in there until he he knows he won't lose it as soon as he's chasing rabbits (ok sorry more boxing slang: ref to Alice in Wonderland. You're chasing rabbits after somebody rings your bell and you can't "think" anymore. If you're well-trained, you run on autopilot and don't screw up. If you're not, you get wild and your opponent destroys you).
What the hell I'll stick with the boxing stuff:
The most natural boxers include Sugar Rays Robinson and Leonard, and Muhammud Ali. I know you'll hate this, but Johnny Manziel was like them. These guys broke all the rules by dropping their hands, leaning back, and relying on their ennate talent.
...but not before they were trained. Even the naturals needed to be conditioned to keep their feet under them, bend their knees, jab exactly like so, throw combos exactly so, keep your gloves here, all exactly so, before they got creative.
Anybody wanting to understand this better should search for Cassius Clay's amatuer videos. He won his Olympic Gold medal the old fashioned way.
Conversely, Joe Lewis and George Foreman were not "naturals" at all. They had great reach, power, and coordination, but required a lot of "work" before they got to the big leagues.
They were carefully nurtured, and protected, and brought along SLOWLY DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
Ok still with me? I can't slap you awake from here so I hope so anyway:
Big Ben is Mohammud Ali. Deshone Kizer is Joe Lewis. (Oh shut up about the athletic stuff can't you even think?)
Kessler is a natural, and a well-trained one to boot, who in this offseason tuned himself up significantly. He'll never be a one-punch knockout guy, but he's quick and can pile up points on you, and well...check out how many kayos popgun Ali piled up DO YOU UNDERSTAND YET?
IF Deshone Kizer is Joe Lewis, he's an eventual starter...somewhere. I redundate that I see that happening in garbage time until after the break, in game 10.
Returning to the 2004 Superbowl Steelers vs the 2017 Cleveland Browns, Dick LeBeau's and Gregg Williams' schemes don't match up schematicly exactly, except for Polumalu.
Gregg Williams' "hybrid" player plays almost the exact same role as Polumalu did for the Steelers. Bet you didn't know that. Nobody else told you. Me smart. Them dumb.
But LeBeau still ran a 3-4, with Polumalu as a nominal strong safety, so I can sorta compare front sevens kinda, if I consider Peppers a linebacker:
Joey Porter was scary, but Myles Garrett is better. James Harrison wasn't as good as he would become then, but I'll still give him a slight edge over Ogbah as an edge-rusher.
Collins and Kirksey vs Farrior and Foote is a tough call. I gotta give the Browns a micro-edge here, because Collins is 250 lbs., he and Kirksey both excell in coverage, and in blitzing too.
I won't bother digging up the Steelers defensive line here. We got Shelton and Ogunjobi or Brantley, with a side of Nassib so I give the 2017 Browns the edge here too (final verdict: 2017 Browns front 7 vs 2004 Steelers front 7 Browns slightly better).
The secondaries are tougher to compare, since I used up Peppers on the front 7, and they still got Polumalu.
Ok but...I can't help this: There is no comparing the respective cornerbacks three deep. The 2017 Browns corners are all clearly superior.
Yes, the Steelers got the safeties, but not by all that much if I default McCourty to free.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND YET?
No, I'm not predicting a 2017 Browns Superbowl. I'm just telling you, this team does not lack talent, or coaching. All it lacks is experience, and a confirmed franchise quarterback.
The 2017 Browns resemble the 2004 Superbowl champs in another way, in case you managed to somehow ignore it: With a two-tight end offense, they will be just as BRUTAL under Hue Jackson.
Pucker up, pretty boys, and get those ambulances ready!
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