Yes, his mechanics could break down on thursday (my biggest concern with a guy that tall), but if he "maintains", things are looking up!
Regardless of what Osweiler does, almost everybody inserts that damn "Obviously he's not a long-term solution" disclaimer, which is driving me insane. To me, this sounds like "Baah! Baah!"
Why are you saying that? He's big, has a strong arm...I kinda get it when you said that about Kessler, but Osweiler?
Ok for most of you it's peer pressure, and you really are sheep. But for the originators of that disclaimer (including Buzz Kill Bill Polian), it's because of his crappy 2016 performance.
For you, that's it. He had his chance and he blew it. Stick a fork in him, he's done.
I can see that. He understudied the great Peyton Manning and was groomed by QB guru Gary Kubiak. It's not like he was a rookie.
Still, I don't buy it. Rich Gannon never accomplished much until he was an old geezer. Joe Flacco has had down years. Big Ben took a long time to really become elite.
You can't write a big guy with an arm off like that! You can say he might not be, or even probably isn't the answer, and I won't go nuts. But you're saying he's done.
He's absolutely not. For all I know, Sashi Brown just accidentally caught lightening in a bottle, and Osweiler will keep doing what he's been doing.
I'm in daydream-mode now: What if Osweiler does that and Kizer is "all that" too?
Nevermind.
Anyway Ricardo Louis is starting to really show up (uh...with Osweiler hmm). And Duke Johnson is starting to catch passes...with Brock...
NFL Radio was at today's practice (Phil Savage and Solomon Willcotts two of my favorites). I was unable to listen to the whole thing (yet), but I caught enough to pick on people:
Phil stipulated to Kenny Britt and Corey Coleman at wide receiver, but pointed to Duke Johnson in the slot and says "it seems like they don't have confidence in their other wide receivers".
Hue Jackson himself helped clear this up a few minutes later. He told Phil that Duke is a playmaker and one of his best players, and it made no sense to him to keep him on the bench.
Duh. Hue didn't bother talking about the two-tight end sets.
Another guy on NFL Radio I picked on was Jim Miller, by the way. When the Browns made the
At the time, I thought Jim was full of it, because Kessler had done what he'd done. But it now looks like he was right, and I was wrong. In fact, Jim (a former NFL quarterback who played in several systems), was the first guy I heard who compared the Kubiak system to the O'Brien system (to the Jackson system) and said Brock could prosper under Hue Jackson.
Yeah I guess I got Brockmania. Sorry.
Anyway all I heard were the top guys interviewed (Kirksey, Osweiler, Jackson).
Osweiler talked a lot about how he followed Peyton around, studied his game-tapes trying to figure out what he saw and why he did stuff, and learning from him how to prepare and study.
Kirksey said little of consequence (nothing wrong with that 95% of what players say is pc pap).
But Jackson somehow manages to be honest and informative without screwing up! Like the Duke Johnson in the slot stuff.
Phil and Solly understand what's going on here. Phil said they were in year two of a "three year project".
Back to the practices, and what they indicate (start paying attention):
Up until this week (when a certain QB took over the first team), the hyper-aggressive, insideously diabolical Gregg Williams and his s-load of passrushers, linebackers, and freaks kind of "owned" the offense.
This week, the offense is scoring touchdowns.
I'm sorry. I have to. Osweiler is just plain more experienced. He is making the difference. Williams just can't mess him up as much as he does the other guys.
Meanwhile, Gregg's defense is finally getting some turnovers.
That's good, too.
Oblivions and Myopians don't get this, but this training camp is a real pressure-cooker, with very talented players fighting very talented players.
Garrett vs Thomas is only the most obvious example.
Duke Johnson as a slot receiver hasn't done much yet, but that's partly because of who's been covering him. Kenny Britt has been more or less contained, but suddenly we see Corey Coleman (and Louis) making plays.
One guy said that the first team offense opposes the second team defense. I guess that could be right, but more likely, this pundit assumed this was the case since that's how they ran friday's scrimmage.
It's not that important, since (in reality) Gregg's defense has great depth, and "vetted" players on both offense and defense get days off, so they can stay healthy while the youngsters fighting for status (or survival) can get their reps.
I've got to say, I couldn't have run this training camp much better my own humble self.
This is "analytics", you see? Guys like Kirksey, Collins, Bitonio etc are "known". In some cases, you need to see how they'll do at different positions, or maybe you need to see where a Joe Haden is at after offseason surgeries...
But once you know all you need to know about veteran players, you put them on bicycles, so that the young, unproven guys can get their reps and show their stuff.
1: Your core players remain healthy.
2: Your unproven players get more reps/experience.
3: You get more "tape" on these guys, so you can make smarter decisions at the cut-down deadlines.
You can say "analytics" if you want, but it's really just uncommon sense.
Preseason is mostly about trying out young players and tuning up a little, but it's also like a flea market.
I expect Kessler to be pissed off. He won't be up against this defense. He should have Ricardo Louis, Rodney Lesliefield, Matthew Dayes, and Njoku (who has the dropsies and needs more work) to work with, and might just kick New Orleans' second string defenses ass.
Maybe. Anyhoo, as Bill Belichick was once ridiculed and burned in effigy in Cleveland for saying, I can only go by what I see:
Kevin Hogan is looking better than Cody Kessler right now. Sashi and Paul might be looking to trade Kessler.
Playing him behind Osweiler, and (I suspect) ahead of Kizer (and Kizer ahead of Hogan) would tell other GMs and coaches that Hue thinks Kessler is second-best, and that he thinks Hogan sucks.
Hogan might well kick ass, but the "football people" will dismiss it because he's beating guys who won't be in the NFL.
They'll take Kessler at face value, if he kicks ass vs second stringers, and they'll remember he started a bunch of games, and piled up some pretty good stats. They'll see Cody Kessler as a really cheap top-flight backup.
Bill Belichick might suspect that the Browns prefer Hogan to Kessler, but I doubt that anybody else would, so they might trade for Kessler. Conceivably even a fourth round pick!
This is more of what you call "analytics" on my part, I guess:
I now think that Brock Osweiler is at least a top-flight backup. I Know that in this reality, DeShone Kizer is a project, with no guaranteed results. I still like Kessler, but he doesn't look so good lately...
But Hogan does! In reality, the guys on NFL Radio discussed Kevin Hogan a lot in the draft he and Kessler shared, and never said a word about Kessler.
The whole Kevin Hogan thing is wierd, ok? Nobody saw him as a dual threat. Only a few questioned his arm, and he was generally considered accurate. Almost everybody called him a "brain".
You can burn me in effigy (as you did "the worst Head Coach in history") for saying this again, but I can only go by what I see: Kevin Hogan is the second-best quarterback on this roster, and he has great upside, and he's a perfect match for Kizer in the offense Hue would run to maximize that skill-set.
Bold Predictions:
1: Osweiler will remain the starter into game one and beyond.
2: Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan will both have long NFL carrers.
3: Kizer will eventually become at least an above average starting quarterback.
4: Myles Garrett will be a monster.
5: So will Jamie Collins.
6: Seth DeValve will outdo Njoku in 2017.
7: Kai Nacua makes the team and plays a lot.
8: Rodney Lesliefield makes the team...at least.
9: So does Josh Gordon.
10: Crowell becomes the new "Beast-mode" (wish I could predict a signing).
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