Ma man Terry Pluto wrote a decent article on what went wrong with Sashi Brown. It's only decent, since it requires a bunch of corrections:
1: Substitute the word "speculations" for "story" in re Hue's alleged dissatisfaction with some of Sashi's draft picks.
Terry and Doug Lesmerisis have the bad habit of taking stories written by other members of the sportwriters guild at face value. Lesmerisis is chasing Hue Fisher around asking him about "leaks", and Hue says he doesn't know what he's talking about.
I lean towards believing Hue. This LaCanfora was probobly manufactured by somebody like me (except devoid of scruples). Speculation.
2: Isn't it a tad early to judge Corey Coleman? Broken hands aside, he was an extremely raw talent coming out of Baylor. As Terry himself points out, it often takes time for wide receivers to develop in the NFL. Well, that goes double for one whose route-tree had only three branches!!!
Corey's development has been further stalled by his injuries. He's only now approximating one season's worth of experience, with a new rookie quarterback...who isn't very accurate btw.
3: Ogbah is good against the run, but is also a really good passrusher.
4: Terry writes that aside from Myles Garrett, none of the picks from Sashi's two drafts show "star quality".
I dislike this nebulous term, and the black-and-white thinking behind it.
Ogbah could return in his third season to pile up double-digit sacks (and tackles for loss, and maybe a couple interceptions). This is more likely than not, if Myles Garrett can stay healthy on the weak side.
Corey Coleman was a functional number one receiver until Josh Gordon came back...he was pretty much Kizer's only option not named Johnson or Njoku. He's one of the fastest AND quickest players in the NFL, and now he's behind Gordon wait a freaking minute willya!?!
Schobert isn't a Pro Bowler yet, but give me a break.
It's early to judge Njoku too, isn't it? And Peppers? What were they supposed to accomplish as rookies?
What about Ogunjobi? Can we exempt the injured rookie cornerback Wilson? It's hard for right tackles to be "stars", but if they could, Shon Coleman would be glimmering pretty good already.
And anyway, in reality, every Superbowl team is 75% lunchpail guys--"star power"? You build teams from the ground up. The "stars" ice that cake.
I get Terry's point here, however: The ignorant masses don't get this. Terry does, but he's still wrong about what a bunch of these guys have shown.
5: Terry whiffed big-time on Kenny Britt. Britt was Hue's one-eyed mildewed stinky teddy bear, and Dorsey took it away from him.
Hue didn't want to give up that teddy bear! He was yanking Josh Gordon off the field to get Britt on it, even in hurry-up mode with time running out! He put him in front of Jordan Leslie too!
I guess that's all my corrections. Terry is right about the other stuff.
Dorsey is likely to try to sign a top veteran QB and draft one atop the draft.
Terry is accidentally right here. He assumes that because he signed Alex Smith when he started with Kansas City, he'll do the same now.
Well, the team he inherits matters. If Dorsey doesn't think this team will be ready to knock off the Steelers in 2018, he won't waste cap money on an old geezer quarterback.
But as Dorsey kinda said himself, Sashi Brown set him up perfectly. Even with Hue Lewis in charge again next season, the Browns can toe the line with the Stoolers in 2018, so a Cousins or even a Smith is worth paying for.
Dorsey will probably have to draft a big smashmouth running back to replace Crowell (who might take LESS money to get away from Hue Fisher), but he has everything else (except a proven QB) already.
Dorsey is in heaven. He can use his top pick on a quarterback, can afford a Cousins (well i...
Say, waitaminnit...Cousins is first and foremost a West Coast quarterback. Would Hue Fisher do to him what he did to Crowell, and try to make him a mad bomber?
Yes, wait a minute here, Waittilnextyear: Cousins will cost 14% of the cap on the low end. If Hue Lewis won't let him do what he does best, this aint as good as it looks on paper.
Dorsey is stuck with Hue Fisher for at least one season, and with Cousins or Smith, niether fits the passing scheme Hue Lewis is currently running, and we now know that Hue Fisher will not alter his scheme to help them out.
...well I might be being unfair here: Just because he won't let Crowell do what he does best doesn't neccessarily mean he'll try to make Smith or Cousins long bombers.
Dorsey has his work cut out for him. Andrew Berry will help him out here, but so will talking to Hue:
"If I signed Kirk Cousins, how would you use him?"
"I'd start him!"
"I know, but he's a West Coast guy. Timing. Crosses, slants, YAC?"
"But he has a good arm too. We need the vertical stuff to open up the run."
"Would you use some more crosses and slants to help him out?"
"Of course I would! But you have to threaten them deep to keep them back! If you try to nickel and dime them they can come down and stuff you; jump those routes and stop the run".
"So if I got Kirk Cousins for you, you'd still have him going deep a lot?"
"Well, that's how we're built! Gordon, Njoku, Coleman--that's what they do best!"
Game over. No Cousins.
All three of these guys (especially Coleman) excel at taking short passes deep.
I'm assuming a lot here, and maybe Hue Fisher would adapt (at least a little) to Cousins or Smith, but you need to think about how Hue would use these guys.
Certainly, Dorsey will. We can be optimistic that Hue Fisher is better at adapting to quarterbacks than he is at adapting to one-cut running backs and pass-catching tight ends.
Smith and Cousins are both pretty old and expensive. Hue Lewis's mindset will influence what Dorsey does, heavily.
Cousins is younger, so Dorsey can look beyond Hue with him. If Hue manages to stifle Kirk in 2018, he can fire Hue, and hire a Head Coach who will make the most of him.
Smith is older. Dorsey will NOT pursue him at all, unless he is confident that Hue will make the most of him in 2018.
Dorsey is here to build a dynasty. Hue Fisher is here to win right now. This dynamic has not changed. Stand by, as new "leaks" will tell us about "rifts", "power struggles", "dysfunction", etc., until the Browns start winning.
Stand by. Whoever Dorsey drafts, Hue wanted the other guy. Depending on which veteran QB Dorsey might sign, Hue will have opposed it or it will have been his idea, depending on how he does.
There will be conflicts. Leaks. Power struggles. Drama. Lots of drama.
The Browns have a real shot at beating the Packers tomorrow. They really do.
UPDATE: Terry Pluto just made his prediction for this sunday's game vs Green Bay (another Browns loss).
The Browns might well lose, and Terry's logic was perfect except for one thing:
Terry felt Josh Gordon would make a difference, but "not enough".
You need to understand this: You simply can't act like Josh Gordon is "minor". Terry has Stockholm Syndrome: He thinks the new Randy Moss can't change the inevittable domination of the awesome Green Bay defense.
Can't account for one more touchdown, or even 1-2 more field goals.
That's irrational.
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