I've looked over the most recent Browns depth charts, and noticed a few things:
The three interior linemen are seasoned veterans. Both current tackles will be entering their third seasons. (Actually, Joe Thomas will be back, and Spencer Drango will return to the bench, to provide excellent depth at four positions.) This will be a veteran offensive line, which will now have been together for a number of games.
At wide receiver, Josh Gordon is a veteran, and Corey Coleman will be entering his own third season (in the same system). We don't know what will become of Rashard Higgins, but he is a veteran now, as well.
Tight end is younger. DeValve is now a veteran, and certainly so is Randall Telfer, but Njoku enters only his second season, and will probably have a few "bugs" left to work out. Still, all in all, as a group, the tight ends have been there/done that.
At running back, Hue Fisher has already chased Isaiah Crowell away, but Duke Johnson and Matthew Dayes will stick around. But the "veteran" stuff is far less important for a running back than it is for any other position player anyway.
It's important that both of these guys are capable pass-protectors; that's a key thing it takes a lot of running backs time to learn coming to the pros.
So as you can see, this is now, suddenly, a veteran offense, just waiting for a real quarterback to take the wheel!
This is one of the reasons I keep telling anyone who will listen: If you put Alex Smith behind center here, things will happen a lot faster than you think. As in instantly.
Trade rumors in re the Browns and KC are already propogating, and already involve the stars and the moon. That's crap. Smith is on the last year of his contract like (like Jimmy G was), and is a whole helluva lot older and more expensive.
I didn't even think any other team would try to actually trade for him (instead of waiting for the cap-strapped Chiefs to cut him loose), but recent revelations have made me think that other teams will make offers, just to make sure they're the ones who land him.
But 4th overall is a joke. That's not happening. Cleveland fans can never restrain themselves from spending as much draft capital and money as they can as soon as they can.
Walter Football expects the Browns to get a veteran quarterback too (including maybe AJ McCarron, which is why in their mock draft they have the Browns drafting superback Saquon Barkley first overall, and ignoring quarterback entirely throughout the draft.)
Amazing, isn't it? It's either/or with these guys, and McCarron is also the same as Cousins or Smith to them! Stunning...
Josh Allen is rumored to the Browns. He's not very accurate, but can run around like Cam Newton and has a great arm. If this sounds familiar, it should. See "Kizer, DeShone".
The Browns could draft Barkley first, but only if their quarterback will be there two picks later. Everybody ELSE seems to think that Rosen and Darnold are the plums here, and everybody else kinda sucks.
"Dorsey would never risk waiting to four for a quarterback". Well if he likes Baker Mayfield as much as I still do, or at least as much as Darnold, then why tf wouldn't he wait?
Oh yeah! Hue would never consider a 6'1" quarterback right? I mean he once said that he preferred guys over 6'2", ergo no matter how fast they processed, or how athletic or accurate they were, or what great leaders they were, he would never consider a short quarterback right?
There's another thing at work here too: Sashi Brown was rumored by the Soap Writers of America to be "forcing" guys on the innocent genius Hue Jackson. Well, that was bullshit.
But Ken Dorsey is a different story. Dorsey WILL express his opinions on quarterbacks to Hue Jackson, and will TELL him if he thinks he is wrong!
Hue Jackson has a rep for developing quarterbacks...not for DRAFTING them. To Ken Dorsey, this matters. And look at Kizer:
Who won the quarterback battle in training camp? Dorsey draft pick Kevin Hogan! Who decided to start the rookie DeShone Kizer anyway? Hue. And how has that worked out?
Dorsey can't tell Hue who to start, but he CAN draft the guy Hue doesn't want, for his own good, and he WILL if he has to!
Anyway, there's a great chance that Saquon Barkley AND Alex Smith will both be Cleveland Browns in 2018, and that would be amazing...as in they could score points on ANYBODY!!!
The defense is much younger. With the returns of Ogbah, Collins, and Kindred, three veteran starters will return. Garrett and Peppers will enter their second seasons. Coley is listed at DT next to Shelton, but both Ogunjobi and Brantley will be second year players, as will be Howard Wilson, who will compete for a starting cornerback role.
The preponderance of these players will enter only their third seasons, as well. They've been around long enough not to screw up a lot, but they're still not "there" yet developmentally.
Some of these guys are really special, like Rodney Ogbahfield. Had he not been injured, 8 or more sacks would not be surprising. Everybody raves about how good he is vs the run as well, but this guy will put a hurt on opposing quarterbacks opposite Myles Garrett next season too.
The Browns need a THIRD edge-rusher for insurance, but Ogbah is here to stay.
Joe Schobert may have approached his peak already, but has upside remaining, and in his second season was named a Pro Bowl alternate by his peers.
Derrick Kindred was actually playing Gregg Williams LB/S hybrid when he was injured. I know, we all thought Peppers would do that, but Kindred took to it like a duck to water. His future here is so bright, he's gotta wear shades.
And I can't wait to see what Peppers himself can do with a season under his belt.
Walter Football is always wrong about the Browns. They think Coley, Brantley, and Ogunjobi all suck, so they mock the Browns drafting a DT "to complement Shelton" (and a DE/DT guy too).
Then a linebacker (to replace Jamie Collins). And before that, a right tackle to replace the disappointing Shon Coleman. Walterfootball improves each season after the draft combine, and bumps up against competence. But they keep trying to be different, even when the consensus is right, which is usually.
There are some question marks here:
One is Carl Nassib. I expected him to break out as a passrusher, but he didn't. He does blow things up and deflect passes, and pressure quarterbacks as well, but he's not like Ogbah as a passrusher.
But he's still a good rotational player with upside left. I'd be surprised if Dorsey let him go.
Matthew Dayes is not guaranteed a job, but I'd pump the brakes on dumping him, because he can step right in for Duke Johnson, and nobody else can. He's also good on special teams.
I've discovered that I was harder on Jamar Taylor than I should have been, by the way. Per PFF, Taylor ranked close to Calhoun (the best here) and McCourty. All these guys ranked in the top 30% (I think) in the NFL, and maybe ahead of Joe Haden...just sayin...who was making more money than those three combined (or at least close to it) just sayin...
Cody Kessler is a GMF, Kizer is NOT. Hogan has a remote chance at the Practice Squad: A veteran and a drafted quarterback are on the way here.
Now, Ken Dorsey has already told us that nothing short of the AFC North Championship is an acceptable target in 2018. To translate that into English for most of you, that means that the championship is the goal. He did not promise or predict anything.
I'm right with him here. Dorsey is certain that, at the very least, he'll sign McCarron, and (despite the previous regime not getting Hue any "real players"), he has a strong defense and a veteran offense ready to rock with a competent signal-caller.
At the moment, the Stoolers look invincable, but they're probably going to lose Ebeneezer Belle, Ben can't last forever, and their passrush and coverage just aren't there, even now.
The Ravens are in decline as well. I'm shocked by what they did accomplish! That defense was hellacious, and Flacco delivered...Harbaugh might be the real Coach of the Year.
...but they're fading. Yes they are.
The Bangles are befuddling. I don't know what to make of them! The bitch is, if one AFC North coach can find a way NOT to beat them, it's Hue Lewis.
The Browns are young and emerging. Ahead of free agency and the draft, just a competant quarterback can beat those teams with this roster (even sans Crowell). That's a fact. That's the truth.
Shut up and listen:
1: Who will have the best offensive line in the AFC North?
2: If the Steelers lose Belle and the Browns draft Barkley, who will have the most lethal swiss army weapon in the AFC North?
3: If the Steelers KEEP Belle, where does the rest of their TEAM go?
4: Josh Gordon.
5: Could AJ McCarron approximate Andy Dalton? Is Alex Smith a match for Rottenburgers and Big Bird?
Count on Dorsey going after not just young, but also older free agents (for the right prices) as he makes his move. Pencil in Terrelle Pryor and a top cornerback right now.
Dorsey might burn a second-rounder on Joe Thomas Jr., and 1 or 4 on a future QB, but the other four top 65 picks will go for immediate impact players.
One will probably be another edge-rusher. Another will be a cornerback or free safety. Another could be anything at all, since he's already in "best available" territory (he might TRADE DOWN! He won't even NEED anything anymore!)
KEN DORSEY IS ONE QUARTERBACK AWAY FROM CONTENDING FOR THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP RIGHT TF NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
Crap. I lead you to it. I point at it. I Sprinkle bullion on it to make you sniff it...yep-yup-yup. Stockholm Syndrome for sure. Well, just wait and see.
THIS JUST IN: Thanks to Dan Labbe, I now know that Andrew Berry and Paul DePodesta have been retained (so far). So far, I gotta back off a little on my perceptions of Ken Dorsey. Maybe he actually wants to win more than he wants to be a star. We'll see.
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