We're about to watch the Falcons take on the Eagles in the playoffs, and those of you proclaiming a "pressing need" for more wide receivers on the Browns, try this experiment:
Imagine DeShone Kizer under center for the Falcons, and Matt Ryan for the Browns.
Is Josh Gordon as good as Julio Jones? Nah! He's better! Tougher call between Coleman and Sanu, but Coleman is a lot more explosive, and a deep threat too.
And if Matt Ryan had been under center for the Browns this season, you wouldn't be shaking your head and rolling your eyes right now, because Gordon would have several 100-plus yard games and touchdowns under his belt. Julio Jones would have done...well about what Gordon did, because he, too, needs a pass to come down in his zip code before he can catch it!!!
Do this with the other playoff teams. Switch their quarterbacks with Kizer, and see what you come up with!
NOW do you see a penumbra of an emanation of objective reality?
Notice how Matt Ryan is throwing short passes? I hope Dorsey hires an offensive coordinator (and it WILL be his choice, not Hue's) who doesn't mind mixing a few of these in among the long bombs and runs up the gut.
In other news, this Randy Gurzi guy lists five free agents he thinks the Browns should go after, and much to my surprise, it wasn't idiotic!
I haven't checked these names or ages thoroughly yet, but Texans swing-tackle Chris Clark sounds like a smart move to me.
Randy wants better depth behind Joe and Shon Coleman, and this guy has a whole bunch of starts at both positions. He's not just a guy at all--he's been a starter for a long time.
I can't agree on Oakland FS Reggie Nelson because he's 34. He might still be pretty good (free safety is different: Sneaky old guys can get it done sometimes). But I like Kai Nacua a lot more than literally everybody else, and don't think Jabrill Peppers' learning curve will be as steep as everybody else seems to, either.
I'd have to consider Nelson (dirt cheap, of course) if he really could give the Browns a better shot at knocking off the Steelers in 2018 than the other two guys.
Jeremy Hill? That one stunned me, but dammit Randy has a point there! Hill is a big bruiser who's fallen out of favor in Cinci and shouldn't cost much! Crow is as good as a GMF thanks to Hue Fisher, and even if they draft Saquon Barkley, Hill would come in handy!
It's possible that Hill is actually washed up, however. For running backs, mileage is even more important than age in predicting their longevity (at least for the big bruisers who take lots of hits).
Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson? I love that one! Randy says he had a bad 2017, but had proven in 2015 and 16 that he could cover anybody in the NFL. And he's 6'2". His bad year could make him more affordable too (watch this Randy Gurzi--he's a legit thinker!)
Randy finishes with a splash: Kirk Cousins!!!
Randy tells me there's more bad blood between Kirk and both the Head Coach and owner than I'd realized as, according to Randy, Jay Gruden implicitly blamed Cousins for not taking his crappy team to the Promised Land.
And it was a crappy team, partly because they traded away most of one draft for RG3, then got in cap trouble, then franchised Cousins repeatedly instead of nailing him down!
I personally still like the super-accurate Alex Smith better, but he is 3 years older. Cousins, at 29, is no seat-warmer for a highly drafted quarterback. He's (at least) a top ten quarterback with plenty of tread left on his tires.
Randy says that if the Browns can sign Cousins (they probably would have to overpay him due to the bidding war---not, as Randy thinks, because it's "the Browns"), they could skip quarterback in this draft, and just build around him (possibly trading down).
Here I can't agree:
Polian, Brandt, Parcells et al tell everybody who listens: If you believe a quarterback is a franchise guy, you draft him, even if you already have one. You will probably never get another chance, drafting in the lower third of the first round.
Nor are the Browns as desperate for talent as even Randy seems to think.
Still, this writer makes me think:
DeShone Kizer's last game was slightly encouraging, and (you'll have to trust me on this one), he'll be better in 2018 than he was in 2017. Kizer should actually be a viable backup in 2018.
I personally like Baker Mayfield a lot, but the height and arm police will keep picking him apart, and he could slide some.
Six of the eight top quarterbacks will play in the Senior Bowl this year! Even if Mayfield outplays everybody else, the rants and raves will go to Josh Allen and the other big guys with big arms, and this guy could slide.
If Ken Dorsey and company (nevermind Hue) don't agree with me on Mayfield, all of this is moot, but if they do, a trade-down or two might be on the table (especially if they're willing to risk losing Mayfield).
I do not believe that anybody would trade up to first overall for either Saquon Barkley or Baker Mayfield, so I would listen to offers for the first overall pick (remember: they've retained Paul DePodesta. His plans still extend into the future, and you pile up future picks whenever you can. Like Bill Belichick.)
There are too many variables to take this further right now, among which are where LaVeon Belle, Cousins, Smith, and the THREE Vikings quarterbacks wind up, but my own personal goal would be to draft Barkley and Mayfield, while hosing somebody out of a sload of draft picks.
That's DePodesta, by the way: Exploit desperation and dumbassitude ruthlessly.
A few more things about the veteran quarterback derby:
1: Apparently the Chiefs will trade Alex Smith, and in the bidding, the price in draft picks could get pretty high. Meanwhile, he is only signed through 2018, so whoever wins the bidding war would need to extend him, and he is 33. He will resist signing with any team which sees him as a one-year bandaid.
2: All three Vikings quarterbacks enter free agency at the end of this season. They'll have to decide from among Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater, and Kase Keenum who they want to keep.
After Teddy's injury, he's risky, and probably won't be the same as a runner or scrambler, so the Vikings might be able to keep him as an affordable backup.
My money is on Keenum, even if he loses to the Saints this weekend. Bradford's age and injury history, along with his unlimitted GREED, will put him on the open market, and somebody will again massively overpay him as a starter (and no: it won't be the Browns).
Sadly, I don't think Kase Keenum will make it out of Minnesota.
3: The Redskins would frankly be insane to franchise Kirk Cousins yet again, and I'm not sure they could do it without gutting the rest of their team anyway.
For the Browns, signing Cousins long-term is a matter of money (a LOT of money). But zero draft picks.
Bradford, Smith, possibly Bridgewater, Ebeneezer Belle etc will change the nature of the 2018 draft significantly.
Now, what if the Browns sign Kirk Cousins and draft Saquon Barkley?
You are watching it right now. Kirk Cousins belongs right here with Ryan, Brady, Brees, Keenum, Ben, and Bortles.
Barkley looks like he'll be as good as Belle.
Can you do simple arithmatic? Is any of this getting past the eyerolls and head shakes? (That's a conditioned response, you know). -Snap-snap- anybody home?
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