Everybody gets some time off now, but the Coaches and Front Office will keep busy being all insideously Machiavellian and stuff (well Haley and Williams anyway).
So far so good on the Dez Bryant front. Hopefully, what John Dorsey really meant when he said they'd discussed signing him really meant
"What about Bryant?"
"HAAAAHAHA stop it you're killing me -gasp-..."
Especially when we're seeing guys like Rashard Higgins and Corey Coleman starting to round into shape in their third season.
At the start of this camp, some people were wondering if Corey Coleman would be waived (let alone traded), and Higgins was an afterthought.
Naturally, it's too early to leap to any conclusions, but right now, these two are looking pretty good.
I always liked Higgins myself, but figured he was mainly a possession guy. But last season, and here in camp, he's showing that he can be more than that (clock times be damned).
Coleman is with Tyrod and the ones, while Higgins has done most of his stuff with Mayfield and the twos.
Really, the change in both these players has at least as much to do with the people throwing the ball to them as it does with maturity or growth.
Higgins came on late last season partly because his catch radius and muscle allowed him to win contested balls and bring in innaccurate passes.
If these two were again practicing with DeShone Kizer, they might still be looking mediocre.
Coleman initially had his own issues this preseason. He "lost" every contested throw.
Todd Haley aint havin that, and let him have it. I would have too, because I saw a couple of those, and pics of a couple more, and he looked like a sissy.
Understand, this isn't all two guys jostling and reaching all the time. Sometimes it's one of them NOT reaching, or kinda falling down underneath the defensive back who's on his back and stuff; FLINCHING and choking. It's mental.
But whatever Haley said to Corey seems to have elevated his testosterone, and he's looking a lot better now.
Hey, maybe he said "imagine it's New Year's Eve, and some neighbor disses your crew, so you and your boyz follow him to the parking garage and---"
But I digress (besides it's a bad example because it's cowardly).
The 2018 Browns have too many wide receivers.
Anyway, another guy who shined was fifth round linebacker Genard Avery, who got some reps with the first team defense due to some dinged up veterans.
Joel Bitonio really noticed this enemy, and semi-ranted about him. If you read this Blog, Joel didn't say anything new: He expects Avery to sometimes be a stand-up edge-rusher in situational defenses, even as a rookie.
It was rediculous that Avery was still there in the fifth round, and if Antonio Callaway doesn't prove to be the steal of this draft over time, Avery might.
The 2018 Browns have too many linebackers.
Going back to the linked Cleveland.com article, former Chiefs cornerback Terrence Mitchell has also shone in camp.
I kind of got "cornerback fatigue" as Dorsey scoured the NFL for these guys, and wound up kind of ignoring Mitchell, who had four interceptions in 2017, but he's sure got my attention now!
The 2018 Browns have too many cornerbacks.
Nick Chubb is predictably looking awesome (yawn), and the Browns have too many running backs too.
Ask TimTorch (Brownswire). As I posted several weeks ago, it's tough to draft any Browns running back high in fantasy because there are too many of them.
Tim wound up guessing that with the Browns' tough schedule in 2018, they could find themselves trying to come back a lot (rather than to "ice" victories), so he thinks Duke Johnson should remain a good bet.
I disagree. I feel that Tim is overlooking a bunch of stuff:
1: Gregg Williams' new defense. Every single position and group will have been substantially upgraded.
The biggest upgrade is cornerback, and that was a big weak spot last season. Gregg now has the people to run press/man (let alone much tighter off/man) coverages outside (he had to cover soft last season).
Randall at free safety is a default upgrade. We just don't know yet how much better he will be than the rookie Peppers.
Strong safety is upgraded by Peppers moving back there, and Derrick Kindred still improving.
Kendricks and Avery are big upgrades at linebacker, and Joe Schobert enters only his third season.
Garrett, Brantley, and Ogunjobi are going into their second seasons. Coley and Ogbah are only one year ahead of them. Of course, obviously this defensive line will be better than it was in 2017, even igoring Nassib, Smith, and Thomas.
(the Browns have too many defensive linemen).
In general, the much-improved Browns defense should give every team they face hell, as much or moreso than any of Gregg Williams' defenses in the his history.
2: When you have a weak passblocking left tackle (which the Browns will, more likely than not), one coping mechanism I haven't mentioned yet is to RUN more.
Oh, but it's deeper than that: You run right AT that scary edge-rusher.
3: No Joe Thomas is the only offensive downgrade from 2017 to 2018, and it was Spencer Drango for most of 2017 (context, remember?)
EVERYTHING else is upgraded (especially quarterback). Todd Haley is here now! Gimme a break...
I can't pick on Tim much here, because he can't fixate on and obsess on the Browns as I do. He's a smart guy, but he's probably wrong about that game-script stuff.
The Browns have the talent and coaching to not be coming from behind for most of 2018, so Duke Johnson is NOT a good RB1.
If you read this Blog, you're not surprised that Baker Mayfield looks ready for a Gold jacket now.
He has always learned and adapted quickly, and his arm, accuracy, and mechanics are built in. He was the best quarterback in this draft, period.
Tim Couch points out that the height stuff doesn't really matter. Tim says that he couldn't see over those offensive linemen either.
If you read this Blog, you aren't hearing anything new here, but Tim Couch says that accuracy, reading the defense, and being decisive matter most.
Tim is surprised at Mayfield's arm strength (says he hadn't seen it on film), and by how advanced he is mentally at this early stage.
Tim Couch (an expert) says that keeping Mayfield on the bench for as long as possible is the exact right thing to do (if you have a Tyrod Taylor).
Speaking of which, dammit I'm already reading peanut gallery opinions that if Mayfield looks slightly better than Taylor, he should start.
Most of YOU PEOPLE love cliches like "let the best man win", but don't get that it's not that simple.
Recent hyperbolic press coverage has distorted this stuff: In reality, Tyrod Taylor has looked great too.
Now in the preseason games, I fully expect Baker Mayfield to outshine Tyrod Taylor (at least a little) vs second and third team defenses, throwing to guys like Higgins, DeValve, Callaway...
Don't get me started: If you start that "Bay-ker! Bay-ker!" shit based on preseason, you need a brain transplant.
Baker Mayfield (if you axe PFF) is the best quarterback they've seen drafted in several years (including Wentz and Watson by the way), but Tim Couch (and Kosar agrees) says that for now, Tyrod Beentheredonethat can win more NFL games in 2018.
Preseason is vanilla. Mayfield has already mastered vanilla. He will probably beat out Tyrod in Vanillaland (probably by a narrow margin).
Tyrod Taylor is highly underrated, as is Jarvis Landry:
Tyrod has never had a crew like this to work with. Landry wanted out of Miami because he was stuffed into a route-tree with four stubby branches.
Suddenly, Landry is averaging at least 15 yards per catch in camp, and Tyrod is a mad bomber.
Landry is more than a "dink" receiver, and Taylor is more than a dink passer. Todd Haley is smarter than Gayce (sp?), and the Bills guy too.
Redundancy alert: Tyrod Taylor has a strong arm and can/will go deep. He's pretty accurate at every level too.
Tyrod Taylor in 2017 got the Bills to the playoffs. While close to his "peak", he still has upside (quarterbacks are different).
The 2017 Bills were inferior to the 2018 Browns.
Check your Mayfieldmania here (at least temporarily). Tyrod Taylor is ready for the real deal when the gloves come off.
How many times do you need to see preseason superstars flame out before any of this sinks in?
Don't get me wrong here: Baker Mayfield isn't Kizer, or Weedon, or Manswell. He probably could start game one and not suck, but listen to Tim Couch.
Couch likes Tyrod a lot too. Baker Mayfield is the future. Tyrod Taylor is the better NFL quarterback right now, period.
Everybody is now guessing when Tyrod gets benched and Baker takes over in 2018, but the premise is pessimistic.
The 2018 Browns will not suck. They CAN'T suck. It's not even possible (unless Hue Jackson really IS in charge). Too much talent. Great coaching. And QUARTERBACKSSSS.
"Tough schedule"? If you read this Blog, you get this too. Elite teams from one season tend to fade in the next, as their stars demand too much money and are lost to the market, and as they draft low in every round.
"Weak" teams routinely engineer huge turnarounds as they scoop up these guys and draft much higher in every round.
Each and every season, the pundits are surprised by EIGHT OR TEN teams that either fade fast or "come out of nowhere", and I've aleady described a "come out of nowhere" team in this post.
You people!
You expect Mayfield to take charge so a rookie can fail to make the playoffs. You expect Tyrod Taylor to flame out with a better team than the one he took to the playoffs in 2017; you expect him to get worse!
Jeez you even expect him to get worse at HANDING OFF (oh sorry I bled over into the Todd Haley becoming mentally impaired part of this) JEEZ!
Stick that 1-31 crap where the sun don't shine it's irrelevant, and only cretins hammer it...nevermind you aint listening.
Laugh at me now but witness the obvious later okbye
Oh I forgot: The Browns have too many quarterbacks too...oh wait! Tim Couch is right here...let's get him out of retirement!
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