I rarely copy/paste comments from the peanut gallery, but have to show you this one:
The real progress will occur when they win a Playoff game, which by my estimation, is in about 3 yrs. I'm not worried about Kitchens. He proved he can coach. I'm more worried about Dorsey's horrific Draft, the Haslam's meddling, and now we have a new meddler J.W. Johnson. Never trust a dude that goes by initials
We are all dumber for having read that.
A lot of Browns' fans still think that the Browns need to upgrade wide receiver, but here are a few things to think about:
1: Few teams carry more than six wide receivers, or have more than five active on game-day.
2: Antonio Callaway and Jarvis Landry have two of these slots locked up, and step back for a minute before you start kicking the other guys to the curb:
Dameion Ratley has the height and speed to man the X position. In the minds of everybody...with a mind, he gets a mulligan for his ROOKIE season.
He will return with more muscle, refined techniques (he was extremely raw/inexperienced in college, and a beanpole), and familiar with this team's full route tree.
Ratley worked with Mayfield as a second and third-teamer, so he's not starting from scratch.
You don't kick physical freaks like this off your team in their second NFL seasons unless they're just plain bad, and Ratley wasn't bad even when he didn't know what he was doing!
Rashard Higgins has earned his props (and yet never gets them). His clock-times are unimpressive, and yet he has some of the longest completions on this team. He gets open. He secures the ball. He makes plays. Why is it so important to replace him?
I don't know about you, but Breshard Perriman made me sit up and take notice last season.
He was used sparingly, but delivered big plays (no drops that I saw). He looked like the guy the Ravens drafted in the first round. He's big/strong/fast (an X).
I know, the guy looked like a bust until he got to the Browns, but doesn't look too bad now, and he'll come back with a full mastery of the offensive system and chemistry with Mayfield as well.
It's not always just a change of scenery. Sometimes it's a change of quarterback, ya no?
Then there's Derrick Willies (another physical freak X-receiver; the tallest of the bunch). He looked terrific, til he broke his collarbone.
I know he was undrafted, and underperformed in college, but that shouldn't cancel what he did at THIS level, as a rookie, prior to his injury.
That's six guys, and for all I know I'm underestimating Blake Jackson my own self.
3: All of these players were new to this offensive system last season. Two of them (exluding Callaway of course) were rookies. Perriman came along later on.
While John Dorsey is always looking to throw more fighters into the melee, I don't expect him to blow a lot of money or any high draft picks on wide receivers, partly because
4: Baker Mayfield is a "distributor" who indentifies and throws to the open receiver, period.
Jarvis Landry is no doubt disappointed that he's not catching 100 passes/year anymore, but seems to "get" it, unlike Antonio Brown (who he reflexively tries to recruit anyway...well the dude is nuts but in a good way -sigh-).
Anyway, see earlier posts: Baker Mayfield doesn't need crutches. He's cool with the wide receivers he already has.
While this remains Freddie Kitchens' offense, new OC Todd Monken isn't here to be a sock-puppet.
Monken is an "air-raid" guy. Freddie is not. But Kitchens, unlike some ToddHaleys we know, isn't egotistical or a control-freak, so he'll go back and forth with Monken to see what kind of Frankenstein Monster they can build together.
I see so many possibilities.
Seth DeValve might well be brought back from the dead, as he and Njoku both fit an air-raid scheme perfectly.
Duke Johnson could see more action, as he can line up at wide receiver (effectively).
Baker Mayfield is no stranger to any of this, and that certainly factored into this hiring.
In 2018, Freddie used a bunch of "big" personnel groups with multiple tight ends and/or running backs. He ran the ball a lot.
Monkens is different. Rather than "muscling up", he wants to shrink the defense (I mean in average size per-player), and spread them out laterally.
It's a lot more dangerous to blitze a quarterback out of a dime, and even tougher to get in the way of five offensive linemen and Nick Chubb with four big guys and seven shrimps, especially when four of the shrimps are way outside.
I foresee great things for the Kitchens/Monken offense in 2019. The 2019 Browns, without free agents or draft picks, can run whatever offense--opponent-by-opponent or down-by-down---that they need to.
The Browns' offense doesn't need much help, given these coaches, this quarterback, and Chubb.
Dorsey should target Ravens Brandon Pierce, kicker Justin Tucker, and CJ Mosely in free agency.
(I'll check out how John can use his cap space to screw the Steelers later.)
Pierce is really good, but a "backup", and the Ravens have cap issues. He looks like an upgrade over Coley, and might even be cheaper (adjusted for inflation...or outright).
Tucker and Mosely are white-hot free agent targets, so the bidding war for them could get rediculous, but Dorsey will be in it.
Tucker just plain does not miss. Mosely is one of the best linebackers in the NFL. These three moving from Baltimore to Cleveland would swing the balance of team talent even more in the Browns' favor.
Tucker would have won at least three more games for the Browns in 2018.
It's hard to calculate what Pierce and Mosely would have done, but the Browns defense sure wouldn't rank in the basement against the run.
The Ravens might now be the biggest threat to the Browns in the AFC North, and if John Dorsey can make off with these three players, he just might buy the Division title before training camp.
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