Names withheld to protect you from the guilty, but some outsider wrote a piece bashing Duke Johnson for asking to be traded.
You can say that his reaction to rumors that John Dorsey was shopping him around ("If you don't want he here" etc) wasn't very grown up, but that's not what this is about.
This ass-hat belittled Duke's playing history and performance.
Well, Duke has averaged 4.2 YPC and broke Greg Pruitt's team record for receptions by a running back. Until last season, he was consistently a top 3 recieving back, with some of the best hands in football. He's also an excellent pass-protector.
He's also more than just a "decent third down back", Sherlock. Duke can run right up the gut as well as most running backs, and has one of the most impressive stiff-arms in football.
Should he be a "bell-cow"? Nah. But certainly he'd fit into many offenses as a big part of a committee and, of course, the third down back.
All that was to expose this incompetent boob writer's ignorance.
In 2018, Duke Johnson was all but erased from the offense. It started with Callaway and Landry, each of whome are well-suited to replace him as a wide receiver.
Then here comes Todd Haley, riding Carlos Hyde into the ground. Then Nick Chubb--and who could argue with that?
Duke was on the field in a lot of third and longs, but more often than not stayed in to block while Landry, Njoku, etc caught the passes.
Duke Johnson is a terrific running back from the ground up, and should rightfully be a key element to some NFL offense...and he just wants to play, ok?
His prospects for that in 2019 are worse than they were in 2018, as OBJ and Hunt are here now, and Dontrell Hilliard was recruited to do "Duke stuff", and enters his second season.
Of course he asked to be traded! Wouldn't you? And Freddie: "We have plans for Duke" chuh! Chubb is catching more passes and Hunt is lining up at Wide Receiver. The third downs will be third and SHORTs and OBJ just cut that shit out, Freddie! The other players are listening.
It's true that John Dorsey hasn't got a decent offer for Duke yet, and that his current salary makes him a tad expensive (which is why).
But running backs (and slot receivers and returners) will get injured, and this 2016-2017 Fantasy Football favorite will look purtier and purtier as the season approaches.
Sorry to redundanilationalize there, but clueless writers are a pet peeve of mine (for obvious reasons)
The 2019 Browns have too much talent. Other teams have collected under them with big nets, hoping to snag what's going to fall out of this tree.
In addition to Duke, Joe Schobert is (imo) on the block. Most of the rest will be waivers. You just saw it: Des Harrison was on waivers for a nanosecond before Arizona siezed him.
Look at the different position groups, and count:
Too many interior Offensive Linemen. Teams commonly carry 7 or 8 Offensive Linemen (usually 7). The Browns have WAY too many of them.
Lamm, Witzman, Kush, Corbett, Forbes, Kalis, etc? All these guys fighting over a maximum of 4 slots. Some remain Practice Squad eligable, but wanna bet they don't get snatched like Harrison did?
WR is worse. Skipping the top 4, chasing 2 slots are Willies, Strong, Sheehy-Guissepi, Montgomery, Hymen, Ratley, Baker, and Jackson!
See the other teams down there, with their nets, jostling eachother, eyballing all that nice ripe fruit?
Linebackers too, believe it or not! A Kirksey at league minimum is a nice catch.
Defensive Line, not as much---but there are a lot of them. But secondary players? Wow that's like WR!
True, Wilks will probably keep at least ten of these guys.
As it stands, the locks are Randall, Mitchell, Ward, Burnett, Whitehead, and Williams (that's 6).
TJ Carrie has a great chance but is NOT a lock. Then you got Murray, Redwine, Gaines, Thomas, Sankoh, Dean, Lewis, Ponder...where is that guy with the missing fingers? There he is Hassel!!!
Hassel is last but not least, as I've posted. His birth defect never bothered him, as evidenced by his interceptions as a shrimp linebacker.
Anyway that makes 10 (more) DBs fighting over 4-5 remaining slots. (They could keep 11 because Special Teams load up on back end defensive players. Hassel, Murray, and Dean look real good for Teams.)
Burnett's healthy return will alter what we have seen so far in practices. He's probably going to bump somebody else off the (real; nickel) starting unit.
This will be Whitehead or Carrie, but it's not that important. Whitehead is for TEs and Carrie for quicker slot guys.
But I digress: Watch and see: the majority of the players John Dorsey kicks to the curb will get scooped up by other teams, and the majority of that majority will end up on active rosters.
Brave new world, huh?
Well, you whippersnappers might be in shock or something, but us geezers remember Sipe and Kosar and Byner and the original Dawg Pound and stuff.
I remember walking 3 miles to and from school (uphill both ways) in my bare feet through 3 feet of snow, and then watching the Kardiak Kids kick the Chargers' butts.
I vaguely remember actually watching Jim Brown. My Dad had to tell me: "See that pile of Giants creeping downfield? Jim Brown is in the middle of that!"
Anyway, that's why I assume most permabashers are under 45-50, as they have Stockholm Syndrome. They have NEVER experienced a truly good Browns' team.
I find the desperate sense of urgency to find reasons to "pump the brakes" on this team amusing.
After Dorsey built possibly the best front 4 in the NFL, we got concerned over Dline DEPTH. Before that, it was Linebacker depth. Now, it's "oh no oh no Zeitler is gone we're all gonna die!"
Oh and Freddie Kitchens. Never even a Coordinator until last season and now a Head Coach oh no oh no and here comes OBJ how can he handle that while stumbling around trying to figure everything else out oh no oh no...
Here's a few corrections for you:
1: OBJ might have lost a fight with a kicking net (and a certain cornerback) and griped about losing and stuff, but don't confuse him with Antonio Brown.
OBJ is NOT a "me-me-me" guy who gets upset when he's not hogging all the targets and being the center of attention (like AB).
OBJ just can't stand LOSING, and (to my surprise, I must admit) is smart enough to understand WHY his teams kept losing.
He's too emotional. But Mayfield gets him. Baker worked with him when Jarvis Landry brought them together early in 2018 (and by the way the three will be practicing together in California between now and Training Camp, and no doubt other Browns skill players will join them. And they'll be using the current playbook).
I repeat: OBJ is too emotional and makes an ass of himself sometimes, but he is NOT a selfish prima donna. He just can't stand losing.
2: What's all this "big ego" crap (I mean aside from OBJ)? What Baker Mayfield? This is a problem? You think he's going to stage a revolt against Freddie or something?
You people get so silly---you don't know football. Just hit "resume" on "Game of Thrones" and leave the rest of us alone.
...Landry? Really? Don't get me started on that again (I'm repeating myself too much as it is), but he had good reasons for everything he said while in Miami.
He won't be a problem HERE.
I'm fishing around for more big egos...Myles? What a joke! He's a great player, but mature, intelligent, and rational. Why do you assume that every great player is an egomaniac?
Anyway, Mayfield is the Alpha Dawg here, and he's in lockstep with Freddie Kitchens, who "unchained" him the instant he took over for Mywayorthehighway Haley in 2018.
You people watch too many "reality" shows.
John Dorsey brought Steve Wilks and Todd Monken here to support Freddie, and Freddie is NOT an egomaniac control-freak, so he'll let Wilks do Defense and have fun working with Monken to create an offensive monster.
Freddie won't work as hard as he did last season, because Monken has a similar philosophy and will execute their agreed-on offensive scheme, while Freddie does more PR stuff.
Freddie Kitchens' job is easier now than it was in 2018. Most of you people don't grok this, but this will work because Freddie is not an insecure control-freak, and because Baker Mayfield is all-in with him.
OBJ gets this too, by the way.
3: We can combine Defensive Line depth with Linebacker depth here:
We don't want to wear our front four down like we did in 2018 under Gregg Williams. It would have been awesome to have added Gerald McCoy to the DT rotation, but that was NOT critical:
The EDGE is deep as hell, with Genard Avery already here, and Takitaki just drafted, in addition to Thomas and Smith (true DEs). (Takitaki can also put his hand in the dirt btw).
Wilks is not as determined about a 4-man front as Williams was. (To my own surprise, Wilks is more flexible/adaptable than Williams).
I'm not sure how Wilks will "spell" Vernon and Garrett, but getting Ogunjobi and Richardson off the field won't be an issue.
It shouldn't be that hard on Vernon and Garrett, since they're real athletes, and actually wear offensive linemen down as they lunge after and chase them.
Still, I expect Takitaki, Thomas, and Avery to get them off the field here and there.
Takitaki and Avery are both 3-4 OLBS, you see? They're more than that, of course, as Avery has the speed and quickness to play any LB position in any system, and Takitaki doesn't...but somehow looks better than Avery already anyhow.
Anyway Wilks can use 3 down linemen (maybe including Takitaki) any time he wants.
Wilks was just hired, but I promise you that HE wanted Takitaki. John Dorsey listens to his coaches (I assume).
Anyway, 4-2 is the probable base defense (*note to everybody else*), but a 3-2, 3-1, or 3-3 will also definitely be used.
It gets so silly, though: 2 guys on or almost on the line, except standing up, is technically a 3-man instead of a 5-man front...
I think. I don't even know how they label that. Is it where they ARE, or if they're down or standing up?
It doesn't matter. Steve Wilks' 2019 Browns' defense is not going to be perfect.
Just almost perfect.
We'll scrape by, somehow.
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