The Browns are getting busy kicking the tires on some veteran free agents.
These Offensive Line brothers look like a Greg Robinson-like flyer on two players who never lived up to their hype, and good luck with that.
But the Browns Offensive Line already has veteran depth, ok? Quit writing dumb stuff. The Browns are hoping that one of these guys can surprise everybody and make the team.
Orleans Darkwa is a different story: That guy is for real! He has good size and great speed.
So far, he's not proven himself a great receiver. Until 2017, he rarely caught any passes, but in 2017 he caught 18 passes for a little over 100 yards.
The Browns may feel he has more potential in that area, but at this point (here's another correction) he looks like more of a Chubb backup than a Johnson or Hilliard type.
But (here we go again): Nick Chubb has great upside as a receiver himself, and is a "three down back". While it's good to get your bellcow off the field for some rest on third and long, it's not mandatory. Get it?
And then, there's Dontrell Hilliard, who, among other things, fits the "third down back" profile nearly as well as Duke Johnson does. Darkwa would not be signed to replace either of those guys good grief duh...
But this still has a lot to do with Duke Johnson (whoever his agent is).
I'm watching Ebineezer Bell's online rant. I remember when some local writers thought John Dorsey should trade for this guy (and then Antonio Brown, naturally).
I wonder how many of the same writers think OBJ is more trouble than he's worth. He's not even in those guys' zip codes!
Speaking of locker rooms, Mary Kay wrote a solid article on how Baker Mayfield changed the fortunes of 5 2018 teammates.
Breshard Perriman signed on as a veteran free agent after a Greg Robinsonian "bust" carreer, and is now getting paid 4 mil/year with another team.
Rashard Higgins was slipping and sliding his way off the team, but lucked out practicing with Mayfield on the second team through preseason.
Certainly, Higgins in his third season was better than he was in 2017, but (like with Perriman), Baker Mayfield had everything to do with Higgins' rebirth.
Also like the extremely raw rookie Antonio Callaway who, by the last quarter of 2018, was integral to the Browns' offense.
Then there was Greg Robinson.
Mayfield's decisiveness, mobility, touch and accuracy clearly served all these guys well, but Mary Kay's main point was how Mayfield vocally supported all these players, both publicly and privately.
The Robinson thing was striking: Baker never said anything about Des Harrison, who had started at Left Tackle up til then. But he instantly became Robinson's cheerleader.
Clearly, Baker Mayfield isn't just being PC with these guys, and he obviously didn't care for Harrison.
All 4 of these guys said that Mayfield's overt confidence in and support of them "made it easy to work", and made them want to run through walls for him.
This is leadership. Baker Mayfield's impact on the Cleveland Browns is as much psychological as physical. I've been trying to explain this since before Dorsey drafted the kid.
This is why OBJ can't disrupt the 2019 Browns, even if he was so inclined. Mayfield will have Freddie's back, and the whole team has Mayfield's back. Even his "brother" Jarvis Landry would "pull him aside" and tell him to shut tf up.
I still say that Baker screwed up bigtime with his comments in re Duke Johnson's trade request, but one thing that showed was that Baker Mayfield speaks his mind, and you don't want to get "in his way".
Baker gets that he is THE Quarterback, and this gives him great leverage. Dorsey or his coaches can ask him to "tone it down" or whatever, but the fact is that he's the most important player on the team, and the fan's golden boy.
It is Baker Mayfield's personality that sets him apart from other accurate, smart Quarterbacks; his leadership.
Baker Mayfield can't do everything his good friend and arch-rival Patrick Mahomes can do, but Mahomes doesn't have Mayfield's charisma.
A popular debate on ESPN is about whether the 2019 Browns or Chiefs will have a better W/L record.
Wow. Look how far we've come! (Steelers and Ravens fans need to understand that this isn't just "hype", either. Compare the rosters.)
Anyway the ESPN people have no dog in this fight (between the W/L records of the Chiefs and Browns), so I paid attention.
It's close, but exit polling has the Chiefs ahead based on Tyreek Hill's non-suspension.
But I disagree (and still would if I was a Chiefs fan).
With Hill available all season, I can see how some would give the Chiefs' offense the nod over the Browns, but they're still wrong, because the Browns have Nick Chubb, and the (Kareem Huntless) Chiefs don't have that guy.
Both defenses sucked in 2018, but the Browns have upgraded massively, while the Chiefs have not.
The Browns added 2 veteran Pro Bowlers to their Defensive Line, and arguably the best man corner in the 2019 draft, plus Wilson, Takitaki, and Redwine.
The Browns Special Teams units will also be significantly upgraded.
I just deleted a bunch of AFC West stuff (you're welcome).
Pat Mahomes is undiagnosable, and 2019 defenses won't "figure him out", but...ok you're welcome again I'm pre-deleting that too.
I can't predict that the '19 Browns will win more games than the Chiefs, because (in reality) the AFC North is better than the AFC West overall.
But I can't predict that the Chiefs will win more games either since...well, the Browns Defense and Special Teams will be so much better than they were in 2018 (as if that matters chuh!)
A better debate would be the 2019 Steelers vs the Browns, really.
The Chiefs are overhyped too ya no? They have that awesome fireworks and sparklers offense, and nobody seems to notice the 30+ points their defense coughs up...
Screw it okbye.
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