The Village Elliot (Kennel) is wrong again, as he suggests that it would be a great idea for the Browns to sign Ebineezer Bell, who the hapless Jets just kicked to the curb.
As always, Elliot is logical (not spasticly emotional) in suggesting this move:
1: He's just 28 years old, and hasn't been ridden into the ground, so he has plenty of tread left on his tires.
2: He will cost less than he ever has before.
3: He at least was one of the most prolific RB receivers in history from every WR slot.
4: He would love to knock off the Steelers (in game 2 vs the Browns, anyway).
...hmm...well that's Elliot, for you: He had me 75% sold my own self.
But my pre-existing allergy to adding this specific player to any NFL roster is well-founded:
1: Like textbook concussion example Antonio Brown, Bell's head got way too big. The two things these guys had in common were a top notch Offensive Line and Big Ben.
And they (especially Brown) experienced declines in production whenever Big Ben went MIA...which they ignored.
Both of these guys, UNlike OBJ, were "memememoemoemoe" guys.
Bell has publicly complained about the Jets scheme, and how they used him. Legit or not, he's still disruptive, and at least seems selfish and egotistical.
He might accept a discounted 2020 "prove it" contract, but even here, I expect him to force a bidding war, and threaten to sit out the rest of 2020.
He would NEVER accept a longer-term deal from the Hunt/Chubb team, and why would he even consider going to a team on which he's number 2 and then number 3 in a "prove it" year?
Elliot also assumes that Bell remains the player he was with the Steelers; that his injuries haven't diminished him. Also, that Baker Mayfield is Big Ben. Also, that he wouldn't start raising hell again 2 weeks after he signs.
Elliot is right that Andrew Berry should pick up the phone to kick the tires on Ebineezer Bell on the off chance that a deal could get done, but for both the rational and irrational reasons I just cited, this is likely going to be a very short call, if the Bell camp answers it at all.
There's more to this:
The new Offensive system is now pretty entrenched, and it features two Tight Ends and/or an actual Fullback a lot.
(I'm acutely aware of this, as I was predicting a 2-back Offense and was wrong).
With Rodney Johnsonfield averaging over 5 yards per-carry in the post-Chubb Offense, why would the Browns want to put him back on the bench? Why would they pay a premium for Bell as a slot guy instead of Njoku/Harrison/Higgins/Hodge? Isn't that almost subtraction by addition, on top of welcoming major disruption?
You piss players off, doing stuff like this. D'Earnest Johnson has EARNED something here, and you bench him for it? You put Njoku back on the bench so you can use Bell? You cut Dontrell Hilliard or Higgins loose to make room for Mister Mememe?
So (with all due respect) Elliot Kennel is wrong this time: Ebineezer Bell would be subtraction by addition for the 2020 Browns.
Kareem Hunt has been a great addition to the Browns' locker room. Kudos to John Dorsey for first drafting him late as GM of the Chiefs, and then signing him dirt cheap while under suspension here, but a lot of us were stunned when Andrew Berry actually followed my advice (blush-blush) and extended him (for a lot less than I'd expected it to cost).
Kudos to Kareem Hunt for being the person I suspected he was, and signing that deal rather than waiting to gouge free agency after the 2020 season like 9 out of 10 elite NFL players do.
I seem to have been right (please forgive me for saying that G) that Kareem Hunt thinks about his teammates and winning first and second (in no particular order) and money third.
Ego? I'm not even sure where that fits in!
Certainly, Hunt is supremely confident, and believes in his heart that he is better than Chubb and everybody else, but his freindship with Nick Chubb and the rest of his teammates (and winning) are more important to him than his own status.
I saw this the instant he came back from his suspension in 2019 when I saw him knocking Linebackers and DBs on their asses blocking for Chubb (or whoever else had the ball).
I saw it when he accepted that his pal Nick Chubb was the lead back with sincerity, if not enthusiasm.
Compare that to Ebineezer Bell, or damn near every other elite player for the last decade or so!
Kids, this Kareem Hunt guy is what we geezers call a "team player". (You might need to look that up in your thesaurus, as they've been considered extinct for quite some time.)
In the linked article, Kareem says the team has Myles Garrett's back vs the Squealers in Hiney Stadium this sunday.
He was careful not to be inflammatory, but made sure to say that it takes "a lot" of pushing for Garrett to lose his temper, and this is obvious to any objective observer of the incident which led to his suspension (but I digress):
Don't get me started on Hunt's own "kicking a woman" suspension, because he was under attack from all sides himself, and could have killed her (and some of the guys piling on him too).
Anybody who has ever been in a couple fights vs multiple attackers "gets" both the aforementioned incidents before the third rerun of the tape.
I mainly wonder why that woman was in his face in the first place, and what she was saying to him. He was a dumbass for not getting the hell away from her immediately, but that was...
Sigh Kareem Hunt was raised by wolves. "Animal Kingdom" might as well have been about his family and the culture he grew up in.
He naturally defends his mother and stuff, saying "that's not how I was raised", but I'm skeptical about that. I strongly suspect that he was raised not to take shit from anyone, and never to back down, and spent his whole life living that at least til he went to college.
I'm very, very familiar with this culture. It accounts for the majority of "death by cop" killings, and almost every dead cop and murder in Chicago (etc).
"Don't snitch" is part of it. Unsolved murders of blacks feed the agenda---but I digress:
Anyhow Kareem Hunt has outgrown this bullshit, and my money is on him getting socially active and working against the Sociocratic agenda eventually.
Myles Garrett grew up in a much healthier environment, but you can't be a wimp and play football. So when a guy tries to rip off your helmet after you make sure not to land on top of him and the play is over and...nevermind.
Anyway Myles is misguided, but has great intentions, as he actually spends his own money to help the families of murdered cops as well as "victims" of cops.
Myles will come around because he has not been assimilated or bought off like Comrade LeBron James is...but I redigress again:
Dan Labbe predicts that Austin Hooper (the receiver) will become a bigger part of the Browns Offense game by game, and he's right:
Austin remains the top Tight End, and is on the field at least close to 90% of the time.
He's the best in-line blocker (a little above average per PFF), as well as the most reliable receiver so duh, but there's more to this:
With the Falcons, PFF graded Hooper much lower vs man coverage than vs zone as a receiver.
Well, when a Tight End blocks (including chips, which is a punch/shove/hit-and-release), in an Offense which has a Landry and Beckham (or something), a Defense really can't man cover him (except with a Linebacker) much.
Hooper (when it's a pass) generally doesn't get downfield until at least a full second after the snap (and he isn't Njoku), so Defenses can't waste a quality "man" Safety on him.
They know he's the third or fourth option, and they just try to make sure they can nail him where he catches it while they attack Mayfield and try to make sure niether WR burns them and a RB can't convert 7 yards (tee-hee)...
Comrade Mayfield remains a greedy gunslinger at heart, but seems to be checking down to "clutch" Hooper more often...
The Steelers have promised to try to beat Mayfield up, now that his ribs are tenderized (which almost certainly has much to do with his bad misses in the second half vs the Colts).
He will need to get rid of the ball quickly, and NOT stretch out his ribcage (and yes, G: I'm a bit of an expert on this too my severest apologies).
He'll be shot up with cortisone and probably other local anaesthetics (which I never was) to mask the pain, but these only go so far; the pain is still there, and still screws you up when you extend or compress your ribs.
For a Quarterback, this can be disasterous. A little flinch or twitch throws their accuracy off exponentially, depending on the depth of their throws.
I strongly expect Comrade Stefanski to try to protect Comrade Mayfield from that fierce Steelers passrush with dink-passes, and for Austin Hooper to be a big part of that.
4 yards here, 7 yards there, a TD or so and it adds up after awhile...and are the Steelers EVER going to focus on Hooper in coverage with Landry/OBJ/Njoku on the field!?!
By the way, OBJ is in prime form. He's getting WIDE open a lot intermediate and deep. The Steelers can't ignore this.
Joe Haden is great, but the Steelers will probably put him on Landry (without help) while their free safety tries to put a lid on OBJ...
In general, I'm tired of Permabashers telling us that the Steelers will win because the Browns have only beaten weak teams so far: The Steelers' beat teams with HALF the win totals of the Browns.
I'm also sick of people citing ancient history in re the Steelers vs the Browns. The Steelers are stable, but the Browns beat them in 2019 and tied them in 2018.
I can't predict a Browns victory here, but I can't predict a loss either.
Did the Colts or Washington or Ravens Defenses stop the Browns' running game? Has anybody stopped Myles Garrett? Where do Ward and Mitchell rank? How 'bout Phillips?
Ronny Harrison and Karl Joseph might be back, and Rodney Redwinefield will be.
Mayfield is familiar with (and has beaten) this defense, Njoku is back, his Offensive Line is massively upgraded, the Offensive scheme is built to minimize him (and the pressure on him).
Steven A Smith et al bash Comrade Mayfield as a barely competant "game manager", but I tell you this again:
2019 didn't erase the rest of his carreer, and doing commercials didn't either.
If the Stoolers put his back to the wall, and he needs to come back, he WILL.
...Well here I assume that Stefanski will run some "hurry-up" before it's mandated by a lopsided score (including some in the first quarter) but I digress:
The Browns are a match for the Steelers and can win if Stefanski reads this Blog -blush-blush- okbye
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