I'm too embarrassed for this writer to name him or provide a link. He lists five free agents he feels could help the Browns.
Long story short, he lists several guys over thirty (one is thirty four)!
Okay look: The geezer here for a cup of coffee on his way to the nursing home should actually be better than the younger player he is going to knock off the roster!
The Browns aren't realistic Superbowl contenders yet; they're coming up from rock bottom. Why the hell do these writers think renting an old geezer and dumping a developing player is a good idea!?!
Lord Insideous is the smart one. I believe he planned to trade Saint Thomas and keep Garropolo, and don't doubt that more recently, he tried to trade Gronk. Unthinkable, right? That's why he keeps going to the Superbowl, and you don't.
However, the blind squirrel found one acorn: Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, who is only 27.
Even this guy I find questionable, since the guy he'd kick to the curb would probably be Jamie Meder, and he'd cost a lot. But at least Richardson is a terrific player in his prime. I'll give this writer an F instead of an F-minus for this pile of article.
I sometimes review comments on various Browns articles, and lately have been feeling better about the majority of Browns fans being Homo Sapiens, but I still read some idiocy:
On Josh Gordon's assertion that the Browns have the best wide receiver crew in the NFL:
"He must be on drugs again".
"Would Belichick trade Edelman for the lot of them? Hell no!"
........................wow.
Check THIS out. This is Gordon putting his feet and hands where his mouth is. Brady/Belichick would trade Edelman and Gronk for summa dis!
Opinions are divided on players making statements like this, and I respect both sides of that. But you people need to quit saying "shut up and do it", okay? They don't have to shut up in order to do it.
Mohammud Ali "ran his mouth" a lot, but as he himself wrote, when he made these predictions, he was psyching himself up, and giving himself specific goals. He was sticking his neck out deliberately, so that he had to deliver to avoid humiliation.
None of the other wide receivers in the NFL took any offense when Jarvis Landry said he felt he was the best wide receiver in the NFL. They just made plans to prove him wrong.
The people who want these guys to "just shut up" are kinda silly to me. Big deal, ya know?
And I like that Hue Jackson doesn't censor or "silence" his players, as Lord Insideous does.
I've been among Hue Jackson's harshest critics, but he has the PR and people skills part of this down pat. These guys are all having fun, and sharing optimism.
Oh, please don't...sigh. Yes, everybody is optimistic at this time of year, but don't regurgitate that tired old crap here. The 2018 Browns have tangible, concrete, and irrefutable reasons for their optimism (one of which is the best WR corps in the NFL).
The Ravens are no doubt optimistic because they have Lamar Jackson, and can do all sorts of insideously diabolical stuff with him right away. They have the best wide receivers they've had in several years. They believe Flacco can stay healthy (but they'll live with Jackson if not).
They actually have one pretty good running back, too.
But all the guys I just listed aren't as good as their Browns' counterparts, and it's not even close.
The Steelers have earned their optimism already.
The Bengals have a lot to be optimistic about, but here again...
Let's compare:
Taylor is better than Dalton. Yes he is. Ask PFF. He is better. And Mayfield will become better than both of them. AJ Green wants to be Josh Gordon when he grows up. The running backs are close, and the Bengals have just upgraded their offensive line to near parity with the Browns unit.
But Njoku and DeValve will BOTH pass up Tyler Eiffert, even if he can stay healthy for once.
The Bengals have a very good defensive line, but the Browns' is better. I call your Geno Atkins and raise you Myles Garrett. The rest aren't as good as the Browns guys.
Vontez Burfict is a great player, but a psychopath who does almost as much harm as good, and now with Kendricks on board, the Browns linebackers are better too.
And of course the new Browns secondary is better as well. To top it off, Marvin Lewis remains their Head Coach.
Yeah, be optimistic all you want, kitties. You might come in third.
It's okay to be optimistic when your optimism is based on real facts and probabilites. That's rational, so spare me the cliches in 2018.
I need you guys to help me communicate with the Browns. Please tell them they need to fix the glitch which returns all my emails to them as undeliverable.
Anyway, I was trying to reach Todd Haley, so I could advise him on how to set up his offense (so this is obviously important).
Feel free to forward this to him, in case it takes them awhile to fix this technical glitch:
1: Obviously run the ball at least 45% of the time, even though you'll be using lots of dumpoffs and dink-passes which are really kinda runs anyhow. The defense can't be allowed not to respect the run.
1a: Mix in (or even preponderate *invented word cool huh?* zone-blocking. All your running backs have the vision and one-cut ability to exploit it, and it blends right in with the passing offense I'll describe later.
1b: retain power/man inside runs to set up play-action and keep the defense honest and hesitant. A 50-50 zone/man mix would be good.
2: Mix under center, pistol, and shotgun evenly.
3: Run read-option plays and run/pass options at least 25% of the time each, and have Tyrod actually run the ball on called plays at least 2-4 times per game.
This will help your not-Joe-Thomas left tackle out a whole lot in pass-pro, and blend seamlessly with zone-blocking on runs.
4: Your best offensive weapons are Gordon, Landry, Johnson, and Njoku, so keep them on the field at the same time as often as you can.
You can do this with two-back personnel, since Duke can line up at WR anyway for a spread, and Njoku can also line up outside.
With Hyde or (more likely) Chubb as the other running back, and Njoku (quietly shh) improving as an in-line blocker, out of this personnel group, you could go smashmouth or spread, once the huddle breaks.
The defense has to honor the run. Even though they know that Duke is as much a WR as a running back, using a nickel package would invite a smashmouth set when the offensive huddle breaks.
Another way to do this is with Duke as the single back, and Coleman or Callaway outside...or else instead of the wide receiver, DeValve or Fells...
This gets deep: DeValve could line up wide, in the slot, in-line, or at fullback. Fells is an in-line blocker, but could line up in a slot.
The extra wide receiver forces nickel, but the extra "tight end" forces a base defense. Haley can dictate defensive personnel (and mismatches) depending on who huddles up on offense.
The aforementioned 3-wide could deploy as an empty backfield five-wide. The two tight end set I described could be anything from an elephant set to the same empty backfield five-wide.
I think Todd Haley already gets this, and it's why Dorsey paid big bucks to extend Duke Johnson.
5: This is kind of a summary: Adapt. Just as Gregg Williams can now, Todd Haley can rely on four key skill-players, and pick a running back, tight end, or wide receiver to dictate defensive personnel (and mismatches).
Naturally, it's not that simple, as you get to third and one, or third and sixteen, or you're up or down by ten with the clock ticking, or (for that matter) you're up against a big but slow or small but fast defense (generally speaking); a soft secondary, an aggressive front---you know what I mean (I hope).
But at this moment, Duke Johnson is actually the best running back (and one of the best players) on this offense.
How high they drafted Nick Chubb, or how much they overpaid Carlos Hyde, or how much Duke weighs are all irrelevant:
There will be no "workhorse" running back on this offense in 2018, and Duke Johnson is Haley's Ebineezer Bell.
More on that: Duke has never been injured. He's run up the gut a LOT. He stiff-arms and breaks tackles. Everybody is stuck on his comparatively small stature, and have universally decided that he can't be an "every down" running back.
That's bullcrap. That's as ignorant as deciding that Baker Mayfield will bust out because he's one inch shorter than Rodgers and less than one inch taller than Brees.
Poor Todd Haley. Like Gregg Williams, he's stuck with too much talent. No matter what he does, he can't use it all. I feel bad for him.
Seriously though, talk about competition! Every player on this roster knows they're in deep waters here. 0-16 is irrelevant to them.
Coleman knows he's hanging on by his fingernails. Carlos Hyde knows he needs to be better than he was. Joe Schobert made the Pro Bowl last season, and HE has Kendricks in his face!
0-16? All these individuals know is that they're up against the toughest competition they've ever faced, and that regardless of who wins, this is one of the most talented rosters in the NFL.
Please, curb your pessimism.
Finally, some news to talk about! After Josh Gordon said H E. T H I N K S the Browns have the best WR corps in the NFL, I expected a lot of backlash from fans of other teams (and of course local permabashers).
But the Browns won the Twitter Poll! According to the participants in that poll, the Browns wideouts got the most votes, the Steelers were second, the Falcons third, and the Vikings fourth.
Naturally, there are a lot of dumb people out there, and you can tell by looking at who wins a lot of elections. Really, all that poll does is provide evidence that the unwashed masses are taking the 2018 Browns seriously.
But is Josh right?
I think it's really close, actually.
I believe that Josh Gordon is the best. Antonio Brown is close, but he's a much different player, more comparable to Jarvis Landry. He catches more passes, mostly short and intermediate.
The Gordon/Landry one-two combo is also probably the best, as well, and they complement eachother perfectly.
Most Steelers fans will disagree with both those paragraphs, and have a lot of ammo to throw at me.
Juju Smith-Schuster is no joke, and can take the lid off a defense opposite AB himself. He was just a rookie last season, and the sky is the limit for him.
If not for the other guys on the Browns roster, including Corey Coleman, Callaway, and the underrated rookie Ratley, I might even call it a tie between the Steelers wideouts and the Browns.
I know I know, the Falcons are nothing to sneeze at, but those fans will never admit that Gordon is better than Brown, or Landry than Sanu...but they are.
And just as I'm excluding Ebineezer Bell as a Steelers wide receiver, I'm excluding Duke Johnson (who in point of fact outperformed him in that role), and no other team has guys like that.
More on Landry: Per Mary Kay, so far, Landry is outside in two wide-receiver sets, and in the slot (with Coleman outside) in 3-wides.
I was apparently fulla crap when I declared Landry "strictly a slot guy", especially since Tyrod Taylor raved about his catch radius.
(Again, while Tyrod is probably technically wrong, he is the real expert when it comes to "if I put it in his zip code, he catches it.")
New topic: Linebackers Mychal Kendricks and Genard Avery are uncannily similar. This could have something to do with why Avery only signed up here for one season.
Ignore the fifth round LABEL on Avery, and stick to college production and combine/pro day numbers.
Mychal Kendricks was probably a priority target for Gregg Williams all along, and so, probably, was Avery.
Mychal might price himself out of the Browns market in 2018, but Avery will return with a season under his belt in 2019.
Some have suggested that the Browns might go with four linebackers in 2018. That's possible, but only intermittently, and it will rarely show up as an actual 3-4.
In fact, it could be a 2-4 nickel...wow with Garrett, Ogbah, Collins, and Kendricks? Very interesting!
Getting into the weeds here: Given the personnel Gregg Williams has, four down linemen should remain a base. He has the defensive linemen (and depth) to run that all day long, and vs any offense.
He can one-gap all four, or use one two-gap guy like everybody else does. With these linebackers, Peppers, and/or Rodney Kindredfield, he can...
Nevermind but Gregg Williams now has a very deep defense, but it's deepest in the front four and at cornerback and strong safety.
None of the real linebackers excel in coverage, including Collins. Kirksey was pretty bad, in reality (yet Tony Grossi doesn't think the PFF 76-plus coverage-graded Kendricks can unseat Kirksey...because of his inconsistent coverage.........)
They can all stop the run, and most can blitze outside or inside. Collins can put his hand in the dirt.
But Kindred can do all that plus cover (Call PFF if you want to correct them), and everybody assumes Jabrill Peppers will be better than him.
Boddy-Calhoun is currently the third safety in "nickel" defenses.
Not having witnessed the workouts myself, I can't be definitive here, but here's two possibilities with that:
1: The reporters don't know nickel from dime, and Calhoun backs off and is replaced by another corner over the slot in DIME defenses, or
2: Gregg Williams has him backed off and playing zone in the nickel now, because he was the nickel cornerback (the 5th defensive back) in nickels anyway.
I lean toward number one, ie bad punditry. Gregg just got ahold of a BUNCH of cover-corners, and in the DIME, uses one of those guys on the slot guy instead, because Boddy-Calhoun made some big plays last season vs the run, as a passrusher, etc in 2017. This kid just has a great nose for the ball, and his being a microbe doesn't seem to matter (Calhoun almost reminds me of Felix Wright).
In reality (assuming Peppers works out somewhere near as expected), Gregg Williams will run a lot of dimes this season.
1: 3-wides are almost the base defense in the NFL. The Steelers and Bengals use them a lot.
2: "Wing" tight ends are all the rage, and two-tight end sets are the latest copycat fad.
3: In general, NFL offenses in 2018 will be trying to spread out defenses with mismatch-seeking extra receivers, rendering stacked boxes impossible, and using the gaps thus created to get yardage on the ground.
Williams has to try to stay ahead of these trends. "Big nickel" is now commonly recognized, but it looks to me like Williams is building a "Big Dime".
This isn't new (for Williams): For a long time, Gregg has used a safetybacker, and a free safety (sometimes) 20-plus yards off the line.
Gregg made the most of what he had in 2017, and in my opinion did a great job (proving how adaptable he is).
In 2018, thanks to both Sashi Brown and John Dorsey, he might well have all the tools he needs:
He has THE best man corner in this draft class, and two more behind him. He can "man up" on the outside (see many earlier posts; reference Dixon/Minnifield it's critical).
He has a bunch of passrushers; inside and outside, on the defensive line and with the linebackers.
He (probably) has a good free safety.
He has a lot of team speed on defense, along with players with great instincts. He can take more risks now.
2-3, 3-2, 4-1, whatever: Gregg will always "send" at least four, and more often five, and if it's a dime, that just means the fifth guy will be unblocked and extra-fast.
The bottom line for Gregg Williams (or any great offensive or defensive coordinator) is to
1: Identify your best players, and figure out how to keep them on the field AMAP (with your Division rivals and their offenses in mind, of course).
2: Pick out your best situational guys/rotational/specialized players, and find ways for them to get your core studs off the field by using them (and giving them experience; developing them).
Right now, Williams' "core" guys are Garrett, Ogbah, Ogunjobi, Collins, Kendricks (yes Kendricks), Schobert, Ward, Kindred, Boddy-Calhoun, and (fingers crossed) Randall.
In case you weren't counting, that's nine players. Peppers will probably prove himself, but has NOT as yet. Nor will he plant Kindred on the bench, even if he does.
The "situational" players include Nassib, Brantley, Coley, Chris Smith, Kirksey (deal with it) and Avery (deal with that too).
Cornerback is different, as Gaines and Carey are both very good, upper-echelon starters: One will win a starting slot, and be a core player (you just can't "rotate" cornerbacks).
Poor Gregg Williams. He's stuck with too much talent.
No Participation Trophies here:
Williams will find a way to keep at least seven of his "core" guys on the field on every single down, and he'll use 4-7 other guys more to keep them rested and healthy than for any other reason.
Gregg Williams can now adapt to any offense he faces. He can run any front he needs to, to exploit any offensive vulnerability, and mask any of his own.
This defense WILL be top ten in 2018, and should be in the top four.
Laugh at me now but achieve sentience later.
Joel Cade (Dawg Pound Daily) wrote "5 Obstacles" to Browns Success in 2018.
I haven't read this yet, but really like Joel as an analyst, and since this one is the closest to a negative article as I could find, I just pasted it in here, and will read and comment on it now:
First up, find a left tackle (that's a "yup"!). And Joel feels that one should be chosen ASAP, so that he can get those first team reps with his starting line-mates.
I agree with that, but thanks to the current candy-ass Players Contract, there can be no contact until training camp, and none of the candidates are allowed to prove a damn thing.
Oh, they can prove that they can move their feet and run around, but that's about it. Offensive and defensive linemen need to actually duke it out for real before you can separate the wheat from the chaff, but the Players Union made sure that this can't happen (and then only a little) until training camp.
So the Coaches have to wait, and then they have to give each challenger a fair number of the limited contact reps before they can make an educated GUESS at which guy looks the best for 2018.
That could take two or more weeks, under the rediculous terms of this agreement.
Gregg Williams will have to help out by...oh wait are blitzes and stunts even allowed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement?
Well let's hope so, because Haley will ask Williams to run some "games" without mercy on the left tackle candidates, and put Garrett or Ogbah on them, and not screw around.
There are four, not just two, contenders here.
Rod Johnson is no longer a raw rookie, and Desmond Harrision is the best athlete in this group; niether should be brushed off like lint here. I admit they're longshots, but Harrison in particular is the one guy with "Thomasonian" physical tools.
Joel didn't factor Haley's scheme in here, either: Trust me, it will reduce the stress on the new left tackle significantly, and could influence this decision.
I don't have a dog in this fight, but it appears to me that Austin Corbett has the best shot in the offense Haley will run.
Next, Joel asks if there is enough depth on defense yet. I think he's reaching here, as he said that when most of your depth consists of first and second-year players, that's a problem.
Well, in the first place, that's just plain wrong. Ogunjobi, Brantley, and Peppers are second year players. Rookie Denard Avery needs time to develop? Ward is a rookie: is he not going to start over a bunch of veterans? Didn't an undrafted Boddy-Calhoun sieze the nickel slot as a rookie and never let it go?
Quarterbacks are different, and rookies at other positions need time to refine their skills (to a drastically lesser extent). But defensive players rely more on athleticism and instincts in general, and when you start sweating first and second year players as backups, you're just getting silly.
In the second place, it does not apply here:
Coley is a third year player, Meder enters his geezerhood, Nassib a third year player, Orchard fourth, the secondary is stacked with veterans, and the Kendricks' signing has guaranteed veteran depth at linebacker (even if he starts).
Joel totally muffed this "obstacle". Rookies can be good depth, and the depth isn't inexperienced anyway.
Okay maybe Joel will come back on the next...
Another reach. Will Hue Jackson interfere with Haley?
Well at least Joel breaks down Hue's 2017 screwups concisely, and correctly expects Haley to do much better here (like I said he's a good analyst).
But no, Hue won't "panic" if he's down by 7 points and start overriding Todd Haley.
He can't. He doesn't dare. Haslam will fire him if he does. Haley won't stand for it, and (candy cane and lollypop PR aside), Hue has zero credibility, and is still the Head Coach for political reasons only.
I also don't think Hue Jackson "panics". I just think he's an inflexible blockhead who thought his system could transcend the players he had.
I don't believe he'd interfere with Haley even if he was allowed to. He handed Haley the offensive keys, and he meant it. He's a blockead, but not an idiot.
Joel aint doing too good here, but next up: Safety play needs to improve/can Jabrill Peppers play Strong Safety?
This part is pretty good overall, as Joel points out that Derrick Kindred is the better strong safety at this point in time, and Damarius Randall has zero NFL experience at Free.
But he's still trying too hard to go against the grain and be negative (wow never thought I'd say that!)
Gregg Williams didn't invent the "Angel" safety to help nurse Peppers along. It won't disappear now. Randall might be a better free safety now than he would have been had he started at free safety instead of cornerback. Kindred and Peppers will not be pure strong safeties in 2018; they are safetybackers(@all rights conserved).
I'm getting extra-deep here, but in general Joel did a fine job of projecting a worst-case scenario.
Next, Joel asks if Jarvis Landry is a possession receiver, and wonders how soon the receiver roles will be defined.
This part was quite insightful and thought-provoking for me:
Joel points out that Landry is actually about the same size as Antonio Brown, and wonders if Todd Haley intends to use him the same way.
I fell off my stool at first, but by the time I got back, I was considering it:
Antonio Brown is actually not as big or strong as Landry. He was generally regarded as...well not much by most scouts or teams.
He was drafted by the Steelers, where he met...
Todd Haley.
Joel wonders if Landry might be a whole lot more than a possession guy in a Todd Haley offense.
Well, he gets open. He catches everything. Brown isn't actually faster.
Still, Joel reaches a little here, and I shortly found out why: If Landry becomes a number one receiver, where does this leave Josh Gordon?
HUH?
1: Josh Gordon is already the X-receiver here, because he is a threat at every level, including DEEP, and double or triple-covered.
2: Even Antonio Brown is not a deep threat. He does his damage after the catch. He did at least half of it from the slot. When you say "number one" receiver, that means the X, and niether Landry nor Brown are X's. Nor was Steve Smith, and Steve would tell you that.
3: It's not semantics: Real X-receivers are rare. Julio Jones, Randy Moss, Green in Cinci; I guess Thomas in the Big Easy is kind of another one.
An X is what Pat Kirwan calls a "coverage-dictator". He is a big, tall, fast guy with a huge catch-radius who can't be caught from behind, and who can bring down even inaccurate passes in a crowd.
Free safeties have to keep an eye on this guy first, because if he gets even slightly past a cornerback, the ball might already be in the air, and it's major damage, if not a TD.
Short guys need not apply.
4: Forget the labels: Every offensive coordinator in the NFL wants a true "number one" X receiver, but in any given
season, only 4-7 teams in the NFL have one.
The last few Superbowl participants have "done without" (don't tell Kirwan! He still thinks you can't win without one shhh!)
5: In reality, it doesn't matter. Todd Haley "made do" with Antonio Brown and (of late) Juju Smith-Schuster (and of course Ebineezer Bell), but the Bryant thing fizzled, right?
Haley hasn't had a real number one receiver for a long time...did he even have one when he won a Superbowl with Warner and the Rams?
6: Well, he has one now.
Jarvis Landry might indeed look better under Haley than he has with the Fins, but Josh Gordon isn't going anywhere...
Joel Cade clearly went "contrarian" here in an attempt to separate himself from the crowd, but this article doesn't hold water.
Joel remains a great analyst in my opinion, but this might have been his worst article ever. In an effort to be "different", he reached for negativity.
He'll learn from this, and return to his objective analysis, even though it neccessarily sounds positive.
Now I'm challenged to find negative stuff myself...
...Nothing in the news (Kellen Winslow's arrest or anything Manswellian don't count G).
Uhhh...well okay there's Jabrill Peppers: He tested out great at the combine, but rarely made big plays in college (mainly at WIL). He mostly crapped out at Free Safety here as a rookie.
Meanwhile, Derrick Kindred was excellent in the SS and safetybacker roles prior to season-ending injury.
Peppers' "floor" is pretty high, and his potential (based on his measurables) is very high as well. But he was a first round pick, and (in reality) didn't play much strong safety in college.
He can't play weakside linebacker here.
As a first round pick, if Peppers doesn't play a lot, and make some "splash"-plays in season two, he could legitimately be called a "bust".
I can't even call that a negative, since the rookie salary structure makes him comparatively inexpensive, and here for up to five years, and if all he turns out to be is a special teamer and versatile backup well...the market will decide.
Pessimistic enough?
Errumm...well how 'bout Gordon falling off the wagon" again?
Read back several paragraphs (see "Todd Haley"). That would be bad, but not catastrophic.
Oh! Oh! What if Jarvis Landry is only just what he was in Miami...okay that's not really negative, except Dorsey overpaid him...a little.
Depth at...nevermind.
Hue Palmer still here!!!
...Nah. Already addressed that. Irrelevant.
Oh! Oh! I can always count on the Permabasher Playbook:
If we compare each Browns player to the best at their positions in the NFL, we can make this team look bad!
Somebody is better than most of the Browns' individual starters! We can even come up with ways to knock Garrett and Bitonio this way!
That's da ticket!
Oh nevermind I can't even feign idiocy for more than a few seconds.
Hmm...oh yeah QUARTERBACK!
...ok well Gramps Rottenburgers is better than Taylor, but Flacco and Dalton aren't.
Joel Cade made a great effort at being negative, but was forced to "reach" too much. Also, he was "in his cups", and I have some advice for him on that "submit" option.
Strength of Schedule! We're doomed, I tell you! How's that?
It's not often that I catch Terry Pluto writing a dumb article, but it's really fun when I do.
Terry's lukewarm opinion of Mychal Kendricks was startling, and he even cited some lame scouting reports which described Kendricks as "spotty" in coverage.
Kendricks' 76.8 PFF score in coverage isn't spectacular (a bunch of linebackers are over 80), but it's higher than that of any other linebacker on the current roster, and certainly above average.
Despite this, Terry seems skeptical that Kendricks will even start; I mean he felt obliged to point out that "somebody might get hurt".
Once John Dorsey paid Christian Kirksey good money long-term, Terry and others colored him a "cornerstone" player who Dorsey would never replace.
That's the thing with a lot of pundits: Pay a guy 3.5 million and that's how he's judged.
I got Terry. Stay tuned, and you'll see.
I'm thrilled that Dorsey extended Duke Johnson for three years! And the contract is really smart, as only something like 60% is guaranteed. That makes him much easier to trade down the road, if that comes up (be realistic: it could).
But how the hell is Dorsey going to get Duke on the field, with Landry hogging up the slot and the two hammerheads playing a lot of first and second downs?
In Pittsburgh, Haley had Brown and Bell, and everybody else was secondary.
Here, that "secondary" skill talent is a lot scarier...how will he use it?
For one thing, Haley can run any offense he wants, on any given down/distance. He can adapt to any defense.
In Pitt, he could do a lot of that, but not really the empty backfield de-facto five wide stuff. He didn't have 4th and 5th receivers like he does now (Duke is one of those by the way).
We have to assume that he'll use Landry and Gordon AMAP. Next, Njoku.
I now know that Landry has/can play outside, but he's best in the slot. I'll bet we'll see some Njoku outside and Landry inside stuff.
But Duke: he's right there with Landry as a wide receiver! But putting him there with those three would make a four-wide!
Certainly on third and longs, you can use Duke at running back (and not even sneak him into a second slot.)
Duke is actually pretty good in pass-protection, by the way.
But can you see why Todd Haley probably can't wipe the grin off his face? He's got Chubb, Coleman, Callaway and DeValve too!
(No disrespect to Carlos Hyde, but he just isn't like these guys).
I spared you the link to the Jarvis Landry interview, but can point out a couple more things off it:
Landry is very proud of his blocking. He points to his downfield blocks as reasons why drives were kept alive sometimes (and doesn't apologize for turning first and ten into second and four, or third and four into (just barely) first and ten, either.)
He's a good guy to have here, because he'll be making sure the other receivers take their blocking seriously too; he understands how important it is, and what an edge it can give an offense.
Landry described himself as a (security) "blanket" in Miami, saying he remained near the quarterback, and in his range of vision.
It felt to me like this bothered him a little; it sure as hell opened him up to critics citing his 8.6 (or whatever) yards per-catch average.
But if you check out Landry's highlight reel, you see that he can do more than that. I also have the impression that Haley is going to give him a better chance to prove that, and the public OTAs sure make it look like that. Taylor is hitting him intermediate a LOT.
It makes sense. Landry will certainly still be the security blanket sometimes, but Duke Johnson can also do a lot of what he does, and Njoku should quickly become a nice security blanket as well.
Landry's Miami offense didn't have a lot of skill depth, except at running back.
By the way, I'm not a Tannehill-basher, and niether is Landry, if you really listen to him. Tannehill was coming into his own when he got injured.
But Landry and I both like Tyrod Taylor (and Baker Mayfield) better.
You can't help but feel optimistic about this offense (with Todd Haley in charge, I mean).
Even DeShone Kizer might have survived and won a couple games if he'd had Landr...oh yeah Hue Palmer...nevermind.
(No in fairness to Hue, he instantly used Duke in the slot often and frequently---I never meant to call him an idiot).
Setting Josh Gordon and Jarvis Landry aside, the biggest battle at wide receiver will be between Corey Coleman and Antonio Callaway for the outside slot opposite Josh.
These are the big-play game-changers. While we can be "concerned" about each of these players as individuals, I personally offer 5:2 on one or the other (or both) making a big impact in 2018.
Dorsey drafted a legally (as well as vertically)-challenged Tyreek Hill in KC, and so far, so good.
Callaway and Coleman both have similar quickness and speed, but are bigger and taller too.
I know that for five posts or so I've sounded like a cheerleader, but just can't help it. Most of the dumbassitude I hear or read is negative, and as my mission is to ferret out and expose dumbassitude wherever I find it, I'm compelled to sound extra-positive in the process.
And as I constantly review decisions, and do that again and again with more and more information, I have to say this, yet again:
John Dorsey seems to have done the best job he's ever done in his carreer in this one offseason. He may well have actually made a 0-16 team into a potential playoff contender!
Skipping the draft, the veteran free agent additions of Taylor, Landry, Fells, Randall, Gaines, Carey, Kendricks, Hubbard (etc) brought in a lot of leadership along with real talent.
He had to overpay for the early ones, but they got cheaper in a hurry, and now he just extended Duke Johnson for reasonable money too.
In 2017, the Cleveland Browns were one of the youngest teams in the NFL. Now, they're suddenly a much more "seasoned" team. Dorsey's massive additions of (mostly still young) veteran free agents has brought in both leadership and talent. He may well have skipped the "winning six games" stage, and got this team into the "in the Steeler's face" stage one season ahead of schedule.
He won the draft, too. Yeah, he inheritted all those picks from Sashi Brown, but he still ignored the hype, and just drafted the best quarterback.
The Ward over Chubb thing...well we'll just have to see how that and Corbett and the rest of this draft will shake out.
Ward looks terrific right now, though.
Hue Jackson is taking credit for signing Todd Haley (and giving him full control of the offense), but I still credit Dorsey for that, too.
Jackson knew he had no choice. Haley knew he could trust Dorsey, and that he could be a Head Coach again off this gig.
Jackson and Haley are probably genuinely freindly, and Haley could stand to refine his "people skills" by watching Hue in action. Hue will hopefully refine his "How to USE people" skills by watching Haley.
Irrelevant: Dorsey did all the aforementioned, and has two of the best offensive and defensive coordinators in the NFL.
The "tough schedule" certainly matters, and the Browns have a tough one.
Still (redundancy alert), the best teams tend to lose talent, while the worst teams tend to improve. Also, offensive and defensive coordinators adapt, and come up with "solutions" to stuff other teams succeeded with last season.
For some reason, I'm fixating on the Saints, who the Browns play after beating the Stoolers week one at home.
Kamara will be suspended (thank God). That could be just enough.
You guys need to try to comprehend this: Drew Brees is a Hall of Fame quarterback, but there are 21 other starters on that team, and they matter (at least a little) too.
Denzel Ward will be used to covering Josh Gordon, and if you think Micheal Thomas is like Josh, you're hallucinating.
Tedd Ginn Jr is in his geezerhood,...
Nevermind I won't even go deeper. The Browns' 22 starters are better than the Saints 22, and Brees can't overcome that all by himself, any more than Rodgers or Manning or Big Ben or Ryan or Wilson or Newton or Brady could.
Even some real experts like Pat Kirwan go overboard with the quarterback stuff (Brees vs Taylor = Saints win).
The "home field advantage" is also irrelevant vs veteran teams: veterans don't choke. ...of course there's always the zebra-factor...
I could go through the whole schedule here, but the core of it is the six games they'll play within the AFC North.
The 2018 Steelers should remain elite (and got the refs in their pocket) so they might get "awarded" one win. But the Browns should still sweep the Bungles and Ratbirds, and bag five wins here, and maybe a tie-breaker, uh...because they are better, ya no?
Skipping the Jets, a bunch more inked-in "W's" by opposing fans are greatly exaggerated.
I can't help repeating myself again here: The 2018 Browns have a top 15 veteran quarterback, one of the best WR corps in the NFL, a top 5-8 offensive line, top 3-7 tight ends, top 5 backfield, top 5-6 defensive line, top 4-8 linebackers, and top 4-7 secondary and two top 5 coordinators!!!
Sorry, I've again allowed my logic and rationality to overwhelm my pessimism.
Excuse the hell outta me.
