The Browns suck.
Now that we've knocked that out, I can leave the more detailed and emotional bashing to literally everybody else.
It's weird, though. This team took the Denver Broncos to the wire, almost beat the Steelers the first time...they put up a fight.
Cincinnati has a great team, and it's no shame to lose to the Bengals. But by 30 points?
I must repeat this: Now that the Cleveland Browns are top contenders for the first overall draft pick, there is every chance that they'll upset one or two teams in order to prevent that.
As it stands, Jimmy Haslam has little choice but to fire Mike Pettine. But if the team rallies late, Mike has a chance to pull it out.
I normally wouldn't harbor any such hope, but I'm a Browns fan. Just when you start thinking that a first overall pick could be the light at the end of the tunnel...well?
Some boob at Yahoo Sports mentioned the fictitious power struggle over Manziel and decided that Mike Pettine, who hates him, won't start him the rest of the season.
Inanity and gossip aside, I'm pretty sure Adam Shefter is right: Manziel will start the rest of the season.
The Yahoo article described Austin Davis as a "terrible third string quarterback", which was ignorant.
Davis didn't have much of a chance, and the Bengals did to him what they did to Manziel in the second half a few weeks ago.
But Davis has been around a lot longer than Johnny Manziel, and now we know: He's ok. Just ok.
Johnny, barring injury, should get the last four starts. We'll get to see what he can do.
Take it in context. He is still almost a rookie. He won't be as good as he will become with more experience. He doesn't have a true number one receiver or much run support. His blockers...almost inexplicably...can't seem to give any quarterback more than 2.5 seconds to throw. His defense will have him playing from behind in must-pass situations for most of his games.
He'll probably backslide some, and revert to his instinctive and sometimes premature scrambling.
We have Josh McCown to compare him to. If he can come close to that as a raw player on the same team, we'll know: Johnny Manziel can become a franchise quarterback.
I'll also be looking for how his teammates respond to him. These guys all get paid to play, and have their own contracts and futures to play for. There's plenty of built-in motivation.
But you just can't help digging a little deeper for a guy you believe in, like, and want to stay with.
Regime change? If you were Jimmy Haslam, could you force yourself NOT to fire Mike Pettine without a big turnaround-at least close games vs elite teams? Even then, would that be enough?
I'm waiting to hear "the team has quit on him". I won't believe it, but something is very wrong.
We've heard it from real experts: Blocking scheme, overly complex defense, and (my addition) predictability in the run game.
Jimmy Johnson said it's lack of talent. Does he mean the offensive line, Whitner, Haden, Dansby, Duke, Des Bryant, Jamie Starks, Shelton, the other cornerbacks, Barnidge, Benjamin?
Is it nature or nurture? These are good players who have proven it. That's nature. Now they don't look so great. Maybe that's nurture, i.e. coaching and scheme.
Looking at the roster, the players with under two years experience include: EJ Bibbs, Ibraheim Campbell, Coons, X Cooper, Cam Erving, Hughlet (long snapper), Luke Lundy, Jamie Meder, Nate Orchard, and Danny Shelton. Desir and two more good cornerbacks belong here as well.
Campbell has already played well, Desir is growing rapidly, Gilbert showed signs of life...
The other day I heard some clown talk about Erving as if he were a bust when he did poorly at left guard. "I don't know why they even drafted that guy".
Well, in reality second-year player Joel Bitonio hasn't played much better! But he's another guy in only his second year. Anybody who plays left guard here will get swamped because that's where a defense seeks penetration to stop the run. Guess why!!!
There's a lot of upside here, if you look for it. I will add Terelle Pryor and Josh Gordon to this mix.
These two alone could turn the whole offense around in 2016.
For now, they suck. Ok. But for me, there's still lots of guys to watch, in addition to Manziel. The most interesting one is Terrelle Pryor.
His hamstring held him back while he was here, but at least according to him, he's been running routes with dedication.
I'm hoping that Mike Pettine is desperate enough to override his Hargrovian and Martonian instincts and allow him to play at least a little.
Too bad that could cause the Browns to win one or more games. It's more important to get him some reps at receiver before the season ends.
Part of the problem with the offense; and one reason the quarterbacks tend to hold the ball past their first and second reads so often, is the lack of a big wide receiver other than Brian Hartline.
A big receiver can be "covered", but still make the catch or at least prevent an interception. A West Coast quarterback can throw to a predesignated spot without necessarily seeing the receiver, because he knows that the big guy won't get knocked off his route, and will use his physical advantages to make the play.
The quarterback can't trust a Travis Benjamin like that. We've seen it a lot. If the cornerback is running with Travis, he can break it up. Benjamin needs at least one step, and a very accurate pass.
In re draft strategy, I go back and forth with guys on this: What the Atlanta Falcons gave up for Julio Jones was ridiculous. It didn't buy the Falcons so much as a playoff win, despite Matt Ryan.
Truly, Jones is awesome. But bashing the Browns for accepting their pot of gold for him isn't logical.
The Browns gave up the 6th overall pick for #27, Atlanta's second and 4th round picks in that draft, and Atlanta's first and 4th rounders in 2012.
In that draft, the Browns drafted Phil Taylor, Jabaal Sheard, and Greg Little in the first and second rounds. Taylor and Sheard were good players at first, and Sheard is doing great with the Patriots now. Nuff said about Little.
In the fourth, it was fullback Owen Marecic (a bust). Little and Marecic were from Atlanta. They were misses.
In 2012 they used Atlanta's pick on Brandon Weeden (after trading up to draft Trent Richardson third overall). Their fourth rounder wound up being James Micheal something--another miss.
After Weeden went: Riley Reiff, David DeCastro, and Dont'a Hightower. While I'm at it, Tannehill went five slots after Williams.
There was nothing wrong with this present-day trade for the rebuilding Cleveland Browns. What went wrong was Weeden, Little, and Marecic.
Who was going to throw the ball to Julio? What about the whole rest of the team?
The trade would have been lauded in retrospect if the players it yielded had been more like Sheard and Taylor.
You can certainly bash Tom Heckert (not Ray Farmer) for making bad picks, but not for making the Jones trade.
What about the coming draft? Well, the team isn't really rebuilding, despite its record. There is, believe it or not, a lot of talent here.
Some of the older guys will be leaving, probably including Mack; possibly Dansby, and there are other needs.
If Johnny Manziel impresses over the last four games, do the Browns have to draft a quarterback? If so, there are three and perhaps more they could take.
Do they need a number one receiver if both Pryor and Gordon are coming back?
So yes, maybe they could move down a little, and still get what they need...
If they make the right picks. Grossi won't like it.
I just wonder who will be making those picks.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Reasons Why the Browns Might Beat the Bengals
1: It doesn't matter.
2: A win would cost the Browns position in the draft.
3: It's a mismatch on paper. It looks impossible. Once it doesn't matter anymore and does more harm than good, the Browns surprise everybody.
I have to mention this: A Bengals Beat writer (link not included--you're welcome) talked about the Bengals game plan vs the Browns.
Dismissing Austin Davis as a backup is understandable, but this ass-hat is just plain incompetent:
He thinks the decisive, accurate, quick-releasing Davis is the same kind of quarterback as the statuesque deep-bombing Nick Roles.
He's sure the Bengals can stop the waterbug Duke Johnson because they shut down the brutal Gurley.
He completely ignored Johnson as a receiver, and the fact that Todd Gurley has fallen off the map because the Rams can't pass the ball, so defenses are all over their backfield, and the fact that the Browns defense has improved vs the run (the Ravens don't count but the Steelers sure do!)
Here I am on Blogspot.com writing for crickets, and they pay clueless people like this to write paper-thin crap like that.
There is no justice.
2: A win would cost the Browns position in the draft.
3: It's a mismatch on paper. It looks impossible. Once it doesn't matter anymore and does more harm than good, the Browns surprise everybody.
I have to mention this: A Bengals Beat writer (link not included--you're welcome) talked about the Bengals game plan vs the Browns.
Dismissing Austin Davis as a backup is understandable, but this ass-hat is just plain incompetent:
He thinks the decisive, accurate, quick-releasing Davis is the same kind of quarterback as the statuesque deep-bombing Nick Roles.
He's sure the Bengals can stop the waterbug Duke Johnson because they shut down the brutal Gurley.
He completely ignored Johnson as a receiver, and the fact that Todd Gurley has fallen off the map because the Rams can't pass the ball, so defenses are all over their backfield, and the fact that the Browns defense has improved vs the run (the Ravens don't count but the Steelers sure do!)
Here I am on Blogspot.com writing for crickets, and they pay clueless people like this to write paper-thin crap like that.
There is no justice.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Cleveland Browns: Hope Springs Infernal
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow...
It's justified to be disgusted and furious about the Cleveland Browns. They just plain suck. You are what your record says you are.
The exact, scientific reasons for this suckdom are hard for us fans to put their finger on, which is why many of us want to fire or cut everybody.
But there are good players here (who have actually played well):
Duke Johnson, Travis Benjamin, Gary Barnidge, Josh McCown, and Johnny Manziel have all played well. None of the losses can be laid at their feet. Austin Davis could be listed, technically, too.
On defense, we can list Dansby, Whitner, Gipson...a few others. Joe Haden is too young to give up on. A few others haven't quite sucked.
So you want to fire Ray Farmer? Well, for all the recent headaches, Manziel is his, and he has turned into a good quarterback. He extended Benjamin and Barnidge. Drafted Duke Johnson. Signed Dansby and Whitner.
Joel Bitonio has played poorly this season, but dominated as a rookie in Shanahan's inside zone blocking system, and has a bright future.
Gilbert has disappointed, but every cornerback who has passed him up is a Farmer low round pick or undrafted free agent. Austin Davis, we'll have to wait and see about, but so far, so good.
Don't bash the secondary when quarterbacks have all day to throw. Don't bash the offense when the defense ranks 30th in points allowed. Don't bash the quarterbacks when all of them throw for gobs of yards and convert third downs and throw touchdowns.
It took the Ravens two return touchdowns to win a game they otherwise lost badly.
It's premature to talk about Davis vs Manziel, so I'll either be among the first, or look dumb by next Monday. It could happen. The Browns could have too many young star quarterbacks.
I remember Kelly Holcomb. His stats were atrocious compared to Austin's, with zero starts. Nobody thought he would be any good, either.
I'm almost glad the Browns lost. The most meaningful thing to come out of all this now is higher draft picks. Sorry, I can't help it.
I'm angry about the run-left-only running game, the blocking changes Flip brought in, the too-complicated pass rush, the penalties, etc.
But if Haslam fires Pettine, who would be willing to come in here and start over, and what good would it do?
I'm irked by Gilbert, but he seemed to be playing well until he got hurt.
No, I don't believe that Farmer would just squander a higher pick. It's too soon to judge any of his four first rounders yet, and he's found some good players later.
Josh Gordon will return next season, and hopefully a more polished Terrelle Pryor too. Davis could be Kelly Holcomb, and between him and Manziel they might not need a quarterback for once (not that you shouldn't consider trading one of yours and drafting one anyway).
I'll never walk away. I'll want to see how the young guys develop. How Davis and Manziel perform in this pressure cooker.
Can they find a pass rush? Will they run to the strong side? Will Pettine make helpful changes?
I watch the Browns even when they suck. Traffic accidents are interesting too.
Tony Grossi makes some telling points about the real issues with the team, and he's right: They have nothing to do with the quarterbacks.
He shouldn't have tainted it by saying that Ray Farmer doesn't think quarterbacks are any more important than other players (gross distortion borne of bias), but this is otherwise a great article.
It's justified to be disgusted and furious about the Cleveland Browns. They just plain suck. You are what your record says you are.
The exact, scientific reasons for this suckdom are hard for us fans to put their finger on, which is why many of us want to fire or cut everybody.
But there are good players here (who have actually played well):
Duke Johnson, Travis Benjamin, Gary Barnidge, Josh McCown, and Johnny Manziel have all played well. None of the losses can be laid at their feet. Austin Davis could be listed, technically, too.
On defense, we can list Dansby, Whitner, Gipson...a few others. Joe Haden is too young to give up on. A few others haven't quite sucked.
So you want to fire Ray Farmer? Well, for all the recent headaches, Manziel is his, and he has turned into a good quarterback. He extended Benjamin and Barnidge. Drafted Duke Johnson. Signed Dansby and Whitner.
Joel Bitonio has played poorly this season, but dominated as a rookie in Shanahan's inside zone blocking system, and has a bright future.
Gilbert has disappointed, but every cornerback who has passed him up is a Farmer low round pick or undrafted free agent. Austin Davis, we'll have to wait and see about, but so far, so good.
Don't bash the secondary when quarterbacks have all day to throw. Don't bash the offense when the defense ranks 30th in points allowed. Don't bash the quarterbacks when all of them throw for gobs of yards and convert third downs and throw touchdowns.
It took the Ravens two return touchdowns to win a game they otherwise lost badly.
It's premature to talk about Davis vs Manziel, so I'll either be among the first, or look dumb by next Monday. It could happen. The Browns could have too many young star quarterbacks.
I remember Kelly Holcomb. His stats were atrocious compared to Austin's, with zero starts. Nobody thought he would be any good, either.
I'm almost glad the Browns lost. The most meaningful thing to come out of all this now is higher draft picks. Sorry, I can't help it.
I'm angry about the run-left-only running game, the blocking changes Flip brought in, the too-complicated pass rush, the penalties, etc.
But if Haslam fires Pettine, who would be willing to come in here and start over, and what good would it do?
I'm irked by Gilbert, but he seemed to be playing well until he got hurt.
No, I don't believe that Farmer would just squander a higher pick. It's too soon to judge any of his four first rounders yet, and he's found some good players later.
Josh Gordon will return next season, and hopefully a more polished Terrelle Pryor too. Davis could be Kelly Holcomb, and between him and Manziel they might not need a quarterback for once (not that you shouldn't consider trading one of yours and drafting one anyway).
I'll never walk away. I'll want to see how the young guys develop. How Davis and Manziel perform in this pressure cooker.
Can they find a pass rush? Will they run to the strong side? Will Pettine make helpful changes?
I watch the Browns even when they suck. Traffic accidents are interesting too.
Tony Grossi makes some telling points about the real issues with the team, and he's right: They have nothing to do with the quarterbacks.
He shouldn't have tainted it by saying that Ray Farmer doesn't think quarterbacks are any more important than other players (gross distortion borne of bias), but this is otherwise a great article.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
The Austin Davis File
Austin Davis, at Southern Miss on a baseball scholarship, walked onto the football team and broke Brett Farve's freshman records. Later, he broke his other records despite missing 6 games as a sophomore to injury.
As a Senior, he broke all school records-several in his second game. As a 15-point underdog in the Conference USA championship, he upset Case Keenum led Houston.
He beat Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl. He's in the Missisippi Hall of Fame and was awarded the Conerly Trophy.
His overall stats: 61.1%, 10,898 yards, 83 tds, 27 interceptions, 460 rushes for 1,375 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also caught two passes, one for a touchdown.
Why wasn't he drafted? Level of competition, questions about his arm strength, and the system in which he played.
He was cast as a West Coast quarterback, because he excelled with short and intermediate passes, and had learned to use his second and third reads during his four years.
One analyst said that his arm strength increased as he went along, but that his ability to throw deep with accuracy in the NFL was a question mark.
As a Ram in 2013, he knocked off the Seattle Seahawks. Brett Farve said he might be the next Brady or Werner. Then he crashed and burned the next week.
Not uncommon, and that was two years ago. Both starts count.
He went 3-5 with the Rams last season, which says something. Those Rams didn't have Todd Gurley. That wasn't a great team.
ear Team G Att Comp Pct Att/G Yds Avg Yds/G TD TD% Int Int% Lng 20+ 40+ Sck SckY Rate
2015 Cleveland Browns 1 10 7 70.0 10.0 77 7.7 77.0 1 10.0 0 0.0 42T 1 1 1 8 125.8
2014 St. Louis Rams 10 284 180 63.4 28.4 2,001 7.0 200.1 12 4.2 9 3.2 59T 21 4 29 179 85.1
2013 St. Louis Rams 0 -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0
2012 St. Louis Rams 0 -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0
TOTAL 11 294 187 63.6 26.7 2,078 7.1 188.9 13 4.4 9 3.1 59 22 5 30 187 86.5
As we saw on Monday, Davis has an NFL arm, and has had four years to prepare.
I never paid attention to him until now, but I'm glad Ray Farmer did. As usual, the third string guy was dismissed as ever becoming a viable starter by everybody else, and I never checked him out. My bad.
What we see above are some rather dry and unspectacular statistics. He completed 63+ % of his passes as a Ram, threw 12 tds and 9 picks, had a respectable yards per completion, and threw almost all of his passes under 20 yards.
Not great, but not bad either. He should be better now than he was then. How much better, who can say? And against the Bengals defense, probably playing from behind, well...I will pray for him.
We haven't scratched the surface on this guy yet. What we saw looked terrific. I don't think he'll crash and burn again this time, but don't know.
I do know that he's earned this opportunity. That's good for Mike, because he's painted himself into a corner with Johnny. He didn't dare start him again so soon after punishing him like that. The permabashers would all say it was a token punishment and Mike is soft and stuff.
McCown's injury was almost predictable. Nuff said.
I hope Austin Davis takes over and kicks butt. I believe Manziel will become a very good or great quarterback, but Davis's success would force him to work even harder. Competition is good. And now that I've checked the kid out, I can't count him out. Wouldn't it be great if, entering 2016, the Browns have too many starting quarterbacks? What's that...The Twilight Zone theme I'm hearing?
Mike wants Davis to succeed and save his job. Ray wants people to point to this guy he found that nobody else wanted.
That might have been the thinking for resigning Terrelle
Pryor.
Pryor has played too long in the NFL to qualify for a practice squad. This is one key reason nobody else signed him.
He was deemed not ready to contribute as a wide receiver (or H-Back) at this point, and he'd take up one of the 48 slots.
I normally don't buck the much more qualified pros in NFL coaching and personnel, but with Terelle Pryor, I think everybody who didn't sign him was wrong.
As it stands, he may be the emergency quarterback. Johnny is second string by default. Ray and Mike can justify holding onto Pryor this way.
I hope they also use him as a receiver. Like I said, even if he's not ready for the whole route tree yet, he can read coverage and has everybody trying to cover him outgunned in every way.
I mean, why not? What's left to lose?
Anyway, good luck Austin!
As a Senior, he broke all school records-several in his second game. As a 15-point underdog in the Conference USA championship, he upset Case Keenum led Houston.
He beat Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl. He's in the Missisippi Hall of Fame and was awarded the Conerly Trophy.
His overall stats: 61.1%, 10,898 yards, 83 tds, 27 interceptions, 460 rushes for 1,375 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also caught two passes, one for a touchdown.
Why wasn't he drafted? Level of competition, questions about his arm strength, and the system in which he played.
He was cast as a West Coast quarterback, because he excelled with short and intermediate passes, and had learned to use his second and third reads during his four years.
One analyst said that his arm strength increased as he went along, but that his ability to throw deep with accuracy in the NFL was a question mark.
As a Ram in 2013, he knocked off the Seattle Seahawks. Brett Farve said he might be the next Brady or Werner. Then he crashed and burned the next week.
Not uncommon, and that was two years ago. Both starts count.
He went 3-5 with the Rams last season, which says something. Those Rams didn't have Todd Gurley. That wasn't a great team.
ear Team G Att Comp Pct Att/G Yds Avg Yds/G TD TD% Int Int% Lng 20+ 40+ Sck SckY Rate
2015 Cleveland Browns 1 10 7 70.0 10.0 77 7.7 77.0 1 10.0 0 0.0 42T 1 1 1 8 125.8
2014 St. Louis Rams 10 284 180 63.4 28.4 2,001 7.0 200.1 12 4.2 9 3.2 59T 21 4 29 179 85.1
2013 St. Louis Rams 0 -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0
2012 St. Louis Rams 0 -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0
TOTAL 11 294 187 63.6 26.7 2,078 7.1 188.9 13 4.4 9 3.1 59 22 5 30 187 86.5
As we saw on Monday, Davis has an NFL arm, and has had four years to prepare.
I never paid attention to him until now, but I'm glad Ray Farmer did. As usual, the third string guy was dismissed as ever becoming a viable starter by everybody else, and I never checked him out. My bad.
What we see above are some rather dry and unspectacular statistics. He completed 63+ % of his passes as a Ram, threw 12 tds and 9 picks, had a respectable yards per completion, and threw almost all of his passes under 20 yards.
Not great, but not bad either. He should be better now than he was then. How much better, who can say? And against the Bengals defense, probably playing from behind, well...I will pray for him.
We haven't scratched the surface on this guy yet. What we saw looked terrific. I don't think he'll crash and burn again this time, but don't know.
I do know that he's earned this opportunity. That's good for Mike, because he's painted himself into a corner with Johnny. He didn't dare start him again so soon after punishing him like that. The permabashers would all say it was a token punishment and Mike is soft and stuff.
McCown's injury was almost predictable. Nuff said.
I hope Austin Davis takes over and kicks butt. I believe Manziel will become a very good or great quarterback, but Davis's success would force him to work even harder. Competition is good. And now that I've checked the kid out, I can't count him out. Wouldn't it be great if, entering 2016, the Browns have too many starting quarterbacks? What's that...The Twilight Zone theme I'm hearing?
Mike wants Davis to succeed and save his job. Ray wants people to point to this guy he found that nobody else wanted.
That might have been the thinking for resigning Terrelle
Pryor.
Pryor has played too long in the NFL to qualify for a practice squad. This is one key reason nobody else signed him.
He was deemed not ready to contribute as a wide receiver (or H-Back) at this point, and he'd take up one of the 48 slots.
I normally don't buck the much more qualified pros in NFL coaching and personnel, but with Terelle Pryor, I think everybody who didn't sign him was wrong.
As it stands, he may be the emergency quarterback. Johnny is second string by default. Ray and Mike can justify holding onto Pryor this way.
I hope they also use him as a receiver. Like I said, even if he's not ready for the whole route tree yet, he can read coverage and has everybody trying to cover him outgunned in every way.
I mean, why not? What's left to lose?
Anyway, good luck Austin!
Friday, November 27, 2015
Cleveland Browns: Comments on Comments
This Article on ESPN.com gives a Black Friday shopping list for the Browns. Then it lists wins.
Two of the three listed items are already here. In fairness, the article did stipulate that the big receiver not get suspended, so I guess they want somebody less vulnerable than Gordon, and I get that.
But the quarterback part amounts to McCown-bashing. A quarterback with these receivers, this running game, and this defense can't be blamed for throwing for 400 yards twice and losing.
Verily, he got beat down, so I guess you could reference injuries, but what quarterback in the NFL could take that kind of abuse longer than he did?
Verily, he must be replaced, because of his age. He's at last emerged as an elite quarterback, only too late in his career. He's a bridge to the future.
But Manziel's book isn't closed yet. This was a political setback, but he's never been suspended, and just toasted the Steelers for over 350 net yards in Pittsburgh.
All the same, if a franchise guy is there when they draft, they'll have to take him.
That's not the only way to find your stud (or at least insurance) either.
Ask Pat Kirwan: In today's NFL, each year there are two to four younger guys who have ridden the bench for 2 or more seasons, and are ready to start.
Tyrod Taylor is the best current example. Many of us will remember Kelly Holcomb.
These are guys who had talent, but were flawed in various ways coming out of college. NFL coaches and the quarterbacks they understudied, along with thousands of scout-team, pre-season, and garbage-time reps have ironed the kinks.
Pat McManomon does a Les Levine reciting Johnny's overall statistics to make him sound ordinary, but again: For a guy with his five games worth of experience, the first two shouldn't count at all, and his most recent start should count double.
This even applies to the massively more experienced Josh McCown.
To this day, I still hear people talking about his horrific season last year and his career statistics.
Even for this guy, his starts this season, with this team, most accurately reflect how good he is right now, doesn't it?
Maybe Marty wasn't being a blockhead when he said "statistics are for losers". Maybe this is what he meant.
As a real analyst, I find the majority of analyses I read shallow and devoid of context.
For Johnny, stats have to be weighted as I described. For an old-timer like McCown, you throw out all but his last three seasons before you crunch any numbers.
Then for both, you must consider the supporting casts they had, and seek the broadest trends you can as the most reliable indicator of probability and measure of---
Never mind. But you can't just take a big shovel and put it all in a blender and serve up whatever comes out!
Yeah, Pat, go ahead and give me the stats on Elway, either Manning, Big Ben, Aikman, Young etc. after five freaking starts give me a break.
Richard Pietro does his own somewhat more abstract analysis. He suggests that Johnny should be released, and that the spectre of his emerging as a star with another team is "beside the point".
Richard fills in a lot of blanks. Mike Pettine's reluctance to start him must mean that he wasn't good enough.
He cites old reports on his partying and lack of film study in college. He attacks the word "partying" as taking too lightly the dire and profound implications of addiction (see my last blog please just stop it Rich!)
Here again, Johnny has been doing his homework this season.
This guy obviously missed all his plays this season, because he describes a player identical to the one we saw last season.
Another part of analysis is to see what is in front of you clearly, without either rose or shit-colored glasses on.
A few blogs ago, I talked about how Johnnybashers seized like epileptics onto his second half vs Cincinnati, and immediately threw out all the improvement he'd shown to that point.
Then he tore the Steelers a new one, see?
Ask the players, including the "sources in the locker room" speaking in confidence:
They don't care much about a party during the off week. Many of them did the same. All they care about is whether or not he does his homework and is serious NOW.
There is no division here, and no need to release one very talented quarterback (and start over yet again) just to make uptight people like this writer happy.
But if this guy was here now and I could afford it, I'd buy him a nice glass of chardonnay and discuss it with him.
In this one from Fansided, Rodney Stokes bemoans Johnny's misbehavior too. Rodney is actually pretty fair overall, but says he was in College Station two weeks prior partying. I know he was there, but the partying part is an assumption. Not that I'd care.
Rodney thinks he should remain locked in Berea til the season is over, period.
I'm sure Josh McCown visits his family or even his alma mater now and then. But nobody notices.
Like many others, this writer sees dire consequences and a road to hell.
Rodney is a younger guy, though. He was raised politically correct, so I can't pick on him.
In general, Browns fans get extreme. Sweeping generalizations. Kill em all and let God sort em out! Cut him! Fire him! Worst EVER!
It bugs me. One of my own brothers is like that.
It's the losing, of course. Read my blogs. I said 7-9 at worst! Tony Grossi wasn't much different.
I remember: Top five defense, I predicted! Dominating run game, adequate passing game.
It's THEM, you know? THEY read that, and made sure each and everything I said was wrong.
I have to apologize to Browns fans, as I apologize to other victims of the last two market crashes. You and the Browns are all collateral damage. THEY always do anything it takes to stick it to me.
But I digress: I know Ray Farmer has done a couple dumb things, but he's done more smart things on-balance, and the jury is out on ALL of his draft picks, the oldest of which are second year players.
The talent of most of his free agents is proven. The guys he extended or did not release are all good players.
I can't say the same of the coaches. I've gathered from former players and Head Coaches that these problems are more schematic than talent-related.
I'm not qualified to express an opinion here, but this is what a real analyst does, you see?
I do express opinions, sort of. But not until I hear from various more expert and inside sources that I've learned to trust.
For example: The Buffalo Bills' defense is much better since it's bye week than before. Ryan simplified it. The players love it. Pettine runs the same general system. The same solution might apply. So I'm waiting to see if Mike Pettine is as adaptable as Rex Ryan, see?
I want Mike to succeed. He's really smart. Continuity is almost critical. Farmer is an easy scapegoat, and his removal wouldn't cause anywhere near the disruption, but if Mike goes, it's more chaos.
So I'm rooting for him. As an emotionally detached analyst immune to his likeability and obvious brains.
DeFilipo too. He has to have had a lot to do with making Josh McCown and Johnny M look like Carson Palmer with this crew.
Still, where did the running game go? Here again, I must repeat myself: Same offensive line. Same lead back. I heard from not only Doug Dieken, but others, so I express the opinion: The changes you made haven't worked. Go back to what did. Don't get proud, or you'll get fired, Flip.
One reason big receivers are so popular is their ability to block. A good analyst doesn't ignore this.
The Browns' offensive challenges this season (as I've heard from Dieken et al as well) relate to this:
Gary Barnidge is a so-so blocker, but has emerged as such a formidable receiver that they have to use him, and split him out a lot. Jim Dray is left in the dust, and I know from ProFootballFocus that he's just a so-so blocker himself (ps in-line and in space are different). The Browns have no true in-line blocking tight end, which is one reason they've used Cam Erving that way so often.
Calls for more Duke Johnson ignore the fact that, at this point, his appearance on the field triggers a blitze unless he moves to the slot. Defenses run-blitze to neutralize him.
It's not as simple as many think. Tony Grossi, to his credit, groks this, because he's wondered in print if Duke might be more effective as a slot receiver.
Bowe and Hartline are the only big receivers here, and Hartline is skinny. All the Browns primary wide receivers are microbes. They lack both bulk and reach. The cornerbacks they face have edges on them, let alone safeties, and sending them after linebackers is suicidal.
Here is a personal opinion. This is just me, ok? The Browns almost always run left. Even when a run starts out to the strong side, by design it cuts left almost immediately.
That's why defenses shoot gaps to Mack's left. They know where any run will go, and if it's not a run they're on the quarterback anyway.
This is inexcusable to me. Flip, try running RIGHT sometimes, ok dammit?
I don't need the experts for this opinion. If I saw it, defensive coordinators saw it several games before I did, and came up with the perfect solution like I did that much sooner too.
Drives me nuts. I'm clueless and I outsmarted the Browns offense...
Say, Mike. I could use a job. I can spell my name right and everything!
Two of the three listed items are already here. In fairness, the article did stipulate that the big receiver not get suspended, so I guess they want somebody less vulnerable than Gordon, and I get that.
But the quarterback part amounts to McCown-bashing. A quarterback with these receivers, this running game, and this defense can't be blamed for throwing for 400 yards twice and losing.
Verily, he got beat down, so I guess you could reference injuries, but what quarterback in the NFL could take that kind of abuse longer than he did?
Verily, he must be replaced, because of his age. He's at last emerged as an elite quarterback, only too late in his career. He's a bridge to the future.
But Manziel's book isn't closed yet. This was a political setback, but he's never been suspended, and just toasted the Steelers for over 350 net yards in Pittsburgh.
All the same, if a franchise guy is there when they draft, they'll have to take him.
That's not the only way to find your stud (or at least insurance) either.
Ask Pat Kirwan: In today's NFL, each year there are two to four younger guys who have ridden the bench for 2 or more seasons, and are ready to start.
Tyrod Taylor is the best current example. Many of us will remember Kelly Holcomb.
These are guys who had talent, but were flawed in various ways coming out of college. NFL coaches and the quarterbacks they understudied, along with thousands of scout-team, pre-season, and garbage-time reps have ironed the kinks.
Pat McManomon does a Les Levine reciting Johnny's overall statistics to make him sound ordinary, but again: For a guy with his five games worth of experience, the first two shouldn't count at all, and his most recent start should count double.
This even applies to the massively more experienced Josh McCown.
To this day, I still hear people talking about his horrific season last year and his career statistics.
Even for this guy, his starts this season, with this team, most accurately reflect how good he is right now, doesn't it?
Maybe Marty wasn't being a blockhead when he said "statistics are for losers". Maybe this is what he meant.
As a real analyst, I find the majority of analyses I read shallow and devoid of context.
For Johnny, stats have to be weighted as I described. For an old-timer like McCown, you throw out all but his last three seasons before you crunch any numbers.
Then for both, you must consider the supporting casts they had, and seek the broadest trends you can as the most reliable indicator of probability and measure of---
Never mind. But you can't just take a big shovel and put it all in a blender and serve up whatever comes out!
Yeah, Pat, go ahead and give me the stats on Elway, either Manning, Big Ben, Aikman, Young etc. after five freaking starts give me a break.
Richard Pietro does his own somewhat more abstract analysis. He suggests that Johnny should be released, and that the spectre of his emerging as a star with another team is "beside the point".
Richard fills in a lot of blanks. Mike Pettine's reluctance to start him must mean that he wasn't good enough.
He cites old reports on his partying and lack of film study in college. He attacks the word "partying" as taking too lightly the dire and profound implications of addiction (see my last blog please just stop it Rich!)
Here again, Johnny has been doing his homework this season.
This guy obviously missed all his plays this season, because he describes a player identical to the one we saw last season.
Another part of analysis is to see what is in front of you clearly, without either rose or shit-colored glasses on.
A few blogs ago, I talked about how Johnnybashers seized like epileptics onto his second half vs Cincinnati, and immediately threw out all the improvement he'd shown to that point.
Then he tore the Steelers a new one, see?
Ask the players, including the "sources in the locker room" speaking in confidence:
They don't care much about a party during the off week. Many of them did the same. All they care about is whether or not he does his homework and is serious NOW.
There is no division here, and no need to release one very talented quarterback (and start over yet again) just to make uptight people like this writer happy.
But if this guy was here now and I could afford it, I'd buy him a nice glass of chardonnay and discuss it with him.
In this one from Fansided, Rodney Stokes bemoans Johnny's misbehavior too. Rodney is actually pretty fair overall, but says he was in College Station two weeks prior partying. I know he was there, but the partying part is an assumption. Not that I'd care.
Rodney thinks he should remain locked in Berea til the season is over, period.
I'm sure Josh McCown visits his family or even his alma mater now and then. But nobody notices.
Like many others, this writer sees dire consequences and a road to hell.
Rodney is a younger guy, though. He was raised politically correct, so I can't pick on him.
In general, Browns fans get extreme. Sweeping generalizations. Kill em all and let God sort em out! Cut him! Fire him! Worst EVER!
It bugs me. One of my own brothers is like that.
It's the losing, of course. Read my blogs. I said 7-9 at worst! Tony Grossi wasn't much different.
I remember: Top five defense, I predicted! Dominating run game, adequate passing game.
It's THEM, you know? THEY read that, and made sure each and everything I said was wrong.
I have to apologize to Browns fans, as I apologize to other victims of the last two market crashes. You and the Browns are all collateral damage. THEY always do anything it takes to stick it to me.
But I digress: I know Ray Farmer has done a couple dumb things, but he's done more smart things on-balance, and the jury is out on ALL of his draft picks, the oldest of which are second year players.
The talent of most of his free agents is proven. The guys he extended or did not release are all good players.
I can't say the same of the coaches. I've gathered from former players and Head Coaches that these problems are more schematic than talent-related.
I'm not qualified to express an opinion here, but this is what a real analyst does, you see?
I do express opinions, sort of. But not until I hear from various more expert and inside sources that I've learned to trust.
For example: The Buffalo Bills' defense is much better since it's bye week than before. Ryan simplified it. The players love it. Pettine runs the same general system. The same solution might apply. So I'm waiting to see if Mike Pettine is as adaptable as Rex Ryan, see?
I want Mike to succeed. He's really smart. Continuity is almost critical. Farmer is an easy scapegoat, and his removal wouldn't cause anywhere near the disruption, but if Mike goes, it's more chaos.
So I'm rooting for him. As an emotionally detached analyst immune to his likeability and obvious brains.
DeFilipo too. He has to have had a lot to do with making Josh McCown and Johnny M look like Carson Palmer with this crew.
Still, where did the running game go? Here again, I must repeat myself: Same offensive line. Same lead back. I heard from not only Doug Dieken, but others, so I express the opinion: The changes you made haven't worked. Go back to what did. Don't get proud, or you'll get fired, Flip.
One reason big receivers are so popular is their ability to block. A good analyst doesn't ignore this.
The Browns' offensive challenges this season (as I've heard from Dieken et al as well) relate to this:
Gary Barnidge is a so-so blocker, but has emerged as such a formidable receiver that they have to use him, and split him out a lot. Jim Dray is left in the dust, and I know from ProFootballFocus that he's just a so-so blocker himself (ps in-line and in space are different). The Browns have no true in-line blocking tight end, which is one reason they've used Cam Erving that way so often.
Calls for more Duke Johnson ignore the fact that, at this point, his appearance on the field triggers a blitze unless he moves to the slot. Defenses run-blitze to neutralize him.
It's not as simple as many think. Tony Grossi, to his credit, groks this, because he's wondered in print if Duke might be more effective as a slot receiver.
Bowe and Hartline are the only big receivers here, and Hartline is skinny. All the Browns primary wide receivers are microbes. They lack both bulk and reach. The cornerbacks they face have edges on them, let alone safeties, and sending them after linebackers is suicidal.
Here is a personal opinion. This is just me, ok? The Browns almost always run left. Even when a run starts out to the strong side, by design it cuts left almost immediately.
That's why defenses shoot gaps to Mack's left. They know where any run will go, and if it's not a run they're on the quarterback anyway.
This is inexcusable to me. Flip, try running RIGHT sometimes, ok dammit?
I don't need the experts for this opinion. If I saw it, defensive coordinators saw it several games before I did, and came up with the perfect solution like I did that much sooner too.
Drives me nuts. I'm clueless and I outsmarted the Browns offense...
Say, Mike. I could use a job. I can spell my name right and everything!
Thursday, November 26, 2015
I Retract the Manziel Stuff
I won't question the Browns' collective decision to bench Johnny Manziel after he was caught partying again...
However, it's a political move. Kenny Stabler chain-smoked and drank like a fish. He's just the most prominent star quarterback. Brett Favre comes in second, but he came later, so he had to fix himself. This was fairly common.
Josh Gordon's last suspension was for having a few drinks on a plane after the season was over. It's just ridiculous.
I quit smoking by getting an electronic cigarette and "vaping". Now, one restaurant chain after another is banning that!
Johnny might or might not have a problem. Some people never get addicted to alcohol. Are any of you young people aware of that, or have they brainwashed you?
I'm fine with Josh McCown. I'm just disappointed that Manziel won't get his opportunity to prove what I'm pretty sure he would have proved.
Now, he has to prove he can not enjoy a beer for a long, long time. Political correctness is like a plastic bag over your head. It's suffocating all of us. It's taking our freedom away.
It's like cancer. It never stops. It's not enough that Johnny quits partying all the time, no. No, he has to quit partying ever, including one freaking night on his bye week!
I'm confident that Josh Gordon will return next season, but not that he'll be perfect enough to avoid another suspension.
He might take an alleve for a headache or something. He might test positive for eating a McDonald's hamburger with poppy seeds on it.
I'm suffocating just talking about this. I feel like the only sane person in America. I can't believe you all just accept this crap.
I guess they had to do this. As it was, women's groups had him convicted and sentenced to castration for preventing his nutty girlfriend from jumping out of his car. They probably knew what was coming off the TMZ video too, and got ahead of it...for political reasons.
But "old video"? Ok they were angry too.
What now? I don't know. Tony Grossi will look like a genius, since the Browns are more likely now to draft another quarterback in the first round.
Tony thinks it's because Johnny will always suck, which is wrong. But now, he might get a couple starts, if that. His status will be unresolved.
He might show enough to be part of a draft day trade, or else have to compete with the new guy (behind McCown).
Oh well. Unfortunately, they'll probably stomp the Ravens. They'll probably win a couple more games too.
That's how it works here. You win just enough to screw yourself out of a franchise quarterback.
McCown shouldn't really start. He's not fully healed, and is libel to get hurt again, worse.
I suppose that makes winning less likely, except that Mike and company might decide it's politically expedient to decide Manziel has been sufficiently chastised after two games or so...
It's just disgusting. Land of the free, home of the brave hahaha
However, it's a political move. Kenny Stabler chain-smoked and drank like a fish. He's just the most prominent star quarterback. Brett Favre comes in second, but he came later, so he had to fix himself. This was fairly common.
Josh Gordon's last suspension was for having a few drinks on a plane after the season was over. It's just ridiculous.
I quit smoking by getting an electronic cigarette and "vaping". Now, one restaurant chain after another is banning that!
Johnny might or might not have a problem. Some people never get addicted to alcohol. Are any of you young people aware of that, or have they brainwashed you?
I'm fine with Josh McCown. I'm just disappointed that Manziel won't get his opportunity to prove what I'm pretty sure he would have proved.
Now, he has to prove he can not enjoy a beer for a long, long time. Political correctness is like a plastic bag over your head. It's suffocating all of us. It's taking our freedom away.
It's like cancer. It never stops. It's not enough that Johnny quits partying all the time, no. No, he has to quit partying ever, including one freaking night on his bye week!
I'm confident that Josh Gordon will return next season, but not that he'll be perfect enough to avoid another suspension.
He might take an alleve for a headache or something. He might test positive for eating a McDonald's hamburger with poppy seeds on it.
I'm suffocating just talking about this. I feel like the only sane person in America. I can't believe you all just accept this crap.
I guess they had to do this. As it was, women's groups had him convicted and sentenced to castration for preventing his nutty girlfriend from jumping out of his car. They probably knew what was coming off the TMZ video too, and got ahead of it...for political reasons.
But "old video"? Ok they were angry too.
What now? I don't know. Tony Grossi will look like a genius, since the Browns are more likely now to draft another quarterback in the first round.
Tony thinks it's because Johnny will always suck, which is wrong. But now, he might get a couple starts, if that. His status will be unresolved.
He might show enough to be part of a draft day trade, or else have to compete with the new guy (behind McCown).
Oh well. Unfortunately, they'll probably stomp the Ravens. They'll probably win a couple more games too.
That's how it works here. You win just enough to screw yourself out of a franchise quarterback.
McCown shouldn't really start. He's not fully healed, and is libel to get hurt again, worse.
I suppose that makes winning less likely, except that Mike and company might decide it's politically expedient to decide Manziel has been sufficiently chastised after two games or so...
It's just disgusting. Land of the free, home of the brave hahaha
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Early Prediction: Johnny Manziel
Craig Lyndall said this:I think they’ll still need a quarterback other than Johnny Manziel and it would be so Brownsish for him to play just well enough to make them second guess it.
This seems to be the predominant view of Johnny Manziel. Craig could be right, but I lean the other way.
Time to mention Roger Staubach again: Before Johnny did anything at all this season, Roger said he could do everything Russell Wilson does. Several other real experts (notably former quarterbacks) have made similar statements, mentioning Drew Brees as well.
Staubach himself is notable. He was a vertically-challenged scrambler himself.
Russell Wilson started for four years in college, including his last two in a pro-style system with a thick playbook.
Manziel (sorry to restate this for about the 20th time--but I seem to be the only non-ex-quarterback who knows it so far) ran a wild and crazy playground offense with no playbook to speak of.
Aside from his height (btw he's taller than Wilson) and partying, the one legitimate concern about Manziel was his mental hardware.
Many quarterbacks like him fail because no matter how hard they study or practice, they can't read through progressions under fire.
Johnny never had to in college; not as quickly as a pro does, especially in a West Coast-based system. His Texas A&M offense was built around his scrambles and ability to throw accurately on the run.
You can read back in my blogs here, all the way to that draft. I was never a Johnnybot. I was close to throwing the towel in on him myself, until he went to rehab.
But now, he has proven that his mental hardware is NFL-ready. With a few stumbles and missed opportunities such as any inexperienced quarterback can be relied on to make, he's been doing it all season.
It's a new skill for him. It's not natural for him, and is contrary to his scrambling instincts.
That's why he has to keep doing it in live games for the rest of this season.
But you see, I've seen that, along with those natural instincts that let him turn disaster into touchdowns, he can make the right calls at the line, and the right reads from the pocket.
Why hasn't Craig seen this? Why can't Tony Grossi? Why is the standard for this second year, first-time starter so much higher than for any other quarterback?
How good can he become? I don't know. But obviously, he's already shown that he can be a top ten quarterback, and very soon.
Faith throws? Pat Kirwan really doesn't like Johnny, no matter what. He said he'd cut a quarterback who said that.
That stunned me, since Pat knows perfectly well that any timing offense requires a quarterback to throw to designated spots at designated times, whether he can see the receiver or not.
The very fact that Johnny is making them is a sign of progress, since many young quarterbacks will stubbornly refuse to make those throws until they can see the receiver, which screws up the whole offense and makes them eat the ball.
Maybe Craig listens to Pat.
I will say right here and now: If he doesn't get hurt, Johnny Manziel will develop into another Russell Wilson, if not a Drew Brees.
And I'm in good company.
Late addition: Read this article from the Bleacher Report. Excellent.
This seems to be the predominant view of Johnny Manziel. Craig could be right, but I lean the other way.
Time to mention Roger Staubach again: Before Johnny did anything at all this season, Roger said he could do everything Russell Wilson does. Several other real experts (notably former quarterbacks) have made similar statements, mentioning Drew Brees as well.
Staubach himself is notable. He was a vertically-challenged scrambler himself.
Russell Wilson started for four years in college, including his last two in a pro-style system with a thick playbook.
Manziel (sorry to restate this for about the 20th time--but I seem to be the only non-ex-quarterback who knows it so far) ran a wild and crazy playground offense with no playbook to speak of.
Aside from his height (btw he's taller than Wilson) and partying, the one legitimate concern about Manziel was his mental hardware.
Many quarterbacks like him fail because no matter how hard they study or practice, they can't read through progressions under fire.
Johnny never had to in college; not as quickly as a pro does, especially in a West Coast-based system. His Texas A&M offense was built around his scrambles and ability to throw accurately on the run.
You can read back in my blogs here, all the way to that draft. I was never a Johnnybot. I was close to throwing the towel in on him myself, until he went to rehab.
But now, he has proven that his mental hardware is NFL-ready. With a few stumbles and missed opportunities such as any inexperienced quarterback can be relied on to make, he's been doing it all season.
It's a new skill for him. It's not natural for him, and is contrary to his scrambling instincts.
That's why he has to keep doing it in live games for the rest of this season.
But you see, I've seen that, along with those natural instincts that let him turn disaster into touchdowns, he can make the right calls at the line, and the right reads from the pocket.
Why hasn't Craig seen this? Why can't Tony Grossi? Why is the standard for this second year, first-time starter so much higher than for any other quarterback?
How good can he become? I don't know. But obviously, he's already shown that he can be a top ten quarterback, and very soon.
Faith throws? Pat Kirwan really doesn't like Johnny, no matter what. He said he'd cut a quarterback who said that.
That stunned me, since Pat knows perfectly well that any timing offense requires a quarterback to throw to designated spots at designated times, whether he can see the receiver or not.
The very fact that Johnny is making them is a sign of progress, since many young quarterbacks will stubbornly refuse to make those throws until they can see the receiver, which screws up the whole offense and makes them eat the ball.
Maybe Craig listens to Pat.
I will say right here and now: If he doesn't get hurt, Johnny Manziel will develop into another Russell Wilson, if not a Drew Brees.
And I'm in good company.
Late addition: Read this article from the Bleacher Report. Excellent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)