Mayfield is not the guy and neither is Barkley....let the season develop....it will become obvious in another 2 months
The OSU defensive line is one of the best in the nation and they spent the majority of the afternoon in the Penn State backfield. Barkley has been the entire offense more often than not and the Buckeyes committed the entire defense to stopping him and forcing the Lions to beat a talented secondary through the air. That was never gonna happen. Saquon does a lot of his damage despite his offensive line, which is one of the bigger reasons why his total yards from scrimmage have gone up while his rushing totals have gone down. They struggle to keep defenders from meeting Barkley at the point of the handoff or at keeping penetration from being immediate. My totals for Barkley are pretty high. I'm going to wait until the combine to confirm a couple numbers but I'm pretty confident that this is going to be one of the higher scores that I have ever put together for a running back.
Okay. That analysis pretty much mirrors my eye test for that specific game. So, in other words, in order for Barkley to be effective in the NFL, he needs to be drafted by a team that has an effective passing attack that can stretch the field? Smells a whole lot like what's wrong with the Browns' offense right now. I just don't see where replacing Crowell with Barkley will fix that.
That's not what I'm saying in my post. Against Ohio State, Barkley was met at the line of scrimmage or prior with multiple tacklers and the play called rarely ended up in the direction it was meant to flow. The Buckeyes front had a monster game against an offensive line that has had issues all season, and Barkley was still able to pop a big run for a touchdown and be a component in the passing game. There was a play in the second half that kind of sums this up. Barkley took the handoff and was immediately faced with one tackler that he made miss, the rushing lane was closed so he moved down the line of scrimmage, he made a spin move that made the second tackler miss and as he was trying to escape to the outside he got caught from behind, because he had to try and get around a blocker that had been shoved into the backfield cutting off his escape route. It ended up as a negative play that he had to make multiple tacklers miss just to get back to the line of scrimmage on.
So when he runs for 180 yds and 2 TDs his OL is good but when he rushes 35 his OL stinks? What talented RB can't run through gaping holes
You just described the Browns' rushing game for the past few years. I'm not saying that Barkley isn't a blue chip talent, because he most certainly is! But the Browns have MULTIPLE issues on offense. Burning the #1 overall pick on Barkley simply replaces Crowell with Barkley and does diddly squat to address any of the bigger issues.
How about a little combo of Sam and Kenballs.. Keep Hue Jackson AND hire Josh McD as Offensive Coordinator/Assistant HC? Put's Hue on notice that his replacement is in on place Removes ALL of the OC responsibilities from HJ and lets him focus on the details like game management keeps staff in tact (I think most of the issues lie with Hue being stretched thin) The downside I would see to it is that it would be a shotgun wedding..but it couldn't make things any worse.
Who said anything about his OL being good at any point this season? Barkley has been creating in spite of poor line play all year. However, against Ohio State there just wasn't much to be had at all, and he still ripped off a long gain for a TD and found a way to hurt them on special teams.
I understand this, but I think it significantly downplays what Barkley may be able to do behind the Browns current offensive line. I have a comp in mind for him but I don't want to go on record with it yet until I see some testing numbers. To simplify things, I'll pose a question to give us a baseline to continue discussing from - Do you think that Ezekiel Elliott would have more success behind the Browns current offensive line than Crowell and would that impact be great enough to warrant the #1 overall pick?
Due diligence will be taken, I'm sure. This is only the early returns, but everything I see points to Saquon Barkley being the best prospect in this draft, not the best RB in the draft. I can say with a large feeling of confidence: No matter how much tape I watch, there is no LB or WR in this draft worth drafting #1 overall. I will be watching A LOT OF FILM (Thanks DeShone) on the QBs this off season and if one stands well above, then this is subject to change. As for LT...We finally saw what happens when a player learns from a veteran... Joe Thomas will go down as one of the finest linemen to ever play the game. He is a consummate professional and works at his craft which resonates throughout the line. There is no better example of this with Spencer Drango being thrown in to the starting lineup in his second season. Thomas showed him how to play an efficient LT position, how did he fare? He kept one of the hottest DE's in the NFL at bay the entire day, save one play. If he can do that against Griffin, we might already have JT's replacement at LT. Of course, they will want to get another one in training to back him up later in the draft. I just hope Joe comes back for another farewell year, but I would understand not wanting to live his life out with even more injuries. Here is what "my way too early plan" would currently look like in the offseason. Haslem declares he owns the team and demands results: 2018 Free Agency Back up the Brinks Truck because you will have to PAY these players to come. Jarvis Landry and Kirk Cousins package deal, with the promise of Saquon Barkley in the draft. Use that window of "pre-free agency" to get these two players/agents together to usher in new hope for an offense that already has a promising defense backing them up. The Browns have some weapons in Njoku, Coleman and possibly Gordon...bringing in Landry to pair with Cousins could be enough to land the pair, while giving them NFL shattering contracts the likes we have never seen. Think outside the box, since this is an unorthodox front office to begin with. If you want to take a leap in 2018 you MUST find a couple of veterans to sprinkle into the offense's mix. Kirk Cousins, 5 year $135M, which actually doesn't seem like a lot...BUT, give him $40M up front which is the real kicker here...no one else is going to structure a contract like that. This would make him the highest paid QB in the NFL, even if he isn't the #1 QB in the NFL. That is irrelevant as we cannot pay enough money to get the top QB here. Landry should be a little more simple than that...With the agreement of Cousins "if Landry also comes" will feed this kids ego to the point that we shouldn't have to make him the highest paid receiver, just a little more than his market value. His value is around $10M a year, so you give him $12M a year for 4 years, with Kirk Cousins and call it a day... 2018 NFL Draft *no comp picks calculated Rd 1.1.1 Saquon Barkley RB Penn State Rd 1.13.13 (HOU) TRADE #13 and #64 to move up to #8 Minkah Fitzpatrick S Alabama (edit:TBC) We may not need a trade up with the horrific news of Deshaun Watson this week. This could easily end up a top 5 draft pick with the alternative replacements at QB in Houston) Rd 2.1.33 Roquon Smith LB Georgia Rd 2.13.46 (HOU) Equanimeous St. Brown WR Notre Dame Rd 3.1.65 Paris Campbell WR tOSU Rd 4.1.97 Anthony Averett CB Alabama Rd 4.23.119 (CAR) Timon Parris OT Stony Brook Rd 5.1.129 Jerry Tillery DT Notre Dame Rd 5.31.159 (KC) Justin Reid S Stanford Rd 6.1.161 Elijah Holder CB Stanford Rd 6.29.189 (PIT) Scott Pagano DT Clemson Rd 7.1.193 TJ Edwards LB Wisconsin Please SOMEONE convince me there is a QB in the draft worth elevating to #1 overall. I am looking hard, but I really do not see anything to get excited over. I am being honest when I say, you could take any one of 6 guys (Rosen, Darnold, Jackson, Allen, Rudolph and Mayfield) One of them pan out and become a viable, even if underwhelming, starter, while the other 5 are being ridiculed much like Kizer is now. And the shit of it is, I can’t tell you which one has the best shot at reaching that hefty goal…
You didn't, there just isn't another prospect at any other position that would push Barkley out of the #1 ranking. The QB position, because we all elevate it so highly, is the one position that can move the needle on Barkley.
Barkley isn't a "magic bean" that will transform the Browns offense to the top 5...What he can be is one more EXTREMELY important piece to that puzzle...Crowell, although imho is above average at his position, cannot hold Barkley's jock strap as far as talent is concerned. Crowell needs a lot to go right to be successful, Barkley can make the wrong look right in certain occasions. But, in order for a successful running game to develop, you must have a good passing game...in order for a successful passing game, you have to have a threat of a running game. They go hand in hand for a top offense to emerge.
100% in agreement on this. IF The Browns somehow fix the QB problem in time for the 2018 season, it will almost have to be with a veteran free agent . . . And there is only one worth a shit! That said, I could easily get on board with your twofer plan and kill two birds with one stone.
I don't love Cousins, but I would agree, he's the best option. Rolling the dice on college QBs has netted us 3 guys who simple aren't NFL Caliber. Cousins immediately raises QB play in Cleveland to at least mid level. That is a giant leap for this team, and I could support that move very happily. On the RB / Saquon discussion: I am not a big fan of spending the #1 pick on a RB, and there are plenty of teams that lack a "stud RB". I have two reasons for feeling this way: #1 RB "studs" generally (and there are very few examples otherwise), only last a handful of years, #2 when is the last time a "stud RB" team won the Super Bowl, and #3 Crowell and Duke make a RB duo, that I believe are solid, and thus I don't see a huge leap. For me it still totally hinges on the QB play. Solve that and mid level RBs find success, and it lasts for years, and can be replaced without dramatically diminishing the O as a whole. Not so at QB. I know, nobody is arguing that taking Saquon is an answer without a QB solution too. My point is that if we solve the QB issue, the RB issue is a minor one, and frankly our drop off at WR is far more damaging IMO than the RB improvement gain could ever be.
