Good tidbits TD, but damn that made me realize one thing. I miss actual articles. Half page news paper articles. Everyone's attention span is so short now that there is almost no middle ground on stories. It is either a hair longer than a twitter post or a book.
Had to take summer school, eh? Or did you get held back a grade? Maybe a little too much ?????? I'm shocked and appalled Tim.....
lol Let me rephrase... Used to love to get that paper after school in the early summertime. Except for that one year. That would have been basically all summer, lol.
At least I'm not the only one that sees it like this... Per Pro Football Weekly; Cleveland's Baker Mayfield was the first overall selection in the draft. Shortly after the pick was made, Browns coach Hue Jackson proclaimed that trade acquisition Tyrod Taylor will be the Browns starter. I have heard that claim several times by clubs selecting a quarterback early in the past. It never holds true. Yes, the Buffalo Bills made it to the Playoffs with Taylor at quarterback last season. But the Bills did that in spite of Taylor, not because of him. They tried to replace Taylor during the season because he is just too limited. Taylor doesn’t process quickly and struggles to throw the ball down field — and I don’t see that changing. Jackson is under fire, but GM John Dorsey is new and very safe. Jackson, who went 0-16 last season and is 1-31 since 2016, is in an almost no-win situation. If Taylor plays, the Browns have to win, and if Mayfield is the quarterback, it will be all about his development. We saw with the Rams and Jared Goff two years ago, that if the proper coaching staff isn’t in place to develop a young quarterback, it can be a nightmare. Is Jackson the right coach for Mayfield? Former Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley was brought in to run the offense and develop not only Mayfield but Taylor as well. It will be up to Haley and QB coach Ken Zampese to get Mayfield playing well early. Haley is a premier NFL coach, and I believe he will do exactly what he was brought in to do. I feel that Mayfield is the best quarterback in this draft class. I also feel that, even though he is a rookie, he gives the Browns the best chance to improve. I have seen every snap that Taylor has had the last two seasons, and I don’t believe he can win in the NFL. The Browns staff will see that sooner rather than later. In college, Mayfield was on the big stage and performed well. I expect that to carry over to the NFL. He may not be the Week 1 starter, but Mayfield will start before the 2018 season is half over, and the Cleveland Browns will be better for it.
By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer terrypluto2003@yahoo.com BEREA, Ohio -- Scribbles in my Cleveland Browns notebook after watching the team on Wednesday's OTA practice: 1. One of the decisions that will define this draft for new general manager John Dorsey will be the choice of Denzel Ward over defensive end Bradley Chubb with the No. 4 pick. Dorsey absolutely loved Ward. He had the Ohio State cornerback as his top non-quarterback in the draft. 2. The OTAs are glorified touch football. No tackling. It doesn't even feel like a good scrimmage. But there were some 11-on-11 drills, and pass coverage drills. And this day belonged to Ward, who ran stride-for-stride with Josh Gordon, then leaped to break up a pass over the taller Gordon. He did the same thing to Rashard Higgins. Ward is 5-foot-11, Gordon is 6-foot-3. Ward showed his jumping ability that should help him defend taller receivers. 3. Tyrod Taylor on Ward/Gordon: "Josh is an incredible receiver and Ward was able to make a great play. Commend him for that." 4. Here is the BY FAR, TOO EARLY COMPARISON: The Browns have not had such a physically talented young cornerback as Ward since the best days of Joe Haden. It's also worth mentioning Haden didn't even start until midway through his 2010 rookie season. And he had some rocky moments that year before putting together a pair of Pro Bowl seasons. 5. Ward ran a 4.32 in the 40-yard dash, the fastest of any defensive player at the 2018 NFL Combine. The Nordonia product drew praise from the coaches on one play where Gordon faked him and ran past Ward for a while -- but Ward sprinted back and caught up with Gordon. There was no pass thrown in that direction. What pleased the coaches was how quickly Ward recovered and got back into the play. 6. My thought is, "I'd rather see Ward looking good and being complimented in OTAs than being scorched by receivers and savaged by the coaches because he has no clue what he is doing." 7. The Browns big free agent signing at cornerback is T.J. Carrie, who played at Ohio University and spent the last four years with the Oakland Raiders. This is a very bright guy. Here's what Carrie said about Ward: "Very savvy rookie. Very confident. When you come into this league, confidence is probably one of your best friends because you are playing with grown men. If you are not confident, you lose that ability to play instinctively and very fast. He played exceptionally well today." 8. I had a casual conversation with Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. For several years, he worked for clevelandbrowns.com. He was in Berea to write a story on former Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor, now with the Browns. He began praising E.J. Gaines, the former Buffalo cornerback who signed with the Browns as a free agent. I recently had an NFL executive tell me the same thing, how Gaines is a legitimate starter. He just needs to stay healthy. 9. So it's possible the Browns could open the season with Carrie and Gaines as their starting cornerbacks. But teams often play five or even six defensive backs. Ward will play a lot. It's obvious Dorsey had little regard for the previous secondary. I was told Dorsey thought most of the players were very slow. He also added veteran Terrence Mitchell, who was with Kansas City when Dorsey was the Chiefs general manager. 10. Jabrill Peppers, Briean Boddy-Calhoun and Derrick Kindred are the key returning defensive backs. Peppers will now be closer to the line of scrimmage at strong safety. Damarious Randall is set to start at free safety. Calhoun has played some safety. The Browns should have a lot of depth at defensive back. 11. Baker Mayfield didn't play a lot in the 11-on-11 drills. His best moment was when he was under center, faked a handoff as he dropped back and threw a perfect soft pass of about 20 yards to tight end Seth DeValve. That was a mature NFL throw. 12. A very quick observation after seeing Mayfield in both OTAs open to the media: When the rookie goes to his first option, his throws are decisive and accurate. He has struggled looking at the next options. And that's not surprising. He has a new playbook. He is working some under center, not just in the shotgun. The size, speed and talent level has risen. 13. I believe NFL quarterback is the hardest position to learn in all team sports. Yet, the pressure is there to play rookies immediately when they are high picks. Glad the Browns should not be in that position to force Mayfield into action too soon. 14. Coach Hue Jackson on Mayfield: "He can throw it, He has a tight spiral. He can fit the ball into tight places. He can throw it long. He has all of the arm talent that you need to play." 15. Taylor connected on a few nice short slant patterns with Jarvis Landry. The two veterans also hooked up on a excellent down-and-out pattern for about 12 yards at the sideline. They already are developing chemistry. 16. Interesting to watch Myles Garrett approach Gregg Williams during the 11-on-11 drills. The defensive coordinator and pass rusher talked for about five minutes. You can see their relationship growing. 17. Rookie Antonio Callaway didn't play much because he pulled a groin muscle early in practice. Rookie Damion Ratley (sixth rounder) dropped an easy pass over the middle. You can see him pressing. 18: Jackson on Callaway: "I've been impressed by him, a very talented player."
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2018/06/browns_hosting_lb_mychal_kendr.html#incart_2box Any thoughts on Kendricks? I'd love it if they could sign him up....Our LB depth is among my biggest concerns.
Signing him certainly wouldn't hurt. I agree about LB depth. Believe it or not . . . LB is probably the weakest positional group on the roster.
Yes, I honestly didn't think he would even be looking our way...Since he's in Berea, don't let him out. We need some major depth at the position, and this "depth" actually upgrades the unit as a whole..We have too much cap space, use it now so that we have the depth needed to compete in the NFL. Pretty simple to me..What ever Minnesota offered, add $2M.
http://fox8.com/2018/06/01/browns-coach-hue-jackson-to-jump-in-lake-erie/ The "cleansing" is official...
I was watching a late night Super Bowl replay the other night, and Kendricks stood out as one of the few Philly defenders that was making plays...Not that he was great, but he did make several plays in the 2nd quarter and the fourth. Definitely a key contributor in their SB run..
Mychal Kendricks agrees to terms with Browns on a 1 year deal worth up to $3.5 million, will start, per report https://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2018/06/mychal_kendricks_agrees_to_ter.html done deal.
I hope he comes in and balls out... I'm still not sure what he meant by Rappaport never having his respect? Rap broke the story..and it turns out he was right. Seems he knew before Kendricks did. I think Mychal believed they were still negotiating and didn't want to cost himself any money by having false reports out...just turned out to be true, that's all. I for one am happy to have him on board..I'm honestly a little shocked we were able to get him signed for $3M+. I honestly thought it would be closer to $5M per year, for multiple years. At age 27, he must want a prove it year for a bigger payday. My guess is the others wanted that multiple year signing at the bargain price. I don't care if it's 1 year or 5, we got an improvement in the locker room and am grateful for him becoming a Brown.
Rando: "Hey @SAS... I heard you said Hue Jackson was a good coach?" Me: "No, it’s not accurate. I don’t know who the (bleep) said that. That (bleep) is (bleep). Whoever said that (bleep) is (bleep). That’s all I have to say, man. I’m not really talking to anybody else about it."
^^^^^ Just be warned... I'm saving that as a canned response I plan on dropping multiple times this coming season.
But Kendricks did sign.....so......that means you DO think that Hue is a good coach but just want to deny it at first? Not following your logic here, SAS.
Technically, it's reported they came to terms..I don't believe he has signed anything yet. I hope his ego doesn't get in the way of this deal in place.
