Its going to be hard to Winston to show much of anything once his rumored suspension drops. Last I checked, he gets a stat sheet full of goose eggs for those games.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...93ll1gz?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter The reviews are in, and in case you couldn't tell, Baker Mayfield crushed Colin Cowherd...
The Browns could transform just with average quarterback play (where have I heard that ^^^ before?) Tyrod Taylor (left) and Baker Mayfield (right) give the Browns two real options at quarterback. John Kuntz, cleveland.com EXPLAINING 3RD & SHORT CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It's nice to know that when Cleveland is backed against a wall, Myles Garrett will be there. And it's also nice to know that Garrett admires building things and sticking around -- and not jumping onto winners. Garrett's radio interview on 92.3 The Fan this week criticized Kevin Durant for taking what Garrett clearly saw as a shortcut to success by joining Golden State. That's the kind of thing that should have endeared Garrett to plenty of Cavs fans. But it also should have reassured Browns fans about how their No. 1 pick from 2017 views team-building while part of a franchise that has lost 31 of its last 32 games. "Me, I'm too competitive to try and ride on somebody's coattails to get a W," Garrett said. In Cleveland, he'll always be a coattail. If the Browns are going to win, they're going to be riding him. Even if this is what any player should say, it's a plus to hear a top pick on a bad team make that clear. Now onto 3rd & Short, a column about Cleveland sports that would happily ride the coattails of any successful entity willing to give us a hand. Either Baker Mayfield (left) or Tyrod Taylor (right) should provide the Browns better quarterback play than they've received in decades. John Kuntz, cleveland.com EVEN AVERAGE QB PLAY COULD TRANSFORM THE BROWNS Average quarterback play is such a foreign concept in Cleveland, Josh Gordon saw stars this week playing with Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield. "The most talented quarterbacks I've seen come through here, by far," Gordon said after the opening of Browns mandatory minicamp. "I don't see how it can go wrong, really." Such optimism. But in the land of no quarterbacks (otherwise known as The Land), the competent quarterback is king. Every Cleveland sports fan knows about the never-ending quarterback jersey and the 28 starters since 1999. But why stick to old misery when you can analyze past quarterback misery in new and exciting ways? Consider this. The Browns, as a team, haven't ranked in the top half of the NFL in team QB passer rating since ... 1992. That's 25 years and 22 seasons without the Browns able to claim they were even above average in throwing the football. Here, in all its glory, is the Browns team passer rating and NFL rank, from 2017 to 1992: 2017: 61.4 (32) 2016: 77.4 (28) 2015: 84.0 (25) 2014: 72.9 (31) 2013: 75.7 (25) 2012: 73.5 (29) 2011: 72.8 (29) 2010: 75.0 (28) 2009: 55.8 (32) 2008: 54.8 (32) 2007: 80.7 (17) 2006: 69.8 (29) 2005: 74.6 (22) 2004: 74.9 (23) 2003: 75.2 (19) 2002: 80.5 (18) 2001: 74.3 (23) 2000: 63.4 (29) 1999: 73.5 (22) 1995: 76.6 (18) 1994: 68.6 (25) 1993: 76.2 (15) That's a long time to get back to 1992, when the Browns ranked eighth in the league at 82.7, thanks to Mike Tomczak, Bernie Koser and Todd Philcox combining for 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The best passing teams in the NFL that year? San Francisco (Steve Young), Atlanta (Chris Wilson, Wade Wilson, Billy Joe Tolliver) and Dallas (Troy Aikman). That's ancient NFL history. Billy Joe Tolliver? Since then, from 1993 to 2017, the Browns have thrown 415 interceptions and 389 touchdowns. Their 1.11 touchdown passes per game is the worst in the league since 1993. Their 1.18 interceptions per game is second-worst in the league behind the Cardinals. It's beyond miserable. That can make Taylor and Mayfield seem like magic. That's not how anyone needs to be viewing them. Here are three things to keep in mind about the Browns and their quarterback situation, and how 25 years of not even average play can affect how you think about the quarterbacks now. Tyrod Taylor is just what the Browns need. There's no reason to make him out to be more than he is. John Kuntz, cleveland.com 3. You think Tyrod Taylor is a savior Taylor stands out in Cleveland because he's exactly what Browns quarterbacks haven't been -- average. Taylor's rating last year ranked 19th in the league. The Browns haven't ranked better than 19th in team passer rating in over a decade. So a Browns quarterback coach may be inclined to say things like this just because in Cleveland, above-average can seem like All-Pro. "He's just coming into his own and this is just the tip of the iceberg. We haven't seen the best from him. ... There's no limitations with him. He can throw it down the field, he can run the zone read stuff, he can run a conventional offense. Anything you want him to do, he can do those things and like I said, he's just coming into his own so we're still finding out all of the areas that we can get him into." That's what Browns QB coach Ken Zampese said about Taylor on Thursday, as reported by Mary Kay Cabot. But actually, we've seen a lot of Taylor's iceberg. He's a three-year starter with a 22-20 record, 51 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He's smart and efficient and competent. He's exactly what the Browns needed and haven't had. But he ranked 23rd in the league last season in yards per attempt. There are so many reasons to like Taylor, but there is no reason to talk as if the Brown got something over on the rest of the league by getting some sort of rising star for a third-round pick. Hue Jackson loves hyperbole. It sounds like Zampese does, too. But for fans, there's no reason to buy into this kind of extreme hype from the coaching staff. Don't let 25 years of a below average passing game make you believe Taylor is something he isn't. That will just leave you disappointed when his veteran competence should do nothing but make you breathe a sigh of relief. Baker Mayfield is a great option for the Browns, whenever they go to him. But so is Tyrod Taylor, the starter now. Don't get too worried about the specifics of the QB battle this season. John Kuntz, cleveland.com 2. You let a quarterback battle become a problem TOO MANY GOOD QUARTERBACKS! Woe are the Browns, who are stuck between Taylor and Baker Mayfield, a solid veteran and the No. 1 pick. What will they do? Who should win the job? When does Mayfield take over? How will the decision be made? Regardless of the answers to those questions, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine and it's fine. We live in a world where K-E-V-I-N H-O-G-A-N started a game at quarterback for the Browns last season because he completed a drive without throwing an interception and Hue Jackson suddenly thought he gave the Browns the best chance to win. T-O W-I-N. So we cannot then slide into a world where a choice between Taylor and Mayfield is an issue. It's not that you trust Jackson. It's that there are two actual options, and plenty of reasonable choices to make on how to handle those two options. Just like with the draft itself, when the Browns had multiple ways to go with the No. 1 pick at quarterback, don't let your preference on how to handle this make you angry if it goes another way. It's fine, because no matter what, it's so much better than it used to be. Robert Griffin III (left) and Cody Kessler (right) were part of the Browns' league-worst QB play the last two seasons. John Kuntz, cleveland.com 1. You underestimate what competent QB play can do DeShone Kizer and Hue Jackson killed the Browns last year. Jackson trying Robert Griffin III, then falling back on Josh McCown and rookie Cody Kessler as the injuries mounted, killed them the year before. The quarterback play has been so bad during 1-31, it has been difficult to evaluate anything else. Sure, complain about the defense or the receivers (truly, go ahead and complain about the receivers) or the special teams. But the Browns threw 42 interceptions the past two seasons, five more than any other team. They threw 30 touchdown passes, two fewer than any other team. They completed 57 percent of their passes, better only than Carolina. They were sacked 116 times, 16 more than any other team. They had a 69.4 rating, when 76.5 was the next worst rating, by the Jets. So Cleveland was 7.1 points behind New York. For context, when you go to 7.1 points better than New York, to an 83.6 rating, you encompass nine more teams. That's how much worse the Browns have been than everyone else. The combined QB play of Kizer, Kessler, RG3, McCown, Hogan and Charlie Whitehurst has been so substandard, fixing one position might be worth four or five wins on its own. Then add in everywhere else you think the Browns have improved. So it's clear people are hopeful about the Browns.
Another reason Tyrod is better off with the Browns than Bills. Todd Haley is probably a better OC than anything he had in Buffalo.
Can't wait for our favorite FSU-apologist to spin this one. Winston: *rape* Winston: *rape* Winston: *theft* Winston: *sexual assault* @showstopper:
Yep. Nuts how a lot of money, powerful friends, and being good at sport can keep folks who'd otherwise be jailed out of the system.
Its in writing on the internet, its true. Do you mean to tell me that fluoride in the water is not turning everyone gay? its not turning frogs gay? If you can't trust Alex Jones, what do we have left?
