And it would also likely cement the division title for the Steelers. I like the way you guys are thinking. #SweepTheRavens
Amazing, after all that, AB is still not the best receiver in the NFL. Josh Gordon still has better ability and athletic traits. Deshaun Watson was poor at QB last year and worse than almost all the league despite his exciting plays. ooh, I forgot, there are 11 defenders on the field when the ball is snapped, so there's basically 11 on 1 coverage and AB beats them all most the time.
Now that's news. Congrats to Freddie and to Browns fans at large, if true. It strikes me as a sign that the HC job is set, and whoever they're targeting has indicated they are cool with it, otherwise it's just smoke.
I saw the same tweet this morning. I think that means its a 2 man race with Williams and Arians. It would be another "same old Browns" thing to have another shotgun wedding with a HC and OC.
Not necessarily. Does anyone really think Dorsey is just sitting on his ass letting this search fester? I highly suspect he has already; Laid out his plan. Talked to his top candidates about their intended staff. Relayed this information to the Haslams. In other words . . . the decision has already been made and - true to form - he is keeping it close to the vest. He also knows that Kitchens is probably going to be a hot commodity in about two weeks and (based on the above) wanted to lock him up before the market comes knocking on the door.
I think this is spot on. Dorsey know's Kitchens is going to get interviews and if he keeps having success with Baker, eventually a head coaching gig somewhere. Locking him up short-term makes a ton a sense and is a good condition for the new head coach, whomever it ends up being. Baker is the most important piece to the success of this franchise now and keeping him playing at a high level and developing is paramount.
I don't think Dorsey has been sitting on his ass, that's for sure... He has put a lot of miles through the air scouting coaches as well as college players. He has SCOUTED more college games this season than I think any other Browns GM has scouted live combined over a 5 year period. He doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. I think he genuinely just loves what he does! That said...I do believe he is giving Gregg Williams every opportunity to "prove it" over his interim tenure. I also believe that if he wins these last two games, he will make it permanent. As for Kitchens, I also believe that he has made his case already. I believe Dorsey knows and understands the consequences of letting him go, even if it's by another coaches choice. I believe he will make Kitchens a stipulation of a hire in order to continue the growth of his chosen QB. I believe whole heartily, this could influence some of his short list to shy away from the Browns (not because of Kitchens, but because of perceived power of Dorsey), which could make his short list shorter and give Williams a leg up on winning the permanent job. I also believe that Bruce Arians WILL get an interview, despite what has been said publicly, simply because he has stated (and early on in his campaign) he would absolutely keep Kitchens as the OC, and would highly consider keeping Gregg Williams, if that is what Dorsey wants in the end. I'll be honest, I think Williams has been a better HC than DC since arriving in Cleveland. He has definitely made some mistakes, but he is also under the microscope. Every HC makes mistakes, even the great ones. The way this team has been motivated is inspirational...I know that 75% of that comes from Baker Mayfield, but the other 25% I believe is contributed to Gregg Williams. If for nothing else, he has let Baker be Baker, which is not necessarily the case when Hue was here and may not be the case if you bring someone else in here not names Lincoln Riley(whom I think is not even going to seriously consider a NFL job in 2019). I agree 100% with SAS and Lyman, Williams is my clear choice going into week 16 and I'm not sure even a loss in the last two weeks will change my mind at this point.
Mock Draft 1.0 | Sneak Peek 1.15: Dre'Mont Jones, DT Ohio State The Browns are 26th in sacks (35) with 12.5 of those coming from one guy (Myles Garrett). He can't do it alone. Dre'Mont Jones is the second-best pressure guy on the Buckeyes (hot take alert: Chase Young is first). Through 13 games this season, he has 8.5 sacks and 13.0 TFL's. He also displayed great athleticism on the INT against TCU. This gives Emmanuel Ogbah one more season (his contract year) to really put something together and be the pass rusher he's expected to be. 2.46: Hakeem Butler, WR Iowa State Baker is making due with some good - not great - receivers. Landry, Callaway, Higgins (pending RFA), Ricardo Louis (IR), Breshad Perriman, and Damion Ratley make up a solid stable but we lack a true No. 1 guy. At 6'6" and 225 pounds, Butler is a true red zone threat, but also leads all qualified FBS recievers with an eye-popping 22.1 YPC, making him a great deep threat, too. This guy has a chance to be a riser in this draft and establish himself as a first round pick, but for now I think he's being slept on a bit. 3.76 Rock Ya-Sin, CB Temple As the NFL continues to be a pass-first league, it will become a requirement to have three starting-caliber outside cornerbacks. I believe we have two in Terrance Mitchell and Denzel Ward, but their dealing with injuries this season even further underscore the need to make a choice like this. Rock (great name) Ya-Sin is a big corner with limited big school experience - a transfer from FCS as a Senior, but who plays the outside corner position well enough to be developed. Very solid in man-to-man coverage. 3.91 (f/New England): Mitch Hyatt, OT Clemson Re-signing Greg Robinson in the offseason has become a "must do" and I don't think we should give up on Desmond Harrison, but if the struggles through the first nine games were any indication, we do not have a 10-year plan at left tackle. Hyatt is a four year starter for the Clemson Tigers and was a highly-recruited high school prospect. I'm admittedly terrible at scouting offensive linemen, but it's crazy to me that he's still this low in the early big boards (I've seen him anywhere from 100 - 150 range). I think he's got a good chance to be a very capable starter for a long time in this league.
A loss the the Huesters would matter to me, but a well fought loss to Baltimore I could accept, but I'm not sure Dorsey will. I say that, because clearly Dorsey has had a "list" since he got here, and could still be very inclined to make the move he wants. If Williams opens the door by losing that last game........ An improvement of 9 games is unbelievable (only 7 losses), and nearly undeniable. I absolutely love what triple G has done with this team, and I'd give him a pass on the KC game. LAC is another matter, not so much losing, but not really being competitive, and the Texan game, I don't know. I'd lay that on Baker, but his always deferring any criticism of Baker, and his (at least spoken) decision that he doesn't need to talk to Baker about those things, is a little disconcerting (If I need to talk to him about that, he's not the right guy). Nit picking? Yes, but if I'm Dorsey, I want to talk about those things. It's the long term that makes me think twice. I want our HC to be here with Baker for many years, and I'm in no position to judge the nature of that relationship. At the same time, I understand a new coach's relationship is nearly non existent, so if Dorsey's thinking of another guy, I'm sure he's put that relationship front and center. A fancy way of saying "I just don't know, what I don't know"
Show me a coach that criticizes players publicly and I will show you a coach that doesn't last long... It doesn't mean they didn't talk, or he didn't talk to the position coach, who then talked to Baker. Saying he is going to do, in public, isn't something that is necessary for me.
I wasn't implying he should criticize him in any way. I'm all about showing support in all cases. It's the "I didn't need to talk to him" comments he's made at least twice, that I'm referring to, and it's not to say that it's wrong, but just unusual, and I'd want to hear more about what that meant. Was he simply saying that to deflect any suspicion about whether he has any misgivings, or did he "really" not discuss it with Baker. I suspect they did talk about it, but that he found that Baker was not only aware of his mistakes but also indicated how he would attack not repeating it. If that 's the case, I'm OK with it. I just meant that if I'm Dorsey and that's all I know about it, I need more information about what was or wasn't said, and why. Williams may have reasons that are 100% legit. I'd just want to hear them, that's all.
Interesting article on the coaching decision ahead. https://waitingfornextyear.com/2018/12/cleveland-browns-head-coach-search-impacts-the-future/
Shake and Bake... https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/baker-mayfield-wows-browns-teammates-with-pre-snap-acumen
https://waitingfornextyear.com/2018...ield-delivers-on-hope-against-denver-broncos/ ^^^Baker is amazing. The dude was supremely confident he could turn things around for the Cleveland Browns before he ever even set foot in the building. That's pretty special. He is a confident and talented young man, but it's more than that. He's a born leader. Everywhere he's been, folks rally around this guy. Talk about "it factor", Mayfield has it in spades....I'm just so thankful that John Dorsey saw Baker for what he is, and didn't just dwell on his less than prototypical size, like SO MANY others did.... Mayfield doesn't know what it has felt like to be a Browns fan for the last 20 years, and he doesn't want to know what that feels like. All he knows is that's in the past, and he's gonna change EVERYTHING ...The kid is 23 years old, and he's already had a dramatic effect on the culture in Cleveland football. The future couldn't be brighter for the Browns.
I thought about starting to post thoughts and ideas about 2019 here, but then I thought it would be nice to have some uncluttered talk going on to specific subject matter. I LOVE the conversations going on in Lyman's AFC North Thread and don't want to clutter that with Browns only talk either...So, I decided to make some specific threads of relevant issues moving forward that we can all talk about specific aspects of the off season! I just wanted to explain my thought process to adding a few new threads instead of dumping everything here and have to sift through it... I'm sure Sam can/will add some more specific draft threads by position as we draw nearer to the event, probably in the February/March time frame after we know who has committed to staying/leaving their respective schools.
