BUCKLE UP BROWNS FANS!!! This is the season we've been waiting for

More on Robinson here.....

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/20...nson-but-plan-to-re-sign-the-left-tackle.html

 

My mistake on telling @bluez that Robinson wasn't released. He was . . . sorta.

Apparently, Drew Forbes suffered a knee injury late in the preseason that was serious enough to warrant placing him on Injured Reserve. However, the Browns wanted to designate him for return. In order to do that, Forbes needed to be on the active 53 man roster as of a certain date and time and there were no open slots to do this. So, they went to Greg Robinson, told him of the numbers crunch and said as soon as we can legally place Forbes on IR designated for return, we will resign you.

It's a bit risky but I think it speaks volumes to the level of trust these players have in the current front office. Technically, Robinson became a free agent starting Left Tackle who probably would have been signed elsewhere in short order. However, because he is a vested veteran, he was not subject to the normal waiver wire protocol. Translation: the time frame to place Forbes on IR designated for return, was shorter than the time frame to release and then resign Robinson.

 

Sorry to nitpick but I don't understand this. There is literally nothing Greg Robinson can do if the front office wants to cut him - procedural or otherwise. I think the trust extended was from the front office to Robinson. Once released Greg and his agent could make a few calls and see if he could get himself a better one year deal if he chose to do so. The Browns are placing trust in him not to.

 

Or maybe they already have a deal and can't announce it because of league procedure/rules regarding this IR move with Forbes. Kind of like the BS quiet period before FA begins where it sure is surprising how quickly those FA deals are made after it starts....
..

 

I doubt the deal changed any. It's a one-year deal. Not much you can do to spice it up other than maybe increasing the signing bonus so he gets it sooner.

 

Not confirmed, but I heard they bumped the base salary up a little. Maybe they did just spice up the signing bonus.

 

He is back and practicing . IMHO Risky move and Dorsey still hasn't done anything to upgrade the O Line . all the horses need the beef up front to open holes and protect Mayfield who isn't the biggest guy in the room . I hope im wrong on this but this O Line scares hell outta me .

 

Oline is important for your QB’s health. Ben used to miss a couple of games a season when our oline sucked.

 

O line. Oh no!
The biggest problem area of the team, not addressed until the first week of football?

I've like Dorsey's ballsy approach to talent acquisition, but this is not one of his best arguments for GM of the year. The fact that the O line remains a question mark is not good and giving up draft picks is making me nervous. 6 days til we find out how bad it really is.

I'm nervous about this. Tons of talent, but the Big Uglies are essential to success.

 

I've seen a lot of hand-ringing over the offensive line, and I just gotta ask... why?

LT = Greg Robinson
LG = Joel Bitonio
C = J.C. Tretter
RG = Eric Kush (for now, Wyatt Teller projected to start eventually)
RT = Chris Hubbard

4 of those 5 guys are the same starters as last season where they (spoiler ahead) were the second-best offensive line in the NFL (and first-best in the NFL under Freddie Kitchens over the last eight games).

Bitonio is a Top 5 guard.
Tretter is a Top 5 center and if not re-signed this offseason, is going to get a lot of offers in free agency.
Robinson, in eight starts last season: 0 sacks allowed
Hubbard, in 16 starts last season: 8.5 sacks allowed - unfortunately, no breakdown by game, but Mayfield was only sacked five times with Kitchens calling plays, so... probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 sacks at most

 

Why? Because whatever they did last year was done last year. So far THIS year, they haven't done shit and the eye test confirms that. From where I'm sitting, the loss of Zeitler is going to have a much bigger impact on the unit as a whole than some anticipate.

 

There's no doubt play-calling and a smart QB can mitigate average o-line talent. But they didn't trade for Odell to run 3yd routes. If they want to maximize their playmakers the o-line will have to play better.

 

So I'm sorry, but how? The Browns are 0-0.

If we're going off of preseason stats (lord help us), then Mayfield was sacked once in 33 dropbacks. I don't know that the starting line as we'll see it Sunday was taking those reps for every single one of those, but that's a sack rate of 3.03% which is *checks notes* down from 4.89% last season.

In the running game, Nick Chubb had one run of 12 yards. Taking out his numbers from the preseason, the team rushed for 3.33 YPA. Compared to 2018 (less Chubb), the team rushed for 3.79 YPA. 2018 would have been Duke Johnson and Carlos Hyde. The preseason numbers include heavy doses of A.J. Oullette (2.40, cut), and Trayone Gray (2.13, cut).

In joint practices - much more meaningful than preseason games - the Browns' first time offense ran roughshod over the Super Bowl hopeful Indianapolis Colts with Nick Chubb leading the way.

I'll continue to not get bent out of shape by the preseason - which actually saw an improvement over 2018 statistically - up to and until the struggles are seen in the regular season to an impactful degree.

 

To me, the loss of Zeitler (and Peppers) is going to have a much smaller impact on the team than the additions of Olivier Vernon and Odell Beckham Jr. to the team.

 

The Browns have the best front four in the NFL. They were unblockable this preseason. Vernon is a big part of that success.

As a team, the Browns had 19 sacks in 16 quarters - that's a projected 76 sacks over a full 16 game season.

[For those wondering... the record is the '84 Bears - 72.]

 

From the Bold Prediction Thread.

http://live4sportnetwork.com/forum/...draft-and-bold-prediction-thread.19758/page-6

 

The Browns are set to unveil new uniforms in 2020 and they’ve made a change to their primary uniforms in the meantime.

The team announced on Wednesday that the league has granted them approval to wear what had been their Color Rush uniforms as their primary outfit for the 2019 season. Cleveland was 3-0 in those uniforms during the 2018 season.

Those uniforms feature brown jerseys with orange numbers and orange stripes matched with brown pants that also have orange stripes. The team will be wearing those uniforms for Sunday’s opener against the Titans. They are also expected to wear them for home dates against the Rams, Seahawks, Steelers, Bengals and Ravens.

There’s no word on what uniforms they’ll wear for the other two home games on this year’s slate. *


* My vote would be for throwback road whites.

 

Thought these were supposed to be *bold* predictions.

 

You often mention Pro Football Focus, especially after the ranked the Browns the 2nd best o-line last year. They projected the Browns to be the 20th best offensive line in 2019 prior to training camp. You can't really have it both ways.

p.s. On no planet is JC Tretter a top-5 center.