The 2020 Cleveland Browns reasonable expectations thread

Patrick Mahomes (2018): 5,097 yards, 50 TD, 12 INT, 113.8 QB rating

*offseason for defensive coordinators to study and plan for him*

Patrick Mahomes (2019): 4,031 yards, 26 TD, 5 INT, 105.3 QB rating

And that's with one of the best offensive minds in the game (Andy Reid) helping him to adapt to those defensive changes. Mahomes still had a fantastic season, but he was far off from his MVP pace in 2018... that's the nature of those things. It will be very interesting to see how Jackson responds to an offsesason where the defensive coordinators will get months to study him and learn how to stop him.

Jackson had a terrific year and deserves to be the MVP... but he's not the passer than Mahomes is and I doubt very seriously that we see the same kind of output in 2020 from him. So while you're anointing him with one hand and slamming Baker with another, I would advise we all take a wait-and-see approach first.

 

That's some advice that should be given out on this section of the boards much more often.

 

I'm also not tongue-in-cheeking this thing. Average coaching in 2019 would have had us at 10-6 easily. Not hard to envision a turnaround under a qualified head coaching candidate and a quick return to that pre-2019 hype once they're able to string some wins together.

AFCN
Cincinnati: 2-14 (one win against the Browns where the players quit on a lame duck head coach)
Baltimore: 14-2 (one loss against the Browns)
Pittsburgh: 8-8 (one win against the Browns where the team quit... sensing a theme here)

0.500 winning percentage.

AFCS
Houston: 10-6
Tennessee: 9-7
Indianapolis: 7-9
Jacksonville: 6-10

0.500 winning percentage.

NFCE
Philadelphia: 9-7
Dallas: 8-8
New York: 4-12
Washington: 3-13

0.375 winning percentage. *Three teams in the division with new head coaches.

Third place finishers in the AFC
Oakland: 7-9
New York: 7-9

0.4375 winning percentage.

Overall opponents had a 0.461 winning percentage in 2019. The toughest team they'll face is in the division. Unlike 2019, when we had seven games against Top 10 NFL defenses... the Browns are projected to face just four (Baltimore and Pittsburgh both twice), that the Browns with Freddie Freakin' Kitchens went 2-2 against.

 

Last offseason the turnaround was because of Kitchens.

This offseason the turnaround is because Kitchens is gone.

What was that about wait and see approach?

 

Now... if you want to play the "what if" game... I'm going back to 2017 and taking Deshaun Watson at #12.

 

That 2017 draft is gonna be one that's talked about for a long, long time. The failure of the Bears set against what the Chiefs and Texans did right.

Alvin Kamara being passed up by every team. Eddie Jackson passed up by every team. George Kittle.

 

He could only play a tiny bit better than Mayfield, which isn't good enough for the Steelers.

 

The Browns really passed on some big time QBs while stocking draft picks.

 

That's a NO from me too. I want to see Baker have a chance to develop, and sadly, he did not get that opportunity this year. Freddie and Lindly hurt Baker and the team through ineptitude, and baker had to put a happy face on it. You could see it was wearing on him.

Lamar is a freak, and damned near unstoppable. Now.

I give him tons of credit for his performance and his midset. He may end up being "the man" for years, or not. We'll all be here to see.

I would also point out how the coaching in Baltimore is one of the tops in the NFL, and it showed. Lamar is a gifted athlete, and they catered to his strengths in coaching and game planning. Well done!

This season was magical in Baltimore, but some smart HC is going to scheme a D that minimizes Lamar's ability to turn a game upside down, and then the real development will be interesting to watch.

No knock on him. Nothing but admiration at this point, but I still think he and Baker are going to evolve, and we should be in for some truly memorable games.

 

Just watched Lamar and the Black Birds go down again in the playoffs. I was surprised, but my question is: has Vrabel begun to write the playbook on minimizing Lamar?

Is Vrabel's plan the key, or his personnel, or is 3 weeks off just too much time off, for what was a juggernaut offense?

Thoughts?

 

Rumors of GM candidates seem to indicate a deeper dive by Slam and Podesta. Now looking to interview GM candidates with ties to: Stefanski, Saleh, and Dabol.

I think I like that. It tells me they are serious about marrying their HC to their GM, and want a look under the hood of who those guys are, before making their decision.

One assumes they got input from each HC candidate about who they would reccomend/like to work with, and this is a logical next step. Imagine that!

I'm giving Slam a lot of credit if that's what the approach is, especially since time is on their side.

I hope I'm right about this, but it could just be Slam making a show of considering others, while he personally is set on Josh. God I hope not.

Glass half full says they are in fact doing their due diligence and covering all the bases before pulling the trigger. Please be true.

 

Thinking out loud
Stefanski seems like a guy comfortable with playing second fiddle
Dabol just doesn't have a resume I like
Bienemy makes no impression on me, can't get a handle on him
Schwartz is a bull, not sure his demeanor can survive
McDaniels: I'd like to see how well I'd do with Belechek and Brady
Saleh is a guy who sparks my interest, seems to have fire, just not sure how he fills out a coaching roster

 

I forgot about Roman. Don't know much about him, but intrigued by his ability to completely flip an O for his rookie QB.

The problem for me is I don't want my HC to be my QB coach or my OC, or even my DC. Be a Head Coach.

 

Browns site still showing McDaniels on the front. Typical

 

Does Baker have all the tools he needs? Every time I see him in that commercial for the stadium it seems like he needs better tools to fix the toilette.

 

Actually the Cleveland Browns wrote the original. Tennessee just followed script.

 

Are you volunteering your services? The more tools the better, I guess.

 

You should post that on the Packers Sucks thread.

 

classic.