Looking Forward to the 2019 AFC North

Yeah, I just edited that I don't think we'll go with him....Sorry to confuse my preferences with what I believe we will actually do. Evidently I made a mess of things...lol!

Too much Gray Goose last night perhaps...

 

If the plan was to keep everything in place, I don't think the Browns (John Dorsey) would schedule so many interviews with candidates from all around the league....Maybe he's just being thorough, but I doubt it.

As much as I trust in Dorsey, I am concerned that Haslam might stick his nose in again and mess things up. You'd think he would have learned after his unwise decision to retain Hue after 1-31, but who knows...

 

Couple of things: I agree that Dorsey isn't likely to hire Williams, and I can understand why. IMO we have enough talent to be a top ten D, and we simply are not. As HC he took a bad situation, backed against the wall, and held it together. All credit there, but what's his message going forward?

If Gregg interviews and indicates he's prepared to choose a DC not named Williams, his stock goes up IMO, but not sure Dorsey's will.

Freddie is too new to have earned the HC job, IMO. Maybe just as importantly, I think getting the OC job will keep him, if that's the priority. Should it be, at the risk of losing the HC Dorsey wants? Not sure.

I read Gase was a recomendation to Slam from Peyton. I like Peyton, but he's a very different QB from Baker, and a technician isn't want Baker needs. Jimmy, just let the football people do their job, listen to their reasoning and don't have "someone in mind" which is clearly outside of your expertise. Talk to people, listen to opinions, but you chose Dorsey and his choice, by extension is your choice.

I worry that Slam, like Hue, is concerned that he is being seen as "not in charge" if he lets Dorsey make the selection. The Haley firing appears not to have been Dorsey's call, that Slam pushed back, insisting Haley be fired too. A good call that luckily (IMO) worked, but reinforced Slam's sense of being "in charge". His ego needs to be massaged and it's on Dorsey to make Slam feel like he's "the man" on this, so we get the "right guy".

Slam's ego could derail this whole thing, if he sees it as somehow diminishing his role.

 

Couple of things: I agree that Dorsey isn't likely to hire Williams, and I can understand why. IMO we have enough talent to be a top ten D, and we simply are not. As HC he took a bad situation, backed against the wall, and held it together. All credit there, but what's his message going forward?

If Gregg interviews and indicates he's prepared to choose a DC not named Williams, his stock goes up IMO, but not sure Dorsey's will.

Freddie is too new to have earned the HC job, IMO. Maybe just as importantly, I think getting the OC job will keep him, if that's the priority. Should it be, at the risk of losing the HC Dorsey wants? Not sure.

Slam is the wildcard. Rumor is that Slam was the one who insisted Haley be fired, with a little help.
That decisions worked out by sheer luck IMO, but it did work, and reinforced Slam's feeling of being "involved" and impactful. I believe he finds Dorsey's "take charge" approach threatening to his perception of himself as "the man". Dorsey has to make sure Slam's ego is massaged while getting the "right guy".

I read Gase was a recomendation to Slam from Peyton. I like Peyton, but he's a very different QB from Baker, and a technician isn't want Baker needs. Jimmy, just let the football people do their job, listen to their reasoning and don't have "someone in mind" which is clearly outside of your expertise. Talk to people, listen to opinions, but you chose Dorsey and his choice, by extension is your choice.

I worry that Slam, like Hue, is concerned that he is being seen as "not in charge" if he lets Dorsey make the selection. The Haley firing appears not to have been Dorsey's call, that Slam pushed back, insisting Haley be fired too. A good call that luckily (IMO) worked, but reinforced Slam's sense of being "in charge". His ego needs to be massaged and it's on Dorsey to make Slam feel like he's "the man" on this, so we get the "right guy".

Slam's ego could derail this whole thing, if he sees it as somehow diminishing his role.

 

Timing. With 8 teams looking for HCs, we have a two fold problem: Can we get "our guy", can we keep our guys, while so many teams are searching?

Dorsey has proven to be a guy who has a plan and isn't hesitant about implementing it, so this could be very quick, but if Slam wants to mull it over, and make counter suggestions, it could slow the process, and allow the candidate pool to shrink. We also could have Williams and Kitchens getting wooed by other teams at the same time. This could be tricky.

I gotta believe Dorsey has "a guy" who he is leaning towards, but also believe he is going to hear every candidate he deems worthy, before he makes his recomendation to Slam. Where he places continuity is a big deal, and IMO this is where the Freddie factor comes in. IMO keeping Baker 100% on board, and growing is priority #1, and if he believes Freddie is critical to that, then Freddie staying becomes part of the package for the next HC. That in turn makes the HC's Offensive/Defensive orientation different.

I think we lose Williams if he's not named HC, and I'm sure that is less critical to our success next year and beyond than Baker being teamed with the "right" OC.

 

I was wondering if Josh McDaniels would be on the list...After that debacle with the Colts last year, I'm not sure how I feel about Josh. I know he's from the area, so that combined with the fact that we have Baker Mayfield in the fold, leads me to believe he would really be excited about the opportunity in Cleveland. For that matter, I think any coach worth his salt would look at the Browns roster and be interested....

 

Gotta like that. This is what I was expecting when we inked these guys to huge contracts a couple years ago. Well done Browns!

 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...nfl-head-coaching-candidates-for-2019#slide14

^^^Pretty good ranking of the top HC candidates. Guess who's at #1?

 

Can we circle back to the wide receiver group for a second? Especially since this is a projection of 2019...

 

^^^^^

I've already seen Rappaport walk Canfora's claim back, saying it was more venting frustration than an actual trade request (similar to Corey Coleman in Ep. 2 of Hard Knocks?) - and his $21 million cap hit makes it seem prohibitive, but there are certainly ways around the cost.

A couple of reasons for it:

1. He's a JAG
2. PIT is tremendous at identifying and developing wide receivers ever since the lessons learned from Limas Sweed
3. PIT could use those draft picks to either fortify the roster for one more run with Roethlisberger, or plan for the future rebuild without him (spoiler ahead: they're gonna need a quarterback)

 

It blows my mind that he's even being considered...

He obviously does well in Interviews. Oh please let this happen. Sorry, but I love Mayfield's fire and fierce competitiveness. I wanna see Baker getting fired up twice every year for Cincy. lol! I know it's kind of petty, but I loved the stare down. I loved Baker's refusal to hug. I loved the refusal to back off calling Hue a fake....Cincinnati hiring Hue would be great for the "Battle of Ohio".

 

Cinncinnati would be a guaranteed two wins for the rest of the division. Please let it happen.

 

Honestly, I think his good buddy Marvin Lewis had a plan for him to succeed him in Cincy. I don't think Marvin wanted to re-up last year, but when the Browns held onto Hue, he did. I think the Bengals are giving him his interview out of respect for Marvin, but in the end I don't think Mike Brown will hire him.

A) He has a terrible track record as a coach
B) Cincy is getting a terrible reputation as an organization of mediocrity and this would add fuel to the fire
C) Hue is openly mocked in media and by former players which looks bad on the organization as well...and that is just as a special assistant. Just think how that would ratchet up if they gave him a HC position.

In the end, pressure from the outside will keep the Bengals from making the ill-fated decision to hire Hue...even though I would personally love to see it happen.

 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2813364-nfl-free-agency-2019-previewing-this-years-class#slide9

A look at this years free agents....

I was a little disappointed this year with Emmanuel Ogbah. I know one F/A I'd love to see Cleveland go after is Ziggy Ansah. He wouldn't be cheap, but he and Garrett would create a lot of disruption in the pocket for opposing QB's....

...Also, i wouldn't mind at all if we invested in a Kicker. Gostkowski would be great if NE leaves him unprotected, but I'd be okay with Robbie Gould or even the ageless Adam Vinatieri. Being weak at Place Kicker costed the Browns dearly in 2018.

 

Agreed...It would be so fun if he did though.

 

Getting? I think that has been their rep for some time

 

Badly worded on my part, I agree 100%...

 

BTW I hope Hue gets the job as well so they can stay inept.