Ricardo Louis - although not pegged for greatness, already done for the season. Josh Gordon - question marks abound surrounding his mental state. Corey Coleman - can he make it through the McDonalds drive-thru without breaking one of his hands? Antonio Calloway - one dixie cup away from selling used cars. Welcome to Cleveland, Dez???
More and more buzz surrounding Dez and Odell. It almost seems like Odell wants to come here... it's weird. I don't see the Giants trading their best player away unless they go full on rebuild mode, moving on from Manning. Dez has contended all along that he would hold out for the right opportunity for a playoff contender, then proceeded to immediately turn down Baltimore. Is it that no one else has called, in the proposed interest in Cleveland all of a sudden, or does he see us as more of a contender than the Ravens? There is a lot of buzz about the Browns this year. I'm starting to agree with some of the posters on here that Hue may be in a 9 win or bust situation. That's a tall order after a 1-31 two seasons, but man, wouldn't it be nice to see some competitive football on Sundays again? It's been a long time!
This comment is even better if you read in the voice of the old 60's Batman announcer's voice at the end of each episode...........
To be clear . . . None of us know if Bryant has any interest in Cleveland whatsoever. All we know is that Dorsey admitted that the front office has discussed him (along with countless others) as would be expected. I personnally think Dez's best days are behind him but what he still has in the tank is an upgrade to what's left in the WR room should the worse case happen to the last three guys on my list.
The policy has changed a bit. We don't know if he began his career in the NFL substance abuse program or not, but even if he did, he gets two failed tests without suspension. First violation: added to substance abuse program Second violation: fined (two games) Third violation: fined (four games) Fourth violation: suspended (four games) Fifth violation: suspended (10 games) Sixth violation: suspended (one year) Targets and snaps leader among wide receivers, yet his production (27 receptions, 357 yards, 0 TD) could be replaced by a street free agent. Commitment to the playbook and ability to stay healthy are valid concerns. I think this is very much a make-or-break season for him. Now, improved quarterback play as well as less pressure to perform (Gordon, Landry, Njoku, Johnson Jr. at a minimum should see more targets) could allow him to play a little more loose. By all accounts, he's being proactive in his treatment. He's not relapsing, he's not suspended, he's not in trouble for anything. I still strongly believe he is looking to get out of the Hard Knocks spotlight - he's always been more reclusive and withdrawn. I'd expect him back in the preseason and dominating in September. Dez is four seasons away from a dominant year. He's unwanted by contenders and now perhaps courting the Browns as he worries about a paycheck. We could certainly do worse in adding a veteran free agent - and have - but adding him to the roster would put him somewhere in the #3 or #4 guy in the pecking order of targets: Landry, Gordon, Johnson Jr., Njoku, [*coughs* DeValve *coughs*], and then Dez?
Not trying to be argumentative but . . . We DID see some competitive football last year. Sure, 0-16 sucks but I (personally) consider any game decided by less than 10 points as competitive. Out of the 16 losses last year, 8 were decided by less than 10 points with 2 of them going to overtime. Of those 8, four were to 2017 playoff teams. Of the 4 losses to non-playoff teams (IND -3, NYJ -3, LAC -9 and GB -6) the combined point differential average was only 5 1/4 points with the worst being a 9 point loss to the Chargers. (granted, the 6 point loss to the Packers was against an Aaron Rodger-less offence.) Make no mistake . . . I am in no way condoning 0-16. I simply believe that, even with the QB play we wittnessed last year, the Browns were competitive in half of the 16 losses.
You guys were competitive against the Steelers twice last season. Granted the last game was against mostly second teamers.
I lay a good portion of this on that horrendous + / - in the turnover department. Too many on OFF and not enough recovered on DEF.
^^^^^ The fact that Hue only got on board with the Mayfield pick after Dorsey (1) told him that's who he was taking, and (2) the rest of the F/O corroborated the decision was the individual workout they had with him in Norman should tell us just how successful Mayfield will be. There was no mention of "trusting" him, earth moving, or preferring a safety instead.
I know NOBODY will ever change your mind about Hue Jackson. In your mind he sucks and is totally responsable for 1-31. But the fact of the matter remains: There was only one person with the responsability for putting together that 1-31 roster. Not Hue Jackson. Not Dee Haslam. Not Jimmy Haslam. Not some homeless dude. Shashi. Brown. Period.
What I don’t understand about the Browns is that Sashi and Haslem both came from the Steelers organization.
In all fairness he missed 10 games in 2015 and 2016 combined. Also, in the last 4 years he has played with start studded QBs like Brandon Weeden, Matt GD Cassell, Kellen Moore, and Mark Sanchez. Over that time, with QB play equivalent to the Browns, and an increasing reliance on the run his game avg was: 4.5 reception, 63 yds, .6 TD Over a season 72 rec, 1008 yds, 9.6TD Its not all Pro, but damn close to his 3 years he was considered at the top of the list where he was basically 90/1300/13. I'm not saying we should definitely go get him, but I am saying that his decline is not all on his abilities.
I'm not going to co-opt this thread with old debates, so this will be my last post on the subject: 1. If you think one man within an entire football organization is wholly responsible for the entire shape of a roster, you have a very warped view of football organizations. 2. If Sashi Brown did in fact have that much power, I will concede point #1 and rebuttal with this: if the Browns did indeed take this incredibly silo'd approach wherein one person had ultimate power over shaping the roster, the job of the coaches would be to develop that talent and they went from 1-15 to 0-16 under Hue Jackson. 3. If this is Sashi Brown's fault because he was "the guy who simply signed off on the moves", that is a gross over-simplification of the situation and a massive scapegoating of someone. You can absolutely hold that viewpoint, but we cannot have an earnest discussion on the subject.
