Wanted to revisit this after I saw someone make a similar argument on the Bird App. Basically, the argument was "our top WR (Donovan Peoples-Jones) had fewer receiving numbers than Cincinnati's WR3 (Tyler Boyd)"... which is 100% correct. Boyd: 94 targets, 67 receptions (71.3% catch rate), 828 yards (12.4 YPC), 5 touchdowns Peoples-Jones: 58 targets, 34 receptions (58.6% catch rate), 597 yards (17.6 YPC), 3 touchdowns Equated for total team market share: Boyd: 17.4% targets, 17.4% receptions, 17.2% yards, 13.9% touchdowns Peoples-Jones: 11.6% targets, 10.6% receptions, 21.1% yards, 14.3% touchdowns And again, if you remove the Odell Factor and project DPJ as the clear-cut WR1 for the 2021 season (e.g., combine their total numbers): Peoples-Jones (values): 92 targets, 51 receptions (55.4% catch rate), 829 yards (16.3 YPC), 3 touchdowns Peoples-Jones (market share): 18.4% targets, 15.9% receptions, 22.9% yards, 14.3% touchdowns (unchanged) Even at this hypothetical level, our clear-cut WR1 is slightly above the production of Cincinnati's WR3. And it's not like we have a Travis Kelce type tight end who's commanding more targets and out-producing the comparable player for Cincinnati: Hooper: 61 targets (12.2%), 38 receptions (11.9%), 345 yards (9.5%), 3 touchdowns (14.3%) Uzomah: 63 targets (11.7%), 49 receptions (12.8%), 493 yards (10.3%), 5 touchdowns (13.9%) CIN (All TE): 83 targets (15.4%), 63 receptions (16.4%), 590 yards (12.3%), 5 touchdowns (13.9%) CLE (All TE): 142 targets (28.5%), 95 receptions (29.7%), 1,053 yards (29.1%), 10 touchdowns (47.6%) Where this should ultimately leave us is with the following conclusions: not only is the offensive scheme/gameplan out-of-date, but the talent disparity between us and our sisters to the south at the receiver/tight end spots is enormous. The scheme is especially holding us back when you compare ALL tight ends. We simply lack talent at the spot but focus so heavily on the position in Stefanski's offense that our "All TE" group leads the team in targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns. What Cincinnati is able to accomplish with just Ja'Marr Chase, Stefanksi is using three players (Hooper, Njoku, and Bryant) to get close. My feelings on Hooper are pretty transparent but until we dramatically upgrade both WR and TE, I think not only will Baker be held back, but ultimately the offense and how deep into the post season we're able to go as well. And of course, instead of just griping about something, I'm here to help - so here's the solution(s): Draft the top wide receiver on the board at #13, and make him your primary target in the 2022 season. Easy, peasy. This should be Garrett Wilson. Re-sign David Njoku and promote him to TE1, he is the best pass-catcher and the best blocker of the group. It's a sunk-cost fallacy to continue to user Hooper when clearly he's TE3 at best. Contract dollars be damned, put him on the sidelines. Draft the top tight end on the board at either #45 or #77. Depending on how the free agency period shakes out, we are going to need a RT to replace Conklin. If one isn't available in free agency, I think #45 is where one comes off the board for us, leaving us #77 for a tight end. McBride, Wydermyer, and maybe Ruckert are likely off the board at this point, so my pick would be Isaiah Likely (Coastal Carolina).
These aren't necessarily the teams you want to be looking at for a QB... We could have 2-3 teams trade into the top 5 to take a QB...It's happened before. I'm just not enamored with any of these QBs to even consider a trade up to take one. Regardless of how I feel about Baker Mayfield, I wouldn't be comfortable giving up any future assets to move into the top five to get "my guy". I don't see that guy in this draft class... But some GM who knows his job is in jeopardy will, you can count on it.
I would love to have a healthy Jarvis back this season. I don't have a problem paying him $16M either.. However, if that is the course you are taking, you better damn well get me a WR at #13 to compliment him. Jarvis will be easier to replace for his role in this offense. We are sorely missing what OBJ was supposed to be to the team. Anyone can come on here and argue with me about the reasoning for the OBJ outcome, but if you watch film, he gave up on this team a long time ago. We need someone that the defense doesn't have an answer for and the more I see from this class, there are actually several that would upgrade this receiving unit immediately. I would love to be able to interview these guys to get a better sense of who they are and know better who I would be rooting for to get the nod. Based on tape alone, I would be giddy with 4 different guys at #13. Olave, Wilson, London and Burks are all exciting receivers with different skillsets. All have shown a skillset worthy of the #13 draft pick. Let this coaching staff sift through everything and pick one. I have a feeling that 3 of them will be available when we are on the clock.
Agree there are a couple teams in the top 5 that won't draft a QB. But they may be willing to trade out of the Top 5.
Hard to take this at face value when they don't understand how NFL salaries work. He's due 14.3M, his salary cap is 16.3M. Easy mistake to make but If I'm a random twitter account trying to into the "breaking news" game I'd get it right.
One could argue that the Browns' strategy here is not to out-duel these teams but rather hold them in check. A dominant running game and a stout, opportunistic defense may be capable of doing just that. The next problem? The Browns lack that kind of defense as well (to say nothing of the risk of relying on generating turnovers)... Despite two Top 5 cornerbacks and the best 1-2 combo at defensive end, the Browns' defense simply did not generate an appreciable number of turnovers. Last season, the Browns played: Kansas City (#3), Los Angeles Chargers (#4), Baltimore (#6), Arizona (#8), Green Bay (#10), Las Vegas (#11), Minnesota (#12), Cincinnati (#13), and New England (#15) in the Top half of NFL offenses. They played 13 of their 17 games against the Top 10 passing offenses. Points allowed / Def. TOs / W-L #3 - KAN: 33 / 0 / L #4 - LAC: 47 / 1 / L #6A - BAL: 16 / 4 / L #6B - BAL: 22 / 2 / W #8 - ARI: 37 / 0 / L #10 - GNB: 24 / 0 / L #11 - LVR: 16 / 2 / L #12 - MIN: 7 / 1 / W #13A - CIN: 16 / 3 / W #13B - CIN*: 16 / 0 / W #15 - NWE: 45 / 0 / L #15A (pass off) - PIT: 15 / 0 / L #15B (pass off) - PIT: 26 / 1 / L *CIN second game was against back-ups Overall, that's 4-9 against top-ranked offenses for the year. The only dominant defensive wins were against Cincinnati (one against backups) and Minnesota. They had two dominant losses (Balimore -4, +2 TO margin) and Las Vegas (-2, +1 TO margin) and the Vegas one you could almost chalk up to us down 22 players and coaches from Covid starting our third-string QB. But that's it... five of 13 games, or 38%. Let's assume we run the entire defense back in 2022 (although we'll at least be out Malik McDowell who had a very strong season) -- we're going to place our faith in the defense dominating just over 1/3 of the games next season where, spoiler ahead, six teams within our division should project to have a Top 15 offense. Without an adjustment to personnel and offensive philosophy, we're projecting 2-4 or 3-3 just within the AFC North. Not a great look.
This becomes even more important in the post season where Browns could potentially have to play: KAN (#3), LAC (#4), BUF (#5), BAL (#6), LVR (#11), CIN (#13), NWE (#15), and IND (#16).
To be fair (article is about Burrow, but they charted all QBs last season)... Baker took 43 sacks last season, most of which were of his own making. The offensive line still played like hot garbage in a number of games, and ultimately, these two things feed off each other. Baker, not trusting his line, put himself in bad positions and ended up taking a ton of heat. In 2020 (with a healthy RT), Baker only took 26 sacks. His sack rate almost doubled last season.
And again, all these data points are useful to illustrate what our offseason adjustments should be. Examining a serious dearth of talent at receiver point to us either spending heavily in free agency on a wide receiver or drafting one at #13 overall. Likewise, the rotating turnstile at right tackle underscores the need to either again, walk away with the top RT on the market in free agency or invest in one early in the 2022 draft (either #45 or #77 overall).
I certainly agree that those two positions remain high priority for Cleveland and must be addressed. Another position where I think we still need some help is DT, and a player that really stood out during Senior Bowl week was DT Perrion Winfrey from Oklahoma. I don't know if another Aaron Donald exists, and maybe I'm over hyping a bit after watching how the Rams just won the title, but I believe PW has the potential to be a true game wrecker in similar fashion. How dangerous would our defensive line be with Winfrey in the middle flanked by Garrett and Clowney? It's fun to imagine.
So... Either the media is ripping Jarvis this morning, or Andrew has officially asked for a contract restructure or pay cut. I would think he be fine with a restructure, but if they asked for a pay cut, then.. well, he might be gone.
THIS is why, I wonder if it is local media driven. This group of "characters" hiding as reporters drive down the fanbase loyalty, push talent away from the city and block others from wanting to even be here. THEY should be the next regime to go. Fire them and get some others in here like Nathan Zagura who actually over the Browns and give information out, rather than putting out false info (MaryKay Cabot) and negative energy (Tony Grossi and Aaron Goldhammer). They drive up their station numbers because they get the masses arguing with each other. They do their job, but make the Cleveland sports teams jobs much harder.
What else I took out of this... Week one, a loss, the Cleveland offense, especially the passing offense, was in sync. Landry injured week 2 caused a ripple in the offense, but they still kept it together pretty well until Mayfield's injury week 5. I would love to have a healthy Landry stay in 2022 and lead the receiving group, which will almost certainly have a young drafted player added to the mix as well. When you are right, you are right and Jarvis isn't a career injury waiting to happen. It just happened he had his injury during the highest expectations the Browns have had in 2 decades.
Good stuff, Dawg. In regards to the media... I dont understand the Cleveland media in general. Instead of bashing and negativity and 'click-bate', they ought to form a bandwagon for all the fans and give the fanbase positive stuff to root for and cheer for. You'd thing after 20 years of sour grapes they would understand this. Instead they seem hell bent for election to continue in the doldrums and feed the negative hype. Cleveland is a great football town and full of tradition and ought to be treated as such, especially by the residents with a voice (local media). I wonder if its possible for the fanbase to start an up-rising of sorts to get the media's attention... some kind of counterpoint to the powers that be. Just makes no sense to me... hell, other markets who have had their problems with consistant winning are not drawing this much negative attention. These folks, like the local papers, interviewers, columnist and twitter types need a fresh awakening and some stout, straight-forward reprimand. Like in the movie... "im mad as hell and im not going to take it anymore!" The Browns org and its fanbase deserve better, they should be respected. Time for the players, coaches and 'loyal' fans to not take any more shit and start throwing back questions to their questions instead of answers. ...end rant.
