Andrew Berry works miracles in the offseason. After the 2019 season, the Browns boasted one of the worst offensive lines, despite talent at spots. In the offseason, they added Jack Conklin and Jed Wills and position coach Callahan. They finished 2020 as the best offensive line in football. After the 2020 season, the Browns boasted the leagues' second-worst pass defense. Berry added Troy Hill and John Johnson in free agency, Greg Newsome and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the draft, and got back Greedy Williams and Grant Delpit. They finished 2021 as the best coverage unit in football. After the 2021 season, the Browns had clearly the worst receiver room in football...
Which is something I have wanted to discuss with you... You can't sell me on the trade down scenario. I have run about 50 simulators, and while it is so early they are not at all accurate, I have only had 2 that have had both Olave and Wilson gone at #13. However, no matter what type of trade I do, I miss out on both of them by moving down even 2-3 spots. When I try to get a 2023 draft pick for YOU, it is always a 2nd round pick +other 2022 picks or lower 2023 picks, no matter what if I move into the 20's. When I do move down into the 25 spot range, I miss out on Olave, Wilson, Drake London, Jameson Williams and in most cases Trayvon Burks. Not only that, but when I move down, the compensation to move back up from #44 isn't the same to get a RT. I have decided I want Nicholas Petit-Frere at RT and he is NEVER available at #44. So, I trade down, no WRs are available, so inevitably I try to trade down slightly for NPF and he is taken right before me..Take him at #25 or so and there is no WR available at #44. It's been an exhausting exercise to try to get the right combination down there. Simple fact is, you miss out on all the elite WRs. Every time I take either Olave or Wilson at #13, I am able to move up about 6-8 spots to get NPT... That 24-29 spot is a no man's land though. WHO do you take there if all 5 elite receivers are gone? We are going to need WR help.. I'm not sure you are getting it in free agency. I think we need to draft for NEED at #13. I know you NEVER do that, but either Olave or Wilson are great picks at that spot and looking through the draft class, I'm not so sure Burks and London shouldn't be rated up in the top 15 picks also. There are some reaches at OT and Edge in my opinion. Guys that are rated higher than them because of position needs. Guys like Charles Cross OT, David Ojabo Edge, Ikem Ekwanu OT, even Jordan Davis and Devin Lloyd LBs. Rankings will change, I'm sure, but they don't even have the mass rising QBs ranked in many places yet, you know they will be there. I want a WR in this draft. We need to have an elite WR who can run the route tree, that's Olave. IF you miss out on Olave and Wilson, as @TopDawg pointed out no one wins contested balls better than Drake London, though I see a lot of N'Keal Harry in his play. I was really high on Harry when he came out and he has been a bust. So that does worry me a little. I would love to have Williams, except the injury bothers me. I can't spend that high of a draft pick on an injury guy that just happened. We will have a lot of discussions between now and the draft.
If you mean he didn’t fit the scheme, then yes. The Rams don’t run an extreme route specific scheme. Both Kupp and OBJ are receivers that find open seams or play to mismatches. Matt Stafford throws to an open receiver, not where a receiver is supposed to be. It we all want to complain about something, maybe it should be our scheme? Now, if the Rams don’t continue to cater to OBJ strengths, how long do you think this lasts?
Well, we can agree to disagree on the level of need between each franchise. I have admitted there is a crack in the armor, but I also have seen things from Baker that I haven't seen from a Browns QB since the return. Just so we are on the same page as far as living through replacing a QB.. In the last 22 years, I have gone through 31 starting QBs since 1999 The Steelers have had 12, 9 of which were backups filling in for the normal starter. In reality you have had 3 starters, Kordell Stewart 4 years, Tommy Maddox 2 years and Ben Roethlisberger 15 out of 16 seasons. The 16th was split between him, Mason and Duck In fact, the Steelers have only had 61 starting QBs since their existence, that's 61 QBs in 88 years. The Browns have had 31 in 22 years of their "rebirth". To put this into perspective, the Browns have had exactly 60 starting QBs in their history, over half of them have been since 1999. I think I have seen enough of what it means to "replace" a QB in the last two decades to know that we are not ready to close the door on Baker Mayfield at the moment. He is the best we have had in 22 years of trying. No QB has had a winning record in the playoffs since Otto Graham, Baker is 1-1 in his young career. He is capable of winning games. IF/WHEN we give up on him, I have no idea how long it will take to find the next one capable of winning games, because we have gone through some pretty major droughts in between. I also believe that a healthy Baker Mayfield is monuments better than Mason Rudolph, so... We are in a different stage of "need" in my humble opinion. Unless you want to have this conversation also..Maybe not on the Browns board, but it is a legitimate question. Browns fans, who here would like to get Mason Rudolph from the Steelers to replace Baker? (this is the only question I am willing to post on the Browns board.)
Scheme Shmeme...Call it whatever you want. He was a superstar when we traded for him. He came to Cleveland and disappeared from the face of the earth for 3 years, and then as soon as he's traded away, he's immediately back to being the stud WR that he's always been. Whether it's our QB, coach, system or whatever that's to blame, it IS an embarrassment to the franchise. Seeing how that all played out, If I'm a young blue chip WR heading into this draft, do I want Cleveland to draft me?
Actually the season we traded for him, he had very similar numbers to the year before we traded for him. It was after year one that he stopped being able to stay on the field because of injuries that derailed his Cleveland numbers. You might be surprised, or maybe not, that was also the year before Stefanski's new system... He was here 1 year without Stefanski and had over 1,000 yards, two years in Stefanski's system and came no where close (albeit injuries cost him a lot of playing time).
Picking a wide receiver at #13 still isn't necessarily a lock. It presumes: Andrew Berry does not meaningfully address the position in free agency Andrew Berry has successfully retained our key free agents (defensive line chiefly among them) The team overall values the position highly enough to spend the resource (in a RB/TE dominant scheme) The player taken fits the offense (again, in an RB/TE dominant scheme) I don't know that I can confidently say the answer to at least those four points will be yes sitting there April 28th.
I remember. I had high hopes after year one. Even bought an OBJ T-shirt that I don't want to talk about. No WR comes close to producing numbers in Stefanski's offense it seems. The last one to do it was probably Stefon Diggs in Minnesota.
The year before we traded for Odell, he posted 77 receptions, 1,052 yards, and 6 TDs in 12 games. Or, 6.4 receptions per game, 87.7 yards per game, and 0.5 touchdowns per game. It's been reported as soon as he was traded to Cleveland he asked his agent how soon until he could be traded to Los Angeles. He played 2019 in Freddie Kitchens' offense with a sport hernia for the bulk of the season. He played through that injury for 16 games, notching 74 receptions, 1,035 yards, and 4 TDs, or 4.6 receptions per game, 64.7 yards per game, and 0.25 touchdowns her game. He played 2020 in Kevin Stefanksi's offense (a RB/TE dominant scheme) for seven games before injury. He totaled 23 receptions, 319 yards, and 4 TDs during that time, or 3.3 receptions per game, 45.6 yards per game, and 0.4 touchdowns per game. After the 2020 season, he demanded a trade or release and was granted neither. He "played" 2021 in Kevin Stefanski's offense again, clearly not trying even a little bit. He played in six games for us, recording 17 receptions, 232 yards, and 0 TDs (2.8 receptions per game, 38.7 yards per game, 0.0 touchdowns per game). Cut and signed with Los Angeles (a WR-friendly scheme in a high-scoring offense). He played eight games for them, gaining 27 receptions, 305 yards, 5 TDs (3.4 receptions per game, 38.1 yards per game, and 0.6 touchdowns per game). 2014 - 2017 (injury): 6.7 rec, 94.1 yards, 0.8 TDs 2018: 6.4 rec, 87.7 yards, 0.5 TDs 2019: 4.6 rec, 64.7 yards, 0.3 TDs 2020: 3.3 rec, 45.6 yards, 0.4 TDs 2021 (CLV): 2.8 rec, 38.7 yards, 0.0 TDs 2021 (LAR): 3.4 rec, 38.1 yards, 0.6 TDs The Rams finished 2nd in the NFL in passing touchdowns, whereas Cleveland finished 20th. That alone explains the difference in his TDs whereas all other metrics were flat. Odell stopped being a "superstar" once he was injured in 2017. He never regained that form. He's never had the same level of success playing in New York for Hall of Fame QB Eli Manning anywhere else. Most damning number is actually probably his yards per target, where he ranked 6th on the current Browns' team (with 6.8) and ninth on the Rams (with 6.4). At this stage in his career, Odell is a mid-tier receiver who is capable of executing plays well in the redzone and who's playing for a high-scoring offense and reaping some of those benefits.
I agree with this, however, even Diggs had his lowest targets since his rookie year with stefanski's only year as the Vikings OC. He went from 149 targets the year before Stefanski to 94 with Stefanski, to 166 and 164 with the Bills. You all are talking me right out of a WR at #13... I would agree with this. 1. I have scoured free agency, how do you propose he meaningfully addresses it in free agency? There isn't anyone available. 2. If the in house free agents aren't taken care of, we will have a bigger mountain to climb for sure. The thing for Berry is, we have them here, they know the systems, there isn't anyone better to replace them in free agency. Why not get it done? 3. This is where we might have a disconnect. Not you and I, but the team philosophy. 4. I think anyone strong in route running, fits the scheme. Both Olave and Wilson fit that bill. I know we don't have a player on this team that runs routes as well as either of them...Well, assuming Jarvis is gone. I might be looking at this the wrong way though. If we address Clowney, Jackson and McKinley, we will definitely have McDowell back, so that would leave Njoku and our RT position as highest "need" outside of WR. So maybe we don't cut Jarvis, that would make a difference in WR need. I just don't see them keeping him with his production vs cap savings in Stefanski's system. In this system you need really good WRs on their rookie contract for success. But, that being said, assuming #2 above is taken care of..Maybe take someone like Charles Cross at #13, then possibly TE Trey McBride in round 2. This would follow the scheme directive of your post.
I think you're selling him a little short. It took OBJ about an hour to move past Van Jefferson,who's no slouch, in the Rams WR room. He's looked much better than "mid-tier" since joining LA...It just makes me sick when I see him making plays and scoring every week. Our leading WR was who? DPJ with 3 TD's on the season...Pretty sad. Beckham's had that in the last two games.
