To the Browns - Brissett is a great kid. He's not a notable signing. He was available this late into the off-season, and the Browns signed him because their QB situation - despite having now three one-time starters on it - is a mess. They're cushioning themselves against the unknown, which is great, but Brissett isn't doing anything more than Baker did, including his bad games. If you're the NFL, do you prefer: A) Letting Watson play with open sexual assault cases, making a decision only once those cases are closed B) Suspend Watson until those cases are closed, with a further decision to be made at that time The first option can make for a very, very bad look for the NFL. But given how long they've been quiet on the issue, I'm not sure they can suspend him without a definite endpoint, now. This is a giant mess, and the NFL has to be pissed that Cleveland made it that much harder for them with the trade and contract. I feel bad for Browns fans who didn't want to be saddled with this.
Actually they can suspend him indefinitely, pending the outcome. The NFL isn’t the one that made the decision to wait until the 2022 season is over to have the live trials. All Goodell has stated this far is that Watson wouldn’t be placed on the exempt list, which would mean he would get paid while on it.. it doesn’t stop the league from suspending him indefinitely pending an outcome to the lawsuits. I don’t honestly know, is there a precedent of a player playing while being prosecuted, whether it’s criminal or civil?
Brissett couldn’t win with the Colts who were a playoff team with Luck. That Colts roster was loaded with great players too and Brissett had a losing record . I think you guys go 500 at best with him.
The "can" was in regards to image, not rules - I should've been more clear. My point is that if you suspend him now, you're going to raise the question, "Why did you wait this long?". The facts are largely the same now as they were before, so if you suspend him with an indefinite endpoint now, it looks bad. But having him play while the cases are pending also looks bad.
We don’t even know the beginning of the facts. The NFL has access to so much more information than the media and public have. If they rushed to a 4-6 game suspension, just to get it over with, they would have been criticized even more. They are still deposing people through the end of this month. If it continues into July, which with the newly added case it’s a very good possibility, then they could easily go the indefinite route. For the NFL involvement, it had reached a critical juncture. It didn’t have to act before now, because the Texans took responsibility on their own and sidelined him. The Browns have made it clear, unless the NFL puts him on the bench, they are playing him. The Browns front office doesn’t care what it looks like because of “the work they put in on this case and his character”. If they do an about face now, they have to admit they rushed the decision and didn’t actually do their due diligence.
Brissett had two years where he got significant playing time with the Colts, 2017 and 2019.... Colts starting offense in 2017 WR; TY Hilton LT: Anthonu Castonzo LG: Jeremy Vujnovich C: Ryan Kelly RG: Jack Mewhort RT: Denzelle Good TE: Jack Doyle WR: Dante Moncrief RB: Frank Gore, Robert Turbin, Marlon Mack TE: Brandon Williams QB: Andrew Luck, Scott Tolzein, Jacoby Brissett IMO thats not comparable to the current Cleveland roster, yet Brissett still managed a 58.8 Comp %, 3098 yards, 13 TDs,, 7 Ints, and an 81.7 QBR It wasn't any better in 2019, most of the same surrounding cast. Mack, Hilton, Doyle still there, add in Zach Pascal and Marcus Williams at WR, and Quentin Nelson up front. Brissett's 2019 stat line 447 attempts, 272 completions, 2942 yards, 18 TD's, 6 Ints, 56 rush attempts, 228 yards, 4 tds, 88.0 QBR He's never had a surrounding cast close to what he'll have in Cleveland. I think he can do better than 500 with this team. Plus, he will be getting plenty of first team reps throughout camp, as the Browns presumably will be preparing him to be the starter for the first part of the season. That can't be understated. Brissett isn't going into camp buried on the depth chart.
I know I should keep my mouth shut on this. I absolutely am not coming at you again TD, but I don't think they are as far off as you let on. Frank Gore (in his early 30's) is no where near Chubb, but they had a young Marlon Mack as well. Definitely not Chubb and Hunt combo, but both backs were 1,000 yard rushers. This team wasn't even geared towards rushing with Andrew Luck at the helm. TY Hilton, with Andrew Luck, has had better seasons than Cooper to date with Dak. With Brissett, not so much. It made a big difference when Luck was hurt: Brissett: 2017; 966 4 TD 2019; 501 5 TD Luck: 2016; 1448 6 TD 2018; 1270 6 TD Cooper is what he is, 1,100 yards and 6-7 TDs The supporting WRs are unproven for the Browns and really haven't shown any more than the Colts backups. Moncrief in Indy had two seasons that were twice what DPJ were thus far in his career. TEs: Brissett: 2017 Jack Doyle 690 4 TD 2019 Doyle 448 4TD, Ebron 375 3 TD Luck: 2016 Doyle 584 5 TD, Allen 406 6 TD 2018 Ebron 750 13 TD Luck 8-8 2016 Brissett 4-12 2017 Luck 10-6 2018 Brissett 7-9 2019 Absolute huge drop from a "hurt" Luck, to Brissett. Luck wasn't the same after his 2015 injury. He still had some good years, but he was always playing hurt. I still wonder what his career would have looked like had he been able to stay healthy. You will see a very similar drop in production on the Browns from Watson to Mayfield to Brissett, imho. If 13 wins are expected with Watson, I certainly think 11 wins would be expected with Mayfield (since he pulled off 11 in 2020 with similar roster), with Brissett, I will put it about 8 wins max. Mayfield does enough to help the team win, he does more than that when healthy. Brissett only does enough not to make the team lose. Everything else will need to go perfectly to win games. Regardless of how you feel about him.. If Watson is banished for 2022, then Mayfield playing mad is a better option than Brissett.
Actually, Stefanski said last week that backups need to be prepared to play without starter reps. They will be giving Watson ALL starter reps unless his status changes. Now, that status could easily change before training camp, but if the NFL drags their feet to gather as much information as possible. It could easily drag into training camp. I don't think the NFL wants that, so I believe they will be trying to do what they can to bring their decision to a head. Buzbee already hinted their could be more cases added to this already crowded docket. If there are, Watson most likely will be gone indefinitely until the NFL can catch up with each additional case added. I don't think they let Watson start training camp. SO, you are probably right in that respect.
I didn't take it as anyone "coming at me" at all. You have a right to an opinion. lol! When I mentioned first team reps in training camp, I was absolutely assuming that the NFL announces Watson's punishment before we get to the end of July....All bets are off obviously if the league continues to drag this out into the regular season. I really don't think those Colts teams compare to what the Browns have this year, but at the same time, I'm not sure how far off we are on expectations for Brissett as it pertains to wins and losses. You have him at about 500, and I said I think he can do better than 500... I don't expect Baker to ever suit up for the Browns again, and I don't expect to see any dropoff from injured Mayfield to Jacoby Brissett. I definitely think Brissett can play better than what we saw from Mayfield last year, and even in spite of his many struggles, the Browns still were in the playoff hunt to the end....
Well, injured Mayfield brought them a 8-9 record, so you are probably about right... I wouldn't be counting on an injured Mayfield though, in my comment, I would be talking about a healthy one. I think the AFC has improved drastically from last year... depending on Watson, it would start with him. Possible upgrades at QB over 2021: Cleveland Browns: Deshaun Watson Indianapolis Colts: Matt Ryan 2022 offseason mass improvements: NY Jets added: CJ Uzomah, Laken Thompson, Tyler Conklin, DJ Reed, Jordan Whitehead, drafted; Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, Sauce Gardner, Jermaine Johnson. Jeremy Ruckert. I'm not sure any team has done more to upgrade their roster on paper than the Jets. IF, and that is a fully capaitalized if, Zach Wilson is a better prospect than I had him coming out of college, the Jets could go from top of the draft order to top of the AFC East this year. That's a tall order with the Bills, but with Josh Allen money kicking in this season, I'm not sure if the Bills stayed as high up the roster paper as everyone else in the AFC. Without doing an evaluation, it's tough to say. I do think they can catch the Patriots and Dolphins with these roster moves, IF the moves pan out obviously. The thing is, if the Browns can't win the division, do they stand a chance in the wild card? EVERY win will matter in 2022 and I just don't think Brissett will keep them in contention. I think this is a throw away year if Watson is suspended for the whole season AND Brissett is the starter.
Another thing that certainly factors in to wins and losses, is defense. The Browns finished with the 7th ranked defense last year and they are loaded with talent. I'm expecting Cleveland to take the next step, continue the ascent and have one of the best defenses in the NFL this season. By contrast; In 2017 the Colts had the #30 ranked defense and gave up the 2nd most points per game in the league... In 2019 the Colts were right in the middle at 16th, but 11th worst in points against.
Again, this will go a long way to coming true if Watson is the QB. If Brissett is leading the offense to the highest number of 3 and outs in the conference, that will put a lot of pressure on the defense. These guys are studs, but even thoroughbreds get tired...
I don't. Also I don't think Watson will be suspended all year. The main reason for my optimism for this season is not my love for Jacoby Brissett. It's because of the way our schedule was constructed. The softer part of the schedule is the first half of the season. Jacoby Brissett is a game manager that won't give it away. Stafanski famously has the most QB friendly offense in football. The Browns won't ask him to do to much. We can win early behind great defense and power running game, with the occassional big play from the vertical passing game.
If Brissett was good enough to take the Browns where they want to go he would be a starter on another team. There are some very needy for QB teams that didn’t even consider him. Why? Because he isn’t going anywhere where a playoff game is being played unless he buys a ticket. With Watson the Browns have a legitimate chance to sweep the division, with Brissett they are more likely to go 0-6 . Don’t discount the Steelers because the two biggest needs we had were replacing Ben and Dline. All 3 QBS in the competition will be an improvement over Ben’s last 2 seasons, which we made the playoffs. Our run defense was crap last season, but we got our starting NT back now which will make a huge difference in that stat. Any team in the north could win the division this season. Defenses won’t be able to stack the box like they did the last 2 seasons.
If Brissett plays against the Steelers, Ravens and Bengals he will produce more 3 & outs than first downs in those games.
TD.. There is a pretty wide gap in the improvement from Deshaun Watson to Baker Mayfield. There is an equal gap between Baker Mayfield and Jacoby Brissett. I think you are willing the fate of the offense on the backs of the secondary players of the offense. Without the general, the pieces aren't as effective. 8 man boxes are what you are facing with Brissett.. the ground game suffers. The number of looks, as well as the number of accurate throws down field suffers.. This offense is TOTALLY different with Brissett in there. He will be about as effective in the Watson offense as Keenum was in the Stefanski offense. Make no mistake, the Browns won't be running the Stefanski offense with Watson in there. There will be some major adjustments made, or they will have wasted a lot of picks to trade for him. With a hurt Mayfield last year, the Browns won 7 games (Brissett won another one), with Baker out all year, the Browns would have been lucky to win 5. It only takes about two games of film to see what the Browns are doing with Brissett and any defense that is worthy of being called professional will begin shutting him down.
