I think this ^^^^^ is the real issue with the absolute lack of QB's in the NFL. The farm system (college football) stopped growing them. These athletic quarterbacks flourish in college because the spread, read option offenses used often only face a defense with 1 maybe 2 athletic D-lineman on any given Saturday. As a result, they're extremely successful offenses. Enter the NFL and all of a sudden EVERY player with a different colored jersey is athletic enough to not only catch you but knock you senseless in the process. Find a college QB that ran a Pro-style offense with some success and you will find a QB that is more adaptable to the NFL. Still no guarantee that they will be a "franchise" QB (whatever that is) but they will probably have the work ethic and brains to read a defense (pre-snap) and execute the offense the way it was intended to be run.
If Matt Moore becomes an unrestricted free agent I think it would be a 'no-brainer' to offer him a contract. He would be almost guaranteed to beat out Manziel/Hoyer for the starting job which would probably get him to take a team friendly contract to have a chance to come in and compete for the position. http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/miami-dolphins/matt-moore/
I have to start looking at more college QB's in case we decide to keep Hoyer and Manziel. Will this even be possible with the way the locker room was divided with these 2?
Then give me some options Lym, I'm ready to hear them... On another note, it's official, Kyle Shanahan and Dowell Loggains are one and done in Cleveland.... http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000455399/article/cleveland-browns-kyle-shanahan-part-ways Now we also need an offensive coordinator...My guess is one willing to work with Manziel Maybe Haslem is going to be an interfering owner... I will start searching when I have time. I really don't know of anyone qualified to work with Manziel other than college coaches...I would start there, look at Oregon Head Coach Mark Helfrich, or even their passing and WR coach Matt Lubick.. The top of my list is the same name that topped it at this time last year... Green Bay Packers Quarterbacks Coach Tom Clements...He would be my first phone call to set up an appointment as soon as the Packers are done in the playoffs...
Unfortunately, Irish, there aren't many viable options out there. Some of which we've discussed ad nauseam. Jay Cutler . . . nope. No way! A VERY expensive head case that would cost improvement at other positions. Jake Locker . . . had his shot and couldn't deliver. (Which kind of surprised me. I thought he would be much better at the NFL level than he turned out to be.) Matt Moore (from Tim) . . . interesting suggestion. I personally think he's a Brian Hoyer clone. I guess I would prefer to stay with the known evil. After that, you get into the realm of Mark Sanchez, Michael Vick, Christian Ponder, Blane Gabbert, Matt Flynn, et al. None of which give me even a small chubby (and at my age . . . I would be happy with a small one). So now we're right back to the year long bashing of Hoyer (assuming he's willing to come back) vs. Manziel. It's no secret that Loggains was a Manziel supporter evidenced by his text messages on draft day. It's also no secret that Shanny was infatuated with the "athletic style" QB after his stint with RGIII in Washington. Is it not possible that the split in Pettine's staff when discussing QB position was these two wanted to hitch their wagon to Manziel while the balance of the staff saw what we did when Johnny got his start? I get it, Irish. You still think that JM can turn into the QB messiah for Cleveland. I sincerely hope you're right. But JM has to show a hell of a lot more in the upcoming months in work ethic and accountability before he can begin to change my mind. Thus . . . I'm willing to agree to disagree.
The speculation is that Shanahan was pissed when the front office blamed him for Manziel not being ready sooner. Shanahan's ego tells him to bolt instead of sticking up for himself...it is becoming a recurring theme in his career. Shanahan was granted his request to leave today...not long after Loggains was fired. Loggains was Shanahans hand picked QB coach, thus, gets the real blame for not getting Manziel ready...It could very well be that the Browns told Shanahan of their plans to replace Loggains and that is when Shanahan decided he wanted to pursue other options... Any way you cut it..the Browns currently have 2 QBs on staff, Manziel and Shaw...Out of the two, Manziel has the MUCH higher ceiling. Do I still think he is a QB Messiah for Cleveland? I don't know if I ever went that far...But I sure as hell am hoping he has the skills to become a top notch NFL starter, because quite frankly there are no other options that I would put my money on to be any better. We have this option, we would be discrediting the rest of the team to ditch it for an option that has just as many question marks, imho. That includes Hoyer...Hoyer is what he is and that is serviceable. If we are going with serviceable, then we need to add a lot of weapons to this offense, starting with a new right side of the line that would shut down Suh and Watt on the same team...Then get some guys that can over take defenders single handed, like Dez Bryant. Bulaga and Bryant...those are the new "saviors" of this offense with Hoyer at the helm.
What kind of money do you think Dez Bryant is expecting to see? More than, say . . . $33M over 3 years? I would have to guess he is expecting a LOT more than that! I can sense you're seeing where I was going over on the Free Agency thread. o Bolster the right side of the O-Line (Buluga). (Would have loved to add in Lupati as well but I ran out of money. *SORRY* ) o Give the offense a TRUE fullback who can pick up a blitz -and- catch a pass in the flat if needed. (Kuhn) o Do not allow the opposing defense to stack 8 in the box (Maclin and Gordon). o Keep at least one "Diva Whisperer" to help keep Gordon (and West) in the game (Austin / Kuhn). o Go WR with one of the first three picks just in case the "Diva Whisperer" doesn't work. o Then look at a DeCastro / Warmack type in the draft. IMHO, one is ALWAYS better off with a cerebral QB with heart than with a flashy, hype mongerer.
We are on the same page with bolstering the right side of the line. I believe everyone in Browns country agrees with this avenue of development. The fullback will be dependent on the offensive coordinator. Every offensive mind has a different scheme for players. If bringing in a Kuhn for $2M for a coordinator that only uses the fullback in 5% of his playbook, then that is money not well spent. We need to have a wait and see on that one, imho. I agree on keeping an 8 man attack out of the box, I guess we just disagree on what it will take to do that. Maclin is an above average receiver when healthy. Fortunately for him, he stayed healthy for 16 games last year and is in line for a pretty large payday. What I don't think though, is that he can adapt to just any system and elevate everyone around him. So you can look at it two ways, pay the premium for Bryant, who will get somewhere in the $13-15M dollar range and get a coach in the receiver room and MORE IMPORTANTLY kick Gordon's ass to get him to realize the opportunity he has been given. Bryant is no nonsense and although a bit of a blow hard, he demands more from the locker room, ala Dansby and Whitner. You can get Maclin in the $8-9M range...but you won't get anything but another highly tuned athlete there to just do his job and go home when the coaches leave the field. I think we need more on this offense, and I am no longer sure Manziel will ever bring that leadership. Sometimes you have to over spend in order to fix a problem...That imho, would be a good investment for the offensive side of the ball.
Dez Bryant for $14M/year is doable but Cameron Jordan would be the price. Perhaps not that big of a price given his recent concussion history. That would leave only Dray and Barnidge. What's the TE class look like coming out this year? However, the problem then becomes 2016 as Bryant's contract put us over (an estimated) cap of $150M. In order to give Dez his money, someone (read: Joe Haden) would have to re-do his $14.5M number for 2016 and beyond. And . . . I agree with you about Bryant's locker room presence. Let Austin and Hawkins be the whisperers and if that isn't working, then Dez WOULD put a cleat squarely up his ass.
2016 is a new issue, but not as big as you think... Haden goes up $2.7M in 2016... However... Thomas goes DOWN $ .7M Kruger goes down $ .5M Phil Taylor goes off the books completely, dropping his $5.44M cap number for a player who is hurt a majority of the time, even when he is "active".. Taylor will be replaced this off season one way or another..
then were SCREWED ..DUMP Little Johnny ASAP right along with Gordon . package deal to the Cowboys ? we need a veteran QB to sign . maybe Sanchez ? what a mess *WALL* .. a meddlesome owner ..a party boy bony QB who is easy to defend ..keep his ass in the pocket that is all . he cant play from the pocket . he has no drive or work ethic to make it on Sunday .." SIGH " another wasted first round pick . defend all you want but its a mess .
I'm pretty sure that everybody is seeing increased loading times while our advertisers do their beginning of the year maintenance. It's a turn of the year thing. Companies adjust their expenses and change their ad formats right after the holidays for the upcoming calendar. Sucks on 2 ends - 1. Increased load times. 2. Decreased revenue. It should clear within a couple days.
Tim ..thank you I get IE has stopped working due to a long running script . Stop long running script ? why of course yes stop it . have beer on me for all you do .
I hate reading all these reports of dysfunction within the TOP of the Browns organization . Haslam buys the team ..less than three weeks later the FBI is all up his ass over ripping off his customers .I am assuming that is over with ?? he tells the GM to pull the trigger on Manziel .I am pretty sure Farmer or Pet much like myself didn't want anything to with the little weasel . then they send text messages during games to tell Shanny to call different plays ??? . they shove little Johnny who will IMHO never be ready to play big boy football down the coaches throat because Hoyer went on a slide of sorts . What a embarrassing mess ........again *WALL* Note to Jim Bob ..no more listening to homelss people after dinner during the draft ..keep your hillbilly ass in the owners box . write the checks and stay the hell outta the way of those you hire .. please do not turn into a Jones or a Snyder .
Draft or sing a WR over 6 foot tall . to many shrimps . they are harder to hit . we need a couple guys with size who can go up and get the football . I love Hawk and Gabriel was a very pleaseant surprise ..two is enough .we also still have Benji who is under 5-8 ..
