Im not sure who is running this team....last yr Hue was sold on Kessler and said "trust him"....a yr later Kizer is starting every week and Kessler is 3rd string....was Kizer not Hue's guy and he has no say in whether he plays or not? It sure seems fishy...also Hue yanked Kizer and said he didnt want him taking any more hits...was that his excuse to go to Hogan? There seems like a disconnect btwn FO and HC
Kessler was never Hue's guy. He was Ken Kovash and the front office's guy. Hue tried his hardest not to play him in 2016, too. You know my stance on Kessler. Hue's buried him this year, making him inactive even, so if and when Kizer gets injured/benched (as he's done in two games now) the backup is Hogan and not Kessler. Kessler would have won the Ravens and Colts games. Not sure about the Bengals because not only was Kizer abysmal but the defense had huge let-downs, too.
It's not the talent. It's the coaching. Browns are 13th in penalties. Browns are 9th in penalty yards. Browns are 2nd in first downs earned by penalty. 19.8% of our first downs come from opposing team penalties, highest percentage in the league. 23.5% of our first downs come through the ground, 25th in the NFL. 56.8% of our first downs come through the air, 24th in the NFL. Considering we throw twice as often as we run (161 pass attempts versus 84 rush attempts), those percentages are pathetic. Current pass/run split: 66/34 2016 pass/run split: 62/38 It's not the talent. It's the coaching.
I don't know if I can buy into this 100%. Sure, I've been hard on Hue's decisions as of late and, IMHO, rightfully so. We all rag on players and coaches who seem to keep making the same mistakes week after week. But, let's face it . . . Hue has been hamstrung with; Three QB's who collectively have ZERO wins in the NFL. That's not on Hue. That's on Sashi and Berry. We all know we have the youngest roster in the NFL. It makes a lot of sense given the number of draft picks this team has had. And, guess what, if you look at the number of picks we have going forward . . . We will probably STILL have the youngest roster next year. That's on Sashi ! It has become apparent to me that, to be competitive in the NFL, you must have players who have "been there - done that". With a very few exceptions, we have players who "haven't been there - and only hope to do that". I think it was TopDawg who said it's like they value draft picks more than talent. That's on Sashi ! This team has been and continues to be devoid of WR talent. Yes, they made a feeble attempt to remedy that through the draft and free agency and failed regardless of the path they took. That's on Sashi and Berry!
Britt put up the same #s as Pryor last yr....I would say they both had below avg QBs last yr....Im sure he didnt forget how to catch a ball in 6 months...hes a vet that has put up decent #s in his career....I think the WRs are getting too much blame here...they deserve some no doubt, but some of these throws are very poor
Once again, the relationship between receiver and QB, as you know stopper, depends on repetition and continuity. Timing and how each player reads a defense must be on the same page and time is the only thing that cures that. Some of the poor throws are just that, poor mechanics, poor read, poor timing...But some of the "poor throws" are because the receiver isn't in the place the QB expected him to be, that can be on either of the players.. The more a QB and receiver spend with reps, the more they understand what each other is seeing and expecting.
Do I think Sashi & Co. have done a good job? Yes. Could it have been better? Absolutely! (I knew a guy who wanted to get Garrett, Hooker, Baker, and Hunt with the first four picks in 2017) However, I do think they're the lesser of the ills in this case. So I agree... 80/20, maybe? So we'll never know what "The Plan" truly was when this group came together in early 2016. We do know that Hue Jackson fell in love with and convinced Sashi Brown to sign Bob Griffin III. Josh McCown, a grizzled veteran, was already on the roster. The F/O identified and drafted Cody Kessler - whom Hue spoke glowingly about - and also added Kevin Hogan to the mix when he became available. The tale of 2016 is legendary, but we burned through more quarterbacks in 16 games than some franchises have in 16 years. Only the F/O's choice (Kessler) and the backup (Hogan) survived. In 2017, the F/O gave Hue Jackson the green light to be the guy who picked the next franchise QB, assuming they had to draft one. So they added another veteran in Brock Osweiler and drafted DeShone Kizer. So in the span of about 16 months, Hue was given to work with: Griffin, McCown, Kessler, Hogan, Whitehurst, Osweiler, and Kizer. Again, since we don't know what goes on behind closed doors we have to speculate based off of what we're told. We're told Hue and his coaches sit down with Sashi and his execs and go through the roster before cuts. Presumably, Hue was on board with this choice - and had alternatives, if he felt strongly enough about. Availability is a big part of the equation, too. I went through the list the other day, but they had the chance to add: Wentz, Trubisky, Watson, Mahomes, and Prescott - the only QB's of note since 2016. Free agent wise, there was nothing (freshly-benched Mike Glennon was the premier free agent in 2017). Trade-wise, there was Kirk Cousins, who's asking price was rumored to be three first round picks, and Jimmy Garapollo, who's asking price was rumored to be even higher.
So, we're back to the age old chicken / egg senario. Is our poor QB play due to shitty WR's or are our WR's shitty due to poor QB play. A clue to this answer may lie in, of all places, Chicago. Like Cleveland, Chicago also does not have a set of WR's that strike fear into opposing defenses. In week 5, the Bears will start a rookie QB who, by all reports, hasn't spent nearly the reps with his starting WR corp as Kizor has with his. It will be very interesting to me how much Trubisky and his WR's are in synch.
Also fair. 2016, the intent was to tear-down and rebuild. We cast off a ton of players. Again, in hindsight, there are definitely a couple we should have brought back (Mitch Schwartz is the easy example). Outside of Schwartz, we lost: Alex Mack - gone, no matter what Travis Benjamin Tashaun Gipson Craig Robetson Karlos Dansby Donte Whitner ... as the only players cut and signed with another squad. Mack, as we know, is an All Pro. Benjamin did not meet his output in 2015 with a new team. Whitner started nine games for Washington, recorded zero INTs or PBUs. Gipson and Dansby would be nice to have back. For 2017, the only free agents of note that we shed were Terrelle Pryor (who had Kenny Britt's offer from the team and turned it down) and Jordan Poyer. Pryor has not looked very good with Washington. Poyer has played well within the Bills' system. He definitely didn't fit Horton's defense, no telling how he would have performed with Williams.
Actually, I'll try to dig up the quote, but I put that on Jackson. He's the one on record saying he'd rather have himself and his coaching teaching the young players and not veterans. To quote Hue: "I want things done my way." Maybe. They burned a Top 15 pick, as well as picks in the fourth and fifth rounds on players in 2016. In the offseason, they signed the top veteran free agent (Kenny Britt) after offering the same contract to a guy who'd just put up 1,000 yards with the team and balked at the deal. Again... availability. No premier wide receivers were going to come to Cleveland. Within the draft, maybe they could have done better. I preferred Michael Thomas, Laquon Treadwell, and Braxton Miller in 2016 - that's 1 for 3. Nearly everyone passed on Tyreek Hill due to his off-field actions. Sterling Shepard looks like a pretty good get out of that class, too. However, Hill and Shepard wouldn't fit the offense's mold anyway. Hue prefers bigger, vertical receivers. Louis, Britt, Pryor, Higgins... all 6'2" or taller.
He wasn't saying he doesn't want veterans though, he was referring to mentors. He was saying he wanted the coaching staff teaching the players not players teaching other players.
Again, to clarify my arguments... I'm not trying to absolve Sashi and the front office - they can absolutely do better. But they have gotten good reviews of their drafts thus far. They knew they were deficient at wide receiver and drafted four of them. As you said, there's a chicken/egg component to all that. In 2017, if you didn't see the clip or read the article, the coaches acted like they'd won the lottery when Sashi took Peppers at No. 25 overall. Outside of the Rams/Eagles who grabbed their franchise QBs in 2016, who else has drafted better two consecutive seasons than Cleveland?
My contention is two-fold; I really couldn't give a rat's ass where a player is drafted. He could be drafted with the #1 O/A pick but if he can't play at the NFL level, does it really matter what pick was used? Who is the top WR in the NFL today . . . Antonio Brown? He was drafted in the 2nd to last round !!! They literally wasted four picks in the 2016 draft on three guys that can't play at this level and one guy with crystal fingers. Add in the fact that they have developed a habit of "Schwartzing" guys who have "been there - done that". They're sitting on a pile of cap space and allow veterans who know Hue's system to walk away.
Couple nuggets on the day, first from Walter Football: Sashi Brown on making personnel decision: Seemed relevant. But perhaps most importantly: Translation: "I'm back."
Again, when have the Browns ever been a top drafting team? The 2016 scouting reports on those guys... Coleman: vertical threat (fits Hue's offense) with a first round grade. First round - 15th overall pick. Louis: vertical threat (fits Hue's offense) with a fourth round grade. Fourth round pick. Payton: big, physical receiver with a fifth round grade. Fifth round pick. Higgins: productive, sure-handed receiver with a third round grade. Sixth round pick. It's not like they reached on players who flopped or took scheme mis-match players. They got guys to play within the framework of Hue's offense in their projected rounds, or a draft day 'steal' like Higgins in the sixth. I'd argue Julio Jones, but let's go with Brown. Follow-up question: what does Antonio Brown look like on the Cleveland Browns as a rookie? Brown had 167 yards on 16 receptions and 0 touchdowns as a rookie with a HOF QB throwing the football. In Cleveland, he'd have had Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, and Colt McCoy. Question: who did they let walk that knew Hue's system? The guys in 2016 would have come from Mike Pettine and John DeFilippo's system. 2017 free agent's who walked were: Mario Alford: kick returner Austin Pasztor: reserve lineman Terrelle Pryor: offered a 4 year, $32 million contract by the team, refused it Andrew Hawkins: retired Josh McCown: starter for the NY Jets Unsigned releases were Gary Barnidge, Bob Griffin, Alvin Bailey, Josh Boutte, George Atkinson III, Raijion Neal, and Glenn Winston. They signed the top WR free agent after Pryor walked (Britt), signed the top offensive lineman in free agency, who came from Hue's system (Zeitler), signed the top center (Tretter), signed a replacement for Hawkins (James Wright) who also knew Hue's system, and back-up linemen Marcus Martin and Matt McCants. All veteran players.
Can't put that on Peppers though, that's what the scheme asks him to do. I've seen more good than bad from the rookie and he's playing out of position, imho.
Ironically, sitting in my sweet-ass arm chair... ... I'm actually as far away from the LOS in First Energy Stadium as Peppers is on most snaps.
