Dutch Oven

9 hours ago, Orion said:

Look, I understand that a mobile QB is advantages over a non mobile QB (all else being equal).  I had to watch John Elway keep us out of 3 super bowls.  But Elway (& Steve Young) ran as a last resort.  We've got a guy at QB who thinks he's Nick Chubb.  He's gonna lower his shoulder and take a guy on and jump up and signal first down.  And HE'S got something that Elway & Young didn't have, the ability to slide...and when you do that NOBODY CAN TOUCH YOU.  

It just pisses the bageezuz out of me that our Quarter of a Billion dollar, 3 first round picks, most important person of the organization, Starting QB...gets himself hurt and out for the season because he's running around with the ball.  

Now, Paul Depodesta would tell me, "But it's THAT athleticism that makes him WORTH the money and draft picks."  To which I would tell Depo, "Then get me a backup QB that can lead us to a super bowl win because we're built to win now and I can't win a super bowl with your Athletic QB on injured reserve."  

But if he sets up in the pocket and gets his knee blown out like Carson Palmer did in a playoff game vs the Steelers, you are fine with it? Got it. 

Did it "piss the bageezuz" out of you when Baker hurt his shoulder trying to tackle the defender he threw an interception to in 2021, or does this only apply to running quarterbacks?

But you are right, and we've gone over this numerous times, calling a run play/draw play with your quarterback down around your opponents ten yard line was not a smart call, and was just asking for him to get injured. 

2 minutes ago, Flugel said:

Slight stretch here; but are any of Kurt Warner's 20 kids or so ready yet?  Believe it or not, I was often reminded Dan Marino was very difficult to sack (and the quick release was only part of it).  Brady wasn't easy to sack either.  Bernie wasn't as easy to sack as he looked either.  It's amazing what the combination of brain cells and vision can do for a QB.  

Today, I'm thinking Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford are what's left representing old school pocket.  I say that; but EVERY time Stafford seems to play Cleveland he pulls out this 3 times in a career Lamar Jacksonesque "you ain't sacking this."  It seemed like it was only exclusive to Cleveland. 

Hell, how many sacks did Roethlisberger get out of in the first half of his career against us? 

8 hours ago, Orion said:

I think that more players would be happier to come to Cleveland if they knew that they wouldn't have to be playing outside in the $hitty Cleveland winter-type weather.  

Does Cleveland ever want to host a super bowl?   Without a dome they aren't getting one.  (Cleveland is NOT New York)

And just think, if / when the team gets really bad again, you'll be able to sell your late season tickets for more money.    

- Never forget, the New Orleans domed Saints came to Cleveland a couple of Decembers ago with a crippled offense and had to run the wild cat quite often...in one of the ten coldest games ever....and beat us because the ball slid right through the frozen hands of Njoku and Peoples-Jones in the end zone.  And ANOTHER TD didn't happen because as Njoku was about to catch the TD pass he slipped on the frozen field and fell on his ass.   $hitty weather is not a home field advantage. 

Super Bowls, huge concerts year round, Final Fours, NCAA football playoff games, possibly the Big Ten Championship if it could ever be wrestled from Indianapolis' grip, etc...

Hell, the Raiders came from sunny California and beat the Browns in minus 30 degree January Cleveland weather back in January '81. 

8 hours ago, Bob806 said:

I think a dome is what will happen, and season ticket holders will be gouged on PSLs. 

There was talk years ago about putting a stadium on the post office land downtown (Orange Ave.). I have no idea if that's still even possible. The City of Cle will do whatever they can to keep them there IMHO.

I saw a couple stories about how longtime Buffalo Bills season ticket holders have seen their prices skyrocket with the new stadium coming... 

2 hours ago, Neo said:

Get with the times and build a dome, or at least a retractable roof. Something like Arizona where they have a natural grass field that moves. 

I think a $2 billion dome might be wishful thinking from the Haslams, even if I totally understand fiscally why that makes long-term sense. 

A retractable dome might be a complete pipedream then. 

8 minutes ago, syd said:

well 2028 is not that far off. So if they are going the dome route they had better break ground quickly.

I'm sure they could get an extension, but it does appear that things one way or another are starting to happen. 

5 minutes ago, tiamat63 said:

 I think the whole "safer scrambling vs in the pocket" is a bit overblown.   The biggest issue between elite passers and pocket presence vs not is the ability to more efficiently move the ball in the air and avoid shots they had no business taking in the first place.

Hold your proverbial horses there... I never said it is safer scrambling, and I do get what Orion is saying. My point is I can name quite a few non-running quarterbacks whose careers were riddled with injuries they received from not scrambling or running on designed plays. 

And here's the thing: Offenses that feature Mobile quarterbacks are EVERYWHERE in high school and college football. There aren't many Joe Flacco's or Drew Bledsoe's anymore. 

So it appears that the Browns, whose lease at Cleveland Browns Stadium ends after the 2028 season, have two options for their future:

1. For roughly a billion dollars, they stay at CBS. What a billion dollars would do for the stadium is unknown, but what it would not do is put a roof on it.

2. For roughly two billion dollars, they build a dome in Brookpark. An indoor stadium outside the city, I imagine surrounded by a "ballpark village". 

So, what say you, Fuzzybritches? (Bonus points for first person to guess what movie that line is from)

10 hours ago, tiamat63 said:

In fairness to Orion, your examples above don't work because two of them played behind the worst Olines in the NFL the last 25 years.  

How about the most famous QB injury that happened in the pocket behind one of the best OLines in NFL history?

I'll take Joe Theismann's pulverized leg for $500, Alex... 

8 hours ago, Orion said:

Flacco is basically nothing like Watson.  This is a monkey wrench for the offense when the backup needs to play.  

Me, I prefer the drop back passer...like Flacco or Tom Brady.  The OLine knows where the QB will be.  They know he'll only run when time has completely run out and there is no other alternative.  I don't like my most important and most expensive player on my football team running around making big fat guys' eyes light up as they're looking for an angle to knock the guy into the blue tent.  But that's just me.  

You like drop back passers, guys who stay in the pocket because you think that makes them safer...

David Carr, Tim Couch and Bernie Kosar all fit that description. 

2 hours ago, tiamat63 said:

Explains that massive comeback against Houston. 

nickers can excuse back-to-back pick sixes when they are thrown by non-running quarterbacks.

Alright Flugs, Gumby and anyone else who would like to play along...

If the Browns had a first round pick, they would have the #23 overall pick. Post three guys you'd like who would probably be available. 

18 minutes ago, syd said:

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam confirms building dome in Brook

The rest of this decade is going to be very interesting regarding this... 

57 minutes ago, Kvoethe said:

Get a life stalker

https://www.pewterreport.com/community/

7 hours ago, tiamat63 said:

 The nice thing about watching Colson, which I still need to get back to Dutch on, is that there's all-22 available from a couple UM games this season. 

 So out of curiosity I'm wondering why the media hype for JJ McCarthy because, uhh, the first round abilities just aren't self evident.

Got any connections to Connor Stalions?

Oh wait... he wouldn't have a ton of scouting videos for his team.... 

8 hours ago, Flugel said:

Thanks Gumbs!  One thing I like about Lindy's Draft Mag is they listed him as an ILB where the Athlon Draft mag just lists all LBers (but shows their stats for all years played, which I really like).  

I was deciding between between Colson and him.  Colson is actually rated higher.  Lindy's projects Colson in round 2 and Athlon projects him in round 3 where they project him as their 3rd highest rated LB and Ford as their 5th highest rated LB. I leaned the way I did because of the 6 INTs from Ford the last 2 years and none from Colson.  Also, I factored in that I put Payton Wilson my list of 5 favorite prospects for 2nd round.  These 2 rounds I made sure we had an OLB and and ILB and both being good in coverage. 

Both Ford and Colson were blessed with terrific DTs in front of them to make their lives against the run easier.

You mentioned UNC's Cedric Gray - Lindy's top rated ILB is Cedric Gray with a projection of rd 1-2 while Athlon (rating all the LBers together) lists him as their 4th highest rated LB with a rd 3 projection.  

The variance of ratings and projections make this a little challenging but it's fun getting more familiar with what they've done and what they can offer teams in the draft.

I like the idea of Colson being a good complement to JOK, which is why I'm intrigued by him. 

If I'm reading this correctly, it seems like this would force kickoff returns.

You can't pooch kick, or the opposing team automatically gets great field position. You don't want to kick the ball through the end zone, because you'll be giving the opposing team great field position. 

Kind of forces you to kick the ball to the returners, and it forces the returners to return the kicks. 

It seems like it gives people what they claim they want. 

7 minutes ago, TexasAg1969 said:

I've been saying all along that Ainias Smith has great hands which makes him an excellent pick to fill multiple roles besides WR. KO and Punt returner too. Why waste roster space on 3 when you can get them all in one.

How do you pronounce the kid's first name?

I sure do hope the "I"s aren't silent 😉

Can you imagine being Woody, seriously though?

His life IS Ann Arbor's football team. It got its ass handed to it by Ohio State for two decades.

TWO DECADES. 

Then out of nowhere his beloved team finally slays its master. He can FINALLY walk around in his blue and piss yellow with pride.

Then he finds out his team was cheating its ass off.

Must be soul-crushing. 🤣

Here's my 3rd round shortlist for the Browns:

WR Devontez Walker, North Carolina 6'2, 200lbs. Good size with ability to get separation.

OG Tanor Bortolini, Wisconsin. 6'4, 310lbs. Versatile interior OLineman. Plays like a wrestler but has great quickness for pulling. 

DT Ruke Orhorhoro, Clemson. 6'4, 290lbs. Very good interior pass rusher, needs work vs the run. 

ILB Tommy Eichenberg, Ohio State 6'2, 236lbs. Smart, tough player. Average athlete. 

TE Cade Stover, Ohio State. 6'4, 251lbs. Might be the most overall well-rounded TE in this weak class. 

CB T.J. Tampa, Iowa State. 6'2, 195lbs. Good size, wingspan and a strong tackler.

S Calen Bullock, USC. 6'2, 193lbs. Ballhawk with tremendous range. 

Yes, I put in Cade Stover again. Perhaps I reached for him  by inserting him into my second round shortlist. Well, here he is again! 😉

2 minutes ago, Flugel said:

Sure. Thanks!  I'll do mine this afternoon.  Biggest surprise I found on defense in Lindy's Draft Mag was them projecting Texas' T'Vondre Sweat for round 3 as their 8th highest rated DT. I doubt he even makes it to #54 overall in round 2.  Athlon has him as their 3rd best DT projected for round 2. As I said in my previous post - these rankings/projections can vary from 1 Magazine/Site to another.

 

I kind of get it though.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of a ton of mammoth DTackles that have come into the NFL and done much. They tend to get exposed as one-trick pony's who struggle to make a big impact. 

Most likely he's going to end up in Columbus, because I can't see anyone picking up the rest of his contract ($19 mill or so) and if Straw declines going down to Columbus, his guaranteed contract is kaput. The extension the Guardians gave him after the trade deadline deal bringing him from Houston made no sense to many at the time, and while he's been very good defensively, he's been roughly a .230 hitter with zero power. 

Infielder Tyler Freeman has been working a lot in the offseason and spring training as an outfielder, and looks to be at least sharing the job now with Straw out of the picture. It appears Brayan Rocchio will be the starter at short, with Gabriel Arias taking over as the utility infielder. 

Nashville seems an obvious choice.

Kind of a dark horse is Salt Lake City. 

@Flugel @gumby73 (And anyone else who wants to participate, of course)

Want to do a top 5 list for our 3rd round pick, like we we did for the 2nd rounder?

I'll start.