Who gets the blame?

Sung to the tune of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Who'll Stop the Rain?", I'll ask the question of who is to blame for the woes of the Cleveland Browns and with Freddie Kitchens and John Dorsey taking the fall, are there others to blame as well?

It wasn't all the fault of Freddie Kitchens, although, for the on-field failures, it was his decisions in play-calling and personnel that contributed most to the 6-10 record.
I want to make this clear before we start- this isn't a clear the decks' defense for Freddie Kitchens, as I believe that he did a poor job of running the team and I've written so all season, but blame, much like a good Goober Grape sandwich, can be easily spread around.
That said, let's pull the knife out and start spreading.

I've been hitting Freddie Kitchens during game recaps all season, but to briefly recap- mismanaging clock, ridiculous decisions such as committing intentional penalties, coddling Baker Mayfield to the point of a parent giving in to a petulant child, and being unable to gain the respect of many of his players.
All of those are true, but what you wonder is this- With hindsight, how did Freddie Kitchens get this job to begin with?
Yes, the limited experience with play calling in 2018 was exciting, but his only coordinator experience was during those games and his insistence on continuing to call plays even as the head coach strained a rope that was tenuous in doing his job as the head coach, let alone adding the burden of calling plays.
Why did the Browns, whether the decision-maker was Jimmy Haslam or John Dorsey, allow an inexperienced coach to carry that weight?
That alone considering the players involved might have set Kitchens up to fail before he started out of the blocks.

For this exercise, John Dorsey, who was already gambling on Kitchens to start with, gets his share of the blame for the 2019 woes when he didn't address the tackle positions and thought the Browns could get through the season with Greg Robinson and Chris Hubbard at tackle and Justin McCray as a swingman backup.
McCray is a decent enough guard, but he is way undersized at tackle and he's not an emergency tackle, he's the top backup!
I haven't seen a tackle as bad as Chris Hubbard as a regular starter going back to the revolving door that was John St.Clair in the Eric Mangini years and Robinson isn't a ton better.
I realize that you cannot get every issue fixed right away, but combining those two with the trade of the very solid Kevin Zeitler meant the Browns were going to have real issues protecting Baker Mayfield.
I didn't have a problem getting Olivier Vernon for Zeitler and few people count on trading for a player and having him injured most of the season, but above almost anything, the inability to shore up the offensive line (which seemed to basically be- wait to the trading deadline and overwhelm the Redskins for tackle Trent Williams) affected almost all of the problems on the offensive side.
Losing Vernon for most of the year and the suspension of Myles Garrett turned a top-five level pass rush into one better suited for "Five Mississippi" and struggled even getting near the passer, wasn't Dorsey's fault, but his trade with the Giants affected both lines.

Dorsey also can be blamed for not giving Kitchens an experienced staff member that could have helped him with the head coaching items that all first-timers need to learn to do well.
Steve Wilks was the Cardinals head coach in 2018, but the Cardinals look at his year as disastrously as the Browns do this year, so he wasn't going to be much help.
Dorsey also made a major mistake with Baker Mayfield when he didn't add a veteran quarterback when Drew Stanton was placed on IR in September and only carried AAF standout and Baker buddy Garrett Gilbert at quarterback.
Mayfield didn't have anyone to lean on, to learn from when he acted poorly, other than Gilbert, which only continued the feeling that the locker room was filled with members of Baker's frat house rather than contributors or at least people that kept him grounded.

And there's Baker.
While Mayfield played very well at times as a rookie, he rarely approached that form in year two and for the "Pied Piper" and "Hee Hee" stories that John Dorsey liked to tell, he didn't seem to be loved in the locker room either.
Mayfield jabbed at Duke Johnson before he was traded to Houston, which he was chastised for from teammates, would blame the Browns medical staff in a press conference for not doing the right thing for Odell Beckham's sports hernia injury (to be fair, Mayfield didn't express it well, but I think he was trying to give Beckham cover for playing through injury), and would blame the "entire organization" for the 6-10 season after the Bengals defeat.
Combined with a propensity for interceptions and an inability to hit his receivers in stride due to a large number of his passes being high with a lower than expected completion rate, you have to at least consider that Baker Mayfield may not be the "guy" at quarterback.
Depending on the coach that is hired, Mayfield may be able to clean up mechanical issues and get better chemistry with Odell Beckham, but that will take far more dedication than he apparently put in over the last off-season.
It's not all on Baker Mayfield for the Browns lousy season, but he deserves a solid share as well.

Don't forget about Jimmy Haslam either.
Haslem, who changes coaches, front office personnel, and advisors as most people change television channels, didn't give John Dorsey a chance to recover from his poor choice of Freddie Kitchens, has decided to return power in the organization to Paul DePodesta, who was a part of the Sashi Brown disaster, doesn't even live in Cleveland, and his only selling point is not wanting Freddie Kitchens, and his choice of committee to select the new head coach and general manager is limited at best and ridiculous at worst.
The replacements for Kitchens and Dorsey will be decided by a committee of Jimmy Haslam, his wife Dee (Known best for her announcement that the awful uniforms were going to be great and popular), Haslam's son-in-law JW Johnson, DePodesta, and Chris Cooper who runs the salary cap department for the team- not a football person in the bunch.
Haslam, who listens to whoever he has talked to most recently, has created a culture that "needs to be changed" with every firing and never seems to get it right, flips back and forth between the numbers guys and the football guys and builds foundations with neither.

I'm not totally an "analytics" guy, but part of being a fan of any sport is embracing the statistics that are part of that experience and teams should be willing to look at any data that can prove to help evaluate talent, gain enlightenment in play-calling, when to go for two, when to try the long field goal and when to punt, etc.
All of those things can be helpful and putting your head underwater and pretending that they aren't a part of building a team, is way "old school" even for a guy like me!

However, using numbers as the be-all and end-all for your organizational in evaluating talent is a method doomed to fail.
Helpful?
Absolutely.
Should it be most of your consideration when you are deciding who to draft and who to sign through free agency?
Not at all.

Nothing, Allow me to repeat NOTHING should be more valued than your personnel department's evaluations of players from attending games, to breaking down film and in the case of college scouting, traveling to schools for workouts, but even more important is talking to the persons at the prospect's university.
And not only coaches, talk to the guys in the building, talk to teammates, talk to the support people that work with and see the prospect every day as well.
Talking to people that aren't always spoken to can mine huge information and give you data beyond numbers about a prospect's work habits, background, is he motivated for an outside reason, etc.

Allow me to offer an example of this from my personal perspective.
In the 2014 draft that saw Ray Farmer botch two number one picks, one of those picks was Justin Gilbert a cornerback from Oklahoma State, who the Browns traded up to obtain (after initially trading down from the 4th spot in a trade with Buffalo).
Going into that draft, Gilbert was my favorite cornerback in the draft and I watched that draft with my oldest friend, Greg, who always asks me for my evaluations before the draft.
I put a lot of work into my draft analysis (although not nearly as much as the guys that write books)
and Greg's always respected that through the years.
When the Browns picked Gilbert, I was ecstatic because I loved what I watched on video and I liked his size and speed.
Gilbert seemed to have everything that it would take to be a top-notch cornerback for a long time, but Gilbert was a flop and after two bad seasons with the Browns, Cleveland shuffled him off to the Steelers (Imagine trading with the Steelers, if they thought he had a chance to turn his career around) for a sixth-rounder.
Gilbert would play that season in Pittsburgh and then was out of football.

Greg always likes to remind me about Justin Gilbert and he's right that I liked his tape, but what doomed Gilbert were things that I couldn't have known and the Browns should have,
What did the Browns know that I didn't or what should they have known that I did not?
They should have done their diligence and asked those questions with the access that they have and most draft writers do not.
I didn't know Justin Gilbert didn't like to get out of bed or show up on time for meetings and had difficulties learning systems that depended on more than athletic ability- but the Browns should have and yet when Gilbert was drafted, he stated that he never even talked to the Browns.

And that is what worries me most about the numbers crunchers- that they are so reliant on their portion of evaluating and building a winning roster that other departments that are equally important will be either ignored or taken with less value than they deserve.
When you look at the two drafts that Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta were in charge of the draft board, it appears to be clearly numbers-driven and lacks results.

The 2016 draft was filled with busts like wide receiver Corey Coleman in the first round (Taken over Ohio State's Michael Thomas, who ranks with the best receivers in the league), a few unspectacular seasons from Emmanuel Ogbah, before Ogbah was traded to Kansas City in 2019, three third-rounders, two of which are out of football (Cody Kessler and Shon Coleman) and the other was cut and has played well for Tampa (Carl Nassib).
Only two players from that draft are with the Browns- 4th rounder Joe Schobert and 5th rounder Rashard Higgins, neither of whom is a guarantee to remain with the Browns next season with both becoming free agents.

The 2017 draft hit with Myles Garrett at the top of the draft, but their other two first-rounders were disappointing in safety Jabrill Peppers, who was included in the Odell Beckham trade with the Giants, and tight end David Njoku, who by the season's end wasn't even being activated for games.
Of the other seven draftees from the 17 draft, only third-rounder Larry Ogunjobi remains with the Browns and is a solid starter.

I started this by saying the blame could be spread around to many people and all of that rings true.
However, it starts at the top and the Haslam family has not listened to the right people, has not hired many of the right people, and they haven't listened to them when they have hired good employees.
There is blame to be assigned to John Dorsey, Freddie Kitchens, Paul DePodesta, Sashi Brown, Baker Mayfield, and others.
However, no one deserves more blame than James Arthur Haslam III and his wife Dee.
Their questionable decisions, a lack of a solid organizational chart, their impatience, and a desire to listen to too many people has led to this.
The Haslams deserve most of the blame.

Browns hit rock bottom-lose to Bengals 33-23

The Cleveland Browns officially hit rock bottom in Cincinnati in the final game of the season as the Browns visit to the Queen City ended in a 33-23 loss to a Bengals team that had won only one game previously all season.

Baker Mayfield was harassed all day by the Cincinnati pass rush as he was sacked six times to go with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Mayfield completed only 12 passes on the afternoon but finished with 279 yards and all three touchdowns were longer throws of 20, 46, and 56 yards.
The Browns finish at an extremely disappointing 6-10 and finish third in the AFC North.

Brownie Bits

1)  As I was writing the entry blurb, the Browns announced that they have fired Freddie Kitchens.
Kitchens was a risky pick and even though I wasn't entirely sold, I wasn't totally against it either.
The only proven head coach that was available last season was Bruce Arians, who I think wanted the Browns job, but the Browns/Haslam's weren't interested, so if you didn't want Arians anyone was going to be a risk.
I'll be writing more on this tomorrow, but this had to be done.

2) The Bengals pass rush was the difference in this game as they just didn't allow Baker Mayfield to have time to throw.
On the rare occasions that Mayfield had time, he was successful but those attempts were few and far between and even when he got the ball away it rarely was without being hurried.

3) My "favorite" rush from the Bengals came when Carl Lawson moved around Chris Hubbard without even being touched.
Do you realize how few times in the NFL that a front seven rusher ( a blitzing DB can do this on occasion) does this to a tackle?
Not beating him with a speed rush, or being deflected, just plain moving around the tackle for the sack without the tackle even touching him.
Pathetic.

4) The Browns run defense was pretty crummy as well as Joe Mixon ran for 162 yards and two touchdowns for an average of 6.2 yards a carry.
Mixon is a very good back but in no way should he be averaging six yards a carry and he ran for well over 100 yards in their first meeting in Cleveland.

5) Baker Mayfield was erratic again, but his scoring throw to Jarvis Landry was an excellent pass and the longball to Damion Ratley was on the money as well.
Mayfield has wasted a season, but I'm not ready to give up on him completely.
It could be as simple as an excellent quarterback coach working on some flaws to turn things around, but I'm just not sure what they still have with Mayfield.

6) But oh, those interceptions.
None of the three were excusable other than the pass rush from the Bengals made Mayfield hurry his throws a bit.
The fallacy of Baker Mayfield entering the league was as an accurate passer, one that didn't throw interceptions, and as a locker room leader.
From what has occurred in the 2019 season, I would think that questions exist in all three of those areas.

7) Odell Beckham's fourth-quarter touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone while being
covered by two defenders and still getting his feet down inbounds was the type of play that the Browns expected to see far more often after trading for him.
Beckham's score was the fourth of the year and about a third of what was hoped for and even though Beckham crossed 1,000 yards for the season in the loss, it was a disappointing year all around.
Give Beckham credit for playing all season with a sports hernia, but fingers crossed that he gets into town for all the off-season camps, workouts, etc. and starts to develop some chemistry with Baker Mayfield because that was severely lacking this season.

8) Nick Chubb only received thirteen carries for forty-one yards and when Derrick Henry exploded for Tennessee as the Titans played against several of the Houston Texans second-stringers, Henry passed Chubb and won the league rushing championship.
Chubb missed the 1.500-yard mark by six yards and when you consider how Chubb was used (not always well) by Freddie Kitchens it would not be unfair to blame Kitchens for the main reason that Chubb missed winning that title.

9) Austin Siebert missed an extra point for the second week in a row and the rookie kicker from Oklahoma finished the season with more missed extra points (five) than missed field goals (four).
A good rookie season, but the missed extra points need to be cut substantially next season.

10) Jarvis Landry's touchdown catch has to go on the Browns season in review film as he grabbed the ball in between two Bengals defensive backs and then almost strolled into the end zone as the Bengals wiped each other out trying to take down Landry.

11) The Browns gained three spots in the draft after the loss to the Bengals.
Three teams that entered the day at 6-9 with the same record as the Browns (Atlanta, Denver, and New York Jets) all won their final game and moved the Browns up into the draft.
Jacksonville won their final game to finish 6-10, the same as the Browns, but Jacksonville will pick ahead of Cleveland.
The Browns will select tenth in the first round.

12) So now what?
The Browns start with another coach amid rumors that Paul DePodesta is attempting to gain more power in the organization and may have some capital with the Haslams as he was against Freddie Kitchens getting the job, preferring Vikings assistant Kevin Stefanski and was overruled when Hue Jackson was hired over current Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott.
How does that affect John Dorsey's pull in the organization?
Would it only affect Dorsey as far as picking a coach goes? Or does DePodesta want to return to personnel with his vaunted "analytics" after that was essentially a failure for Sashi Brown and DePodesta in their first time around?
I'm hearing a lot of names, some that I prefer to others and I'll be writing about those along with the failings of Freddie Kitchens over the next few days, but I cannot imagine a top candidate coming to work for the Haslam family considering their history.
The Browns are always going to land a lesser candidate than everyone else because coaches are hesitant for work for the Haslams.
Someone is going to have to take a huge leap of faith before that changes...

Browns dump Austin Corbett

The worst pick of the John Dorsey era is finally in the books and off the roster as the Cleveland Browns have realized that where you were drafted only gives you exalted status for so long before you actually have to prove that you can play on the field.

After giving Austin Corbett a chance to play tackle, guard, center and maybe even replacing Swagger as the dog that runs out on the field (Swagger actually is being replaced by another dog at the next home game, no word on whether being a dog of a draft pick qualified Corbett for that position), John Dorsey finally realized that if Austin Corbett couldn't make the active roster each week for an offensive line that won't remind anyone of the 1975 Cardinals, continuing to carry him because he was a high draft pick was no longer feasible.
The surprising part was finding someone willing to give anything for him and Dorsey found someone in the Los Angeles Rams, who sent the Browns their fifth-round pick in 2021 for Corbett.

I realize a fifth-round pick two years now isn't much for a player that was the first pick in the second round only a year ago, but considering what Austin Corbett delivered on the field, a fifth-rounder that isn't a conditional pick is more than I expected to bring back for Corbett.
Of course, they did trade with the Los Angeles Rams, who apparently are being run by the ghost of George Allen considering how they are sending draft picks all over the league. so that could have been a factor in getting a Corbett trade finalized.

Austin Corbett was drafted to be a tackle on either side, the Browns virtually handed him the right guard job after trading Kevin Zeitler and he couldn't come close to winning it, which forced the Browns to go with journeyman Eric Kush and trade for Wyatt Teller from Buffalo and finally made him the backup center and hope he could perhaps replace J.C. Tretter, if the Browns can't sign Tretter, who has been the best lineman this season for them, at center.
Corbett couldn't do that either and as bad as both tackles (Greg Robinson and Chris Hubbard) have been, the neon light is flashing when the Browns are bringing in every lineman that is looking for a job down to Torso Bob to attempt to shore up the offensive line and yet the name Austin Corbett was never mentioned as a possible solution.

Players don't always live up to expectations and general managers miss on draft picks.
But this was a big miss and had Dorsey not connected on a home run with Nick Chubb a few picks later in the second round, the misstep with Corbett would have loomed larger and been an even larger topic of conversation with the fans and Cleveland media.
Meanwhile, the 2018 draft that we were dazzled by just a year ago, doesn't look nearly as strong,
Baker Mayfield has been generally bad at quarterback and Denzel Ward continues to be hampered by injuries on one corner.
Corbett has been traded and even though Nick Chubb has been great at running back, Chad Thomas is playing this year but has been nothing special, Antonio Callaway had a drug suspension with the now-infamous dropped TD at San Francisco and Genard Avery looked to be a day three steal last season, but he hasn't been active once this season and appears to be a bad fit for the Steve Wilks defensive system.
What appeared to be a draft to remember for years to come, has changed to one filled with questions other than Nick Chubb in six games.
Those questions can be answered easily for some (Denzel Ward getting healthy), possibly for others (Baker Mayfield dealing with the " book" defenses have on him, Antonio Callaway improving on and off the field) and with more difficulty for others (Chad Thomas breaking out of the defensive line rotation and Genard Avery getting on the field at all), but they can be answered.
The answer on Austin Corbett though is clear- he was a huge bust.

Browns get Greedy! Trade lands CB in 2nd Round

The Cleveland Browns continue to show how employing football people to run a football personnel department as John Dorsey watched the run on defensive backs in the second round and with the Browns at 49 and the clock at 46, Dorsey wasn't waiting any longer as he tossed a fifth rounder to the Indianapolis Colts to move three slots higher to select my top cornerback in the draft- Greedy Williams of LSU.

Williams intercepted eight passes in his two seasons in Baton Rouge with the Tigers and was regarded as the best cover cornerback in the country by many college football observers.
Williams was thought to be a certain first rounder at the end of the college season, but some reports on attitude and others that questioned his willingness to tackle, saw him slide down some draft boards and as I wrote in my draft preview made him the most polarizing player in the draft.
Some people loved him and had him rated as their top corner and others had several players ahead of him with a second-round grade.
I loved Williams, never thought he would be available in the second round and this morning I didn't think he would fall beyond the earliest handful of picks in the round.

When other corners were selected and Williams continued to fall, John Dorsey wasn't going to hesitate or let a day three draft choice get in his way so the Browns swapped with the Colts to finalize the deal.
Williams is a blanket in coverage and despite his knock for less than physical play, Williams makes plays and shuts down wideouts.
At 6'2, Williams can match well with tall receivers and his athletic ability allows him to stick with smaller ones.

The knocks on Williams were his tackling and an attitude that saw some question his effort in the second half of LSU's season.
Not defending Williams, but like it or not, these types of things will happen more and more as players decide to turn pro and play it safe to try to avoid injury before entering the draft.
I'm a big fan of this pick and the Browns have hit a homer in basically trading a 1,2 and 5 to land Odell Beckham and Greedy Williams- That is a tremendous haul.

I'll be back later with the Browns pick in the third round.

Browns drop the axe on Hue Jackson and Todd Haley

I thought I would be finally writing about the firing of Tyronn Lue by the winless Cavaliers until the word came through that the Browns had finally realized the truth that most observers had known for quite a while- Hue Jackson needed to go.

The Browns gave Jackson his walking papers as the team had reached the point of not being able to tolerate the problems between Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley among the losing after a promising start.

Todd Haley would not have his hand raised in victory on this morning as a few hours after the news of Jackson's release, word squeaked out of Berea that Haley had been let go and relieved of his duties as well.
Many thought that if Jackson was canned it would be Haley, with his previous head coaching experience with the Kansas City Chiefs, who would be tabbed for the interim head coaching spot.
Instead, Haley was on his way out and the Cleveland Browns would be the talk of the league for the latest bout of craziness.

The Browns couldn't even avoid controversy with the interim choice as at first for a short period of time, the word (Unofficially) came through social media that it would be veteran Al Saunders who was chosen as the interim coach.
Saunders had been a head coach before with the Chargers, decades ago, is well-liked and at his age (in his 60s) would be unlikely to be a consideration for the permanent position so it would be an unexciting, but safe choice to make.

Instead, it would be defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, of the manic behavior, potty mouth, and the baggage of the New Orleans Saints "Bounty" program, who would be the interim head coach.
Williams does have head coaching experience from a stint with the Bills, but between the bounty-based past and what I would think would be a reluctance to allow Williams so many chances to sit before the media each week and answer questions before a live studio audience, I was surprised that Williams was the chosen option.
I am fine with Williams, who although wasn't a success in Buffalo, wasn't a huge failure either, so Williams should at least make these last eight games somewhat entertaining and interesting, even if victories may be in short supply.

Hue Jackson should have been released at the end of last season and given Jackson's talent to ingratiate with the Haslams while throwing everyone short of Swagger the dog under the bus for his own miscues, you have to admire his ability for self-survival, if not his ability to accept responsibility.

When looking at the Jackson reign, I cannot look at almost anything and say Jackson did something good or accountable.
This is a guy who insisted that there was no way that the team would go 0-16 and if so, he'd jump in Lake Erie at the end of the season.
Instead of an icy dip in January, Jackson pulled every string that he could to push things to training camp for a nice warm splash, if he couldn't avoid it at all.
These things seem small but were taken all together so many times that Jackson attempted to shuffle responsibility away from himself to anyone else that it could possibly stick to, usually through his NFL Network pal Mike Silver, who used his platform to spread the blame on everyone else like peanut butter and away from Jackson like insect repellent.
Poor game management, questionable in-game personnel decisions, and general lack of discipline with his players on and off the field have made the Jackson era one that could only have been worse in one way- Jackson could have gotten his way at last year's trade deadline and traded a second and third-rounder for A.J. McCarron, who turned out to be so good that the team that signed him in free agency (Buffalo) moved him along (to Oakland) before the season began.
Had Jackson gotten his way, the Browns may not have drafted Baker Mayfield ( whether I agreed with the pick or not, the Browns needed a QB), and the second-rounder that would have been sent to the Bengals was used by the Browns to select Nick Chubb.

I would have kept Todd Haley around as the offensive coordinator for now.
Haley seemed to have clicked with Baker Mayfield and between Gregg Williams and Haley, they might have added some old-school discipline that the younger Browns seem to be in desperate need of.
Yes, his play-calling hasn't dazzled anyone through a half-season, but he was forced to use Tyrod Taylor early (John Dorsey is just as responsible for that as Jackson) and then a rookie QB with fewer weapons than he was promised when he took the job.
I would have kept Haley for the season and would have told him now that he has eight games to go with a deep re-evaluation at the season's end.


As for the Browns, this day should have occurred long ago, and the decision of the Haslams (and I'm hearing more and more about Dee Haslam having more say than was previously thought) to arrange this shotgun marriage with Jackson with separately John Dorsey off the field and Haley on it, was doomed for disaster from the second the decision was made.
Those forced combinations rarely work and the Browns should know that from experience having seen Mike Holmgren and Eric Mangini struggle together, Tom Heckert slug it out with Joe Banner, and Mike Lombardi and Mike Pettine argue with Ray Farmer.

Nothing that the Haslams pull surprises me and even though it seems like Haley has more media and fan support for keeping his job than Jackson, firing both of them fits Haslam's preference for a lack of contentiousness in the front office.
After all, Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi battled for control and the Haslams didn't pick one or the other-they fired both.
Same for Mike Pettine and Ray Farmer, they didn't choose, they fired both.
The Haslams did fire Sashi Brown a year before Jackson, but I would argue that might have been the situation that would have been best to fire both at the same time.
The problem is that although the Browns have constantly been filled with dysfunction through various coaches and front-office types, the one ingredient that is always present is the Haslams themselves, who claim to hate the lack of cooperation and verbal aggression in-house, yet continue to have an organization that is set up to have two leaders (and in the Banner/Lombardi/Rob Chudzinski case three) to enable the same problem over and over again with often forcing two people together that don't believe in the same process, system, etc.
That is all on them.


The Browns have an excellent personnel man in John Dorsey, they need to give him the power to hire the right man for Cleveland.
The important questions are these  - Can the Haslams trust John Dorsey to hire the right man? Can the Haslams actually allow Dorsey to do so and not hamstring him with their choice, which might not be Dorsey's?
Can that man get along with Dorsey? Can the Haslams refine their setup from a failing management pyramid and change it to one person (Dorsey) at the top?
And most importantly- Can the Haslams get out of their own way and do what owners should do-
Own and let their employees do their job...

I hope to write the Tyronn Lue post later tonight as promised unless the Browns are active at today's trade deadline.
I also have the TRS boxing ratings coming soon and I've been working on two features for slow news days that I hope you'll enjoy.

Browns announce intent to release Josh Gordon

The constant turmoil around the Cleveland Browns that was present from the trials and tribulations of wide receiver Josh Gordon ended Saturday evening when the team announced that they will be releasing him first thing Monday morning.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Gordon aggravated a hamstring in a Friday practice and showed up today "Tardy and Not Himself" and seeming to be on "the verge of relapsing".
Since I am neither there or a drug counselor, I'll refrain from speculation on the behavior and the reasons and stick to football.

I can't blame the Browns for the decision.
Josh Gordon has received every break that you can think from the Tom Heckert regime to Joe Banner to Sashi Brown and even one final chance with John Dorsey and he still cannot seem to get things right.
As always, all people have flaws and just because you are gifted on the field ( look at the final TD catch that he would make as a Brown last week vs Pittsburgh) certainly does not mean that you have the same gifts in other areas of your life.
Nonetheless, talents such as possessed by Gordon tend to be given opportunities for redemption that few of us in the average world would come close to receiving and it's rare that the story ends well, no matter how many of us wish for it and how many puff pieces are written and televised about the process of rehabilitation.

And I'll even go you one better if you've got the nerve (I've been waiting 11 years to get that Jan Berry song lyric in the blog)- Dorsey might have been brilliant for announcing the intent to release rather than actually doing so.
If someone (and it's all over Twitter at this time that several teams are interested) wants to give the Browns something, even if it's one of those seventh-round draft picks that the Browns seem to be collecting of late, something beats nothing.
Just for that maneuver that gives the Browns a chance of getting something, John Dorsey gets plenty of credit and being that someone is always out there that believes that they have the magic potion to change a person that doesn't always want to be changed, one never knows what they could bring back.
I'd be thrilled with a day three pick that could escalate higher if the acquiring team is able to patch Gordon together enough to reach some stipulated statistical levels and if that happens, that's all due to John Dorsey.

However, the Browns could be faulted for not doing enough to be prepared for such a circumstance.
I've heard a few points tonight on this.
One was that you cannot fix everything in one offseason and that's true.
However, you also cannot spend another season doing what past regimes have done- counting on Josh Gordon and being screwed over when he messes things up either.
If Antonio Callaway can keep his past problems in the past, he could be a player that helps offset the loss of Gordon, but again you are asking a player with issues to not have issues, so I'm not tremendously comfortable with that either.

Another talked about culture change and that it is needed.
While I agree on the need and boy, has that phrase has become vastly overused in sports, what I wonder about is would John Dorsey be so quick to cut ties with a player that he brought in?
Dorsey was known for gambling on questionable character players in Kansas City and did again with Antonio Callaway, so is it any player or just players Dorsey didn't bring in and which he doesn't have the personal investment in?
That's the part that I'll be interested in watching over the Dorsey term.

In the end. Josh Gordon was the type of the talent that teams drool over and talent-wise, he might have been the most talented physical receiver in the history of the Cleveland Browns.
However, outside things were more important than playing football and the Browns didn't have the key to solving those problems to keep him on the field as a productive player.
Browns fans will have memories of a few flashes of brilliance and to paraphrase for the athletically inclined the classic poem by John Greenleaf Whittier "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these- What might have been!"

Back later with Buckeyes in Texas and GGG-Canelo II

Cleveland Browns Draft ReDraft??

  Now that I have a few weeks in hindsight and some time to logically look at things, I want to do things a little different with this review.

I've been making a draft DVD for a friend of mine and I've been reviewing things as they progressed.
Yes, I still was steamed at the antics of Baker Mayfield and still think that this might be a bust that makes the selections of Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden, and Johnny Manziel look like the 1983 draft, but he's here now and I hope he does well because if he doesn't John Dorsey better be damn near perfect otherwise in his rebuild or this will be the Dorsey epitaph for his career in Cleveland.

However, I looked at the players that the Browns selected as the draft occurred here and I'm not going to do much of this here.
What I will do is to place for posterity so no one can claim otherwise, what I would have done with the Browns final draft bounty as they have the same picks as everyone for the 2019 draft.
So don't call it a review, let's call it a redraft.

Round 1
Browns Pick: Baker Mayfield QB Oklahoma
TRS: Sam Darnold QB USC

Simply put, the Browns selected a small and not overly fast quarterback because of the most elaborate con job seen in the league in years.
I see all the points for Mayfield and I'll counter with a not overly strong arm in a division that he'll play in wind and cold often, small (watch to see if he struggles to find passing lanes against the pass rush) and not especially fast (as noted) against the elite athletes in the NFL combined with an arrogance that won't wear well in Cleveland, should he not play well.
Sam Darnold is the safer pick, the more suited for the league with size and athleticism and would have been the better fit for the weather, the city, and the organization.
Mayfield vs Darnold will be the decision that fans will be talking about for years

Round 1
Browns Pick: Denzel Ward CB Ohio State.
TRS: Bradley Chubb DE N.C. State.

This one is one that I am fine with either way.
The Browns selected the best cornerback in the draft rather than the best pass rusher and that's a matter of preference.
I would have rather seen Chubb and Myles Garrett not allowing offensive lines to double team both and quarterbacks falling apart under their wrath, but the Browns also needed a shutdown corner as well and Ward suits that bill.
This pick really was one of crab vs lobster- They are both good eating, which one are you in the mood for?
I'm fine with Denzel Ward.

Round 2
Browns Pick: Austin Corbett G-T Nevada
TRS Pick: Connor Williams G-T Texas.

I preferred Connor Williams here because without his injury in 2017 at Texas, he would have been the first lineman off the board and at minimum a top 15 pick.
That said, if Corbett can play tackle, this is a solid pick,
The Browns needed a left tackle, they took steps to get one.
I preferred Williams, but Corbett is more than a solid lineman.

Round 2
Browns Pick: Nick Chubb RB Georgia
TRS: Derrius Guice RB LSU

I didn't have a problem with Nick Chubb here either.
I had Guice, Chubb and USC's Ronald Jones all ranked roughly the same and I leaned toward Guice because he's a different type of back than Carlos Hyde and I thought some different looks would be a good thing among Cleveland's backs.
Chubb is very similar to Hyde and the Browns must have wanted backs that could slide into the same slot and be used in the same manner.
I'm not going to hit them on that, just a different manner of building a team.

Round 3
Browns Pick: Chad Thomas DE Miami.FL.
TRS: Sam Hubbard DE Ohio State

After a drop of a few picks in a trade with the Colts, this pick was the one that I really shook my head at as I thought Chad Thomas was a fifth-round pick and Sam Hubbard was at least a second rounder.
Hubbard was a high energy player with the size to be a 4-3 end.
Thomas was just another guy at Miami and is a project pick.
Projects do work out sometimes, so I'm open to this working out, but the safer pick and the one that would help sooner was Sam Hubbard.

Round 4
Browns Pick; Antonio Callaway WR Florida
TRS: Antonio Callaway WR Florida

The Browns traded up for the oft-troubled Callaway and despite my dislike for players with baggage, I was OK with this.
In a down draft for pass catchers, had Callaway not had those issues, he might have been the first wideout taken.
But he does have those issues and on a team with Josh Gordon and now Baker Mayfield, the Browns are suddenly an incubator for possible locker room lawyers.
However, at the cost and the fact that Antonio Brown, who kills the Browns every year, thinks enough of Callaway to work with him all offseason, makes me think that maybe this will work out.
I'll believe in Antonio Brown and think Callaway was worth the risk-on a short leash that is.
If you gamble-gamble on greatness.

Round 5
Browns Pick: Genard Avery LB Memphis
TRS: Genard Avery LB Memphis.

As much as I hated Chad Thomas over Sam Hubbard-I loved this pick!
In fact, I had Avery rated higher than Thomas so this could be a steal.
Avery hits hard, hustles all over the field and will be a special teams demon.
IMO- Avery will make Christian Kirksey dispensible and could push him out the door in 2019, considering the ridiculous extension, Kirksey was signed to by Sashi Brown.

Round 6
Browns Pick: Damion Ratley WR Texas A&M
TRS: Deon Cain WR Clemson

Ratley is a tools guy with big size and speed, but little production to the point of not being invited to the combine.
Ratley does have deep speed for a QB that could struggle throwing the deep ball, so he's a lottery ticket.
Cain has similar tools with far more production in working with an NFL passer in DeShaun Watson.
We're in round six, but Cain was the better bet even considering the late spot.

Round 6
Browns Pick: Simeon Thomas CB Louisiana-Lafayette
TRS: Safe: Will Clapp C LSU or Lottery: Jordan Mailata Australia

For a team that wants to "change the culture", a nice catch phrase that everyone uses when rebuilding in any sport, the Browns sure took some questionable characters guys between Mayfield, Callaway and Simeon Thomas here in round six.
Thomas had issues with academics and an off-season theft issue with teammates and despite excellent size, I would have gone elsewhere.
It's late in the draft and there were several guys that could have been drafted by me-WR's Stephen Dunbar of Houston or Cedric Wilson, RB Bo Scarborough of Alabama or Temple defensive tackle Julian Taylor.
However, LSU center Will Clapp can play center or guard and might be a lineman with a chance to have a long career and if you love the lottery ticket, why not the massive Australian rugby star Jordan Mailata, who is a developmental project that might take time, but physically looks the part of an offensive tackle to a T.
Remember if you gamble- gamble on greatness, not gambles on "meh".

It takes time (at least three years) to judge a draft, so I'm not going to try.
I wanted to look at the draft in real time before these players hit the field and take my swings at the selections.
It all comes down to Baker Mayfield- if the Browns are right, the rebuild truly has begun and things will get brighter in Cleveland.
If I'm correct, you thought things were dark before, this might be the tip of the iceberg...

Browns still busy.

John Dorsey wasn't finished with his work with the Cleveland Browns roster even after the draft as before rookie camp started this week, Dorsey was still making minor moves to tweak his roster.

Let us begin with something that has nothing to do with the roster as the Browns are trying to do anything to 'change the culture" that involves almost anything they can think of to forget 1-31 (Which is most likely either first or second on the list of reasons the uniforms will be changed as soon as they become eligible to do so) and one gimmick is for rookies to "Earn their stripes" in rookie camp with the helmet being stripped of their stripes (see what I did there?) until the rookies "earn" them.
Here's the thing though- I like the helmet without stripes!
I know I'm an old-school traditionalist that wishes the uniforms were never changed, but I really like the no stripe look, which frankly surprises me a decent amount!
I might even give the no stripe look a chance if I could see them if I could see them with the old jerseys.

Dorsey swung a trade with his old club in Kansas City as he sent tight end Randall Telfer to the Chiefs for linebacker Dadi Nicolas in a one for one swap.
You might want to keep track of how many players come through town over the next year or so with some sort of background with Kansas City as it's just the way things go in these situations.
We've been through Eric Mangini bringing in former Jets. Tom Heckert former Eagles, Phil Savage former Ravens etc, so this is nothing new, but something to watch for.
Telfer was the Browns "Man of the Year" last year for his work in the community and even announced a Browns pick at the draft, which in hindsight seems a little cold-blooded, but Telfer is strictly a blocking tight end as he caught five passes for a whopping forty yards in his career and when the Browns signed Darren Fells in the off-season, Telfer's future wasn't difficult to decipher.

John Dorsey selected Dadi Nicolas in the sixth round in 2016 and Nicolas made the team, playing in 11 games before suffering a knee injury that finished his 2016 year, but cost him the entire 2017 season as well.
Nicolas is listed as a defensive end, but at 235 pounds, looks to me to be more of an outside end rusher/outside linebacker in passing situations.
The Virginia Tech product will need to make the team on his speed, but among a linebacking corps that lacks a blazing pass rusher, Nicolas could have a chance to make the team assuming that his knee hasn't taken a step off his speed.

Editor's Note: After all of that, the trade was called off the next day with both players being waived by their original teams.

The Browns claimed a linebacker off waivers as the team added Jermaine Grace off waivers from the Indianapolis Colts.
Grace played 11 games last season for the Falcons and Colts as a special teamer after not being drafted in 2017 out of Miami.
Grace will likely have to make the Browns on special teams again, but these types of waiver claims are usually opportunities to improve the speed on special teams and maybe in a fortunate circumstance the player might add depth at his regular position.

The Browns waived two players, one of which makes sense with two linebackers being brought in as Dominque Alexander and Darius Jackson were given their releases.
Alexander signed in 2016 as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma, spending two years with the team before his season ended when he was injured after four games, which led to Alexander failing his physical.
Jackson was a 2016 waiver claim from Dallas that excited a few fans after an excellent preseason, but never made the field after being claimed late in the 2016 season and was injured in the 2017 Browns training camp.

I'm sure that there will be a few more moves before camp and I'll try to keep them updated.
Still working on the inbox cleaning and I even have one already in the queue that is ready to roll when I don't have other coverage, but I'm working on even more to not only clean the inbox but post them with one push of a button.

Processing Personnel Department

Photo Credit; Cleveland Browns.Com

So, a few words before we begin.

I would like to thank you all for the great response for the last post- Big hit number!
It's amazing what happens when Steve Kim retweets us!!

I've still been lazy in getting things knocked out here and let me tell you why.
I'm working more (it's winter, gotta pay for those trips!) and I am taking a medication that makes soda taste awful, so I am on no caffeine.
Therefore, I'm tired very often- but I'll try harder!

I forgot to post the PPM for the Divisional Playoff round (Sorry Amy Acker fans)  and what I missed was a 1-3 week as I would have gotten only the Patriots prediction correctly.

The Browns continue to clean up the front office and for the first time since the "new" Browns return, I feel really good about the people making the decisions in personnel.
I've written before about liking the hiring of John Dorsey and his background with the Packers and Chiefs, but landing Alonzo Highsmith and Eliot Wolf from Green Bay are huge coups for the team and if they do the job that I think that they will, they won't be long for Lake Erie...

Eliot Wolf, the son of Hall of Famer Ron Wolf and the man that rebuilt the Packers, was thought to be the choice to replace Ted Thompson when Thompson was moved to team president but was surprisingly passed over in favor of Brian Gutekunst instead.
Wolf might become the heir apparent in Cleveland as if the Browns get things turned around quickly, you could see a similar situation, where Dorsey moves into a bigger chair and Wolf becomes the GM for the Browns, which might be why Wolf chose Cleveland over staying with the Packers (who wanted to retain him) and Oakland, where he also interviewed.
Ryan, who is my go-to person for Packer thoughts, thinks Wolf is a great hire for the Browns and wishes that the Packers had chosen him to run the Packers instead of Gutekunst.

Should the turnaround happen and Wolf gets a promotion or go elsewhere, the hot prospect will be former Oiler fullback (and pro boxer), Alonzo Highsmith, who was also a big part of the Packers personnel department and hired to come to Cleveland along with Eliot Wolf.
Highsmith is very well thought of in the game and between Highsmith and Wolf, the Packers personnel department have taken a sizeable hit at the hands of the Browns, who for once seem to have gone after the right people and managed to actually land them!

If the Browns had only decided to remove Hue Jackson as head coach, I'd be feeling really good about the Brown organization right now, but still I'm feeling seeing positive signs in Berea for a change and it's been a while since I have said that!!

Back soon with trades in Pittsburgh and that's right- I said trades-Plural!!!!

Browns blow lead,lose to Packers in OT

The Cleveland Browns entered the fourth quarter leading by fourteen points over the Green Bay Packers and seemed to be on their way to win number one of the 2017 season.
Seemed to be were the operative words as the wheels came flying with Green Bay tying the game with seconds remaining and taking advantage of Cleveland mistakes in overtime for 27-21 Green Bay victory.
DeShone Kizer threw for three touchdowns along with two interceptions and Isaiah Crowell ran for 121 yards on the ground to lead the Browns.
The now 0-13 Browns will finish their home season Sunday against Baltimore before two road games to complete the season.

Brownie Bits

1) This loss might be on Hue Jackson.
Late in the game, why on earth are the Browns with a rookie quarterback with accuracy issues throwing the football when Isaiah Crowell is running so well?
At worst, you take time off the clock and at best,you win the game!
Green Bay scored with just 26 seconds to go.
That time shouldn't have been left on the clock.

2) The play that essentially ended the game can have blame spread around.
DeShone Kizer tried to make a play to what he said was to a wide open Rashard Higgins downfield (watching the replay,he had a man on him), Hue Jackson for putting a heavy formation to put Josh Gordon in one on one coverage and putting the pressure on him, Gordon for not getting open (He might have been held) and on Shon Coleman for being unable to block Clay Matthews.
All deserve some blame.

3) Josh Gordon started the game hot with three catches for over sixty yards and a score,but was shut down thereafter.
He was likely interfered with near the goal line late in the game, but the Packers made adjustments and took him out of the game.

4) Corey Coleman did show up with a few catches and a score and still might work out as a number two receiver whenever Josh Gordon plays well,but...

5) What was with the sunglasses thing after the Gordon and Coleman touchdowns?
I know this is strange coming from a person that lives in sunglasses, but I don't play in the NFL and I don't on a then 0-12 team either.
I get that you are happy to score, but let's not get too arrogant about it...

6) More special teams issues as the punt return team allowed a 65 yard return to Austin Davis to give the Packers great field position on the drive that Green Bay needed to tie the game and send the game to overtime.
Have to be better than that.

7) DeShone Kizer did show some good points in this game and I do think he has a future in this league.
Is it as a starter? That I'm not sure of, but I will say this, the Browns didn't do him any favors at all throwing him in to this situation and hoping for the best.
If the Browns draft a quarterback high and I think they will, I hope John Dorsey will bring in a stopgap veteran to allow that player to avoid the problems that Kizer had to deal with.

8) If Isaiah Crowell was auditioning for John Dorsey and a new contract, it was a good one as his first over 100 yard game of the year saw him put his shoulder down,run hard and cut back strong.
Really liked his game vs the Pack.

9) I really liked Brett Hundley, the Green Bay emergency backup for Aaron Rodgers.
I'm not saying Hundley is a guy you can build around, but I wouldn't mind having him around as a bridge QB or even a player to continue to groom since he is still young.

10) As of today, the Browns would have two of the first five picks in the draft.
Their pick would be first and the Texans pick would be the fifth.
I'd love to see the Texans lose out!

Road to 0-16?
Baltimore 7-6
at Chicago 4-9
at Pittsburgh 11-2

New Sheriff Dorsey Cuts Kenny Britt!

The Cleveland Browns announced the hiring of former Kansas City Chiefs general manager John Dorsey to the same position today and it didn't take long for Dorsey to make his presence felt in his new role as he sliced Sashi Brown's biggest failure in free agency off the roster as the Browns released Kenny Britt after just twelve unproductive games.

I plan on a larger piece on the Dorsey hire later this week, but the move to quickly dispose of the divisive Britt showed that Dorsey has been watching this team and has some thoughts on just what he has in mind in how to improve the franchise under his guidance.
Britt was a surprising sign by the Browns coming off his career year in 2016 with the Rams where he barely topped 1,000 yards and the team was rumored to have been warned about him by Gregg Williams that Britt was difficult to deal with.

Signed to a four-year deal for over thirty-two million dollars, Britt struggled with drops. knee injuries and a general lack of effort that brought to mind another Browns receiving bust of the past to mind in Dwayne Bowe.
The 29 year old finished his Cleveland career with just 18 catches for 233 yards and two touchdowns and might be best remembered for the towel that he kept over his head constantly as he sat on the bench or one might say that he threw in as far as effort goes as soon as he signed his fat contract.

I questioned the signing of Britt from the start as I wondered about giving a large contract to a player that had a track record of knee injuries, laziness,off the field problems and Britt managed to stay out of legal problems off the field, although he did miss curfew when the Browns visited Houston.
Britt's tenure proved to be a complete waste of time, which is much like the Sashi Brown tenure in a nutshell in itself.

As for John Dorsey, who I'll write more about next week, he immediately establishes that he isn't going tolerate mistakes and will be willing to cut losses no matter who they are as he attempts to use the current "in" phrase "Culture Change".
There are few places that need more change than the Cleveland Browns.
Kenny Britt was a good place to begin.