2019 NFL Offseason

[eagle eye]

The fact is, I root for the Cleveland Browns. They aren’t my favorite team but they are my guilty pleasure. I want the Browns to have success simply because they have been so very bad for so very long. The last time the Browns were consistently good was the sixties way back when Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly were running roughshod over the NFL. Being in the same division with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Houston (Oilers) didn’t make it easy. In the 70’s the Steel Curtain dominated, in the 80’s Cleveland did go to the AFC Championship twice only to have defeat snatched out of the jaws of victory by the John Elway-led Broncos. In 1986 Elway led the Broncos on a 5 minute plus 99 yard drive that has since been known as “The Drive”. In 1987 It was Browns-Broncos at Mile High Stadium and the Browns overcame a big first half deficit to score 30 points and trailing 38-31 Bernie Kosar had the Browns on the move. With a scant 1:12 left in the game Ernest Byner fumbled at the Broncos two yard line in what has been dubbed “The Fumble” to end their hopes of making it to a Super Bowl. I suppose Browns fans could take some solace in the fact that the Broncos got smoked in both Super Bowls. John Elway would have to wait 10 years before finally winning a championship. Since the 1980’s the Browns have been just plain sad. Since 1990 Cleveland has finished 2nd in their division 3 times and they finished in 3rd place in their division 3 times. Every other year Cleveland has been bottom feeders. They have been the Chicago Cubs of the NFL. Loveable losers year in and year out. In 2018 things seemed to be turning around. After head coach Hue Jacksons teams had gone 1-15 and 0-16 in 2016 and 2017 respectively the Brownies worked a tie with Pittsburgh in the 2018 season opener and they should have won that game but for a missed field goal in overtime. In Week 2 Cleveland should have beaten the Saints but for the second week in a row missed field goals cost the Brown a win. Cleveland finished the season 7-8-1 but they had a chance to beat Baltimore with a last ditch drive as the 4th quarter wound down. Baker Mayfield and the Browns were trailing the Ravens 26-24 with Cleveland driving for a game winning score. As the Browns got to mid field the Mayfield magic ran out or you could say Mayfield choked with the game on the line. Cleveland could have bumped the Ravens out of the playoffs with a win and earned their first winning season in 11 years but it wasn’t to be. In the football equivalent to ‘Casey At The Bat’ Baker Mayfield had three ill-advised throws fall harmlessly to the ground ending the Browns season. There is hope for 2019. First, there’s Mayfield who has the talent and swagger to lead the Browns to a lot of victories. It looks like the Browns finally hit on a first round QB. Nick Chubb is another reason for hope. He came out of Georgia as a rookie and led the club on the ground and he is definitely a bell cow type runner. The acquisition of Jarvis Landry in free agency and Antonio Callaway via the draft and the Browns have weapons Mayfield can work with. The defense had holes but they also had a lot of injuries. The personnel on defense is good and with the right coaching, look out. There was nothing but turmoil in the coaching staff for half the season. All the way back to Hard Knocks in training camp you could see Hue Jackson was a sinking ship and his OC Todd Haley was bust. When Cleveland fired both Jackson and Haley and allowed Freddie Kitchens handle the offense and Greg Williams handled the defense and head coach positions the team took flight. At the end of the season you would have thought Greg Williams would graduate from interim head coach to the real HC. Frankly, Williams defense was statistically horrible and the Browns first year GM John Dorsey pretty much said, “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya!” as the Browns didn’t offer Williams the HC job or renew his contract. Instead, Dorsey hired Freddie Kitchens elevating him from interim OC to the head coaching position. Kitchens had two firsts with the Browns, 1) he had never been a coordinator at any level in coaching until 2018 and 2) he had never been a head coach until he was hired for the 2019 season. There is a great chemistry between Kitchens and Mayfield which likely had some weight when it was time to hire a new head coach. John Dorsey is a proven GM in the NFL so it looks like the Browns finally got the GM job right. Now, if Dorsey hits at head coach with Kitchens Cleveland will have a hat trick of success at the top of the ladder.

The most recent move by Dorsey was to sign troubled RB Kareem Hunt. Dorsey was GM in Kansas City and he was responsible for the Chiefs getting Hunt in and Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft and netting Tyreek Hill in the 2016 draft along with all the other players that make up a very strong KC franchise. Hunt was kicked off the Chiefs team after allegation of domestic violence came up in 2018. What made matters worse was Hunt lied to the team about the incident and all that cost him a job on a team thought to be headed to the Super Bowl. Dorsey brought in a troubled Tyree Hill who had DV issues in college. Hill turned his life around and he became the Chiefs #1 receiver and punt returner. Dorsey is hoping he can help turn around Hunt’s career as well. Now, Cleveland will be without Hunt for a lot of games because he will be suspended. It will likely be more than the 6 games Ezekiel Elliott got because Hunt actually did commit domestic violence. There is video showing he his lady friend, pushed her down and kicked her. Talk on Golic and Wingo this morning was 10-12 games, which will help the Browns weather the social backlash for signing him but hurt the team by not having him. Still, Hunt is a young man and he’s a proven player in the NFL and this signing is the Browns looking toward the future. Beyond 2019. That is, of course, if Browns owner Jimmy Haslam doesn’t go bat-crap crazy and blow the whole organization up -- again.

[eagle eye]

So, looky, looky, looky. To paraphrase the tag line from “Cool Hand Luke”, What we’ve got here is an ability to communicate! The people of Cleveland may canonize Browns GM John Dorsey if the latest move to acquire Odell Beckham Jr works the Browns to a Super Bowl. It did cost Cleveland a 1st and 3rd round draft picks and Pro Bowl safety Jabril Peppers but the 2019 Browns are nobody’s joke any more. You look at this offense with Baker Mayfield, who had a pretty good rookie season, WR Jarvis Landry, Landry’s best bud OBJ, RB’s Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson along with last season’s up and comers along with a young and improving O-line and these Browns will keep DC’s on their schedule up late at night trying to figure out how to stop them. Oh, BTW, if they do figure the Browns offense about Week nine Cleveland adds Akeem Hunt to the mix. Dorsey has given Cleveland an embarrassment of riches. Don’t forget the Browns had a plethora of defensive injuries and with a healthy.D all the jibber-jabber on ESPN and the NFL Channel about the Browns being SB contenders may not be jibber-jabber at all. 2017 the Browns were 0-16. In 2018 they were 7-8-1. Is it so far-fetched to think, in the same year Cleveland loses Lebron James, they gain Baker Mayfield and a winning Browns team? Eau contrere, mon ami!