Tonight, the newest edition of the Cleveland Browns take the field in an exhibition game (we refuse to call them pre-season) against the New York Giants.
We really aren’t going to pay attention to the final score (it doesn’t matter) or get overly enthusiastic about the performance of players because we don’t know how the two head coaches are playing the game.
That is to say, are they playing a vanilla defense (probably), how much will the starters play (not much), and are they forcing things for different players, mostly guys on the bubble, to see how they handle it?
Remember, the Cleveland Browns, 0-16 in the regular season in 2017, went 4-0 in exhibition games.
If that’s not Exhibit A in making the argument that these games don’t matter, then nothing is.
However, the Browns were in the news this past week, because of the debut of Hard Knocks on HBO, and because their wide receiving position came under scrutiny.
GM John Dorsey traded former first round pick WR Corey Coleman to Buffalo for a 7th round pick in 2019. We don’t understand this move at all, but our reaction to the media’s coverage was interesting.
Why not keep Coleman around during the exhibition season to see what he can do? Coleman battled injury issues in both of his seasons with the Browns, playing in just 19 of 32 games, catching 56 passes with five touchdowns.
Did he deserve his draft status? No, but to be fair, he’s been injured. We agree that availability is an ability, but it’s also not as though the Browns’ wide receiver room has a plethora of talented wide outs.
We don’t know what Coleman is like in the locker room, and for all we know, he’s a giant pain, which may be the reason he was moved early in training camp. But the fact that not many reporters really took task with the GM about the trade shows the sheep mentality of the people who cover the Browns.
We get the feeling that Dorsey could deal Myles Garrett for a fourth round pick and he would get support.
This isn’t an indictment on Dorsey, even though we didn’t like the move. However, Dorsey will make mistakes, and it is alright for the media to disagree with him.
Remember, many of them clamored for a “football guy”, and they got him. We guess that means they have to follow in lock step.
The GM’s gamble to draft WR Antonio Callaway may also be coming back to haunt. Callaway had a boatload of issues in his career at Florida, and had a diluted urine test at the NFL Combine.
No doubt he has a load of talent, but is he worth the potential headaches he might provide. The first headache is already here and we haven’t even played the first practice game.
Perhaps this will be the last time Callaway ever has a problem. However, it’s not a good look for a new GM trying to change the culture in Berea. The Browns have had a bunch of craziness at the wide receiver spot over the last several years. Jarvis Landry can change all that, Callaway continues the problem.
No matter, Baker Mayfield will probably play well tonight, and we can start the fans and media alike clamoring for him to play right away.
Don’t get hooked. The best thing for the first overall pick is to watch and learn. Somehow, we think logic won’t get in the way for the people who watch.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 