Guards Haven’t Played Well, But They Are Still Close

Before the 2023 baseball season started, we thought the Cleveland Guardians would repeat as American League Central Division champions. However, we did acknowledge that because last year’s squad had so many young players, it would be difficult to project how they would perform this season.

They simply didn’t have a track record.

Last season, the Guards finished sixth in the league in runs scored, this year, they are tied for 14th in runs per game with Detroit. Their bullpen has been giving up long balls by the bushel. This past weekend against the Mets, the relievers surrendered three more gopher balls to run the total to 21 on the season.

The entire staff has allowed 49.

The Guardians have struggled the entire season except for the first week, and since then their record is 16-24. That’s a .400 winning percentage. However, they still sit just 3.5 games behind Minnesota in the division, so if things can turn around (soon would be good), this ballclub can still return to the post-season.

Bad bullpens usually mean bad teams. The good thing is some tweaking of the pecking order could turn everything around.

Emmanuel Clase takes the brunt of the criticism, and there is no question he is not the same guy he was at the end of last year. However, he has been immune to the home run ball that has plagued the ‘pen, allowing just one. His strikeout numbers are down, and the ground balls he is giving up are finding holes.

The bigger worry is James Karinchak, who has allowed six dingers in 19.1 innings. Trevor Stephan has allowed four in 19.2 frames. Eli Morgan and Nick Sandlin have allowed three each.

One of our basic rules about relievers? They can’t give up walks, and they can’t give up home runs.

We were concerned about Andres Gimenez, who had a tremendous season a year ago (837 OPS), because of his strikeout to walk ratio (112:34). He had an on base percentage of .371 because he was hit by a league-leading 25 pitches.

He still gets hit a lot (eight times to date), but seems susceptible to the high fastball this season, and he has just 11 extra-base hits in 2023, compared 46 a year ago. The pop simply hasn’t been there. Gimenez is still playing great defense and is just 24 years old, so he still should be on the rise as a player.

We were concerned about the signing of Mike Zunino, although we were more worried about his extreme lack of contact throughout his career. He had a reputation as a solid catcher though, and we know that’s what the Guardians emphasize at that position.

So far, there seems to be a disconnect between the pitching staff and Zunino. With Zunino, the Guardians’ pitchers have pitched to a 4.66 ERA. With Cam Gallagher behind the dish, that figure is 2.57.

Check out these numbers–

Gallagher Zunino
Shane Bieber: 1.64 ERA 3.83 ERA
Cal Quantrill: 2.89 ERA 4.73 ERA
Emmanuel Clase: 3.12 ERA 3.65 ERA
James Karinchak: 1.04 ERA 7.84 ERA

Those are four key pitchers for the Guardians who are having more success with Gallagher handling them. To be fair, rookies Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen seem to work well with Zunino, but still overall, there is quite a disparity between having Zunino, who seems to have a problem blocking pitches in the dirt, and Gallagher.

It’s one thing to trade the offense because you are getting exceptional defensive, like Cleveland received from Austin Hedges, but when you aren’t getting the defense, it becomes an issue.

We are coming up on Memorial Day and that means the season isn’t so young anymore. The Guardians haven’t built off a 92 win season liked they hoped. But they are still close enough to get where they want to be.

That doesn’t mean the organization should not be concerned though.

RIP To The Greatest. #32

On Friday, the sports world and northeast Ohio lost a legend. Jim Brown, the greatest running back in the history of the NFL passed away.

We can only remember one season of Brown’s unbelievable career, his last season of 1965. That year, he led the NFL defending champs back to the title game, losing to Green Bay in a mud bowl 23-12. We watched that game in color, at a time when no one had colored televisions.

Brown was dominant in ’65, winning his eighth rushing title in his nine years in the league, gaining 1544 yards. He gained 677 more yards than his next closest competitor, the great Gale Sayers, who rushed for 867.

He was the NFL MVP that season.

Famously, he went to make the movie, The Dirty Dozen, in the off-season and when filming took long, and he missed the start of training camp, the Cleveland owner, who will not be named here, gave him an ultimatum. Brown simply retired. In his prime.

When Brown left pro football, he was the all-time leading rusher with his 12,312 yards. The great 49er runner, Joe Perry was second at 9,723. Now Brown is 11th, but there is still one rushing statistic the incomparable Brown still is the all-time leader.

Brown AVERAGED 104.3 yards rushing per game. No one in the history of the NFL has ever done that. The closest is Barry Sanders at 99.8. Nick Chubb, a player beloved by the current fan base in northeast Ohio and rightly so, because we recognize a great runner when we see one, comes in 9th all-time with 84.5 yards per game.

We believe Jim Brown is the greatest football player ever. And we say that because quarterback for us should be in a separate category. Tom Brady is the greatest QB ever, but does anyone really think he could play another position?

We believe Brown would have been a tremendous linebacker or safety, or tight end, or really, whatever the hell he wanted to be.

We would like to ask people who the greatest lacrosse player ever was, and folks would look quizzically when asked. The answer is most people consider that to be Jim Brown. Imagine being the greatest ever in two sports.

By now, everyone has seen the iconic picture of Brown with Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor), Muhammad Ali, former Cleveland mayor Carl Stokes, Brown’s former teammate Bobby Mitchell and several other former teammates to support Ali’s refusal to enter the draft for the war in Vietnam.

That meeting took place on June 4, 1967 in Cleveland at 10501 Euclid Avenue, and was organized by Brown.

We have had many arguments over the years about Brown’s standing in pro football and where he ranks. As we said, we consider him to be the GOAT, the greatest. The only players who we believe come close are Jerry Rice and Lawrence Taylor.

Brown was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971, meaning he lived 52 years after being inducted, and other inductees say when Brown walks into the room, everyone, and these are the greats of the sport, stand up.

That’s the respect Jim Brown had among his peers.

We know the Browns will spend this season remembering their greatest player. On social media, we thought about putting “32” at the 50-yard line all year and highlighting the 32-yard stripes in brown and orange.

We also thought instead of “BROWNS” in the end zone, how about “BROWN” and putting “Jim” above it. A tribute to the greatest Cleveland football player ever.

It is not often we are sad due to the death of a non-family member or close friend. But sadness is what we felt on Friday. We know Jim Brown had some issues in his personal life and we are not minimizing those problems. But the city of Cleveland lost an icon.

And that makes us sad.

In Evaluating Stefanski, Look At All Head Coaches

The Cleveland Browns seemed to have pushed all chips to the center of the table. Over the weekend, GM Andrew Berry traded for three-time Pro Bowl DE Za’Darius Smith from the Minnesota Vikings for some mid-level draft picks.

Smith has accumulated ten or more sacks in three of the last four years, and in the one year he didn’t, he played just one game due to injury. We would seem to be a perfect complement to Myles Garrett, and also is another defensive lineman, which new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz loves to collect.

However, the thing that most of the local media comes back to in evaluating the Browns is Kevin Stefanski, and is he a good enough coach to lead the Browns deep into the post-season.

Our opinion on coaching in the NFL is that in no other sport can coaching make as much of a difference as it does in pro football. It happens all the time. Heck, it happened to Stefanski. Don’t forget he took over a 6-10 team and went 11-5 and made the playoffs.

But we also believe there aren’t many difference makers among the head coaches in the NFL. We believe there might be five coaches who are special.

Of course, Bill Belichick is on that list. And unfortunately for the Browns, two of the other ones play in the AFC North, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin and Baltimore’s John Harbaugh.

That duo has put together a “culture” that winning must be attained, and they will do everything they can, including playing non-traditional football in order to win.

Certainly, Andy Reid is one of the sport’s top coaches. His success in two different places, two Super Bowl wins, three championship game appearances, and his consistent style of staying ahead of opposing defenses put him on the list.

And that last comment about Reid is key. A lot of the coaches who make an early difference do so because they do something so one has seen before, but when opposing coaches figure out a way to combat that, and they usually do, they have nothing.

As a result, the winning ends, and they are looking for a new gig in three to four years.

So, being able to adapt is what makes a good coach in our opinion. We don’t like “system coaches”, ones who have a certain style of play and can only coach that style. We think the epitome of coaching is looking at your talent and designing a plan that gets the most out of those players.

Putting players in positions where they cannot succeed is bad coaching.

Can Stefanski someday be in the class with Reid, Tomlin, and Harbaugh? Probably not, but our point is those guys are rare finds. If the Browns make the playoffs this season, he will no doubt return for a fifth year as head coach, and likely go into his sixth season.

He has two new coordinators this season, and of course, adding Schwartz is a huge move. As for why he didn’t change defensive coordinators sooner. It’s tough to fire people you work with every day, especially for a long time.

We understand the fans and media want to be cold blooded, it’s football after all, but remember than coaches look at the games differently than fans do. They have to.

Stefanski was part of the reason the Cleveland Browns didn’t succeed last season, after all, he’s the head coach. But it is also true the players weren’t good enough, there wasn’t enough depth, and the defense wasn’t up to par.

And if they don’t make the playoffs this season, he will likely be fired and a new coach will be brought in. Unless you are in the upper echelon of head men, that’s the way the NFL works.

Lots Have Gone Wrong For Guards, But They Are Hanging In

This season certainly hasn’t been easy for the Cleveland Guardians so far. The offense has sputtered, ranking last in the American League in runs scored per game.

They are last in the AL in home runs and aren’t really close to the team with the second least dingers, the Detroit Tigers (Cleveland has 23, Detroit 31). They don’t strikeout but are only eighth in the league in walks.

Terry Francona’s teams are usually second half teams and if the 2023 Guardians are going to make the playoffs and/or win the Central Division title, they will have to be that again.

The hitting did show signs of life over the weekend, well, at least Josh Naylor and Amed Rosario did. Still, the Guardians need Andres Gimenez, Josh Bell, and that duo to get hot over a period of longer than three games.

The Guards have had 28 of their 40 games decided by one or two runs, a whopping total and one that, if it continues will take a helluva toll of the bullpen and also cause ulcers for many of their fans.

Getting a few more players other than Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan contributing to the offense would certainly help in providing more than one or two run margins at times.

It has been tough for Cleveland to get come from behind victories this year because the bullpen hasn’t been able to hold opponents if they get out to an early lead. The relievers have given up 17 home runs, almost the same total as the starters (20), need we remind you the latter pitch a lot more innings.

The defense hasn’t helped either. The Guardians are ninth in the league in errors with 21, and defense has been more important this season because the pitching staff ranks at the bottom of the AL in striking hitters out, so more balls have been put in play.

The catching, a position viewed organizationally as a defense first spot, hasn’t been up to last year’s standards, allowing the most passed balls with five and the pitching staff ranks fifth in wild pitches. Last year, Cleveland catchers had just two passed balls and ranked fifth last in wild pitches.

In the past, the organization has sacrificed offense for defense, but if you aren’t getting the defense, why not take a look at Bo Naylor, hitting .256 with nine homers at Columbus and has a 925 OPS because he’s walked 32 times.

By the way, the last hit by a Cleveland catcher? Try April 29th.

Rightfield has become a large hole. Oscar Gonzalez hit .192 with just four extra base hits and was sent back to AAA. Will Brennan is hitting just .193 with five extra base hits, and is being platooned with converted infielder Gabriel Arias, who has struck out in 26 of his 61 plate appearances.

You have to wonder if Tyler Freeman is the next middle infielder to get a try in RF. Freeman has 11 big league at bats with four hits, including a double, and was hitting .329 (950 OPS) at AAA.

Despite all of these problems, the Guardians are sitting just two games below the .500 mark. Hopefully, Triston McKenzie and Aaron Civale will be back by the end of May, adding depth to the starting rotation.

And let’s also hope what we saw over the weekend is the start of the offense being more consistent.

By the way, some easy wins would be nice for Francona and the coaching staff and the fan base.

Clock Is Ticking Right Now For Altman

Sometimes when you set a goal, once you reached it you are satisfied, and the will to push further just isn’t there. That’s the way we feel about the Cleveland Cavaliers this past season.

After last season’s failure to advance in the “play in” tournament, the organization said they wanted to get to a best of seven series, which they did by finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference. And that’s why a lot of the message coming out of the team was that it was a successful season.

They attained their goal.

Of course, that’s what happens when you set too low of a standard. No, the Cavs weren’t going to win the NBA title this season, but the front office and coaching staff should set a standard of going as far as they can in a given year.

And if that was the goal, is that why Koby Altman and Mike Gansey did nothing at the deadline? After all, there was no one out there who would have put Cleveland in the NBA Finals.

We know what Altman said in his press conference after the wine and gold was eliminated by the Knicks in five games, no sweeping changes. Again, we hope this is just front office speak.

When Altman took a big swing and got Donovan Mitchell, the expectations for the Cavaliers changed. And they changed again when the team won 51 games and got home court advantage in the first round.

The front office didn’t adapt.

We have already addressed the lack of size on this basketball team. They are pretty much smaller at every position except for Evan Mobley at power forward and Jarrett Allen is pretty much a league average center.

The Cavs also need shooting, consistent shooting. When New York double teamed Mitchell and Darius Garland, beyond Caris LeVert, the Cavaliers had no one who could make the Knicks pay for the double team.

No matter how much the Cavs’ influencers tell you, opposing teams love when Isaac Okoro shoots three pointers. He is open for a reason. Mobley shot just 22% from distance this season, but perhaps more troubling was he shot just 36.2% from 10-16 feet.

If he became a decent three-point shooter, that would be great, but if you doubled the guards and they could get it to Mobley at the foul line and he could knock it down, that would be a great help as well.

Allen hits 51% from that distance, but rarely shoots from there.

LeVert is needed because beyond Mitchell and Garland, he is the only player on the team among the players getting big minutes who can create their own shot. That trio along with Ricky Rubio are the only players who were assisted on less than half of their made shots.

As a contrast, the Miami Heat, now in the conference finals have five such players.

If you are going to have Mitchell and Garland being your principal scorers, you have to build a team with shooters surrounding them. That opens up the floor come playoff team, when opponents start game-planning against you.

Mitchell has two more years on his current deal and then has a player option for 2025-26. That gives management two seasons to figure out a way to get this team deep into the playoffs, meaning getting to the Eastern Conference finals.

No more setting modest goals, they are on the clock right now.

So, running it back with the current group cannot be the plan, nor can the goal be to win a playoff series in 2023-24. They have to be in contending mode this summer.

Without a lot of assets, Altman and Gansey have to be creative in building a roster than can compete with the Milwaukees, Bostons, Philadelphias, and yes, New York and Miami.

That clock starts ticking the minute the NBA Finals end.

Close Games Equals More Burden On Guardians’ Bullpen

The Cleveland Guardians have played 36 games this season and a whopping 22 of them have been decided by two runs or less.

Cleveland is 8-9 in games decided by a single tally, and 5-2 in those decided by a couple of runs. Overall, the Guardians are 13-11 in these games and 4-8 in the other contests.

First, all of these close games are going to give a collective ulcer to the die-hard fans of the team.

Second, playing this many close games means it will be interesting to see what kind of toll it will take on the pitching staff, particularly the bullpen.

We know that Terry Francona has sort of the “caste system” for his relief pitchers. When the Guards are in the lead, he prefers to use James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan, and now that he is back, Sam Hentges to set up closer Emmanuel Clase.

He uses Eli Morgan with a lead if one of the above needs a day off. He will use Nick Sandlin and/or Enyel De Los Santos after that group. That’s his current arrangement.

But in checking the American League leaders in appearances, you will see that Clase leads the league pitching in 20 of Cleveland’s 36 games and Karinchak is tied for second at 19.

Stephan is 21st appearing in 16 contests.

With the Guardians treading just below the .500 mark early in the season, we understand their need to put as many games in the win column as they can, so Francona wants to use his best guys, and maybe the best closer in the league to lock down a W.

And despite Clase’s “struggles” this year, this shows how good he is. He hasn’t pitched at the dominant level he did a year ago so far, but he still has a 1.86 ERA, allowing just 15 hits and five walks in 19-1/3 innings. Oh, and he leads the AL in saves with 13.

Clase led the junior circuit in games pitched a year ago with 77, but right now, he’s on a pace to pitch in 90 of them. Now, we know that’s not going to happen, and Clase is also pretty economical in the number of pitches he throws. In his last five appearances, he’s thrown no more than 13 pitches.

Two things need to happen if the Guardians keep winning. First, it would be a huge help if they could win games by four or five runs over the next few weeks. That would enable Francona to lessen the workload of his primary bullpen guys, using them just enough to keep them fresh.

Adding Hentges to the mix has helped lately.

Or the skipper may have to expand the late game usage for pitchers like Sandlin and De Los Santos. We understand though they have to earn the confidence of the manager. Sandlin, in particular needs to command the strike zone and throw quality pitches.

The starting rotation seems to have picked it up over the last couple of weeks, covering at least six innings on most nights. But playing this many close games will take a toll on the Guardians’ relief pitching.

Just another reason to hope the offense comes out of the collective funk it has been in over the last four weeks.

Cavs Need Size, Can They Add It?

We understand basketball has morphed into a kind of positionless sports over the last ten years. No longer do a lot of team use a traditional center, power forward, small forward, shooting guard and point guard.

For example, the traditional point guard, think of a guy like Andre Miller or Mark Jackson, who is a distributor, scoring only when he has to. The point guard position today is for guys like Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, and even Darius Garland, guys who can stretch the floor with long range shooting and pass as well.

Despite the change in the sport, it is still a game where size matters. The three finalists for league MVP were Joel Embiid (7’0″), Giannis Antetokounmpo (7’0″) and Nikola Jokic (6’11”).

Unfortunately, the Cleveland Cavaliers have not following that trend.

Sure in 2021-22, J.B. Bickerstaff famously starting a front line of 6’11” Jarrett Allen and a pair of seven footers in Evan Mobley and Lauri Markkanen, but the only other players who received significant minutes that were over 6’8″ were Kevin Love and Dean Wade.

But Markkanen was moved to get Donovan Mitchell and was replaced in the starting lineup by 6’5″ Isaac Okoro. So, while the Cavs still have Mobley and Allen, they are undersized at the other three spots on the floor with both Mitchell and Garland being listed at 6’1″.

By contrast, let’s look at the highest remaining seed in the East, the Boston Celtics. They start a pair of guards both taller than the Cavs’ starters in Derrick White (6’4″) and Marcus Smart (6’3″). They aren’t as tall up front overall, but Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum kind of alternate on the wing and they are 6’6″ and 6’8″.

Al Horford is only 6’9″ at center, but there two most prominent reserves are Malcolm Brogdon (6’5″) and Robert Williams (6’10”).

And it is not just about height either. The Knicks’ Jalen Brunson is listed at 6’1″, but he’s thick, burly if you will. And he just overpowered both of the Cavs’ starters who are listed at the same height.

Same among the big men. Mobley and New York’s Mitchell Robinson are both listed at seven feet, but Robinson is a bigger player. And to be fair, Mobley is only 21 years old and we have no doubt he will get stronger as he gets older.

Against New York, Bickerstaff’s tallest reserves were 6’6″ Caris LeVert and 6’7″ Cedi Osman. The Knicks used former Cavalier Isaiah Hartenstein (7′) and also Obi Toppin (6’9″).

When you think about it, the only position where the Cavaliers are bigger than the norm is at power forward with Mobley.

The biggest challenge for Koby Altman this summer is to get bigger. First of all, the coach has gone on record saying he prefers bigger players. He needs to get a useful big man off the bench, one who can play and be effective when Allen and Mobley are resting.

We find it funny when folks want to trade Allen this off-season. If you do that, then you are short two big men.

And if you are going to continue to use a smaller backcourt, the wine and gold need to get bigger reserves. Having LeVert is good because they can play him with either Mitchell or Garland and have some size, particularly because the former plays bigger than 6’1″.

But you also need a small forward taller than Okoro or LeVert. It’s tougher to shoot over players taller than you than it is to do against smaller players.

Size still matters in the game of basketball even in today’s era. One step for the Cavs to be better next year is to get bigger.

That’s step one.

Sputtering Offense Plaguing The Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians’ offense started off this season much like they ended last season. Not a lot of home runs, but a lot of base hits.

After Seattle’s Luis Castillo, one of the best pitchers in the game, held them to four hits in the season opener, the Guards had nine hits or more in six of the next nine contests and drew at least three walks in all of them.

In the next 23 games, Cleveland has had nine hits in just six games, and drawn at least three walks in just a dozen of them. When you aren’t hitting home runs, and Terry Francona’s squad is last in the American League in round trippers, if you aren’t getting men on base consistently, it is tough to have people cross the plate.

The Guardians averaged five runs per game in the first 10 games, since then, they’ve scored just 70 runs, an average of just over three per contest. It’s tough to win any games at any level, when you are getting just three runs per night.

Cleveland was 6-4 after ten games, and just 9-14 afterwards.

Bill James contended if you had a .350 on base percentage and a .450 slugging percentage, you were a very good offensive player. Not even Jose Ramirez can lay claim to those statistics, although he is close, with a .371 OBP and a .447 slugging average.

The Guards only have one hitter getting on base at a 35% clip and that is Steven Kwan, who has a .358 on base average. Besides Ramirez, they don’t have anyone even close to the .450 slugging percentage. The next closest is Mike Zunino at .397. More about him later.

Looking at the Guardians from a WAR standpoint, Zunino’s slugging is about all he is contributing as once again, Cleveland catchers rank last in the AL in this category.

Guards’ pitchers were 11th in the AL in wild pitches a year ago, and they are 2nd this season. And the catchers are second in the league in passed balls behind only the White Sox.

Also, Zunino’s back up, Cam Gallagher is just 2 for 27 with a bat in his hand, with two RBI, both coming in the first week of the season in Oakand.

The next worst position this year for Cleveland is shortstop. Amed Rosario is a slow starter, hitting .177 in April 2021, and .211 in April 2022. This year was no different as he batted just .227.

However, his strikeout rate is the highest since his rookie season (28.7%), and he’s leading the team in grounding into double plays, which he did a year ago. He’s also leading the Guardians in errors with six.

Hopefully, Rosario will start to get hot in May and resemble the hitter he was last season. He’s never going to walk a lot, but he did have 180 hits last season, and with the new rules aiding the running game, his speed could be an asset.

Remember, the Guardians went through a 13 game stretch at the end of August through early September a year ago where they scored just 26 runs. Hopefully, they will come out of it any day now.

The starting pitching seems to have come along with the starters consistently giving the team at least five innings. That has lessened the burden on the bullpen, which is still leaking oil a bit.

You know what would really help the pitching? Getting some runs early and then adding on.

Can’t Argue Browns Draft Picks At Least Make Sense

For more years than we care to remember, the NFL Draft has been sort of the Super Bowl for Browns’ fans. With the trade for Deshaun Watson last year, the front office decided to pretty much do the same thing the organization has done with the championship game, that is, sit it out.

We also feel that some Browns’ fans watch the selection process and feel that every player picked by the team’s divisional rivals are destined to be inducted in Canton someday, while Cleveland’s picks will never pan out.

That’s what three winning seasons in the 21st century will do to a fan base.

We aren’t going to sit here and pretend we know how the players the Browns just selected will turn out. That can’t be done for several years. What we can comment on is whether or not the picks make sense.

And quite frankly, we don’t have any beef about the players making any sense.

Yes, you can argue about the lack of linebackers, a position group the Cleveland front office seems to not value, and we can see the point of the discussion. They did sign Utah LB Mohamoud Diabate after the draft to a guaranteed deal.

Their first selection at pick #74, WR Cedric Tillman battled injuries last year, but in 2021 he caught 64 passes for 1081 yards and 12 touchdowns for Tennessee. More likely than not (and draft experts agree), he would have been drafted much higher had he been healthy in ’22.

Stopping the run was a problem for the team last year and they did address the situation in free agency by inking Dalvin Tomlinson, but they added a defensive tackle that should help in 6’4″, 358 pound Siaki Ika out of Baylor.

We don’t think you can ever have too much depth at certain positions on the football field. Teams should always be looking at players who can get after the opposing quarterback and also guys who protect the passer. And like pitching in baseball, you can never have enough cornerbacks.

GM Andrew Berry addressed those spots as well, drafting a pass rusher in Isaiah McGuire from Missouri, and two Ohio State offensive linemen in T Dawand Jones and C Luke Wypler. Jones is intriguing just by his size, listed at 6’8″ and 350 pounds, but likely more than that.

If offensive line coach Bill Callahan works his magic with Jones, Cleveland likely has found its ultimate replacement for Jack Conklin.

And they also added another corner, Greg Newsome’s former teammate at Northwestern, Cam Mitchell.

We would guess the pick debated the most is the selection of UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the fifth round. No problem here, we kind of agree with former Green Bay GM Ron Wolf in believing a team should take a quarterback every year.

Josh Dobbs is Watson’s back up in the short term and we would guess Thompson-Robinson will compete with Kellen Mond to be the long-term guy.

And best-case scenario is one of those QBs has a great exhibition season and a desperate team offers you a draft pick for him. It could even be better if Watson misses a game or two (that’s not the good part) and the substitute plays great in the regular season game.

You just never know.

You also won’t know about this draft for a few years. One thing we do know is that Berry is going to have to make some tough decisions this upcoming season on players he selected. For the first time, he will have to cut a few of them it would seem.

Comments About Altman’s Comments

Friday morning, Cavs’ basketball head honcho Koby Altman had his post-season press conference and essentially said there wouldn’t be a lot of changes in the off-season. Let’s hope this is just front office speak.

Yes, the Cavaliers won 51 games this past season, the most won in the post-LeBron James era for the franchise. However, a closer look at the team shows there are a lot of areas where the wine and gold need to improve if they want to make a deeper run in next season’s playoffs.

Altman went out and got a star last off-season, trading most of the Cavaliers’ assets for Donovan Mitchell, thus giving the team four all-star caliber players along with Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley.

It was a great move. Mitchell will likely be first or second team all-NBA. But now Altman and GM Mike Gansey need to focus on spots #4 through #10 on the roster.

We would guess there will be a priority to bring Caris LeVert back. LeVert is the only player besides Mitchell and Garland to be able to create his own shot, and he showed he can be a solid defender and good passer.

The Cavaliers need more “basketball players” on the second unit. What we mean by that is players who can do a little bit of everything, like LeVert.

Right now, after the five players already mentioned, it feels like the balance of the squad is made up of one-dimensional players.

Isaac Okoro and Lamar Stevens are defenders, providing little on the offense end. Ricky Rubio is a playmaker. Dean Wade? He’s supposed to be able to provide outside shooting, but frankly, we’ve said all year he’s probably better defensively than people think, and not as good of a shooter as purported.

Cedi Osman is the closest to having an all-around game, but it seems like the coaching staff has very little confidence in him.

And without a doubt, Cleveland needs some shooters. The playoff series vs. the Knicks begged for someone, anyone to be able to make an outside shot consistently. Danny Green was signed on the buyout market and contributed one made three-point shot.

They also need size, and need size that can play in April. The last two years, the front office offered Ed Davis and Robin Lopez as reserve big men. Neither contributed much on the court. Altman and Gansey must get at least one big who can spell Allen and Mobley, and we would get two.

Basketball is still a sport where size matters, and J.B. Bickerstaff, who loves size, shouldn’t have to play Osman or Green at power forward in a playoff game.

From a coaching standpoint, Bickerstaff needs to do something differently offensively. Mitchell came into criticism for the post-season performance and to his credit, he owned up to it, but what did the coaching staff do to get him open looks? Opposing teams don’t guard Okoro, but the Cavs keep putting him in the corner to shoot threes.

That’s exactly why they don’t guard him.

They also don’t really have a plan for Mobley and Allen on the offensive end.

The defensive mindset is great, no question about it, but the Cavs only scored 100 points once in the series, the game they won. And the trio of Mitchell, Garland, and LeVert took 63% of the shots Cleveland attempted.

FYI, the Knicks top three in shots taken (Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and R.J. Barrett) took 58% of their shots.

There is very little movement off the ball for Cleveland. It’s pick and roll or bust. And we know that’s what the league has become, but there has to be some alternatives.

If Altman went before the media and promised big changes, the speculation would be running rampant already. He has to know the Cavaliers have to get better in 2023-24, and that will be difficult with no changes on the roster.