Tag: geno smith

Why Not Go Back To Winston?

The Cleveland Browns are still looking for a veteran starting quarterback. Slowly, the options have been reduced by other teams signing younger, experienced passers in the first round of free agency.

It appears that the Browns miscalculated the market and seemed to be settled on Kirk Cousins, whom they didn’t think Atlanta would pay a roster bonus and thus he would be released. But apparently, Atlanta isn’t going to do that.

So, in waiting for Cousins, Cleveland could’ve traded a third-round pick for Geno Smith, or signed Justin Fields or Daniel Jones in free agency. They didn’t, so if the Browns want a veteran signal caller, it looks like Russell Wilson, Carson Wentz, Joe Flacco, or someone else of that ilk.

We ask this question…why not Jameis Winston?

Yes, we know Winston has a history of throwing interceptions. And he ranked second in the league in interception percentage last season trailing only the Colts’ Anthony Richardson, who appears to be losing his job.

But hear us out. Remember when Winston became the starting quarterback last season after an injury to the starter, and head coach Kevin Stefanski gave up play-calling responsibilities the same week?

Winston never got a chance to run the offense that he came to Cleveland to run. An offense built on running the ball and the play-action pass. Instead, he played in a pass happy attack, one that had him throwing over 40 passes in a game five times, including 58 throws in the loss to Denver.

Then remember the first year Winston started in New Orleans, when the Saints got off to a 5-2 start before he was injured. Running Sean Payton’s offense, the most passes he threw in a game was 35, and he only had more than one interception in one game, when he went 11 for 22 for 111 yards in a 26-7 loss to Carolina.

For that season, the former first overall pick completed 59% of his throws and had 14 touchdowns and just 3 picks.

And we know Winston still has an incredible arm. Instead of signing a guy with diminished arm strength like Wilson, why not go with a passer who still can make all the throws. And in a locker room that seems to need leadership amongst the players, we know the leadership Winston provides.

Also, if Payton can coach the turnovers out of Winston, why can’t Stefanski?

We also think Winston would be a good mentor for whatever quarterback the Browns take in the first round, and we believe they are going to do just that.

Plus, Jerry Jeudy became a Pro Bowl wide receiver when Winston took over as quarterback, and we also are aware the QB wasn’t thrilled at times that wide receivers (Elijah Moore) didn’t try to break up passes that were thrown in harm’s way.

Look, we know it’s not going to happen. It doesn’t seem like Stefanski had a connection with Jameis and no media outlet has reported anything about a reunion between the two parties.

But if the picks were the problem, Flacco would have had the highest interception percentage in the NFL in 2023 had he thrown enough passes to qualify. The league leader was Mac Jones at 3.5%, Flacco’s was 3.9%.

We would like to see how Winston would fare in a run based, throw off play action attack like Stefanski likes to use. Maybe he would still put the ball in precarious situations, but maybe he’d hit on some big plays and give the Browns an air attack that can stretch the field.

For whatever reason, the Browns’ front office and coaching staff isn’t considering Jameis Winston as an option.

Another Loss And A New QB For Browns

The Cleveland Browns’ season just keeps going downhill faster and faster. Last Sunday’s loss started with the Bengals taking the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, and although the defense played pretty well, the Browns fell to 1-6 with a 21-14 loss to Cincinnati.

The other significant event in the game was QB Deshaun Watson apparently tearing his achilles tendon on a non-contact injury in the second quarter thus ending his season. Watson has now been with Cleveland three years and has yet to play in more than seven games in a season.

Inexplicably, that did not give veteran Jameis Winston a shot at playing QB. Winston was demoted to the #3 quarterback, available only if the first two passers were injured. Dorian Thompson-Robinson was designated as the backup and was lackluster at best, completing 11 of 24 throws for a paltry 82 yards.

After the game, we saw a number of media people touting Thompson-Robinson (DTR) as the starter next week, with the opinion that the Browns need to see what they have in him.

We don’t get it. First, he was a fifth-round draft pick, so he was far from highly regarded coming into the NFL. Second, what has he shown when he has been on the field to make anyone think he can be a viable NFL quarterback?

We know he didn’t prepare as a starter last week, but when he comes into the game, he looks like a gimmicky, run first QB. He’s doesn’t seem real accurate, and so far, six of his 136 NFL throws have been picked off.

As a comparison, Watson has had three interceptions in 216 passes this season.

Wouldn’t it be better to see if Winston can have a comeback to his career like Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, or Sam Darnold? And if the losing continues, they can always play DTR in the last couple of games.

Look, more than likely, the Browns are going to draft a QB with their first round pick next spring. Perhaps Winston can be your bridge quarterback to open next season if Watson isn’t ready or another move is made with him.

Anyway, back to the game. There were more mistakes. Motion penalties, illegal shifts, lining up offsides. We know the coaches don’t coach this, but there has to be consequences to habitual offenders. Perhaps the loss of some playing time would allow the message for these players to soak in.

The Browns couldn’t run the ball either, gaining just 77 yards on the ground with 44 of those yards on runs by Thompson-Robinson. The only good thing was seeing Nick Chubb back on the field, getting 22 yards on 11 carries. His longest run was five yards, but still it was great to see him back on the field after his terrible knee injury last year.

The defense played well mostly, although one of the Bengals’ touchdowns was a pass to Ja’Marr Chase with big play magnet Greg Newsome II in coverage. The defensive back just can’t avoid giving up a big play pretty much every week.

We would guess more players who were brought in for this season, veterans on one-year deals will be (and should be if possible) moved for draft picks before the trade deadline. We have no problem with that.

However, we don’t want to hear the word tanking. It breeds a losing environment that is tough to get rid of. Browns fans more than anyone else should understand that.

What needs to be done is getting a victory and getting back to the philosophy that worked for the most part over the last four seasons.

It won’t be easy for sure