Stop Thinking Losing Is Okay For The Browns

We should all get the pass the Cleveland Browns do from the people who cover them and from some fans as well. After last year’s 3-14 debacle, and it was a debacle from the moment they decided to fire coaches after a playoff season, there are a lot of people who are using the “T” word.

Yes, we are talking about tanking. Wouldn’t you love the expectation of anything you do be to just suck at it? Why do the Browns get that break?

First, it’s because the football fans in northeast Ohio have been brainwashed to think the only way an NFL team can win is to have a “franchise” quarterback.

While it is true that Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have kind of a monopoly on the league in recent years, teams can win other ways. Now, you do need to have a solid player behind center, but you also do not have to have the first pick in the draft to get an excellent QB.

We just mentioned Mahomes, who was not the first overall pick. He was selected 10th overall.

Let’s examine our personal top five QB list, which would consist of Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, and since he quarterbacked last year’s Super Bowl winners, Jalen Hurts.

Only Burrow was taken with the first overall pick.

Oh, and didn’t the Browns just take a QB with the first overall pick in 2018? Perhaps it would have worked out for Cleveland if they didn’t mangle the situation so badly, including giving Baker Mayfield a ton of clout too early in his career.

But we digress.

We said a few times in the last couple of months that the only way Cleveland better have the first overall pick in the ’26 draft is if the Jaguars are really bad.

It’s time for the Browns to get rid of their “free beer tomorrow” mentality and be all about winning football games. We know Kevin Stefanski, the coaching staff, and the players are not going into contests being okay with losing, and for the front office, just because they made a monumental mistake with the Deshaun Watson trade, shouldn’t mean they get a pass either.

We should start demanding this football team starts winning games. That’s why we dismiss talk of starting Kenny Pickett in week one vs. Cincinnati and/or getting Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel in there quickly.

Unless Joe Flacco aged so much in the last couple of years and is now not capable of winning games in the NFL, he should be the starting QB in the first game of the season. He gives you the best chance to win.

And for the front office, they should be thinking of the same, not looking at the veteran as a possible end of camp trade piece.

There could be a time for that. Let’s say Flacco is putting up numbers and the Browns are sitting at 2-6 at the trade deadline. Then, if you can get something for him, why not make the move and see what you have in the other three passers.

You don’t build a winning culture by thinking losing is acceptable for any reason. If the Browns want to have that, it starts with not accepting defeat. Play the best players. No other agendas as long as you have a chance.

Browns Should Make Note. Running The Ball Is Getting Back In Vogue

Today’s NFL is a quarterback driven league. The stars of football are the guys who throw the football…Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, C.J. Stroud, Brock Purdy, etc.

They are in commercials and are recognized on a first name basis.

However, we saw over the weekend in the playoff’s divisional round that the running game is still important too. The Eagles beat the Rams behind 285 yards on the ground, led by Saquon Barkley, who gained 205 yards, while the Bills and Ravens played another “old school” game.

Buffalo ran for 147 yards (Josh Allen had just 127 yards through the air), while the Ravens ground it out for 176 running the ball.

As we all know, the Cleveland Browns need a quarterback, but perhaps they can lessen the reliance for getting their guy if they can develop an elite running game.

It is interesting to note of the top ten teams in running the football this past season, many made the playoffs: Baltimore was 1st, the Eagles and Commanders, who play in the NFC Championship game this Sunday, rank 2nd and 3rd.

Out of the balance of the top ten, all but three teams (Cardinals, Colts, and Falcons) made the post season, and even those teams all finished at 8-9. Running the ball keeps you competitive.

The year before, the Ravens (13-4) led the NFL in rushing, and five of the top ten teams in running the ball made the playoffs.

Makes it even more curious the Browns got away from running the football in 2024.

We still agree the Browns should use the second overall pick in this spring’s draft on a quarterback. Why? Primarily because the rest of the Cleveland roster is talented enough that the likelihood of the franchise picking this high again isn’t probably great. You have a chance to take one of the two best QBs coming into the league, so do it.

But there is no question Kevin Stefanski and the front office can lessen the burden on the rookie or preferably the veteran they will bring in as a stop gap until the rookie is ready but getting back to his offensive roots and running the football.

Besides, and we have said this before, running the ball is in the franchise’s DNA, the legacy of the franchise starts with Marion Motley, Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and leads all the way to Nick Chubb.

Use the Eagles as the model. They ranked 29th in passing yards this season and are playing Sunday with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Is that model sustainable? Probably not, but it does buy time for whoever Cleveland drafts to get used to the NFL game and become a productive NFL QB.

While the Browns’ defense may not be at the level of the 2023 season, that side of the football is still pretty good. Rebuilding the offensive line and drafting a solid running back so you move the football and protect the quarterback isn’t the worst idea.

And it might just speed up the clock to getting back to being a playoff team. We would all love to have Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Jackson, etc. at the helm for the Browns. That doesn’t mean the organization should just give up if they don’t have one of those guys.

A Browns’ Functional Offense Can Win Games

When the Cleveland Browns were in negotiations to trade for Deshaun Watson, it was reported that the quarterback’s interactions with head coach Kevin Stefanski went amazingly well.

The two talked football, x’s and o’s, and Stefanski showed him ideas and the concepts of what he would like to do, and Watson appeared to be in agreement that it would be a beneficial relationship for both of them.

There is no doubt in our mind that Stefanski was excited. That’s how coaches are. Without any negative baggage people are aware of, coaches think they can get the best out of any player, that’s how they are wired.

Stefanski has had success running offenses as a coach in Minnesota and Cleveland, and we are sure he felt what he liked to do would mesh well with a passer who had several big seasons and a couple of playoff appearances in Houston.

And we are sure Watson was equally excited to have a coach whose offenses have had plenty of success in the NFL.

But offenses have changed in the NFL since 2018-2020, Watson’s heyday in Houston. The Kansas City Chiefs, who have won three Super Bowls since that period, do not run the same attack as they did in Patrick Mahomes’ first year as a starter.

So, hoping the Watson who played for the Texans is magically going to return wearing a Browns’ uniform is probably a wish that isn’t going to come true.

Meanwhile, while Watson was out due to suspension and injury over the last two years, the Browns’ offense has performed pretty well, ranking in the middle of the pack in ’22 (18th) and landing in the top ten (10th) last season.

Stefanski likes to run the football and throw off of play action. That usually means the QB has to play under center. Watson prefers to be in the shotgun. Stefanski likes to be ahead of the chains, usually going with a short pass on first down to gain five yards or so, and then be able to run the ball on 2nd and possible 3rd down.

Watson likes to take shots down the field, usually after he buys time in the backfield by using his legs. He also takes a lot of sacks, leading the league in 2018 and was sacked over 40 times in both ’19 and ’20.

That puts his team in obvious pass situations. Stefanski doesn’t like those situations.

The point is in spite of both people’s intentions, what they both like to do is in direct contrast with each other.

After last season, the organization decided to bring in a new offensive coordinator, Ken Dorsey, who has experience with mobile QBs, but physically, Cam Newton and Josh Allen, the players Dorsey worked with, are much bigger and would seem to be able to take more hits because of that size.

With the injuries on the offensive line, it would seem the best offense for the Browns to win with would be to run the Stefanski attack, keep the QB out of bad down and distance situations and running the football and take downfield shots with play action.

Can Watson run that offense effectively and better yet, can he be fulfilled running the attack in that fashion?

We think the Browns can have success if the offense plays at a league average level. The defense is that strong. Winning is the object of the sport, no one should forget that.

Browns Need Draft To Address Defense, Not QB

In our last post, we talked about Baker Mayfield and asked the people who have seen enough of him as the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns what is the alternative.

We know the other QB on the roster, Case Keenum, will be 33 years old soon, and has a 27-35 record as a starter, with just one season, 2017 with the Vikings, with a winning record. His record taking the opening offensive snap that season was 11-3.

This means, even with rudimentary math skills, other than that season, Keenum is 16-32 as a starter, so he is not exactly a QB who raises his team over their shortcomings. He’s a journeyman. He’s a good backup because he’s a former starter in the league, but we don’t think for a minute that Kevin Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt want to explore a scenario where Keenum is getting the majority of snaps for the Browns.

What this also means is if Mayfield will not be the quarterback in 2021, his replacement isn’t on the roster right now.

Where would the Browns find a replacement?

Keep in mind, the Browns still have weaknesses on the defensive side of the football, and we would have expected a great deal of next spring’s NFL Draft (to be held here in Cleveland) will be spent upgrading that unit.

Right now, the defense has Myles Garrett, a candidate for the league’s defensive player of the year, and a very good cornerback in Denzel Ward, although many around northeast Ohio don’t seem to realize how good he is.

Larry Ogunjobi and Sheldon Richardson are solid on the defensive line, but the linebacking corps and the safety positions have to be addressed if the Browns are going to be on the same level as the Ravens and Steelers.

So, trading draft picks to either move up in the draft or to get a veteran starting quarterback from another team looking to rebuild inhibits the team’s ability to address the defense.

And do you really want to go back in the draft to find your next signal caller? The year the Browns drafted Mayfield (2018), here are the other passers taken in the first round: Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, and Lamar Jackson.

Jackson won the league MVP last season, but more for his all around skills than as a passer, and Allen is on a team that made the playoffs a year ago, but his numbers aren’t as good as Mayfield’s. He has 20 touchdowns running the ball, three more than the guy picked second that season, Saquon Barkley.

In the 2017 draft, two excellent quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson were taken in the first round. That’s the good news.

The bad news is the first QB taken was Mitchell Trubisky by Chicago. He’s been benched.

So, will the Browns find someone better than Mayfield in the draft next year? We would say it’s 50/50. And any thoughts of another tank job to secure the first pick in any subsequent draft should be squelched by everyone. Been there, done that.

That leaves with the veteran option, and who are you going to get on that market. First, you will have to pay a king’s ransom in terms of draft capital and takes a significant salary cap hit.

Likely, you will also be getting someone past their prime. And if you don’t win a Super Bowl within two or three seasons, you will be setting back the franchise in the long run, because you will need to find a younger QB very soon.

It’s definitely a quandary for Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski, but hopefully Stefanski will coach and guide Mayfield, and we will see better results going forward. Remember, this is Mayfield’s fourth coach since he was drafted.

It hasn’t been fair to his development and hopefully he is strong enough to overcome the obstacles his career has had.

What’s needed most? Patience.

Browns Can’t Gamble At Quarterback This Time.

In about two and a half weeks, the Cleveland Browns will select their potential future franchise quarterback with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Forget about the mock drafts which have Cleveland taking Penn State RB Saquon Barkley, when the best signal caller you have had since returning to the NFL in 1999 is Tim Couch, you need to address the position.

By the way, that’s not a slight at Couch, who was battered and beaten during his time here because the offensive line was not built at that time.

Really, the last time the Browns have had a QB who ranked in the top ten in the league was when Bernie Kosar was behind center. That was 25 years ago.

We disagree with those who say GM John Dorsey should take a passer who has the biggest upside. After going 1-31 over the past two seasons, and having a void at the position for years and years, we feel you have to take the player with the highest floor, and in our opinion, that player is UCLA QB Josh Rosen.

Rosen was considered one of the three best passers coming out of high school, and basically has held that ranking throughout his college career.

The scouting report on him has him as the most natural pocket passer, with great mechanics and a tight spiral. Since we believe the most successful NFL teams win with pocket quarterbacks, we would seem to be a player who will be a solid pro passer.

We wouldn’t be overly upset if Dorsey selected USC signal caller Sam Darnold, because he’s only 20 years old, and has a lot of upside. His biggest strength is accuracy, but he had turnover issues last year in college.

Baker Mayfield is another player we like, but we worry about his upside since he is turning 23 years old on Saturday.

The NFL media is drooling over Wyoming’s Josh Allen, because he’s 6’5″ and can throw the ball 70 yards in the air. However, accuracy is of the upmost importance in the NFL, the ability to throw receivers open.

That’s the rap on Allen. We believe the national draft pundits are trying to be the guys who are touting the next Carson Wentz, the guy from a small school who becomes a big NFL passer.

Perhaps Allen will be the next Wentz or the next Ben Roethlisburger, but what if he’s the next Derek Anderson or Paxton Lynch? In our opinion, you cannot take that chance with the first overall pick in the draft.

Yes, the Browns have upgraded the position for this year by getting a solid veteran in Tyrod Taylor. But that doesn’t mean you can gamble at #1.

After all these years with no quarterback, you simply must get someone who will be able to handle the position for the next ten years.

Rosen may not seem like a guy who wants to play here, but if Dorsey and the front office like him, they need to sell him that things will be different now, and this is a team that can grow together with young players like Myles Garrett, Emmanuel Ogbah, David Njoku, and the others picked in the last two years along with this draft class.

This is not the time to gamble. You have Taylor for this year and maybe the next, but all that does it buy time for whoever you take to develop so he can take over.

It’s not time to take a project. Take a quarterback who has played against the best college competition.