Month: August 2019

This long Browns training camp is finally over. About time. Now we can concentrate on week one. Just a quick mention about preseason game number four. Garrett Gilbert is a player and Devaroe Lawrence is a beast. So lets look at who I think makes the final 53, barring trades.

QB: Baker Mayfield, Drew Stanton and Garrett Gilbert. I still think they keep three quarterbacks. Stanton can come in during games and Gilbert could start a couple games if needed. Lets hope neither are needed.

RB: Nick Chubb, Dontrell Hilliard and D’Ernest Johnson ( until Hunt returns).

WR: Beckham, Landry, Higgins, Willies, Ratley and Miller. I think Braxton Miller showed enough to make this team. Really thought Strong would make the team.

OL: Hubbard, Kush, Tretter, Bitonio, Robinson, Teller, Lamm, Forbes and Corbett. Baring another trade these should be the Browns linemen. You just knew Dorsey would trade for a offensive lineman and Teller is a good one. Probably becomes the second best guard on the roster.

TE/FB: Njoku, Harris, Brown and Kerridge. Sorry Seth I don’t think you make it. Again, barring a trade, these should be the TE/FB. You might see one or two new tight ends on the roster over the weekend, because after Njoku, this group needs an upgrade.

DL: Garrett, Ogunjobi, Richardson, Vernon, Lawrence, Ekuale, Thomas, Smith and Davis. This position group is going to be special.

LB: Schobert, Kirksey, Avery, Wilson, Takitaki and Armstrong.

DB/S: Ward, Mitchell, Randall, Burnett, Whitehead, Carrie, Williams, Redwine, Thomas and Gaines.

SP: Colquitt, Seibert and Hughlett. Sorry no “Scottish Hammer.” Colquitt is a top five punter putting the ball inside the 20 yard line.

There you have it, my best guess on the 2019 Cleveland Browns. As I write this, QB David Blough was traded to the Lions with a 2022 7th round pick for the Lions 2022 7th round pick. I love it when you get something for a player who’s going to get cut.

Because I live in Nashville and as we get ready for game one, I’ll be sharing some insight on week one opponent the titans. A lot of big talk here in Nashville, but with the Browns defensive line and the titans offensive line, it could get ugly for the titans. Go Browns.

That’s what every Browns fan should repeat in their heads all weekend long. They also should be looking forward to this defense on September 8th. Sure Baker Mayfield looked a little out of sync, but when you aren’t playing two starting WR’s, your starting RB and starting TE what do you expect. It was obvious to me the offensive sets were very simple and the coaching staff was trying to decide on WR #5 and #6. The offensive line was…well offensive. Bitonio is a stud and Tretter is an iron man, but the rest, wow. I know the offensive play calling will make the tackles look better, but RG still is the biggest question mark. Between now and cut down day rumors are going to be all over the place.

Two things settled on offense, at least in my mind, are the kicking game and D’Ernest Johnson gives everything on every play. Did you notice that Britton Colquitt was the holder on all the FG attempts? So that tells me Colquitt is the punter and Seibert is the kicker. Look don’t get me wrong, the “Scottish Hammer” is a great story, but great stories are made for the preseason, not the regular season. D’Ernest Johnson is a player and a player I want the Browns to keep. I think he’ll force the Browns to make a tough decision when Kareem Hunt returns. Lastly on offense, Rashard Higgins is going to get paid. Lets hope it’s the Browns paying him.

This defensive line is scary, real scary. On Olivier Vernon’s first sack, did he get credit for the sack or the offensive lineman he pushed all the way to the QB? He literally pushed the RT all the way to the QB. Myles Garrett is a beast, as is Richardson and Ogunjobi. Joe Schobert and Christian Kirksey were their usual selves. I hope Dorsey doesn’t trade one or the other prior to the season, I think both are very important to this defense. Good to see Denzel Ward back on the field. Also good not to hear his name mentioned, except for a sack, because that means he’s doing his job and the opposing QB is not looking his way.

So now lets play the roster game. I’m going to list the position and how many players for that position I think the Browns keep and then the players I think make the roster. Easy right? If it was, I’d be a GM and be very wealthy, but I’m not, so here goes:

QB(3): Mayfield, Stanton and Gilbert. Easy position to pick, I hope they can hide Blough on the practice squad.

RB(3): Chubb, Hilliard, Johnson. Hunt will be activated after week 8, so this might get interesting.

WR(6):Beckham, Landry, Higgins, Strong, Willies and Ratley. This is tough because Hyman has played well, but Ratley has size and speed.

TE/FB(4): Njoku, Harris, DeValve and Brown. Did you notice last night DeValve lining up at FB? I did and he didn’t do to bad.

OL(9):Hubbard, Kush, Tretter, Bitonio, Robinson, Lamm, Corbett, Kalis and Forbes. Baring a trade this should be the group. Hopefully they can stash Seaton on the practice squad, he has great potential.

DL(9): Garrett, Ogunjobi, Richardson, Vernon, Lawrence,Thomas, Smith, Coley and Davis. Solid group, the strength of the defense.

LB(6):Kirksey, Schobert, Avery, Wilson, Takitaki and Armstrong. Armstrong makes the list because of his special teams play.

DB(10): Ward, Mitchell, Randall, Burnett,Williams, Carrie, Whitehead, Redwine, Thomas and Murray. This is a hard group to chose from. I like Gaines, Hassell and Burris a lot. Maybe if they only keep five LB’s one will make the team.

ST(3) Seibert, Colquitt and Hughlett.

There’s my 53, let me know what you think and give me your 53. Because we all know Browns fans have no opinions and really have difficulty expressing themselves. So now it’s on to the most meaningless game in all of football not involving a college directional school, preseason game number 4. Put the starters in bubble wrap and let the best backups win. Go Browns.

A very sloppy and penalty filled game broke out, aka a typical preseason game. At least the Browns won. Lets start with the bad news, the offensive line. Right Guard is a hot mess. Eric Kush was decent, but you can tell run blocking is not his strength so the revolving door at RG continues. RT Chris Hubbard had a false start and I only mention this because it appeared to me during the Washington game on the opening drive he could of been called for the same penalty a couple of times but the referees missed it. Well at least the the refs are ready for the season to start. Austin Corbett again logged a ton of minutes at the center position and was good on blocking assignments, but some of his snaps were way to high. One was so high it threw off the QB’s timing and resulted in the ball being thrown out of bounds on a key down. It looked like a volleyball game was starting. Drew Forbes played well again, but against the guys who’ll be selling insurance in about two weeks.

The kicking game is still a problem. After two scrimmages where both kickers hit every kick they attempted, both missed 50+ yarders in a domed climate controlled stadium. Both kicks had the distance, but one missed wide right and the other wide left. Did either of these guys uncles kick for Florida State? I wish we could get one more year out of Phil Dawson. The best kick of the night came from “the Scottish Hammer.” A 74 yard punt. I still prefer Britton Colquitt over Gillan, two of his three punts were inside the 20 and he still averaged 42.3 yards a kick.

Now the good news, this offense works no matter which quarterback is playing. As a Browns fan, I can’t believe I’m saying that. When I heard most of the offensive starters weren’t playing I was very disappointed, but then very pleased with our third string QB Garrett Gilbert and fourth stringer David Blough. After a slow start by both, you could see the timing start to come together. WR Jaelen Strong is peaking at the right time, as is WR D.J. Montgomery. I had heard of Montgomery in college because he played at Austin Peay University up the road from Nashville in Clarksville, TN. Another good performance from RB D’Ernest Johnson who ran well and caught the ball well. I’m very comfortable going into the season with Chubb, Hilliard and Johnson at RB.

On defense, the Browns need to learn to cover the opposing tight end. Don’t get me wrong, the Colts have a nice group at this position, but you can’t let them all run wild. This isn’t the National Geographic channel. The defensive line, without Myles Garrett was very impressive. LB’s Wilson and Avery were very active as was DB’s Morgan Burnett, Justin Burris, Phillip Gaines, Eric Murray and Sheldrick Redwine. Hopefully in game three, the starters will play more, because I can’t wait to see the secondary mesh.

Johnson also did well at returning kicks. He had three kickoff returns for 62 yards, his longest was 28 yards and one punt return for 10 yards. Sheehy had two punt returns for 8 yards but hurt his ribs. We’ll see what Hilliard can do in game three if he plays. All in all, the Colts game and scrimmages showed me that the Browns will be ready to go when the season starts against the titans. Next week I’ll attempt to give my predictions on the 53 man roster, but now it’s time to watch “Building the Browns” on YouTube. Next stop Tampa, Go Browns.

Just a few quick notes on the Wednesday and Thursday scrimmages before the second preseason game on Saturday.

Wednesday: Offensive stars on Wednesday were Kareem Hunt, Jaelen Strong, Demetrius Harris and Rashard Higgins. Defensive stars were Joe Schobert, Genard Avery and of course Myles Garrett. The Colts offense pushed around the Browns defense a little, but then the Colts have a really good offensive line, so this is a good test for the defense. No Landry or Beckham on Wednesday, but the chemistry between Mayfield and Higgins is so strong right now. Both kickers made all their kicks. Mayfield and the offense had a 13 play drive, but couldn’t score a touchdown.

Thursday: Whole different attitude on Thursday. More physical and the Browns defense dominated. Defensive stars were Greedy Williams, Terrance Mitchell and the Browns defensive line. Offensive stars were, Nick Chubb, Pharaoh Brown, Jaelen Strong and again Rashard Higgins. Landry played and the two minute drill was unstoppable. Mayfield carved up the Colts like a surgeon. Both kickers made all their kicks. By the way, fights everywhere. I don’t know what Freddie told the team, but man did he amp it up.

Injuries: Devaroe Lawrence with a leg injury, but it’s not serious and is day to day (like we all are). Dontrell Hilliard also with a leg injury and again not serious. Beckham has a hip injury, but Freddie says if it was a real game he would have played.

Overview: The RG situation is a mystery to me. Kush ran with the first team, but it’s still a competition. Drew Forbes, late in both scrimmages played with the first team and Freddie said he flashed in the Washington game. It’s apparent Kush is a weakness in the run game and the Browns want more push and Kyle Kalis is still in concussion protocol and isn’t available. Is a trade in the works? It’s possible, because I don’t think there are many quality offensive linemen sitting by their phones right now. It appears Austin Corbett is now the back up center. As for the kickers, it seems like they are tied and the win would go to the guy who was drafted, Austin Seibert. Finally, Sheehy needs to learn how to catch the ball if he’s making the team.

Saturday: With the Hilliard injury, we’ll get to see more of Kareem Hunt on Saturday, which is fine by me. I know he’s suspended for the first eight games and I don’t think he’ll be ready till week ten, but that’s a prefect time during the season for fresh legs. I think the starters will play a quarter and Landry will play. Save Beckham for either the third preseason game for the season opener. I know everyone is freaking out about the chemistry between Baker and Beckham, but if you’ve seen the videos online of the practices, they look like they’re fine. Freddie has been working the team in pads almost the entire training camp and by my count after this game they are only allowed one more practice in pads. Pretty strange with two preseason games left. My next blog will be post game Saturday. Enjoy the game Browns fans.

That’s what my brain keeps telling me, just calm down. However having seen a ton of first preseason games in my life, that game had a different feel. In the first drive the Browns went hurry up, two minute offense in a preseason game. I don’t recall ever seeing that happen before. Freddie had a set of scripted plays, they worked and the starters were off the field. Oh by the way, no Landry or Beckham on the field during that series. They picked up where they left off last year. Five for Six, 77 yards and a touchdown. Every time the Browns win the coin toss, they better take the ball first, because I don’t see anyone stopping this offense.

On defense without Richardson and Vernon, Myles Garrett was a force. I don’t know if the NFL keeps this record, but Garrett may set a record for holding calls against a player. Coming out of college the supposed knock on Garrett was he was slow off the line. Really. The rest of the defense played well against the redskins in their first series.

Back ups: QB. Stanton looked rusty on his first series, but handled the offense very well on the second series. I think with the starters he would be fine if called upon. Gilbert really surprised me. His arm strength is really good for a guy who bounced around the league. He handled the offense well. Glad to see Freddie get really upset at the offense for giving up the sack right before half time. Blough is a camp arm and threw a touchdown pass late in the game.

RB. No more Duke Johnson. By the way, to get a 4th rounder that can turn into a 3rd rounded if Johnson is active for 10 games was pure genius by John Dorsey. Dontrell Hilliard ran well and caught the ball well. He did have the fumble on the goal line, but the coaches love the guy. D’Ernest Johnson impressed me as well.

WR. I think the sixth receiver, behind Beckham, Landry, Higgins, Callaway and Willies will come down to Strong or Hyman. Strong was more impressive only because Hyman fumbled close to the goal line. He was holding the ball too far from his body and was stripped by the DB, who was his college team mate at James Madison. Now the question is the dilemma that is Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi. Do you keep an established wide out or a returner who could play wide receiver? Two names come to mind, Josh Cribbs and Travis Benjamin. Sheehy-Guiseppi brings a spark on special teams that this team needs. Wait a minute, as I write this, I just saw where Callaway will be suspended the first four games of the season for violation of the NFL sustenance abuse policy. Oh boy.

TE. Njoku played the first series, believe me I saw him, but got no looks. Pharoah Brown was disappointing. Missed a key block and just looked uninspired. No one else really stood out. DeValve and Harris are injured.

OL. I think the starters right now, as said in a previous blog are Hubbard, Kush, Tretter, Bitonio and Robinson. Corbett played center with second and third teams, so maybe this is his new position. Lamm is the swing tackle and I was impressed with Witzmann. Forbes is practice squad and Seaton maybe as well. The Browns signed T Travis Vornkahl and waived John Yarbrough today.

Defense: DL. First, Chad Thomas was there last night and played really well. In the touchdown series by Washington, Thomas abused the right tackle several times and made the QB hurry twice. Devaroe Lawrence had a sack, but lets face facts, Washington’s OL stinks. Tracy Sprinkle was cut today and they signed DT Brandin Bryant.

LB. Mack Wilson had two more interceptions and is a very good cover linebacker but still needs work against the run. Takitaki was his usual physical self. He over ran some plays but that is going to be expected from a rookie. Both will contribute this year.

DB. Greedy Williams missed coverage on some plays, but he’s still on track to start. Terrance Mitchell looks to be playing like he did last year before getting hurt. Now I see why the coaches love Jermaine Whitehead and Redwine was around the ball in the second half.

Kickers. Both looked good, but I wish Joseph wouldn’t get so close to the uprights on extra points. Got to hit the extra points and not the uprights because this team is going to score a lot of touchdowns. All in all it was a pretty clean game. No major injuries, not a lot of penalties. The special teams started the game with a double team block on the kick-off. Apparently, there’s a new rule on kick-offs, you can double team a member of the kicking team. Leave it to the Browns to explore the NFL rule book.

I had to watch the game on my laptop though a website the NFL would love to shut down but can’t, so I got the Washington broadcast team of Kenny Albert and Joe Theismann. This always happens in preseason games and sometimes in the regular season. Lets just say, It forced me to learn the Browns players numbers, because if it wasn’t a redskin player, they had no clue. Mack “Williams” intercepted two passes and Greedy “Wilson” intercepted one. And the Higgins touchdown pass was nearly intercepted. What? I call it nice touch by Baker Mayfield on the pass.

Finally, I usually publish this blog on Tuesday, but I’m changing to the day after games while the game is still fresh in my head. Hey I’m old, soon you’ll know what I mean. A reminder, YouTube’s “Building the Browns” new season starts Sunday August 11. A must see if you don’t live in Cleveland. On to Indy and GO BROWNS.

At Friday’s post-practice press conference, Odell Beckham, Jr. made the above statement about when he and Baker Mayfield finally get their timing down. From what I’ve seen on the internet it’s already pretty frightening. If the offensive line gets the time to gel, this offense is unstoppable. Glad to see the Browns are rotating Austin Corbett, Kyle Kalis and Eric Kush, in that order, at the right guard spot. I hope they settle on the starters by the second preseason game to allow the group to work together the rest of the preseason and training camp.

So far Baker Mayfield isn’t satisfied with where the offense is and that’s fine by me. I want my quarterback to want to improve team chemistry with every practice and game. Mayfield gets it and he gets the fans and city of Cleveland. Just watch the video of him shotgunning a beer that he opened with his teeth at Saturday’s Indians game. https://twitter.com/Indians/status/1157818848147628032. By the way, if I owned a dental clinic in Cleveland, I would be handing out business cards this Thursday at the Muni Lot tailgates. There’s gold in them there beer cans.

The national media is ripping Mayfield for yelling at his wide receivers. Oh the humanity. At the same Friday press conference Beckham said, “It’s time to work. When we get on the field, it’s time to work. That’s the General and we’re all the chiefs. If he’s yelling at us to get back to the ball, get back to the ball. There’s no problem with it. He’s trying to get you open so he can make a throw to get you yards. … Like I’ve said when you’ve got a guy like Baker [Mayfield] and the guy that he is, you just want to work for him.” Like Beckham said, it’s going to be scary.

At the Saturday scrimmage, Myles Garrett was again dominating. If you’re an opposing offense, how are you going to stop or even slow this guy down? He’a going to line up on either end and in the middle. I keep thinking of the movie ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ and the football game scenes where the character Charles Jefferson, played by Forest Whitaker, thinks the opposing team wrecked his car and he destroys them. This could be Myles Garrett during every game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYV5f0Aqo4w.

Glad to see Coach Freddie Kitchens is having a hard hitting, physical training camp. When the season opens, this team will have toughness. How many season openers have we seen this team not be ready to play? How about 1-18-1 many times. That’s the Browns record in season openers since 1999. No wonder the national media is predicting the titans to win week one. And here in Nashville, sports talk radio is already talking about the week two home opener against Andrew Luck and the Colts. Also happy to see the “Tour De Berea” is gone. No more riding stationary bikes off in the distance. If your injured, you still dress out. You might work with a trainer, but you’re still participating in team activities.

Some training camp tidbits: Sione Takitaki comes to play everyday. The rookie draft pick is physical and hard hitting. The other rookie LB draft pick Mack Wilson looks like he’s starting to understand playing in the NFL and showing promise. I think Takitaki starts on special teams and Wilson will back up Kirksey. Defensive lineman Daniel Ekuale is starting to flash in camp as well. I bet DC Steve Wilks likes having two veteran corners, Terrance Mitchell and T.J. Carrie he can bring in nickle and dime packages, both are playing well. The Browns signed some depth, or another training camp body, in former TheOSU DL Tracy Sprinkle.

On offense, Kareem Hunt has been cleared to play and WR Derrick Willies is having a great camp. For once I’m not worried about the wide receiver position group. RB Dontrell Hilliard is making the most of his opportunities with Duke Johnson out. TE Pharaoh Brown is intriguing to me. Very athletic and good route runner. The cuts on this team are going to be really interesting if this team stays healthy through the preseason. And by healthy I mean Seth Devalve. No matter how much you like a player, availability is the best ability.

I saved the worst till last, the kicking game. At punter, it’s got to be Britton Colquitt, not the “Scottish Hammer.” I want my punter to have played football almost all his life. As for the kicker, I never thought Greg Joseph would survive the competition from the fifth round pick Austin Seibert, but he has and is kicking better, a lot better. I don’t mind Dorsey using a fifth rounder on a kicker, I just wish it was Matt Gay from Utah that Tampa Bay selected. That kid will win them some games this year.

Some non football news. The Indians got who for Trevor Bauer? The Indians got OF Yasiel Puig, P Scott Moss; (From Padres) OF Franmil Reyes, P Logan Allen and IF/OF Victor Nova. They only gave up Bauer. No front line prospects, only Bauer. The two who are in the line up now are Puig and Reyes. Puig is a one year rental and the Indians retain Reyes for a couple of years. By the way, Reyes is the same size as Myles Garrett. If Corey Kluber can return to form, the rotation of Kluber, Bieber, Plesac and Clevinger is pretty strong. Not sure about Plutko, but I like what I saw from Civale’s one start and he goes against Texas Monday night. Houston was the best team in the American league before the trade deadline and only got better.

Finally, I guess it’s game week. I know it’s preseason game one, a glorified practice. But on Thursday, I’ll still wake up and wear Browns gear to work and count the hours till kick off. I’ll still dial up the game on the internet and watch it illegally. As all Browns fans who don’t live near Cleveland know, this is our weekly ritual. Gear up on Friday and watch on the laptop or devise on Sunday through various websites or streaming services. I do know, even though game one versus the titans will be on local television, my wife and I will be in a packed bar here in Nashville watching the game with the rest of the Middle Tennessee Browns Backers. GO BROWNS.