What to do with Kareem Hunt? Calling plays? Hating analytics? Let’s talk Cleveland Browns
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2020/02...and-browns.htmlBy Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
TALKING TO MYSELF ABOUT KAREEM HUNT
QUESTION: What should the Browns do about Kareem Hunt?
ANSWER: Let’s start with Hunt being stopped by police for driving 77 mph in a 60-mph zone. The concern was a small amount of marijuana in the car and in Hunt’s Browns backpack. He also had a bottle of vodka.
Q: Was he charged with driving while impaired?
A: No, just for speeding, along with a warning from the officer. Hunt admitted he would have failed a drug test if the NFL had brought him in. This is really not about marijuana. It is about how Hunt was suspended for eight games to open the 2019 season because video surfaced of him kicking a woman. The NFL is watching him closely.
Q: Are you going hard-line on this?
A: I like Hunt far more than Josh Gordon, who could never keep his stories straight. I love how Hunt played for the Browns last season. Not simply because he was productive, but his unselfish attitude was a real asset. He knew the plays. He bonded with fellow running back Nick Chubb. The Browns need to keep working with him.
Q: But...
A: But Hunt has had some other off-field issues, including one in Put-in-Bay and another in Kansas City. Alcohol was involved each time. Not saying he was drunk, it happened in places where people were drinking. And not everyone will have his best interest at heart in those places.
Q: Do you think the NFL will suspend him?
A: Based on this incident, I doubt it. But he’s going to be drug-tested more often. He has to be very careful.
Q: What about Hunt saying, “I should have been playing in the Super Bowl" when talking to the officer?
A: He’s right. Had he stayed out of trouble in Kansas City, he’d be in the Super Bowl on Sunday with the Chiefs. He also should be thankful Browns ownership and former general manager John Dorsey gave him a chance to rebuild his career in his hometown.
Q: What should the Browns do?
A: New GM Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski need to set up a couple of meetings with Hunt. The 24-year-old running back has been receiving counseling through the team, and they need to see if something else can be done.
Q: So you want the Browns to keep him?
A: Based on what is known, of course. But he can’t fall into the trap of “it’s the off-season... sorry... I was having a good time” as he told the officer. When a player has Hunt’s background, every day is the same... it’s a day to be careful and don’t put yourself, your family or your team in jeopardy with actions that could crush your career.
ABOUT HATING ANALYTICS
Former Green Bay Packers GM Ron Wolf took a major shot at the Browns and other analytic-driven front offices in the NFL.
The 81-year-old Wolf was a superb executive. He probably used his own form of analytics when running the Packers back in his prime. They were stats telling a story.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen tweeted analytics are “out of control” in some NFL front offices, according to Wolf. His son, former assistant GM Eliot Wolf, left the Browns this week, not long after Dorsey was fired.
The analytics-friendly front office of Chief Operating Officer Paul DePodesta and Berry are running the show with Stefanski.
Wolf can question analytics, and there is a healthy debate about how much they should be used.
But Wolf is dead wrong when he said, “When something goes wrong, who takes responsibility? Their answer is ‘that’s what the data told us.’ What a crock. That’s what got them 1-31."
Wolf meant the Browns 1-31 record in the two years of V.P. Sashi Brown running the team (2016-17). And Brown “took responsibility” as he was fired 23 months into his new job – replaced by Dorsey.
It doesn’t matter if the front office leans more in the scouting direction (Dorsey) or analytics (Brown). Don’t worry about someone escaping blame. Not in Cleveland. The next GM to survive three years under this ownership will be the first.
I’m hoping Berry/Stefanski take the best of both worlds... scouting and analytics. No matter what Bill Belichick says, New England does that. Baltimore does more with analytics than most fans realize.
A concern is that the key members of Dorsey’s front office are gone: assistant GMs Alonzo Highsmith and Eliot Wolf, along with college scouting director Steve Malin.
Just as Stefanski is hustling to assemble a coaching staff, Berry has to do the same in the front office.
Bottom line: It’s silly for analytics-types to ignore old-school scouts, just as it’s foolish for the traditional GM to dismiss what Ron Wolf calls “data.” A key is not only knowing the difference between a good player and a bad player – but also the difference between meaningful stats vs. arcane, confusing numbers.
ABOUT CALLING PLAYS
The Browns have hired Alex Van Pelt as their new offensive coordinator.
Because Stefanski left open the possibility of not calling plays at his introductory press conference, some are assuming Van Pelt will call plays.
Not so fast... at least that’s what I heard.
Van Pelt’s main area of expertise is as a QB coach. He was especially close to Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. The only time Van Pelt called plays was with the Buffalo Bills in 2009.
Stefanski has already installed new Browns offensive line coach Bill Callahan in the next office. Callahan has been a head coach with the Oakland Raiders (2002-03) and at Nebraska (2004-2007). He was Washington’s interim head coach for the final 11 games of 2019.
Callahan may emerge as the most influential member of Stefanski’s coaching staff. The Browns need a respected QB coach to deal with Baker Mayfield, and that’s where Van Pelt can help. He did so with a very bright and strong-willed Rodgers in Green Bay.
On offense, the Browns need to bolster the line and then figure out how to squeeze the best out of Mayfield, not only in terms of calling the right plays, but also the proper game preparation.
