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The secret to winning teams is not having the best talent, but extracting the best from the players you have.

What's the point on giving talented players to Hue? We had few,and he wouldn't even use them....

Coaching trumps talent..

I think many of the listed red players are average at most, and some of them, like Peppers are mediocre at best, yet I do think that we have good DL and OL...

And all the draft picks and cap room crap.... We have had lots of picks and cap room for years now,and still we managed to build the worst team in NFL history....

This might transform the thread, sorry. However, I think it's simple to fix this team as it stands. Don't over think it. A number one of us could turn this team around given the current roster, the cap room and future assets...

Can't do much better than this in my mind...

QB Baker Mayfield*
RB Derrius Guice*
WR Corey Coleman
WR Josh Gordon
WR DJ Moore*
TE David Njoku
LT Joe Thomas
LG Joel Bitonio
C JC Tretter
RG Kevin Zeitler
RT Shon Coleman


DE Myles Garrett
DT Larry Ogunjobi
DT Danny Shelton
DE Emmanuel Ogbah
LB Jamie Collins
LB Joe Schobert
LB Christian Kirksey
CB Jason McCourty
SS Derrick Kindred
FS Minkah Fitzpatrick*
CB Kyle Fuller#

I could get behind that. I might move McCourty to FS and leave Fitz at corner though.

Browns claim wide receiver Larry Pinkard from Jacksonville

Updated 5:56 PM; Posted 5:55 PM

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2018/02/browns_claim_wide_receiver_lar.html



CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns claimed wide receiver Larry Pinkard off of waivers on Monday. Pinkard was waived by Jacksonville on Friday.

Pinkard was originally signed by Green Bay as an undrafted free agent out of Old Dominion in 2015. He appeared in four games with Jacksonville last season, including their game against the Browns. He has one career catch for five yards.

The 6-foot, 196-pound Pinkard caught 160 passes for 2,338 yards and 25 touchdowns while at Old Dominion. He has also spent time on Green Bay's practice squad.

Never heard of him, but we need the help there if he's capable.

WOOHOO We have a replacement for Kenny Britt

And for a fraction of the cost!

Don't dismiss DeShone Kizer from Browns QB discussion

http://www.espn.com/blog/cleveland-brown...o-start-in-2018

As the scouting combine draws near, DeShone Kizer finds himself in a situation familiar to several recent Cleveland Browns quarterbacks.

It’s life in what has annually turned into "Browns Season" -- that time of Browns excitement between the Super Bowl and training camp.

This is the time of year when the next great discovery dominates the discussion, when the players who will be on the team in the future are far more important than the players already on the team.

The best thing Kizer can do? Ignore it -- every bit of it.

Because during Browns Season, talk of the draft and free agency dominates. Which means the quarterback who started 15 games last season is forgotten.

In some ways, it’s understandable. The Browns did finish last season winless. But it’s probably not wise to dismiss Kizer’s chances of keeping the starting job in 2018.

He earned that chance.

Kizer endured a miserable rookie season, and one of the things he said after the last game was that he would be remembered as the quarterback of an 0-16 team.

Technically, he was correct. But there were many contributors to the record.

Kizer experienced what many before him had endured: the Cleveland Browns quarterback meat grinder. No team grinds them up and spits them out faster.

Kizer had his issues, and to his credit he’ll admit to them. A completion percentage of 53.6 is not adequate for an NFL starting quarterback, and 22 interceptions is too many.

Kizer never hid from those statistics; he kept saying the right things and doing his best to improve. But his climb uphill was as steep as Mount Everest. The Browns were a team, according to their own coach, that needed to be perfect to win, and nobody could disagree with that take.

There was an overall lack of talent, a team teardown of great magnitude, no real threats at receiver. It added up to a season in which whatever could go wrong did go wrong. It was so bad that GM Sashi Brown was fired for doing everything he said he would do: tear down the team, go young, build with cap room and draft picks, and point to the 2018 and 2019 seasons as the turnaround.

Kizer had to survive a rookie season in the midst of this hurricane.

But as he starts to prepare for his second season, he has some advantages.

First, Kizer has played. He’s gone through the rookie struggles. Boy, has he ever. He knows now what he didn’t know when he walked into the building as an eager rookie. That is a benefit. It can’t get worse, can it?

Second, Kizer got better late in the season. There were mistakes, but in his last game, Kizer played his best game. He had the Browns on the doorstep of their first win but was done in by a dropped pass at the 10-yard line in the final minutes. The overall effort and heart were more than impressive and gave Kizer something to build on.

Third, Kizer still has the size, arm strength and skills that prompted the Browns to draft him in the second round. He was thrown to every wolf in North America, but he lasted the season. Had he not been benched a game for throwing interceptions, he’d have been the first quarterback since Tim Couch in 2001 to start all 16 games for the Browns in the post-expansion/post-1999 era. That’s an achievement.

Finally, Kizer’s attitude was excellent. He showed up early and stayed late. He never stopped working, never stopped trying to be better. He was accountable, didn’t complain and stayed true to the team. Talent eventually shows; attitude can’t be faked. Kizer has a good one.

He will have to deal with the reality of the Browns adding two quarterbacks, one via the draft and one via free agency. But Hue Jackson has been steadfast in saying the Browns will play the best guy. Kizer will be given the chance to show he is the best guy, and his chances should not be dismissed. Players often make great strides between their rookie year and second season.

Kizer has the chance to work on his game in the offseason, and he’ll start with the edge of a year’s experience with the team.

He deserves the chance to go out and win the job.

One of the oldest adages in sports is that competition either breaks or brings out the best in players. How Kizer comes out of this Browns Season is up to him.

If he betters himself and earns the starting spot for the 2018 opener, the Browns will be just fine.

Can't say I disagree with this article.

Kizer was fed to the meat grinder. Can't say I feel sorry for him, because there's plenty of NFL QBs who sit and wait for their chance and never get it. Kizer got his right away.



And as this article says, what Kizer has to do, is take that experience of the 2017, and grow from it. He's seen what many QBs haven't. He's shown toughness that we haven't seen here in awhile.

I really liked the guy despite being let down all the time. And I'm definitely rooting for him.

But we do have to bring in a QB number 1, and we do have to bring in a Vet. That's the nature of the business and competition. And I think Kizer knows that.

What he's gotta do is focus on what he can control (and that's getting better) and not worry about the other stuff. Clean up the mechanics, watch the film, continue to learn the game, and he might be a good QB someday.

He's already shown he can go out there, give it his best shot, and take a beating week after week, and that impressed me more than what I've seen from many Browns QBs as of late

I'd agree with the article if Kizer's main weakness was not below average accuracy.

Yeah, I like Kizer. He tried hard last year and he was durable. I can live w/his poor decision making because I think he can improve that. But, it's hard to get past the accuracy issues and how slow he is at reading coverages.

Those are my two most important qb attributes and he is lacking in both.

I haven't given up on him, but I think it would be a serious mistake to pass on drafting a qb w/the first pick this year.

He has a real OC this season, we'll see if he improves with better play calling and playing to his strengths.

If I was Kizer, I'd be on the phone with Case Keenum, finding out where he went for the VR training he got.

J/C

I don't rule out Kizer. He has issues to be worked out but the way the coaching staff handled the kid was horrible. We didn't give him any help on the chalkboard.

Kizer's issues are his own. Hue is a well-respected teacher of qbs who draws praise from around the league. It's too bad that we have posters on this board that refuse to let the anti-Hue agenda end.

Well respected by who? You and very few others...

I don't think anyone would say with a serious face that Hue is a QB teacher anymore...

Calling 60% pass plays with a struggling rookie QB is more a sink or swim strategy than it is teaching...

feel a lot better about Kizer if he was not making the same mistakes in week 17 he was making in week 1.

Just not sure he can process post snap reads quickly enough.

I agree with all of that.

Some people on here view Hue the way far left voters view Trump. If he did it, it's wrong. Those viewpoints have nothing to do with football. They are merely spewing hate whether it's warranted or not.

Hue-bris did so well with all the QBs they made him hire a real OC.

Man you guys... can't you see it was both parties fault? Kizer sucked on his own, Hue did little to nothing to help with that and/or his confidence. It's not JUST Kizer, it's not JUST Hue's fault... they both clearly had a bad encounter and situation. They failed each other.

Well, with QB's you always hope accuracy is a strength.

Hue-bris choose him to start.

Well he had been provided with such great options! lmao

You can try to do a bait and switch all you like. The facts are that Kizer isn't accurate and processes the information slowly. He simply lacks the ability to read D's post snap. But let's change the subject and pretend that makes a point.

Josh was 0fer under Hue-bris, but did OK for the jets. People want him back this season.

I would say that Hue could have switched up his system and play calling to have better used McCown.

You do realize that some of us who want to see Hue get another year don't believe he's a perfect HC, right?

Wouldn't it have benefited Hue-bris and the team had he done so?

Browns Make it Clear They Want Josh Gordon to Stay With Team for the Long Haul

http://www.12up.com/posts/5990615-browns...aul?a_aid=36534

If the Cleveland Browns are ever going to turn things around -- or at least win at least one or two games in a season -- they're going to need a significant infusion of talent across the board.


Fans in The Land actually have something to look forward to this offseason, as they have two top-four draft picks and the most cap space in the league by a long shot. While a complete roster makeover may be exactly what this franchise needs, head coach Hue Jackson knows of some talented players on this current Browns team that he wants to stick around.

It only took five games to win the coach's heart, but it looks like prodigal wide receiver Josh Gordon has done so-- Jackson wants Flash to be around for the duration.


Marc Sessler
✔
@MarcSesslerNFL

Hue-bris Jackson: We want Josh Gordon to be a Cleveland Brown for a long time.
9:23 AM - Feb 28, 2018

210
62 people are talking about this




Not only did the veteran running back underperform last season, but he also butted heads with his head coach, ​calling him out for a lack of touches. Considering his sub-par production in 2017, the team has no reason to put up with him.

Marc Sessler
✔
@MarcSesslerNFL

Hue-bris Jackson noncommittal on Isaiah Crowell. Says they’re working through the process with the FA running back. #Browns
9:22 AM - Feb 28, 2018

2
See Marc Sessler's other Tweets

The Browns face plenty of crucial decisions as they gear up for the future, but it sounds like Jackson has his feet planted firmly on the ground when it comes to addressing the past.

I voted for Trump and think HUE COULD NOT HAVE HANDLED KIZER WORSE!!!! So there goes that theory .. *L* ...

I could care less how well respected Hue is (a well deserved rep he’s earned as an offensive innovator and offensive mind .. not as a HC or HC/OC) or who wants to bury their heads up his ass ... hes a HUMAN BEING and he made a MAJOR MISTAKE IN HIS HANDLING OF KIZER ...

Sorry if the FACTS don’t correlate with some folks and there myth about Hue and how he handled the kid ... i seriously doubt he could have handled him any worse ... it seemed to me like Hue made his decisions by trying to figure out what was the worst way to handle Kizer ....

PLEASE EXPLAIN to me exactly what Hue did to help the kid? .. cause i can give MULTIPLE EXAMPLES of how Hue handled it PITTIFULLY at best ...

I agree with you on how Hue handled Kizer, but do you think swapping Hue for the best QB coach/playcaller last season would've made enough difference to allow us to not spend such huge offseason assets ($ and picks) on the QB position? Tough to say with any certainty, but I say no.

Like many, I'm rooting for Kizer, but I can't count on Kizer. The guy showed a bunch of heart and the attitude that you want from your starting QB. He also has the physical skills. I'll be rooting for him hard. But his game is nowhere near a place where you can count on him.

No a good HC and QB guru would simple not start Kizer, and made sure that he wouldn't start the season hopping BO wouldpan out and having Kessler has plan B.

Simple has that, Kizer sucked and Hue was even worst because he started Kizer, kept him and made sure he was throwing 2 in every 3 plays...

Interesting because nobody in Cleveland would say with a serious face that Holmgren is a QB guru, but apparently for some its ok to say that from Hue....

I had absolutely no problem with starting kizer, but I thought Hue would do the normal grooming process with Kizer. Go 60% run to 40% pass ratio and give him a lot of simple throws. Use bootlegs and rollouts to cut his reads down in half.

I didnt expect Hue to go 35% run to 65% pass. Its just mind boggling. Honestly the only thing I can figure is he wanted Kizer to fail so he could gain more power in personnel decisions. Its the only thing that makes any sense at all with how he approached this thing.

I said before, during and after the season .... regardless of what Kizer did GOOD or BAD if u love one of the top QB’s .. u draft them ...

ROOKIE YEARS are FOOLS GOLD more often that not when a QB plays really good ...

And make no mistake about this ... i am not blaming Hue for Kizer’s problems ... NOT AT ALL ...

I’m just pointing out that Hue handled Kizer HORRIBLY ... i’m not sure how he could have been handled worse ...

Just curious ...

Why do u think its not a bad idea to start a rookie QB who everyone including himself said he should have stood in school another year cause he’s NOT READY ...

He wasn’t ready mechanics wise or mentally .. NOT EVEN CLOSE ... i don’t get why u think starting him was a good idea? ... please explain ...

And that is at the bottom of my list of reasons Hue handled him like CRAP ...

As crazy as that sounds...it's what I find myself thinking as well.

A good friend of mine was miffed at the start of the year claiming that Kizer should sit and Hue should tailor the offense to Kessler...warts and all. Top end expectation would be 4 wins...but Kessler could manage a game with the right game plan. Not WIN games necessarily...but manage them...and maybe eek out a win here and there. That sounded crazy to me in August...and seemed the exact right thing to have been done when Hue first benched Kizer.

Kessler was supposed to take steps forward over the offseason but didn't. He was the 1st guy that "should've" started over Kizer, but it just didn't work out that way. BO was the other guy that "should've" started over Kizer, but he got shipped off. That was a personnel mgmt fail, and enough has come out regarding Sashi vs Hue (that I REALLY don't want to rehash) that muddies the water, and keeps me from putting blame for that on Hue. I just don't know for sure to pin that one on Hue.
And there was Hogan...

So we were left with Kizer, and he started.

I can't see Hue setting his QB up for failure. Hue's ass was on the line too.

Plus, he would be one rare asshat to be like that in the NFL. He'd never had risen to where he is now if he were of that ilk.