DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum A look at the roster

It’s wise to have a QB on the practice squad when you only have two QBs on the active roster. If one of the top two get hurt you have a third guy able to step in and know some stuff instead of coming in cold.

I agree, I just wonder what prompted it NOW

I believe an article mentioned that in his brief stint on an NFL roster, he was being looked at as a TE.

Baker was dinged early on this year. A part of me wonders if that's part of the reason why he's been off, and maybe why we've signed an "emergency type" practice squad QB.

I saw on another board or social media or something that Baker got hurt against Tennessee (hand or wrist) and it’s affected him ever since

Thought occurs to me that BM's delivery is flawed due to injury, because his highball throws are pretty much constant, an unwelcome new normal. Maybe the new QB is actually insurance not for Mayfield, but for Gilbert. On PS for insurance and keep Gilbert fresh if BM can't right his own ship. Some pretty basic stuff needs to improve and it won't be some casual tweaks IMO; they will have to address some ongoing fails that can't be fixed with clever responses in a few snappy interviews. Speed the day that improvement occurs.

Teams have workouts all the time. He probably worked out and was worth a shot.

Somebody watched the Thursday night game and saw the piece on Julian Edelman and how he had been a QB and never played WR in his life until the got to the NFL and thought... Hmmm, we can do that.

In a related story, Freddie ate a ton of Mexican food and had a severe case of indigestion which affected his play calling.

I actually thought he was coming out of the game after that. Looked like he couldn't move his arm.

His probably best trait right now is he's tough and durable.

I don't think that "injury" is affecting his play.

Between the ears is affecting his play.

I think Baker is proving to be very durable. He's very strong, as well. I've seen him take some shots to the legs and they don't knock him off his feet.

I still think he may be playing hurt.

Are you accusing the Browns of breaking league rules?

Nah, he might not be saying anything. He hurt his throwing wrist in one of the first few games and then we never heard a thing about it. That would explain the high balls and accuracy issues.

This NFL report is 9 pages long. I will just copy and paste the first page and also provide a link to the entire document. It's clear that NFL teams must list the status of injured players.



https://operations.nfl.com/media/2683/2017-nfl-injury-report-policy.pdf

Wasn’t Baker on the injury report last week, or this week? Maybe even after week 1? I can’t remember when, but I’ve seen him on there early in the week

I don't think he was on the injury report this week. I just wasted time looking up the rule thing. How about you look up the injury reports?

Guys, this injury excuse is such a stretch. I get that folks will say "you hate Baker," but come on.........that isn't what is ailing him. Does anyone really not see what is happening out there?

I raised the point not to say that it was the only reason he has struggled this year, but that it could be a contributing factor. (among many)

How about you just do what you do and post what you think and stop telling others what to do and to post and not post?



The injury thing has not been presented as an excuse. It's an opinion/suggestion...not a personal attack. I believe that you have posted on this very message board that you hate Baker. So you can say you hate Baker but we can't say you hate Baker? Got it.

I think pretty-much everyone on this board sees "what is happening out there".

Don't believe Vers ever said he hates Baker ... I think he doesn't like the person 'Baker Mayfield' and all his brashness and actions from college ... the "worst" thing i have seen Vers say when talking about Baker, the Browns and the OSU/Flag incident was that OSU was 'his team' ... would be easy to read into that that the Browns are not as important to him as OSU ... but I took it as him defending his college team rather than dissing the Browns or hate on Baker. Only person I see flat out hating on Baker is KoB.

With all that said - I do see a consistent theme to question Baker and not always in a fair and balanced way. If it was fair and balanced there'd be the good stuff too.

Anyway .... with all that said, I'm getting on a plane to Cleveland in 1 hour 40 minutes and let's all root for some solid/better play calling and improved accuracy and speed of release from BM.

I see that a certain poster is trying to cause problems again.

Hey 4Life, I wasn't saying you to look up Baker's injury status in a mean way. I just didn't feel like looking it up because I just spent time looking up the rules about listing a player on the injury report.

I was not telling you what to do. It was a request so we could have a better understanding of the situation. In no way was I saying that in a negative manner.

Also, I do not hate Baker. I don't like him, but I don't "hate" him. Of course, there are some posters who have to make everything personal in a forum that is entitled Pure Football forum. I have even asked that poster that we stop speaking to one another because it clogs the board w/garbage.

It's a Browns internet message board...anyone who continually craps on a Browns player on this board is bound to face some backlash. Opinions are one thing, agenda posting is another...but continually bashing a Browns player on a Browns fan board? That garbage isn't going to go unattended-to.

Trying to paint anyone and everyone who tells it like it is as somehow being against the Browns is where the agenda is.

We've seen posters do it with HC's, GM's, players and almost everyone but the mascot.

People only spout crap like you do when they disagree with the take someone else is giving.

Blindly ignoring reality doesn't somehow make you a better fan.

If you actually read my posts you'd see that I have stated again and again that Baker is part of the problem. Silly little fact that is, eh? Sort of makes your entire post irrelevant.

When a poster jumps on something as ridiculous as the handshake that WAS...and then doesn't retract their spewed-venom...perhaps they should expect some backlash.

So, now I guess that saying that I don't think Baker is injured is "hating" on him.

It's amazing how many thread are derailed by this personality crap.

J/C

The Eagles cut a LB: Zach Brown ... wonder if we’d have any interest

j/c

I wonder how Mychal Kendricks is not in jail. He would look really good on our defense right now.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/09/11/seahawks-mychal-kendricks-insider-trading-case

Sentencing has been pushed back 4 times.

There is a dearth of quality OL all across the league. There has been much discussion on this very board - and elsewhere - that highlight the conclusion that fewer and fewer OL come into the NFL ready-to-go...particularly OTs...due in large part to spread offenses in college that don't get these OTs ready for an NFL offense.

That fact right there is why I stated above that we would be foolish with a capital "F" to not seriously pursue TW. I don't want to 'give up the farm'...however...this notion that we will land that elusive, 'ready' OT in the draft is much too risky given that this team is approaching its 'window'.

The Corbett 'whiff' is a perfect example of the risks with today's OL. Especially in conjunction with the decision to trade Zeitler due to the evaluation on Corbett that was completely wrong. Yes...a guy like Nelson comes along every-now-and-then, but why would we want to wait when we could get a very good OT right now?

I'm not talking about using two 1st Rd picks...or even one...due to TW being 31 instead of 25-26...but we would have to give up value to get him...and I think that could easily be worth it.

The Ravens and Steelers both made trades recently to improve their areas of weakness. The AFC north is quite "open" right now...as our window soon will be open.

What are we waiting for?

I mean, yeah if we could get him for less than a 1st round pick I’d do it too ... problem is, Washington is said to be hard lined on getting a high value for him (higher than Minkah Fitzpatrick)

Well...OTs are much more 'valuable' than Ss...but Minkah is only 25-26...so there's some separation there.

I would probably be willing to trade a #1 for TW and take back a 4th or something like that...maybe we throw in one of our seven WRs. Maybe send them Hubbard or Robinson and get back more than a 4th or give up less than a #1. I dunno...just spitballing.

It is quite possible that the OL could have three new starters around the halfway point of the season...TW, Teller, Forbes. Two guys acquired via trade and one developing draft pick. That would push Robinson, Kush and Hubbard to depth roles.

I forgot about Forbes, so that’s someone else to look forward to. I think we’re going to see a shuffle of the OL as well, regardless of if we get TW or not

This information about the OL is from PFF:

imagine what Chubb could do with even an average oline in the run blocking department

and with an offense/QB that really utilized the check downs too

I would consider sending Antonio to the parking lot and bringing in Guiseppi.

lol I already forget about guiseppi ... Callaway hasn’t shown the ability to “understand” stuff IMO. He’s not a very nuanced player and seems to need help even lining up

I was watching - and not able to listen (thankfully) - to an ESPN2 spot yesterday and noticed they did a short piece on the Browns that highlighted Higgins. It got me thinking about the whole "talent infusion" narrative surrounding the team this year. I'll stick to the Offense for this post.

Did we really improve THAT much on Offense? Especially considering injuries to two holdover talents. Here's a look showing 2018/2019:

Baker/Baker
Landry/Landry
Perriman/OBJ
Higgins/Some guy(s)
Callaway/Callaway
Chubb/Chubb
Duke/Hilliard
Njoku/RSJ...Fells/Harris...Charles/Pharoah
Zeitler/Kush
Remaining OL/Remaining OL
Scheme-that-fit/Scheme-that-didn't fit

So here's what we've got. OBJ is much better than Perriman. Not because Perriman isn't 'good', but because OBJ is a top 5 guy in talent in the league. He has had some uncharacteristic drops and routes that have been disappointing. To date, the results of this particular 'talent-infusion' are mixed and certainly not living up to the off-season hype.

Higgins' most-common replacement until last week was Ratley. We all have seen the rapport between Higgins and Baker...and we've gotten 1/2 of one game of that this year. Now the replacement is Callaway...who can be maddeningly inconsistent...essentially the polar opposite of Higgins. There has been an injury-caused, 'talent-diffusion' here.

With Higgins' injury and OBJ's start, I'd say the overall production from this 'talent-infusion' is less than last year's.

Duke was/is an effective player. He brings a lot even if limited. I like Hilliard enough...but Duke was/is better. There is a drop in talent here.

Njoku has been out as long as Higgins. Njouku can't block and has sometimes-questionable hands, but he would be heads and shoulders above any other TE on the roster right now. Our best TE right now was a waiver-wire pickup...who I really like...but it is what it is. Harris has been a disappointment to his hype.

So...there was no talent-infusion in these two groups. A change-for-less and a serious injury has this as a production AND talent-diffusion.

Zeitler is a stud/Pro Bowler...Kush is a career backup. Talent-diffusion once again.

If OBJ was off to a better start and Higgins and Njoku weren't out after two quarters of play, we'd STILL have infused just OBJ for Perriman and diffused Duke for Hilliard along with Zeitler for Kush. Think about that for a minute in relation to the "talent-infusion" hype we've read since the OBJ trade.

The media loves to tear-down a team...they seem to be especially enjoying tearing down the Browns after being the only group that really hyped them up all off-season. There was/is optimism on these fan boards and within the team...but I sense there was virtually zero hype from those two groups but plenty of cautious optimism.

We did not (or have not yet) improve our talent and offensive weapons anywhere near as much as was hyped.

I still have to ask you about scheme. Do you really think we could have gotten away with repeating what we did last year?

I mean, Baker always rolling right under any type of pressure and only working the right side of the field? Because that's pretty much what we did the last half of the season last year.

It's my contention that coming into this season, every team in the NFL had it figured out. My evidence is that every time Baker rolled right this season, opposing teams had that covered. There was nobody open on that side of the field and there were defenders there to cover it.

They knew Bakers tendencies and what he did well last year. Their game plan was to cover that and force him to do things that would make him uncomfortable. For anyone watching, we all saw they did that.

It's my contention that the playbook had to be expanded. That we had to open it up at some point. When we did, there would be growing pains until Baker became comfortable doing more. It was going to happen sooner or later.

We could never have gotten away with repeating what we did last year. The NFL figured that out.

This is a false narrative. Baker threw to all parts of the field at all levels last year. We could argue over whether he was a one read QB or not, but to say Baker only threw to the right is patently false.

The rest of your post I agree with the gist somewhat. You should expect some evolution of the playbook/scheme as well as developing skills of the QB.

I think what we are seeing this year is they gave Baker too much too soon. They thought he was ready for calculus after one year of algebra but he needed to go to algebra II first.

Now they are left with two options...hope he gets it or adjust on the fly. Neither are ideal.