DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2020 NFL Season 2020 NFL Draft Browns select Jedrick Wills with the 10th overall pick

Agreed. Who could wear it better? What are the chances anyone gets to a decade plus ProBowls from their rookie year until retirement wearing that number? Hang it in the rafters and lock it off.

I agree w/you guys. I think they should retire Ozzie's number, as well. I thought I read that Higgins is going to wear it this year??? That would be a crime.

I'm betting they will right after he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame in two years.

Yeah, I think Higgins is switching to 82 IIRC

That was because #81 was given to Hooper, as Higs was technically off of the roster.

To tell you the truth I'm somewhat surprised that we haven't retired that number now that he has retired from the Ravens.

I just assumed (correctly) that they wouldn't as long as he was with Baltimore.

Teams are encouraged to retire numbers only sparingly nowadays. Teams now can have 55 players on the roster, as well as 14 on the practice squad. We currently have 5 retired numbers. That takes up most of the available 99 numbers.

This is why teams have a "Ring of Honor", or other ways of honoring their greatest players.

Yeah, I’m OK with numbers being discouraged from being worn, but not technically retired. Now for someone like Jim Brown? Yeah, retire it. But people like JT or Kosar or legends for our team: just discourage ppl from wearing it

FWIW: Bernie Kosar is not in Joe Thomas' class.

Kosar is a local great, but mediocre in a league-wide comparison.
Joe is an All-Time great at his position in a league-wide sense.

I would absolutely give strong consideration to retiring 73.
They already put '10,363' into the Ring of Honor; his name will follow soon.

I agree. Bernie might be a bit better than mediocre, but Joe is one of the 7-8 best to play his position.

I say 7-8 because there have been some really brilliant players before him, but he is just as good as any to play. Being tied for first is about as good as you can get in sports. I don't know that Joe was better than Jackie Slater or John Hannah, but then again, were they better than him?

I think they were all pretty friggen good.

I mean, who was better, Reggie White or Bob Lilly at DT? It gets to a point you can't answer that. They were clearly above the rest is all one needs to know.

Bernie may not be a first ballot HOFer but he did lead this franchise to the Playoffs in his first five NFL seasons, that is better than Mediocre

Yes, I was overly hyperbolic with the use of "mediocre". He was an above average QB, but not Hall of Fame worthy. Joe was on a completely different level.

I understood and understand.

Joe is at the top of the chain with several other links. Bernie is on the chain, but not near the top, but even being on the chain is pretty darn good.

Bernie might be a Sonny Jergunson type. Go watch some Sonny vids. That guy had the nicest pass I have ever seem, and man, he could sling the ball. I mean fastballs. Sonny could chuck it.

What a great accomplishment ... he did little more than hand the ball off the 1st year and more than likely the 2nd year ...

Ever hear of Byner and Mack ... they had a little sumptin sumptin to do with those years as well as that D ...

LOVE BERNIE ... but saying he’s better than mediocre cause he “led” his team to the playoffs his first five years is a crock of crap ...

By your logic Trent Dilfer was more than mediocre cause he won a SB ... and we all know thats not even close to true ... *L* ...

Why were Byner and Mack so good?

Ya think maybe because opposing teams respected Bernie's ability to pass? His ability to read a defense and change the call at the line to something that would work better than the original play call?

Bernie was awkward as all get out. His throwing motion is not something to ever be copied - but his ability to get to the line and read a D was excellent. Best ever? Not saying that at all.

Yes ... teams feared Bernie his rookie year ... *L* ...

And what an arm Bernie had .... one of the best deep balls ever ... no way they’d stack the box with Bernie’s ability to stretch a field ...

I would actually be on board with calling him one of the most accurate passers and one of the smartest passers to ever play the game .... the only thing IMO that kept him from greatness is that arm strength ...

And arch ... i think he was slightly better than mediocre ... but saying he led the team to playoff berths hois first five years as even one of the reasons for that is a joke on a good day ...

Kinda like Brady’s first SB victory ... i think he led his team to 1 TD drive the entire playoffs ... that D won that SB ... Brady was little more than a spectator ...

You got that right my friend

Some of you younger fans might not appreciate those days, but our defenses where no joke...

Why isn’t #82 retired?

I agree w/your points and I will add that the Browns OL during those years was top shelf.

This is going to be a really unpopular take.

I hope we don't retire Newsome's number. Ozzie is a Raven, not a Brown. He was a great player that had a great playing career with the Browns. But he spent more time with the Ravens, had more success with the Ravens, and that success often came at the expense of the Browns. He also won two Super Bowls with the Ravens.

Eh, Ozzie is a Raven.

Not so unpopular, but also not surprising.

I agree, Rish. He was a very good player, but he went to Baltimore with Art. Effem

And he went to Canton Ohio as?

A traitor.

The Browns did not have a team at the time. Expecting a man to not accept employment from the organization that he was already working for is lunacy. Bernie went to Miami. You want to shun him, too? Paul Brown started a new team in another Ohio city. Guess he is another traitor.

Pick and choose at your own discretion. Pfftttt........

Thanks! I think you're starting to get it!

I don't blame Ozzie for taking the job with Baltimore. I don't blame Ozzie for staying with Baltimore. I don't begrudge Ozzie any of the success he had with Baltimore. By all accounts it was earned.

But while his career started with Cleveland, his career path has made him a Raven. I wouldn't be much in the mood to celebrate a guy who kicked the Browns buts and out-succeeeded the Browns for 20+ years after moving on from the franchise. The Browns are a bunch of losers and have been for a very long time. I can't think of anything more loserish than celebrating someone else's hero.

I would be opposed to retiring Newsome's number.

Okay, let's use your "logic" and apply it to Paul Brown. The dude started a new team in the very same state the Browns reside in. He used a similar color combination. He hired a coach who said something like: "You don't live in Cleveland..."

Maybe we should change our name from the "Browns" because this guy was such a "traitor" and call ourselves the Demonic Elves. Or maybe the "Losers?" How about the Cleveland Change? It fits given our history of firing everyone who comes here.

Absurd discussion.

I'm not asking you to agree with me. Just stating my opinion on the subject. Like I said, I knew it would be unpopular and that some wouldn't be able to handle it. You were one of the ones I thought of, and I was right.

I am not asking you to agree w/me either. Thanks for thinking of me as you made your first post, though. Glad that I live rent free in your head.

I'm only deferring the rent until the coronavirus has passed.

LOL

Yes, considering that it's in the Jedrick Wills draft thread. But then again, the 'virus' has left us with too much time on our hands...

Looking at two clips from Wills 2019 season to display his ability to finish despite less than ideal situations and how his high-level awareness helps elevate his run blocking.

For more in-depth analysis on Wills follow this link:

https://247sports.com/nfl/cleveland-b...

Great pick OL should be MUCH Better in 2020 ...

Whew. What would the Browns history be if they had never had Joe Thomas, on the team.

Whew! Where would that history be if Bernie were never on the team.

Draw your own conclusions,

I don't even call Joe Thomas my favorite Browns left tackle!(That I saw play) I like the dude who played with Bellichic in 94 ish, (James Jones?) and went to the Broncos, and neutralized that Reverend Defensive end, HOF dude,(Reggie White), in 1997, to help Terrelle Davis give that (bad name, Very Bad name.) Elway a SB win.
anyone doesn't like that? You root for who you want, I'll root for who I want!

I was wrong, it is Tony Jones I'm talking about, (memory), James Jones was on the defense iirc.

Flamethrower!

He’s a ‘linemen aren’t sexy or exciting and they don’t win games like receivers, running backs, and quarterbacks do. Therefore drafting them is stupid’ guy.

Hope this kid can make the move to the Left side.