DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum The OBJ-Baker Connection: Linchpin to the season?

I don’t understand why he is all of a sudden a team cancer because his Dad made a YouTube video
This isn’t the first time a big name receiver has wanted the ball.
Say what you will about him not being the same player anymore, but he’s still alot better than 1 catch for 6 yards.
We are at .500… not the end of the world with how the rest of the AFC looks now.
It would be cool if he, or Baker came out tomorrow, address the issue and get him involved in the game plan (Stefanksi/Van Pelt) and win some football games!
If not, he has no dead money (cap hit) next season
Trade or move on. That looks to be the likely scenario, but I would love for them to prove everyone wrong!

When your repertoire with the Browns is making 1 handed catches in pregame, and you can't make 2 handed catches DURING the game, it starts to wear, poorly.

He caught his only official target Sunday. Hard to make any kind of catches when your QB doesn’t throw it your way. I know he dropped a few crucial passes on 4th downs I believe earlier..
But had he performed like Landry did, everyone would have tried to run him out of town!
Im sure the guy busted his tail in the off-season to get back from the ACL to try and help this team win. And he’s fighting through injuries as well ( like a lot of our players)
He’s said all of the right things and reported to be a good teammate up until his Pops posted that video. The media has been trying to trade him when he got here.
I’m just hoping for a positive outcome for everyone and I think if Stefanksi would stop using the 3 tight end sets so much, and open up the deep ball we would flourish!
Kareem Hunt is our leading receiver as a RB who has been out for two games now.
That is the definition of conservative/dink and dunk.

I have no doubt he busted his tail after his acl injury, in order to get back.

But when you say his "only official target was a catch" for 6 yards, it's hard to take it seriously, as I vividly remember other 'targets', especially towards the end of the game when he lamely tried to 1 hand catch a ball. If that is what the "official" stats say - 1 target, 1 catch, I have a real problem with the 'statisticians", as obviously they have no clue what's going on on the field.

Wow, I take A day off and all hell breaks loose. Let me see if I got this right...

Today was the trade deadline.
OBJ's dad goes on Instagram and blasts Baker.
LBJ and other NBA players weigh in.
Browns' players like the Instagram post.
Emily Mayfield blasts those teammates that liked the post.
The day ends and no trades are made.
Did I miss anything?

The stat line was making a point as to how little he is being used in this offense
Why pay a guy 15 +mil a year to use him as a decoy the majority of the time?
As for your other comment, I like to think I know a little bit about what’s going on ..
Been watching the Browns since 1985. But since I’m a “rookie” I guess I get it.

You, and everybody else, missed the more important fact where we did not trade for help at Right Tackle/Swing Tackle.
Berry has thrown in the towel on 2021.

???? Who said anything about your post status? Oh, you.

I've been an avid fan of the Browns since......well, 1978, when I was 10. So, I've got 7 years on you. So what?

That 'stat" line is a joke if it says he was targeted 1 time. Period, End of discussion. Are you beckham sr.?

Lol. No I’m not Beckham Sr.
I know he can help us win football games though.
You implied that I had no idea what was going on
So I implied that I must be a rookie
What is your grand solution then, oh football guru. ??
If we finish the year with Hunt and Hooper as our leaders in receiving, this passing game has no chance.

I feel like Hance has held up pretty well when he’s the only replacement on the line.

There is no evidence of that happening.



It must have taken a lot of crayon to connect those dots.


Arch is basing his stance on things that have actually happened. You're basing yours on a pipe dream that's really looking like it just wasn't meant to be.

Lol. Wow. I thought we were fans of the same football team.
So, first point…and I think I’m in the overwhelming majority here
A talented player like OBJ can make a huge impact in our lack of a chunk passing game.
I know he hasn’t put up the results that you or I or anyone else envisioned
We all know Stefanksis style of 3TE run first play calling, so I don’t think Odell will do what he did statistically in New York.
But he is a football player for the Cleveland Browns and why wouldn’t i want him to succeed?
Some of the media and fans have turned on him and I can see why from a certain extent.
As long as he is out for our team, I’ll be rooting just as hard as anyone
As far as the crayon comment is concerned… all I can do is laugh. Something I’d expect out of a Steelers or Ravens fan.
And Arch is basing his point on facts?
I guess OBJ hasn’t had any success in this league?
Also, all both of you have done is criticize my posts instead of offering any opinion of your own.
That has to take an awful lot of effort and thought

Not since 2016.

All of you can take it easy on the new poster. He has 35 posts and no clue what all your agendas and biases are yet. smh

Welcome to the board Westy15.

j/c

Zooming out from this issue by a few frames, I'll say this: this is the first real test of the new culture that's supposed to be in Berea. Last year, most folks would have been shocked to see a Cleveland Browns team play anywhere near .500 ball for the season, given the covid circumstances and all. The team held together tough and played the last half of the season out of their minds. Those were last year's test of the culture. This is the 2021 test. In mid-season. With everyone watching.

At this point, there is only one thing for me to do- sit back, and watch what happens.

Stuff like this tests the fabric of an organization. I guess we'll see how well-woven this team has made itself over the past 18-24 months.


I'm neither hopeful or despondent. I've been around the block too many times for any other approach.


.02

Oh, I still think we will finish strong, just not sure win that will start... Could be this week or week 16. So far though, I'm with you on the "fabric" and intend to sit back and watch them swim or drown trying to get it right.

j/c:

The OBJ experiment has shown no evidence that it will succeed. He had a couple great seasons 4-5 yrs ago for a different team. It just hasn't worked here, and now with the Twitter crap! We had people here that kept wanting to ride the Hue Jackson train after he went 1-31, and this is looking very similar. You have to exercise patience, but you also have to draw the line. I don't even think it's all on OBJ, it just isn't working for some reason or another. We DON'T need the distraction this story brings.

I don't know if it is throwing in the towel, BUT...I think some Berry ego is starting to surface. I think maybe he places a bit too much trust in his daft picks. I suppose he feels that Hudson will be able to step in as the next man up.

Maybe he is the next man up, but to me he doesn't look like a able next man up.

We can see this in other areas. Take Billings as an example. I think everybody feels he sucks and isn't worthy of a roster spot, yet we have a 3rd round pick in Tommy Togiai who the coach won't even activate on gameday. How good can that guy be if he can't even displace Billing on the active roster?

A bit of the shine on all of this is beginning to get a bit dull.

As soon as Bowe threw his hat in the ring I belly laughed

I was as optimistic about the OBJ-Baker thing as anyone, and I remained so until a couple games ago. It's been 2.5 years... if they haven't figured it out by now it's probably just isn't in the cards. I don't know what the reason(s) behind it are... it just is what it is.

As far as moving forward, Baker has shown more on the field than Beckham has as far as why we should hang onto either. Beckham is part of an extremely expensive and extremely disappointing receiver corp. He's been the most targeted receiver on the team over the course of this year despite missing 2 games (DPJ has less than half that number of targets). We have DPJ, Njoku, and Higgins that need to see the ball more, and we have guys who will need to get paid.


Long story short... I'm super bummed that OBJ apparently isn't working out. And I think discussions should happen or be happening as to the why behind it... but I will have a complete meltdown if I see Njoku and Higgins walk at the end of this year because they aren't going to get paid and haven't seen the ball enough this season.

My thinking is very similar. I don't know exactly why it isn't working...but it's simply and clearly not. Like in any bad relationship, committing to re-inventing yourselves after so much dysfunction likely isn't going to happen. Here's what I really don't get:

The connection hasn't worked since they've been together. We've played better without him than with him. OBJ isn't going to be here next year. Why continue in this abusive relationship when the end is imminent anyway? Right now, the roster spot is more important than the connection. If they couldn't trade him while eating his contract, then just release him while eating his contract...or put him on IR until his shoulder is healed...like for the rest of the year.

Lastly, Baker routinely spreads the ball around to 7-8-9 different players in a game...yet he cannot connect with OBJ. Why is that? I think Baker doesn't trust him. I think Baker double-clutches waiting to see what OBJ is going to do as opposed to what he is supposed to do. JMO.

In any event, given that OBJ won't be here next year, why bother to try and make this work in the last half of this year? It's time to move on.

His value is that of a starter-caliber WR while we're still working our way out of injury hell. Once DPJ is full-go, I wouldn't be disappointed to never see him on the field again... but I'd rather see him getting snaps than Schwartz (right now).

Welcome to Westy15 first of all. Welcome aboard.

Clemdawg, the songs remain the same (smh loudly). Looking at all the games we have won on paper up to this point. Drank most of my weight in kool-aid again. And we should be in the attic, not the cellar IMO. Stefanski has become myopic and should hand it to Van Pelt for a bit. NO analytics would call for Chubb for two and keep calling it with the box stacked. If we start forcing it to OBJ and he drops most of them, we are in an even lousier place. Woods makes sissies out of us on D and they have lost too many leads to trust this scheme.

Occam's Razor would suggest that given our losses as outcomes, then either our measurements and analytics are wrong, our application of them is wrong, or that we are not interpreting them correctly. I do not, based on what I have observed thus far, place much optimism and hope in these coaches' abilities to get after it and turn it around. Argue among yourselves whether it is the inexcusably impotent offense or the weak-sister defense that is making you crazier.

I am on record: I am now fully willing to watch better football. Go, Browns.

I really find it hard to understand all the Odell hate. Dude has been nothing but a solid teammate and worked his butt off to get back. Everyone acting like is worse than higgins or DPJ, tell me, how many 1k seasons do they have? OBJ every season with the Giants did with the exception of his injury season, then the next year again with a 1k season, and his first year here 1k yards. Sorry but that video shows more of what alot of people are seeing that Baker simply isn't reading the field or making the right throws this year. What's changed since OBJ last 1k yard season.. Coaching, FO and scheme. Yeah OBJ dropped a couple, every receiver does. Probably forgot what the ball feels like getting 1 or 2 targets a game after average atleast 10 before he came here. Hell even under Freddie he got 10. Can't make an impact when you don't get the ball and baker isn't getting him the ball for some reason. Looking at that video, the dude is running crisp routes, moving around to find a hole in the zone, yet the ball isn't getting thrown to him. Now if you want to say it isn't working because there's just some chemistry issues, sure. But can't develop chemistry if you never throw the ball to him. Theres alot broken with this offense, but I don't believe OBJ is one of them. He didn't all of a sudden become Dwayne Bowe. I've said before, Stefanski needs to give up playcalling. Simple as that. What he's doing and his offense isn't working. I'd also sit Baker the rest of the season. If he says the injury isn't affecting him then he shouldn't get a pass from fans for his mediocre play. We aren't going to the playoffs anyways.. Get the surgery, heal, and get ready for next year. I'm confident we win what we were going to win with Keenum. We are a running team and as long as chubb is healthy, we should still win what we were going to. Its not like Baker is this huge difference maker on offense.

j/c...

Oh boy...

Are we just going to send him home for the rest of the year?

It looks like it lol

Cut him and start DPJ. Watch the team start winning.

Quite possibly.

It would be bad for our cap to cut him. And he’d probably end up on Baltimore and kill us.

DeShaun Watson him and cut him or trade him after the season.

Yep. Deactivating him and not allowing OBJ to play elsewhere is the smart move.

Kinda like how the Cavs deactivated J.R. Swish so he couldn't go on to lead another NBA franchise to an assured title!

Sure sounds smart. One thing I wonder about though is Landry, you know he is best friends with OBJ. I wonder how that dynamic will sort its way out?

It would be much easier IMO if DPJ was healthy

Thanks for the welcome posts everyone!
Fun to talk football with you guys.
Well, they excused Odell from practice…
Makes me think there is something else going on besides his Dads social media video..
Or else that’s a pretty harsh punishment.
Brings to mind old Keyshawn Johnson and his book just give me the dam* ball! Lol

I agree...I also think OBJs injured shoulder(s) are legit. It's unfortunate that it hasn't worked out. It seems to me that most people feel that way...as opposed to some contrived OBJ-hate that isn't really prevalent on this site IMO.

OBJ has been open. How does cutting him fix Bakers ineptitude!?!