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

It doesn't. But having him around being a dramaqueen is going to help anything.

j/c...

Something to ponder.

These are the options:

1. Cut OBJ. He goes through waivers but any team that claims him has to pay his remaining salary (around $8M). There are only a few contenders with that amount of money available. More likely is that he goes through waivers unclaimed. He then can sign with any team.

2. We just send him home and cut him after the season. He's inactive for gameday. My guess is that if this happens he goes nuts in the media and nukes the team.

3. Try to reconcile the situation.

The OBJ situation was always likely to end ugly. That's who he is. I didn't think it would end this quickly with so little value provided to the team.

Please fill in the blanks.

OBJ has been open and Baker doesn't want to throw him the ball because ......?

Baker can only see open receivers in play action because .......... ? Remember though Baker never played in a play action offense in college or first years in the NFL and won a heisman trophy and set the NFL rookie TD record.

I do believe there are things going on that only the coaches and team knows related to OBJ's problems. Be that running the wrong routes, running routes the wrong way, not adjusting to situations (blitzes audibles, etc.). It's pure speculation but I'll add it as at least as plausible as the "Baker specifically can't see OBJ open, or its magical, they have no chemistry theories".

Can anyone answer why the Giants traded OBJ in the first place? Does anyone trade the supposed best WR in the league? Maybe because OBJ is an oft-injured, sometimes temperamental receiver with diminished skills except for in pre-game warm-ups. Moreover, he is an island in and of himself. He is not integrated into the team, he skips the entire preseason and then shows up on gameday as a mercenary, and it's the teams fault for allowing him to do it.

Cleveland was duped, move on and don't punish the team trying to make this work.


If OBJ becomes a star or even a thousand yard receiver on another team next year, I'll come back to this thread and eat all the crow you can serve.

And that's exactly the way this whole thing works. If we were 6-2 or 7-1 right now, nobody would notice. Nobody would care. And what you're describing would be considered developing our draft picks for the future. In case posters have forgotten, that's exactly what it was being called. People were saying we finally had the people in charge to use the draft the way it's supposed to work. How great teams keep their coaches and FO's so they can develop players to take over for high priced FA to help control the salary cap.

Now, sitting at .500 people have a totally different perception of the exact same thing. What was seen as a strength when were were winning is seen as a fault now that we're losing. It's easy to see thigs as sunshine and roses when everything goes well. It's also easy to nitpick and play the blame game when people think things are going to hell.

j/c...

"Next steps"......Doesn't seem like he plays another game in a Browns uniform.

That said watch him go for 200 yds and 2 TDs Sunday if he does.....with Case Keenum. Then things REALLY heat up!

Bingo.

I honestly agree, in theory, with what you're saying. But then what will you say when the offense starts getting back on track if he's not out there? It's happened before.

j/c...

j/c:

Imagine not trading for Odell and having the 2019 first rounder to use on DK Metcalf. Today, we'd only be discussing our top WR on his attempts to secure foursomes via Onlyfans.

I'm certainly not trying to totally dismiss your comment. But it's not as simple as that. QB's go through progressions. They look at each WR in a certain order. So the question one has to ask is, when Baker is looking at OBJ during his progressions, is OBJ open at that time? As an example. Let's say OBJ is Bakers first progression on a pass play that has three possible targets. Is OBJ open when Baker is looking his way? Or does OBJ break open when Baker is on his third target in his progression? That's one thing seeing a video of an open WR doesn't tell you. When you're looking at the left side of the field it's pretty hard to see an open WR on the right side of the field.

I know people say things like "a QB should see the entire field". But that's not actually how it works.

This is not good news. But the FO, coaching staff and OBJ keeping what ever issues are going on private, I give credit to them all for doing so. It will all come to the forefront eventually.

He gone.

Obviously not, but it's the best worst path.

I made fun of people when they said this last year coming out of that Cinci game... but if OBJ stays home and we get the O back on the track, the narrative does another massive shift another way (and they'll similarly ignore all the other circumstances like injuries and schedule and the D).

Because let's face it, other than a couple 'likes' on whatever social media platform, we're talking about smoke that's all external to the facility. I'm willing to be things are far less dramatic inside the locker room than it is outside.

Memphis, crazy you said that. I remember during the 2019 combine wishing we had gone the Metcalf, Hollywood Brown, or Deebo Samuel route from the draft instead of trading our 1st rounder for OBJ. Not because I thought OBJ would be bad, but because I didn't want to deal with his injuries, baggage, and you get a younger player.

j/c:

he’ll end up with GB or Baltimore or a contender. He’ll probably do well. But he can’t function here anymore

so lets say OBJ stays out the rest of the season....

if baker doesn't get better, what will the next excuse be? jarvis is the problem? the TE's? the o line and running backs?

everybody wanted OBJ to be the scapegoat. well, you're getting your wishes. well, since a lot of posters think we're better without him, we're gonna see this season once and for all.

Cap space would be tricky for Ravens ($1.694M cap space) and Packers ($5.91M cap space)

Chargers?

Can OBJ even pass a team physical? Likely one of the reason he was not able to be traded.

On a side note, the worst part in all this is that you'll have to change your signature.

The Baker apologists will never admit defeat. They are all in.

I would probably give it another year with Baker’s arm healthy and see how it goes.

Swish, can't speak for other posters, but I doubt many wanted him off the team for the hell of it. The simple fact is we have been better without him. Both the team and Baker.

Also maybe Berry is doing this to say to Baker, distraction/poor chemistry WR gone, now perform, the ball is in your court.

Nobody wanted OBJ to be a scapegoat. Everyone wanted it to work. I would guess nobody actually knows the full reasons why it didn't.

I don't think you can do anything other than try to learn some sort of lesson, and make the best decision for the future.

After watching only a few players celebrate the Johnson TD against a Divisional Rival has me feeling something is wrong in the locker room. You just scored and barely any excitement . Half for OBJ... half for Baker IDK, just doesn't feel right.

With Landry and OBJ being close.. I also wonder if Landry's performance against Pittsburgh wasn't a sign of who he supports. I'm speculating of course, But wth ! Feels wrong !

If something feels off about a team then usually there is something

We’ll see if we galvanize like we did last year (our schedule won’t help)

Keenum and Odell already played together in the Denver Game. And Keenum threw an easy -ish catch to Beckham who did not make the catch, and it wasn't really a defense knocked it away thing either.

Both Baker and OBJ should be on the bench, best chance for the Browns to win. How the heck have they not gone deep to Rashard Higgins? More often this year.

Rashard Higgins has not been a problem with either Baker, or Keenum. Neither has Landry, Neither has Njoku. Neither has DPJ really, if he ever gets on the field.
Neither have the gimmick guys they put on the field in the last 2 years, whether Schwartz, or (Anthony Hall,), or Felton, or JoJo, or Davion Davis.

Bakers Shoulder is screwey. Keenum gives them a better chance to win. (TODAY), and all the receivers need to get on board.

And Stefanski is, not hitting on all cyllinders.

Without getting Turnovers! Forced by the defense, the Browns are going to lose. But they can only win one game at a time.

To add further Beckham has the most targets with 34, followed by Hooper's 28 and Higgins 25. He has played 2 less games than both. The idea that the QB isnt getting the ball to the receiver with the most targets is an odd one I wonder if OBJ is upset that he isn't getting the right balls.

This probably gets frustrating.

But I wonder at that stat, he has 17 catches in 34 targets and 2 drops. I may be wrong but 42% means he had 14 uncatchable balls, 2 drops and 17 receptions which is 33. So Baker only threw him one catchable ball that wasnt caught and wasnt dropped. I'd imagine that is the one last week where he gave up on it and reached out with just one hand. So he has had no other catchable balls this year?

This was catchable I think.

This one was catchable

Not sure this would be uncatchable

And yet, we have to ask why that is.

Baker has had success throwing to a speed guy in the past. In fact, he's really had success throwing to all kinds of receivers.

Is Baker's off shoulder somehow affecting throws to OBJ, and not really to everyone else?

Is it possible that OBJ is not in the right spots, when he is supposed to be? Stafanski's offense is based on precision and timing. Perhaps Baker goes through his reads, and OBJ is not where he should be, when he should be there. Could it be that OBJ gets open, but that the read has passed him by?

I don't know .... but Baker doesn't seem to be a guy who passes up "hard throws", or who ignores an open receiver out of spite. He seems to be a guy who wants to win so badly that he'll run through walls with a busted shoulder to do so.

Just my thoughts.

Uncatchable target just means the throw was not on target it does not define whether or not the pass was caught or not.

All reasonable questions. The Baker/OBJ saga has to be one of the greatest mysteries I've seen in sports. It's bizarre.

Just keep him on the roster and deactivate him.

shocking, another year and another year of poor management with the Browns.. It seems like it will never end.

Didn't he have 3 straight weeks of 4th down drops? Those were all balls that hit him in the hands. My eyebrow shoots through the roof reading he's only credited with 2 drops. I'm assuming that they think the 1 that hit him in the butt when he fell down was also "uncatchable".

It would appear that Berry is very unhappy with the OBJ antics since Sunday...as well he should be. Even if OBJ is/was correct, that is NOT the way to make your point. This is a test of Berry's new organizational philosophy and I don't expect him to just look the other way.

It sucks...everyone loses.

j/c...