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The Dawgs - A Cleveland Browns Podcast
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🚨RUMOR: If the New York Jets sign RB Dalvin Cook, the team could move on from 3rd-year back Michael Carter. The #Browns are rumored to be interested in adding Carter as another pass-catching back behind Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford.

I heard there is some interest in Zeke paired with Chubb.

How are Maurice Hurst/ Hearst, errgh, which is it?
How are he and Tristen Hill coming along in progression?

Should be a snoozefest but at least football is back.

At least it is our team in this crappy HOF game.

I normally don't even bother to watch, but this year at least we can key in on various players, giving us at least a very early indication of what they might be. At least it is better than sitting here or elsewhere looking at a few X clips from camp.

the only good thing: we get to see our uniforms on the HOF field and on national TV. Outside of that, it's a dumb game

I don't disagree with you to some extent. I mean hey it is NFL football even if it is in it's most diluted form. But as far as actually learning much about the players it's rather hard to do that. It will mostly be a bunch of back-ups and third stringers against another bunch of back-ups and third stringers. So as far as telling anyone what these players would do against top tier starters it doesn't really tell you much. I guess it will tell us how the Browns depth matches up with the Jets depth, but that's about it.

Scrubs playing is not football. I won’t be watching.

I agree, for a lot of the Hue Jackson years, it didn't feel like I was watching football. Still, I doubt I'll stop watching now. I could use the distraction.

That's how I feel about it. Even though it's a watered down version of NFL football, it's still NFL football. It's our first glimpse at the new season every year. I watch it no matter which teams are playing. The long stretch without the NFL football causes me to look forward to it and watch it every year.

I will watch every second, and tape the game so I can rewatch it. I'm excited to see some off the young kids can do.

Here are five things to watch for when the Jets and Browns meet Thursday night:


Zach Wilson has first chance to show what he’s learned. New Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers hasn’t taken a preseason snap since 2018, and he won’t break the streak against Cleveland. That means Wilson is starting. He should receive plenty of run to showcase how far he’s already come in his new role as Rodgers' mentee. The 2021 No. 2 overall pick has disappointed thus far in his short NFL career, throwing for 4,022 yards, 15 touchdowns and 18 interceptions with an 8-14 record in 22 starts. New York’s blockbuster trade for a four-time Associated Press Most Valuable Player forced Wilson to the bench, but it also provides him an opportunity to reset and mold his game after one of the all-time greats. We’ll soon see what lessons he’s absorbed in the early going.

Browns backup QBs in battle for positioning. Much like Rodgers, Deshaun Watson won’t make an appearance. The Browns are instead taking a deep dive into the competition behind him. Kellen Mond, the former 2021 third-round pick of the Vikings, will get the start, head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters on Tuesday. Stefanski also confirmed that he expects to debut rookie fifth-rounder Dorian Thompson-Robinson at the beginning of the second half. Thompson-Robinson has a ton of experience with 49 games played in five seasons at UCLA. However, NFL speed hits differently, so it figures to be a whole new world for the 23-year-old. He’ll be thankful for an extra game to prove his mettle during the ongoing jostling for position with Mond and Joshua Dobbs behind Watson.

New York’s O-line bears watching. Mekhi Becton will play 20-25 snaps, head coach Robert Saleh told reporters on Tuesday. A 6-foot-7 behemoth at offensive tackle, Becton is on a mission to regain a starting role after missing all but one game since 2021 due to injuries. His next step in that journey requires rebuilding strength and confidence through game action. New York’s second- and fourth-round draft picks, Joe Tippmann (No. 43) and Carter Warren (No. 120), are also slated to take the field. The linemen suiting up Thursday will be ones competing for jobs rather than locked-in starters, but the overall unit's performance rolling into the regular season is of great importance to Rodgers’ inaugural campaign in Gotham. No spring chicken, the QB enters Year 19 with a 40th birthday on the calendar in December.

Jim Schwartz era begins. Regardless of how many No. 1s or fringe starters end up taking the field for Cleveland’s defense, Jim Schwartz will be steering the ship. The former Lions head coach boasts 19 years of experience as a defensive coordinator. The Cleveland brass hired him in January with the expectation that his savvy will help reverse a trend of eight seasons ranked 20th or worse in defensive scoring over the last decade. Although it's important to note that schemes are routinely vanilla in preseason games, Schwartz, whose fiery demeanor is known to carry over to his players, can still pass the eye test with how his guys attack the opposition.

Kicking off the new kickoff. Back in May, NFL owners agreed to pass a one-year rule that places any fair catch off a free kick (safety or kickoff) that occurs behind the receiving team’s 25-yard line at the 25. The change, which was proposed with player safety in mind, doesn’t necessarily guarantee that every single kick in that designated area will result in a fair catch. Players can still take the risk of trying to beat coverage past the 25 for a bigger return, and returners will begin experimenting with those pros and cons in live action on Thursday night. This also happens to be one instance in which the learning curve might be steeper for older players than the young guns -- the league’s new rule now matches the one used in the college game since 2018.

https://www.nfl.com/news/2023-nfl-s...-in-jets-browns-pro-football-hall-of-fam

I do that too. I'm no talent evaluator...by any stretch...but I enjoy watching guys play and then seeing if they land in the league here or elsewhere.

As I said earlier, we will still be able to see something of value.

You can get a bit of a feeling for the 2 QB's. Ball placement, etc.

What the defensive alignments might be like in base form.

General special teams play. Those guys will be the starters.

What sort of zip and zag some of the receives and backs might possess. Hands as receivers.

How our young guys match-up against theirs. Are they getting beat like drums or are they beating the drum?

But no doubt, you have to keep it in context for what it is. It isn't going to tell us if we are Super Bowl bound or bound for a 3 win season.

Some players to watch blurb

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...a834e1d6fd4e598378c210ebdec361&ei=10

The HOF is going to be more like a scrimmage. Will be interesting to see the Browns backups and how much depth they have. Also, the battle to determine who backs up Watson will be interesting.

I think that is pretty much set with Dobbs, isn't it?

For the longer term, I agree. Both DTR and Mond have skills. As someone mentioned earlier, maybe we keep drafting QB's to highlight in limited amounts much like Belicheck did with brady as QB to gain some trade upside.

Teams who need a QB and don't have a "top" pick are always looking for someone, much like Hue thought McCarron was going to be his answer.

Thankfully our GM decided to just send in the paperwork 30 minutes late.

IIRC, if we had made that awful trade, we would not have Chubb today.

I doubt it's going to happen but if Mond or Robinson play lights out tonight and continues to have a great pre-season. maybe one of them moves ahead of Dobbs on the depth chart? The Browns probably are not keeping 4 QBs on the roster. Mond and Robinson are playing so the coaches can determine who to cut later.

I don't think any QB is guaranteed a spot beyond Watson. May the best man (men, maybe with the 3rd QB change) win.

In Nineteen ninety nine, the returning Browns played the Cowboys in the hall of fame exhibition game.

Daylon McCutcheon was on that Browns team if I recall correctly.

They had 3 and a half years of waiting for Browns football to return, and,
they didn't even make it available that you could buy Browns jerseys, or whatever during those off years.

I think I might consider a fourth QB like DT-R for the PS. Liked him more than Mind. Played smoothly, and it looked like he might be able to emulate DW as he is coached up by him. But, no, I can't see us keeping four QB's on the roster.

DTR isn't going to the Practice Squad. I think that Mond gets released.

there's no doubt that DTR will be on the 53

Since Berry has been GM has he kept 3 QBs on the 53 or 2 and a PS QB? Honestly, I cannot recall.

I don't think he has, but I think we'll trade Dobbs in a heartbeat instead of risking DTR getting picked up

Agreed. Too much of a risk exposing him the practice squad. He'll go to IR before the practice squad. I imagine he will be the emergency 3rd QB, or whatever that is.

Actually he may not have to be. From reading the board today it seems some think DTR will actually unseat Dobbs as the #2 QB but I think that's not being realistic. Dobbs has the NFL experience to make him stick. But I certainly see DTR as the favorite to be the #3 QB. There's a new rule that the NFL implemented that allows a team to have a third QB on game day without it counting against the 53 man roster. The deciding factor was the debacle in the 49'ers game. So you can actually have DTR as the third QB on game days without him counting against or actually being on the 53 man roster.

NFL approves bylaw to allow a third QB to be active without counting against gameday roster

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-approves-bylaw-allow-third-181211042.html

I wonder if Dobbs might be a practice squad candidate.

I would highly doubt that. He was signed to a 2 million dollar fully guaranteed contract for 2023. I mean I suppose anything is possible but going out and signing a FA QB to such a contract then making him a practice squad QB would seem like quite a waste of resources. Dobbs has been in the league since 2018 and served as the Titans backup last season. I think the Browns would want that type of NFL background and some experience as their backup QB.

I mean we did see DTR play well against a bunch of third stringers but I think it take quite maturation process before he may be able to slide into the #2 QB position.