CLEVELAND, Ohio – All the OTAs and minicamps are over. Training camp is more than a month away, but fans are thinking and wondering about the Browns.
Hey, Terry: How would you rate the QBs in our division? – Ed Bonchak.
Hey, Ed: A year ago, Baker Mayfield would have been a distant third behind Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger. The only reason I’d have rated him ahead of Joe Burrow is because the top draft pick was a rookie on the awful Bengals.
A year later, this question has me wondering: Is Baker the AFC North’s best QB? Let’s break it down:
1. Baker or Ben? No question, edge to Baker. Ben is old, as Browns fans saw at the end of 2020.
2. How about Baker or Burrow? I love Burrow’s game, but he’s coming off ACL knee surgery. He is supposed to be healthy. But he’s still with the Bengals, and the way he was used in 2020 led to him taking a beating. Long term, he could be the best in the division, but not in 2021 and not in that offense.
3. Baker or Jackson ... hmmm. Jackson has been the MVP. Jackson beat the Browns twice last season. Jackson is the most gifted athlete I’ve seen play QB. He also is the most unique because he depends so much on his speed and his strange passing motion.
Jackson has a 30-7 record in the regular season. But in the postseason, he is 1-3. It’s more than the record. His team has never scored more than 20 points (20-13 victory over Tennessee). In the other three games, the scoring was 17, 12 and 3. Jackson has only three TD passes vs. five interceptions in the postseason. This is a lack of success in games which mean the most.
Part of me thinks Mayfield and his conventional passing style is better suited for the playoffs. In two playoff games in 2020, Mayfield threw four TDs vs. one interception. The Browns beat Pittsburgh, 48-37, and lost to Kansas City, 22-17.
To win a playoff game in 2021, I’d take Mayfield over anyone else in the AFC North right now. But Burrow has a chance to be best of them all if he can stay healthy over the long term.
Hey, Terry: Did the Browns draft undersized linebackers to chase down Jackson? – David Smith.
Hey, Terry: I understand the emphasis for the Browns defense on speed, but how do you think the Browns linebackers will hold up against a team that likes to pound the ball up the middle? – Doug Carr.
Browns safety John Johnson III can help the defense against the run and pass. David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com
Hey, David and Doug: They went for more speed not only to chase down Jackson, but also to deal with offenses that are faster and run jet-sweeps, screens and passes designed to create mismatches – a faster offensive player vs. a slower man on defense.
More teams are relying on speed than brute force. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Baltimore don’t pound the ball up the middle. The Ravens can, but the scrambling Jackson is the main weapon. Another point about dealing with Jackson and the running game are the safeties.
Defensive coordinator Joe Woods will often play three safeties and two linebackers rather than the old standard of two safeties and three linebackers. Safeties are a big deal to the Browns, which is why John Johnson III was their highest-priced free agent. They believe safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. can be effective vs. the run.
As for the linebackers, the Browns are high on Jacob Phillips. They think he can be good vs. the run. They added veteran Anthony Walker at middle linebacker. He is prized by the front office and coaching staff as the classic “tough, smart, accountable” leader.
Can Myles Garrett (95) and Jadeveon Clowney (90) be the dynamic duo many expect? David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com
Hey, Terry: I read where the Browns’ defensive line ranks 11th in the upcoming season. How do you view them? – Marty Darr
Hey, Marty: That ranking came from profootballfocus, the analytics site. They wrote:
“Jadeveon Clowney has seemingly gone from being overrated to underrated in the span of a few seasons. Injuries hindered his impact in stops with Seattle and Tennessee, but he has still been disruptive when healthy. ... Clowney’s presence should keep teams from focusing all of their attention on Myles Garrett creating more one-on-one opportunities for both players. Jordan Elliott is a name to watch in his second season out of Missouri.”
Some thoughts:
1. The only returning starter on the line is Garrett. Some fans have asked about him having long-term negative symptoms from his bout with COVD-19. So far, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
2. Clowney has to stay healthy. Jim Hartford wrote to ask about Clowney sometimes lining up next to Garrett. That’s a real possibility. It can be “unstoppable” as Hartford suggested, but it depends on Clowney.
3. Clowney did look good in minicamp coming off knee surgery. The new starting tackles appear to be Andrew Billings and Malik Jackson. They are keys to clogging up the middle and stopping the run.
4. PFF mentioned Elliott, who is liked by the coaches, too. But I’m anxious to see Ohio State product Tommy Togiai. The Browns gave undrafted Florida State product Marvin Wilson about $250,000 to sign and compete at tackle.
5. But the line is mostly new. Billings sat out 2020 with COVID-19 concerns. Takk McKinley is a key player, the defensive end signed in the offseason. He is talented, but considered an underachiever. Point is, lots of question marks around some of the talented players.
The Browns picked Anthony Schwartz with an eye on him being a key receiver not now, but in a few years. John Kuntz, cleveland.com
Hey, Terry: Where will Anthony Schwartz fit with the offense? – Jason Caito
Hey, Jason: Unless the Browns are hit with massive injuries, I don’t see a big 2021 role for the third rounder from Auburn. But in 2022, he could be important. They won’t keep Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry – too expensive for the cap. Maybe both will be gone. Rashard Higgins also is a free agent in 2022. Donovan Peoples-Jones also could be very important in 2022. I also think Peoples-Jones can help this season. The coaches love KhaDarel Hodge, who is a receiver and key special teams player.
Bernie Kosar wears his new Browns jersey at a July 2, 1985 press conference.Cleveland Plain Dealer
Hey, Terry: What was your favorite Browns team to cover/write about? Mine was 1986, when I was just 9. – David Vrudney.
Hey, Terry: Bernie, Bernie...BERNIE! How you can throw! Absolutely love Bernie Kosar. – Cathy Hornig
Hey, Cathy and David: I never spent any time writing about the Browns until 1993. Before that, I was writing baseball for six years, basketball for seven. So I covered a lot of misery, starting with Kosar cut at midseason – here comes Todd Philcox! Then the move. Then the return. Then decades of losing and firings.
With that background, the most fun I had writing the Browns was 2020. The success was so unexpected, especially knocking off Pittsburgh twice. They were a likeable, well-coached team. Little drama. Good fundamental football. I loved it!
Kosar earned even more respect after I wrote about how he worked so hard to get to Cleveland in the 1985 NFL Supplemental Draft. It’s more amazing thinking about it 36 years later.
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