BROWNS OFF-SEASON 2020

[AZ_]

Cleveland Browns Stadium probably needs a new sponsor, after FirstEnergy Solutions has found themselves squarely in the shit.

Shame that "The Swamp" is already taken.


Additionally:

 

[MGMT]

Cleveland Browns Stadium probably needs a new sponsor, after FirstEnergy Solutions has found themselves squarely in the shit.

Shame that "The Swamp" is already taken.


Additionally:

Looked up the FirstEnergy story.

Mr Mackey; it’s bad

 

[FrontPageNews]

Pro Football Focus is rating units on the defensive side of the ball. Here is the write up about linebackers:

31. CLEVELAND BROWNS
With Joe Schobert moving on to the Jaguars, the Browns lose a valuable piece of their back seven and will trot out one of the younger linebacking units in the league. In 2019, the Browns drafted Sione Takitaki in the third round and Mack Wilson in the fifth, but it was Wilson who played 942 snaps on his way to a 41.7 overall grade that ranked eighth-worst in the NFL. Takitaki played just 105 snaps, showing well against the run with a 75.1 grade.

In this year’s draft, the Browns added Jacob Phillips, another run-first player who struggled to a 52.2 coverage grade last year at LSU. The Browns will heavily count on all three players in 2020. Cleveland also signed B.J. Goodson to a one-year deal, and he should provide early-down value — he’s graded at 67-0 plus against the run in two of his three full seasons.

Trevon Young and Jermaine Grace round out the depth chart with their 18 career snaps. The Browns had one of the NFL's worst linebacking units a year ago, and they enter 2020 with plenty of question marks among their young players.

im so pissed we fucked up our LB core. It was already weak and couldn’t tackle. Now we got rid of our only stud. We’re good everywhere else except LB. it’s going to come back to bite us in the ass. But thank god we won the cap space olympics again.

 

[Vee-Rex]

im so pissed we fucked up our LB core. It was already weak and couldn’t tackle. Now we got rid of our only stud. We’re good everywhere else except LB. it’s going to come back to bite us in the ass. But thank god we won the cap space olympics again.

I don't get this comment. No team is without holes. EVERY single offseason teams have position groups that are weak and need improvement going into the season.

The Browns decided that the offensive and defensive lines were more important at this time. Blowing significant cap space on a less important position group wasn't the optimal path. Schobert's money is better spent elsewhere and there wasn't another LB in free agency worth spending big bucks on. Our front office isn't ignoring the LB position - they're just not going to overcompensate or desperately try to 'plug every hole' and certainly are not going to prioritize it over a more important need.

 

[Lee]

Cleveland Browns Stadium probably needs a new sponsor, after FirstEnergy Solutions has found themselves squarely in the shit.

Shame that "The Swamp" is already taken.


Additionally:

Chairman of the board is a part time job, for most CEO is full time....not sure how cutting hours back takes away from the Browns, not that i wouldnt mind the Haslams finding something else to do with their time, besides open the wallets when it comes to the Browns.

 

[FrontPageNews]

I don't get this comment. No team is without holes. EVERY single offseason teams have position groups that are weak and need improvement going into the season.

The Browns decided that the offensive and defensive lines were more important at this time. Blowing significant cap space on a less important position group wasn't the optimal path. Schobert's money is better spent elsewhere and there wasn't another LB in free agency worth spending big bucks on. Our front office isn't ignoring the LB position - they're just not going to overcompensate or desperately try to 'plug every hole' and certainly are not going to prioritize it over a more important need.

it’s not just a hole. It’s a crater. Our Lbs are some of the worst since we same back. And schoberts money wasn’t spent elsewhere. We still have the most cap space in the league. It wouldnt have hurt us to resign him. We’d still have plenty of money left.

 

[Randolphkeys]

it’s not just a hole. It’s a crater. Our Lbs are some of the worst since we same back. And schoberts money wasn’t spent elsewhere. We still have the most cap space in the league. It wouldnt have hurt us to resign him. We’d still have plenty of money left.

Since they secured Kevin Johnson to play slot and Andrew Sendejo as a third safety, let's assume they will mostly be playing two linebackers with at least five DBs. Shobert would have provided one linebacker who is going to test out great in coverage but miss a decent amount of tackles. This was a hole in his game consistently. The Browns made an offer in the 8 million per year range knowing they need balloon contracts for Myles, Baker, Denzel and hopefully Chubb in the next two years to lock down their prime. Jacksonville beat the offer.

So they had a backup plan that started under Dorsey: Two linebackers drafted in 2019 and a high pick in 2020 to cover two spots. I believe Goodson is a nice low risk signing because he looked really solid on pass coverage before playing in Pettine's system in Green Bay, which we know puts linebackers in tough situations. It's a risk, but having poor defensive line and safety depth in 2019 was just as much of a risk. We as Browns fans are used to seeing these risks backfire.

So while I'm nervous about the position, I see the opportunity for one or two highly drafted guys to step up.

 

[Surge]

Since they secured Kevin Johnson to play slot and Andrew Sendejo as a third safety, let's assume they will mostly be playing two linebackers with at least five DBs. Shobert would have provided one linebacker who is going to test out great in coverage but miss a decent amount of tackles. This was a hole in his game consistently. The Browns made an offer in the 8 million per year range knowing they need balloon contracts for Myles, Baker, Denzel and hopefully Chubb in the next two years to lock down their prime. Jacksonville beat the offer.

So they had a backup plan that started under Dorsey: Two linebackers drafted in 2019 and a high pick in 2020 to cover two spots. I believe Goodson is a nice low risk signing because he looked really solid on pass coverage before playing in Pettine's system in Green Bay, which we know puts linebackers in tough situations. It's a risk, but having poor defensive line and safety depth in 2019 was just as much of a risk. We as Browns fans are used to seeing these risks backfire.

So while I'm nervous about the position, I see the opportunity for one or two highly drafted guys to step up.

I agree- "Nickel" packages are on the field an average of 77% of the time nowadays according to FootballOutsiders.

To me the means we needed to focus on that DL and DB group far more than the LB's. It will be crucial that at least one of Wilson, Goodson, Takitaki, or Phillips progresses to above average and another one of them is at least average NFL starter quality. If that happens we have a top 5 defense on paper.

 

[red.]

 

[red.]

 

[Randolphkeys]

I agree- "Nickel" packages are on the field an average of 77% of the time nowadays according to FootballOutsiders.

To me the means we needed to focus on that DL and DB group far more than the LB's. It will be crucial that at least one of Wilson, Goodson, Takitaki, or Phillips progresses to above average and another one of them is at least average NFL starter quality. If that happens we have a top 5 defense on paper.

Adding on, I'm going to point out that both Christian Kirksey (pick #71) and Joe Schobert (pick #99) were drafted around the ideal spot to take linebackers and develop them. Linebacker doesn't usually get addressed in a top 40 pick. They were selected in the same area as Sione Takitaki (pick #80) and Jacob Phillips (pick #97). So, it's not like the Browns completely ignored the position, they just went with a youth movement.

 

[red.]

 

[Hurl Bruce]

This was cool to see:

 

[Randolphkeys]

This was cool to see:

Christian Kirksey gave this franchise tons of leadership and some solid linebacker play through dark times. He has a tall order in front of him preparing the linebacker room for Pettine's system, which asks linebackers to use a lot of difficult early snap recognition. He signed where he can do a lot of good in a system he knows, so all the best to him.

 

[Juice is Loose]

The Athletic did a survey of NFL agents. Here is one gem:

"I would probably get rid of the Haslams from Cleveland. They’re horrible owners. They’ve done a horrible job. It’s unfair to the city of Cleveland how bad they are at what they do. There’s a lot of bad ownership in this league, but they’ve been so bad from the start.”