Browns sign RB Carlos Hyde

[CBBI]

my first thought this is a damn good question.

My second thought is, does it really matter? The league for the last 15 years has been going away from snaps under center and only 25%ish of league wide snaps are run from under center anyways. So at the end of the day.... does it really make that much of a difference? You know that a huge portion of your plays will be run from the shot gun anyway

It matters because the Browns and Steelers ran significantly above league average amount of shotgun.

League average was 58%. Browns and Steelers were both at 71%.

Steelers ran out of the shotgun 24% of the time, 8th highest in the league.

Having back who thrives in that setting should only be a good thing.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Falling behind early almost every game certainly doesn't do any favors for the running game.

I don't think the Browns will be playing catch-up nearly as much this season.

We also didn't get nearly as many first downs as the Steelers did, so not as many plays, which means less touches for everyone.

Crowell's issue this year was not that he wasn't used. He was used. He wasn't even really all that bad. He was just nothing special. He had a shoulder shrug of a season.

 

[MikeOC33]

Falling behind early almost every game certainly doesn't do any favors for the running game.

I don't think the Browns will be playing catch-up nearly as much this season.

I'd like to agree with you, but this year's schedule is not favorable to the Brownies. Lot of tough road games... at Denver, at Houston, at New Orleans, at Oakland, at Tampa Bay. Plus the home schedule isn't that cheery either... Atlanta, Carolina, KC, Chargers and Jets at home.

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

The schedule game is always one of the most meaningless games to play preseason imo

Besides, like, the patriots and I guess pittspuke you never really know who’s going to be good year to year

I mean look at last year. Packers game sounds like a tough one right? Well, it was, until Hundley was under center for it

There’s so much turnover between bad to good teams every year. Most years teams that start the season with a perceived hard schedule end it with one of the easier ones by SOS winning pct

 

[col63onel]

He wasn't even really all that bad. He was just nothing special. He had a shoulder shrug of a season.

I never really got the Crow hate. I agree with what you said. He's a perfectly fine, serviceable, run of the mill, replaceable RB in today's NFL. Given that we got him as an UDFA, I'd say he exceeded expectations on a dirt cheap contract.

Again, nothing special, and I certainly get upgrading the position with Hyde or through the draft, but not really hateable for his on field performance, IMO.

 

[Jack Brickman]

I never really got the Crow hate. I agree with what you said. He's a perfectly fine, serviceable, run of the mill, replaceable RB in today's NFL. Given that we got him as an UDFA, I'd say he exceeded expectations on a dirt cheap contract.

Again, nothing special, and I certainly get upgrading the position with Hyde or through the draft, but not really hateable for his on field performance, IMO.

I think the Crow hate had a lot to do with fantasy football. Not only did he have around 250 less all purpose yards than the year prior, but he also scored two touchdowns instead of seven. So while his production didn't dip substantially, it dipped a bit and he lost thirty fantasy points in touchdowns alone. Thus, it was a disappointing season.

But as an actual NFL back, 4.1 YPC is acceptable. It's nothing special, and not really all that good, but it's also not bad. Again, a shrug of a YPC average. As you said, replaceable.

 

[MoFlo]

View: https://twitter.com/AaronWilson_NFL/status/974784995696013312?s=19

 

[Sebastian]

I'd like to agree with you, but this year's schedule is not favorable to the Brownies. Lot of tough road games... at Denver, at Houston, at New Orleans, at Oakland, at Tampa Bay. Plus the home schedule isn't that cheery either... Atlanta, Carolina, KC, Chargers and Jets at home.

The schedule for the New Model Browns.

Denver: Case Keenum the real deal? If not it is winnable.
Houston: If healthy, yeah, probably a loss.
New Orleans: Probable loss.
Oakland: Which version shows up? If Carr really has regressed this is winnable.
Tampa Bay: Winnable.
Atlanta: Probable loss.
Carolina: Schizo team. Competitive game.
KC: Total toss-up. We have no idea how Mahomes will play.
Chargers: Winnable.
Jets: Browns curb-stomp them.

I see only three probable losses. They can go anywhere from 6-4 to 4-6 in that stretch. They can run .500 against the North.

Point being, Hyde will get more use than he did in SF and behind a better line. He could rush for as many as 1100-1200 yards. Plus his bountiful receiver game.

 

[MikeOC33]

The schedule for the New Model Browns.

Denver: Case Keenum the real deal? If not it is winnable.
Houston: If healthy, yeah, probably a loss.
New Orleans: Probable loss.
Oakland: Which version shows up? If Carr really has regressed this is winnable.
Tampa Bay: Winnable.
Atlanta: Probable loss.
Carolina: Schizo team. Competitive game.
KC: Total toss-up. We have no idea how Mahomes will play.
Chargers: Winnable.
Jets: Browns curb-stomp them.

I see only three probable losses. They can go anywhere from 6-4 to 4-6 in that stretch. They can run .500 against the North.

Point being, Hyde will get more use than he did in SF and behind a better line. He could rush for as many as 1100-1200 yards. Plus his bountiful receiver game.

I hope you are more right then I am.

I'm happy with the direction things seem to be heading this off season.

The upcoming draft doesn't factor in that much for me for this year- it can help if they focus on defense early, but I think last year's drafted players improvement (if any) is much more significant. Either their improvement or their utilization.

As for the running game, and Hyde in particular, I joke but for all we know Hue will under use him also and he will come up short of 1000 yards because of not enough carries. (Not that the 1000 yard benchmark is as important as it was in a 14 game schedule, but it is still a benchmark of note.)

One good thing for me is the Browns now have a middle of the pack QB who seems to be risk adverse. If that holds true, then hopefully turnovers are down and the Browns can ball control a little more, meaning more runs. Don't get me wrong, I like a strong air attack, I'm just being realistic with what the Browns have to work with and I don't think Tyrod is going to throw for 3500 yards and 35 tds.

Because of this line of thinking, I am very ok with Chubb at #4 and a db with the next pick (even for a trade back into round 1), because anything the Browns can do to bolster the defense this year will help a risk adverse offense IMO.

All said and done regarding their record and the schedule they face...ya gotta walk before you can run. We know how bad they've been. There is no game on the schedule, including the Jets game, that I will ink in a win based on the past few years. And keep in mind, I like Haley as OC, but there is going to be a transition period early for the offense. It happens every time. The O may still not be in synch by game 3 vs the Jets. He may not even have the whole playbook installed by game 8...who knows?

All the positive additions, money spent, accumulation of picks and cap space... prove that you can win games. Of course I'd like at least 8 wins, would be sadly ok with 6, would be disappointed with anything less than 4. Until they can start winning and stringing wins together, I am happy with the direction this year, but am skeptical. Just my opinion.

 

[dark2332]

I'm just being realistic with what the Browns have to work with and I don't think Tyrod is going to throw for 3500 yards and 35 TDs.

So, the last three years, Tyrod has been remarkably consistent.

He’s basically been a lock for 3000 yards passing, 500 yards rushing, a 62-63% completion, 20-25 Total TD’s, and only 5-6 interceptions.

We say “what the Browns have to work with” as some sort of bad thing. However, there’s an argument to be made that Tyrod has never had a receiving battery as talented as Josh Gordon, Jarvis Landry, David Njoku, a 3rd year Corey Coleman (whom Dorsey mentioned specifically last week), Duke Johnson, Jeff Janis, and probably a Day 2 rookie.

He’s also playing behind—even without Joe Thomas—the best offensive line he’s been a part of.

Landry and Gordon are significantly better than any receiver he’s had to work with. He used the hell out of Charles Clay. Imagine what he might do with a 2nd-year Njoku.

I’m just saying, I do anticipate that we could reasonably see 3500 yards passing from Tyrod if he starts all 16 games. I anticipate another 500 or so rushing as usual. It wouldn’t be completely outlandish to say that he could have between 24-28 total touchdowns, probably 21-24 being through the air.

He’s a good quarterback and the Browns have weapons. This isn’t some type of homer take—we really do. Todd Haley is a legitimate NFL coordinator. He’s been extremely successful in that role his entire career.

I think we are going to see a much-improved offense.

I think the truly hard part is going to be letting Tyrod go or franchise/trading him after the season once we have the first competent offensive season we’ve had in awhile.

 

[Jack Brickman]

We say “what the Browns have to work with” as some sort of bad thing. However, there’s an argument to be made that Tyrod has never had a receiving battery as talented as Josh Gordon, Jarvis Landry, David Njoku, a 3rd year Corey Coleman (whom Dorsey mentioned specifically last week), Duke Johnson, Jeff Janis, and probably a Day 2 rookie.

It's not arguable. It's a fact. Tyrod has never had a receiver anywhere near as talented as Josh Gordon has proven he can be in the NFL. Watkins is the closest, but Watkins' best season pales in comparison to Gordon's best.

If we're going of sheer top-end production, Taylor is throwing to the two best receivers in his career. I think Watkins has a higher ceiling than Landry (significantly so), but he's never managed to get there. At least now he'll have a gunslinger QB, whereas last year Goff just failed to hit him on deep routes so damn much.

 

[Randolphkeys]

All of Tyrod's past receivers were more successful once they left Buffalo. Robert Woods emerged in LA, Goodwin emerged in SF, Hogan emerged in New England. I'm more than happy to watch that trend change, but there is a trend. Josh Gordon should buy Tyrod's a few dinners because the routes Gordon prefers are not the routes Tyrod's prefers to throw. Luckily the Browns have a good group of shorter, safer route players. I think Landry, Njoku, Carlos Hyde and Poop Dick are going to thrive with Tyrod Taylor. Heck even Danny Vitale is damn good in screens.

 

[Jack Brickman]

All of Tyrod's past receivers were more successful once they left Buffalo.

Except Watkins. Watkins had his best season with Taylor as his QB.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Except Watkins. Watkins had his best season with Taylor as his QB.

Was that because of Taylor or because Watkins had a serious foot injury and lost his speed? He didn't look like the same guy in LA. We will find out for sure with Mahomes throwing him the rock this season.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Was that because of Taylor or because Watkins had a serious foot injury and lost his speed? He didn't look like the same guy in LA. We will find out for sure with Mahomes throwing him the rock this season.

I thought he looked pretty good this year. Goff just completely failed to connect with him on long throws with any consistency, which is more on Goff than Watkins. He was clearly much more comfortable dumping it off to Gurley and throwing short routes to Kupp. He just doesn't have that touch on deep throws.