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Is he a really a downgrade from Weeden? :shocked:
Will he be benched again soon for Campbell or Weeden?
Is he the franchise QB we've been longing for?
I think by the end of the season we will all see that he's the next Tom Brady. :spin:
Discuss...
Cleveland Browns' Brian Hoyer gets his big chance in the wake of the Trent Richardson trade
Can Brian Hoyer be the spark the Cleveland Browns' offense needs?
MINNEAPOLIS --When Brian Hoyer was a young boy growing up in North Olmsted and dreaming about starting at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, he left a few things out of the script.
He never envisioned that his starting receiver in Greg Little would've just lost his starting job because he couldn't hang onto the football.
He never thought he'd be taking over a points-starved offense that's second-worst in the league with an average of eight per game.
He never guessed that his once-proud offensive line would be tied for first in the NFL with 11 sacks and down to its third-string right guard in Oniel Cousins.
And most of all, he never dreampt that the Browns would have just traded away their star running back in Trent Richardson and that the offense might still be reeling by the time he stepped on the field.
"It's a week in the life of the NFL,'' said running back Chris Ogbonnaya. "But Brian's going to be fine. He prepares very hard, he knows what to do with the football and (offensive coordinator) Norv Turner does a great job of getting those guys ready.''
Hoyer, making just his second career start, takes over a team that was rocked by the mid-week trade of Richardson, the No. 3 overall pick last season. Some players are concerned about their own futures, and the fans are furious. General consensus outside the building seems to be that the season's a wash.
"You can't listen to the crowd noise,'' said tight end Jordan Cameron. "A lot of people doubt what we're doing and doubt the way this program is going, but I think we're going in the right direction. We're moving forward with what we're doing and I think we're going to be fine. We're going to Minnesota to try to win the football game.''
Hoyer, the 19th starting quarterback for the Browns since 1999, knows it's a chance to prove he's a starting NFL quarterback. Browns coach Rob Chudzinski has stressed that he's looking for a spark, and if Hoyer provides it, the full-time job is his. Chudzinski has informed Brandon Weeden that he might not get his job back when healthy -- which could be as early as this week.
"This is what I came here for -- to play,'' said Hoyer, signed as a free agent in May. "You don't come here to be just a guy and I think anybody who plays this position in this league, they want to be on the field. If you don't have that drive, then you really don't belong. Anytime you get a chance to play, you’re building your resume. You look at guys all around the league who’ve played a few games here or there, now they’re starters and they’re doing a great job. so I think for me, that’s kind of in the back of my mind.''
The difference between this start and last year's, a loss to the Super Bowl-bound 49ers -- is that Hoyer was only with the Cardinals for three weeks when he was thrust into action in the season-finale.
"Obviously, this means more but you still have people coming at you and trying to take your head off, defending the passes and stuff like that,'' he said. "I've only started one game, but I've gotten my fair share of playing against some real defenses and I'm just excited about the opportunity and I'll do whatever it takes to help this team win."
What's more, Hoyer spent three years honing skills behind future Hall of Famer Tom Brady in New England, and learning to play at a Super Bowl-caliber level.
"If anything, it's kind of a mindset that I gained by being there, having a sense of urgency, attention to detail, the little things help you take care of the big things,'' said Hoyer, who was let go in the final cuts of 2012. "There's probably not a better guy to learn from and I really went in every day trying to take as much as I could out of that situation."
Teammates such as tight end Jordan Cameron have noticed that Patriot-like panache.
"It's the way he is in the huddle,'' said Cameron. "He's very clear and very confident and we feed off that.''
In practice one day, all three quarterbacks -- including Jason Campbell, lined up about 20 yards away from a net with small pockets in it and fired away. Hoyer zipped all six of his passes into the tight pockets, while the other two missed about half their chances.
"It says something,'' said Cameron. "He's pretty accurate. He can put the ball in places where it needs to be.''
Hoyer doesn't have the same big gun as Weeden, but it's above average.
"Brian can make the throws we need to make,'' said Turner. "Right now, we haven’t been able to get those kind of (big) plays. It's a combination of the defenses we’re playing and obviously to get those type of plays you have to protect better than we’re protecting right now. He can make all the throws you need to make. he’s actually a very good deep-ball thrower.''
Hoyer will have the same protection problems as Weeden, with Cousins and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz both struggling. Weeden was hit 28 times and pressured a league-high 51. Question is, was part of the problem Weeden's release time, which is among the slowest in the league, according to profootballfocus.com? For the third straight week, the Browns will face some of the best pass-rushers in the business, including Jared Allen, who led the NFL with 22 sacks in 2011 -- a half-sack shy of tying the all-time record.
"We have the same issues we've had in the first two games,'' said Turner. "We're playing a very good defensive front, outstanding pass rushers, obviously like last week we’ve got to handle the crowd noise, we’ve got to handle the pass sets when they’re rushing the passer, so it is a big challenge.''
One big advantage Hoyer will have over Weeden is premier deep threat in Josh Gordon, who's back from his two-game suspension for a failed drug test.
"Everyone was excited we got Josh back out (in practice) and he made a bunch of plays,'' said Turner. "Those are the the kind of plays we had in those early preseason games, where we were moving the ball a little bit and made some big plays.''
Leading receiver Cameron, the only player to consistently jive with Weeden this season, got out to a slow start with Hoyer in practice, but they picked it up as the week went along.
"We got some things worked on after practice,'' he said. "The chemistry's been good. We connected a lot during the week and we'll try to carry that over into Sunday.''
Left tackle Joe Thomas acknowledged that working with Hoyer has been an adjustment, but he's still optimistic.
"We haven’t taken a whole lot of snaps with him as a one offensive line,'' he said. "(But) I'm excited to see Brian. He’s a really smart player. He’s a guy that plays with great tempo. He throws the ball accurately. He gets the ball out to the guy that needs to get the ball and I think he’s going to do a great job for us and he’s going to give us a great chance to win.”
Just the way Hoyer dreamed it up.
Will he be benched again soon for Campbell or Weeden?
Is he the franchise QB we've been longing for?
I think by the end of the season we will all see that he's the next Tom Brady. :spin:
Discuss...
Cleveland Browns' Brian Hoyer gets his big chance in the wake of the Trent Richardson trade
Can Brian Hoyer be the spark the Cleveland Browns' offense needs?
MINNEAPOLIS --When Brian Hoyer was a young boy growing up in North Olmsted and dreaming about starting at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, he left a few things out of the script.
He never envisioned that his starting receiver in Greg Little would've just lost his starting job because he couldn't hang onto the football.
He never thought he'd be taking over a points-starved offense that's second-worst in the league with an average of eight per game.
He never guessed that his once-proud offensive line would be tied for first in the NFL with 11 sacks and down to its third-string right guard in Oniel Cousins.
And most of all, he never dreampt that the Browns would have just traded away their star running back in Trent Richardson and that the offense might still be reeling by the time he stepped on the field.
"It's a week in the life of the NFL,'' said running back Chris Ogbonnaya. "But Brian's going to be fine. He prepares very hard, he knows what to do with the football and (offensive coordinator) Norv Turner does a great job of getting those guys ready.''
Hoyer, making just his second career start, takes over a team that was rocked by the mid-week trade of Richardson, the No. 3 overall pick last season. Some players are concerned about their own futures, and the fans are furious. General consensus outside the building seems to be that the season's a wash.
"You can't listen to the crowd noise,'' said tight end Jordan Cameron. "A lot of people doubt what we're doing and doubt the way this program is going, but I think we're going in the right direction. We're moving forward with what we're doing and I think we're going to be fine. We're going to Minnesota to try to win the football game.''
Hoyer, the 19th starting quarterback for the Browns since 1999, knows it's a chance to prove he's a starting NFL quarterback. Browns coach Rob Chudzinski has stressed that he's looking for a spark, and if Hoyer provides it, the full-time job is his. Chudzinski has informed Brandon Weeden that he might not get his job back when healthy -- which could be as early as this week.
"This is what I came here for -- to play,'' said Hoyer, signed as a free agent in May. "You don't come here to be just a guy and I think anybody who plays this position in this league, they want to be on the field. If you don't have that drive, then you really don't belong. Anytime you get a chance to play, you’re building your resume. You look at guys all around the league who’ve played a few games here or there, now they’re starters and they’re doing a great job. so I think for me, that’s kind of in the back of my mind.''
The difference between this start and last year's, a loss to the Super Bowl-bound 49ers -- is that Hoyer was only with the Cardinals for three weeks when he was thrust into action in the season-finale.
"Obviously, this means more but you still have people coming at you and trying to take your head off, defending the passes and stuff like that,'' he said. "I've only started one game, but I've gotten my fair share of playing against some real defenses and I'm just excited about the opportunity and I'll do whatever it takes to help this team win."
What's more, Hoyer spent three years honing skills behind future Hall of Famer Tom Brady in New England, and learning to play at a Super Bowl-caliber level.
"If anything, it's kind of a mindset that I gained by being there, having a sense of urgency, attention to detail, the little things help you take care of the big things,'' said Hoyer, who was let go in the final cuts of 2012. "There's probably not a better guy to learn from and I really went in every day trying to take as much as I could out of that situation."
Teammates such as tight end Jordan Cameron have noticed that Patriot-like panache.
"It's the way he is in the huddle,'' said Cameron. "He's very clear and very confident and we feed off that.''
In practice one day, all three quarterbacks -- including Jason Campbell, lined up about 20 yards away from a net with small pockets in it and fired away. Hoyer zipped all six of his passes into the tight pockets, while the other two missed about half their chances.
"It says something,'' said Cameron. "He's pretty accurate. He can put the ball in places where it needs to be.''
Hoyer doesn't have the same big gun as Weeden, but it's above average.
"Brian can make the throws we need to make,'' said Turner. "Right now, we haven’t been able to get those kind of (big) plays. It's a combination of the defenses we’re playing and obviously to get those type of plays you have to protect better than we’re protecting right now. He can make all the throws you need to make. he’s actually a very good deep-ball thrower.''
Hoyer will have the same protection problems as Weeden, with Cousins and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz both struggling. Weeden was hit 28 times and pressured a league-high 51. Question is, was part of the problem Weeden's release time, which is among the slowest in the league, according to profootballfocus.com? For the third straight week, the Browns will face some of the best pass-rushers in the business, including Jared Allen, who led the NFL with 22 sacks in 2011 -- a half-sack shy of tying the all-time record.
"We have the same issues we've had in the first two games,'' said Turner. "We're playing a very good defensive front, outstanding pass rushers, obviously like last week we’ve got to handle the crowd noise, we’ve got to handle the pass sets when they’re rushing the passer, so it is a big challenge.''
One big advantage Hoyer will have over Weeden is premier deep threat in Josh Gordon, who's back from his two-game suspension for a failed drug test.
"Everyone was excited we got Josh back out (in practice) and he made a bunch of plays,'' said Turner. "Those are the the kind of plays we had in those early preseason games, where we were moving the ball a little bit and made some big plays.''
Leading receiver Cameron, the only player to consistently jive with Weeden this season, got out to a slow start with Hoyer in practice, but they picked it up as the week went along.
"We got some things worked on after practice,'' he said. "The chemistry's been good. We connected a lot during the week and we'll try to carry that over into Sunday.''
Left tackle Joe Thomas acknowledged that working with Hoyer has been an adjustment, but he's still optimistic.
"We haven’t taken a whole lot of snaps with him as a one offensive line,'' he said. "(But) I'm excited to see Brian. He’s a really smart player. He’s a guy that plays with great tempo. He throws the ball accurately. He gets the ball out to the guy that needs to get the ball and I think he’s going to do a great job for us and he’s going to give us a great chance to win.”
Just the way Hoyer dreamed it up.