NFL: Cleveland Browns: Really the end of the suffering?

Hardly any team was more active in the offseason than the Cleveland Browns. The great change is now finally to be initiated. But were these not words that have been heard again and again in recent years? In any case, the personnel changes have caused a sensation. Is the early hype justified?

He put his words into action, Cleveland’s new CEO John Dorsey:”The people who were here before me didn’t get any real players,” Sashi Brown’s successor had almost crashed at his presentation in December.

This should now change: A period of almost eternal argumentation, in which the collection of draft picks seemed to be the main focus of the franchise, categorized far before the sporting success, should finally come to an end and playoff football should be targeted.

Not only the sporty component was one that drove the fans into despair in Cleveland. Because the personnel planning did not reveal a long-term plan either. At least none, which was not thrown after shortest time again over the heap.

Following Danny Shelton’s trade with the New England Patriots, the Ohio franchise has already passed each of its seven first-round picks from 2012 to 2015. Trades were what Dorsey’s ambition was before the Free Agency actually started: after a disastrous record of one victory and 31 defeats in the last two seasons, Dorsey finally wants to make the Browns a competitive and serious franchise again.

In quarterback Tyrod Taylor, slot receiver Jarvis Landry and Defensive Back Damarious Randall, three deals were made that have the potential to move the franchise in a different direction. At least that’s what the reactions of the last few days suggested. And that without even having to take one of the five picks that will be available in the first two rounds at the end of April.

But are the Browns really already a candidate for the playoffs? Not so fast!

CB, Jason McCourty, 7th Round Pick 2018.

The horrendous achievements of the last few seasons, devastating coaching behaviour and an unbelievable unrest in the front office: in Cleveland a losing culture has undoubtedly manifested itself in recent years. Can the players who are new to the game actually help to change them?

On quarterback, Taylor has undoubtedly seen an improvement over Kizer, Hogan, Kessler and many other candidates who have tried unluckily here in recent years. But there was also a reason why the Bills wanted to get rid of Taylor and his $16 million contract. He may have led Buffalo into the playoffs for the first time this millennium, but he is probably not much more than an efficient game manager who is careful not to throw the ball into the wrong hands.

This has a value, but Taylor is an interim solution that allows a rookie a calm acclimatization period on the pro level. One that hasn’t existed lately. Landry, of course, is the most spectacular of the deals made. Under the new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, he will probably take on the role in the slot that JuJu Smith-Schuster played in Haley’s system for the Steelers.

The LSU product set a record for Receptions in its first four years of career, scoring an enormous number of yards after the catch and Missed Tackles, but the Dolphins managed a single winning season in his presence. Landry also operates under the franchise tag he received before the Free Agency started in Miami and is a risk for the Browns because he could leave the Cleveland project after just one year.

Cornerback Damarious Randall finished last season in the league’s seventh-bottom pass defense by metric of Football Outsiders. Randall rarely looked good in the Packers’ inconstant defense, but is probably set by the Browns to Free Safety, the position he played in college, which might bring Peppers closer to the Line of Scrimmage. Randall’s pro football focus scores on cornerback in his first three career years in the NFL? 57.9 as a rookie, 35.8 in the second and 70.9 in the third year. Anything but top figures.

Successful and consistent are words that have only fit one personality in Cleveland in recent years: Joe Thomas played all eleven years of his NFL career as part of the Dawg Pound. He contributed as an outstanding player in the pass protection and a very good tackle in the run game. Thomas achieved an NFL record with 10,363 snaps in a row and became All-Pro six times, ten times participant of the Pro Bowl. He never saw playoffs in Cleveland.

The veteran now ended his career after his first worse injury, a triceps rupture, which forced the Browns to take the lead for the first time since 31 December. December 2006 another Left Tackle than Thomas. Cleveland loses a future Hall of Famer that is not only enormously respected in its own cabin, but one that also enjoyed league-wide recognition.

The Browns tried to replace him with Spencer Drango last season. This is unlikely in view of the coming season. It is likely that Hubbard, who most recently worked for the Pittsburgh Steelers, will take on the role.

Now all eyes are on the draft with the browns. First and foremost, of course, to positions one and four – a luxury that had not yet been granted to too many teams. After his excellent workout results, there was speculation that the Browns Running Back Saquon Barkley would come out on top.

Hyde’s commitment, however, doesn’t exactly suggest that. Hyde and Duke Johnson are in a similar constellation to the Minnesota Vikings last season after the Cook injury with Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon. Hyde represents a somewhat one-dimensional power-back, whereas Johnson also functions as a receiver.

The already logical solution for the draft would be a quarterback. The most important position in the game is not occupied by a franchise player. In Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, the draft offers two players who could be thrown into the cold water early on. Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, on the other hand, are the options that will probably take longer to adapt to the pro level.

Dorsey used a method at his last stop in Kansas City that would also be conceivable in Cleveland. After a remarkable up-trade, he forced Patrick Mahomes by 17 positions to acclimatize him for a year behind Alex Smith. The same is also possible with Taylor and the rookie QB.

With the fourth pick you will finally choose Barkley or Defensive End Bradley Chubb, if one of them is not signed by the Giants and Colts. If he did, Minkah Fitzpatrick would be the hottest candidate for the defensive backfield. Alternatively, a trade for further picks would also be conceivable. The Bills have something in mind right now.

Even before the offseason, the Browns have appointed a new offensive coordinator in Haley, who will not only support coach Hue Jackson in the offense, but will also relieve him of the play calling. Jackson is fortunate to even still have the role, as he was responsible for the 31 defeats of the last two years.

Jackson had to answer not only for a completely unattractive and harmless offense, but also for decisions that were very difficult for a young quarterback like DeShone Kizer to make last year. He put the rookie on the bench after weak performances in order to reverse the decision only one game later, because the replacement did not bring about improvement. And this as a coach with the reputation of a “quarterback whisperer”.

The face that had given speeches to the team after 31 defeats, which obviously bore little fruit, should now also initiate the decisive turnaround? An undertaking that is difficult to imagine from a psychological point of view alone. It will be up to Haley to use the talents of the newly formed offense properly and to develop them into such an explosive offense as he led in Pittsburgh. This, however, with much less talented player material.

How, moreover, will they cooperate? How does Jackson cope with the loss of responsibility and what appeal does his words still find within the team? Elementary questions for a team in a league where good coaching was recently the turning point for a franchise that has just won the Super Bowl.

Of course, the browns look much more like a possible playoff content tender than in the last few years. It is refreshing to finally see the franchise in an active mode with aggressive and offensive negotiations. Moreover, even after the new and most expensive contracts of the Taylor ($16 million) and Landry ($15.982 million) squads, there is still an enormous amount of cap space available.

Such a serious change as the Browns have to show, however, does not happen overnight through a few trades and two hands full of rookies. Especially on a psychological level, the Browns have to open up a completely new chapter and all of a sudden ignore what they have experienced in the past years. I wonder if this is compatible with Jackson.

There is also a lack of experience and leaders. The Browns are still a very young team, which will make some mistakes even if the existing construction sites in the offense and the secondary are addressed.

Already in the last offseasons there were those voices who said that the Browns will now initiate the change and are endowed with enough talent to finally attack. This team actually looks like another team, and that starts in the quarterback position. But you still have to learn how to win again.