Another NFL football season is upon us, and once again the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers face off in a long dormant fierce rivalry that has fans from both teams clamoring for days gone by.
After three painful seasons that has seen the Browns and their loyal fan base suffer through a 4-44 record, this is expected to be the season of dramatic improvement. Owner Jimmy Haslam mercifully canned Sashi Brown, the main decision maker in the front office, in favor of experienced football man, John Dorsey, a former NFL linebacker. Dorsey immediately transformed an inexperienced roster that also lacked talent, with a slew of trades, free agent acquisitions, and then the April college draft.
One of his first moves was to deal a high draft choice to the Buffalo Bills for veteran QB, Tyrod Taylor, the bridge QB to help guide the franchise back to respectability until #1 pick, Baker Mayfield, the Heisman winner out of Oklahoma is ready to take over. Make no mistake, Mayfield is the QB of the future in Cleveland. He's generally impressed everyone and played very well during the four preseason games.
Other valuable pickups are, receiver, Jarvis Landry in a swap with the Miami Dolphins, Carlos Hyde, former Ohio St. running back and cornerback, Terrance Mitchell, both of whom were free agents signings. Landry has basically been a slot receiver, racking up over 100 catches last season. The curious thing, however, is that he averaged a meager 8 plus yards per catch, not particularly impressive in itself. He has been extremely impressive all of training camp, and one wonders how successful he can become in a Tod Haley run offense.
Hyde is the perfect replacement in the backfield for the departed, Isaiah Crowell. The former Buckeye appears fast, agile and powerful enough to energize the running game. High pick, Nick Chubb will spell him often. The RB out of Georgia has some potential and provides quality depth behind Hyde, along with fourth year RB, Duke Johnson, the versatile receiver extraordinaire, who catches passes both out of the backfield and split out wide.
Lo and behold, blast the trumpet's, none other than the enigmatic ghost wideout, Josh Gordon is about to make an opening game appearance for the Browns for the first time in several years. Just maybe hold your breath, it isn't game time yet. The gifted receiver was thee best wideout in the game way back in 2013. Yes, 2013, five long years ago !
All that has happened to Josh since has been well documented. Any other less gifted player would have been released a long time ago. But, in the NFL, talent is the name of the game. He has previously been dubbed, "Fools Gold," by this writer, but, here's hoping, no, make it praying, that the guy can stay clean once and for all and revive a career that sees him playing at a consistently high level for an entire season. The Browns are counting on him bigtime, make no mistake about that.
Paired with Landry and rookie WR, Antonio Calloway, not to mention tight end, David Njoku, this is a very talented group of weapons as receivers for new offensive coordinator, Tod Haley, the guy who has been calling plays for the Steelers the past several seasons.
Watch for Njoku, one of the trio of 1st rounders last year to bust out and truly blossom in the NFL. He's a fast gifted athlete that had some excellent moments last season, the most impressive of which had to be his long TD reception down the seam...right down the middle of the field. Backup TE's are, Seth Devalve, entering his 3rd season, and Darren Fells, an extremely tall target.
Last year, the Browns defense was relatively stout versus the run game, but, that was the only good aspect of it. The pass defense was like a sieve, the parting of the Red Sea, leaks all around. Even worse, the unit was almost last in the entire league in takeaways. Few fumble recoveries, few sacks, few interceptions. Bookend defensive ends, Myles Garrett and Emmanuelle Ogbah were both troubled by injuries, Ogbah missing the last 5 or so games of the season. Garrett also missed 5 games and was never 100% all season.
For the team to be successful, those two need to stay healthy and be available the majority of the time. They're expected to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks, be the type impact game changers that determine outcomes of games. Coley and Larry Ogunjobi would appear to be the starters plugging up the inside at defensive tackle. Chad Thomas was a high draft pick out of Miami to add depth on the line at DE, and possibly sliding inside on passing downs.
The team is set at linebacker, with the starting trio of Joe Schobert in the middle, Chris Kirksey at weakside LB, and Jamie Collins manning the strong side. While excellent run stoppers, none of the 3 are either outstanding blitzers or edge rushers that can consistently harass the QB. An interesting addition is Genard Avery, a 5th rd. pick the team apparently has high hopes for as that all critical edge rusher that can get to the QB from outside linebacker.
The Browns defensive backfield has been entirely overhauled from a less than impressive bunch from last seasons 0-16 team. Never fear, the team picked Ohio St. Buckeye, Denzel Ward as the 4th overall selection, a guy they sorely need to be the lock down cornerback that often matches up with opposing teams top receivers. Terrance Mitchell has won the starting job on the opposite side, the free agent acquisition that previously played for the Chiefs. E.J. Gaines should also see significant playing time as well.
At the safety spots, Jabrill Peppers moves from free safety to strong safety, a position his skills should be much more suited for. Darrius Randall, obtained in a trade with the Packers for last years QB, DeShone Kizer, takes over at free safety. Derrick Kindred will also see action, especially on projected running downs. Hopefully Peppers will blossom at his more natural spot and with a year of experience under his belt. Boddy-Calhoun is versatile and can slide between corner or backup free safety behind Randall.
All in all, the team is in a much better place, from the coaches on down through the roster. Both coordinators are highly respected, very experienced coaches in the league, both previously having been head coaches. Haley will call plays on offense instead of head coach Hue Jackson, probably a very welcome relief. Tough, hard nosed Greg Williams runs the show for the defense. Jackson no longer has any excuses for mismanaging the clock, or bungling decisions of where and when to kick a field goal.
This version of the Browns will not lose every game ! They honestly should be very competitive in pretty much every single game, even though it's an extremely difficult schedule. They should be interesting to watch...for once, and give the fans and ownership something to be proud of. How many will they win ? It's difficult to predict, but, the way I see it, expect 5 or 6 wins. Anything less, and Hue will be an ex-coach by seasons end.
As for tomorrow's opener at home against those dastardly Steelers, it's expected to be a wet one. Wind may also be a factor at times, resulting in both teams' passing games being somewhat compromised. It's time for the Browns to awaken this intense rivalry from the dead !
Dave Burkey
Email: daveywriter@yahoo.com
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