Another tough start to the year for Browns fans. It's hard for me to comprehend how one team could be this bad, year after year, with seemingly no end in sight.
The Cleveland Indians have just won their 102nd game of the season. We only have to go back to day one this year to trace back 102 victories. For the Browns? We have to go back to 1994. Granted, the Browns didn't have a team from 1996-1998, so that's probably (maybe) where it would have been had the Browns still been in Cleveland. Bill Belichick was our coach at the time.
This year, we are 0-4. This has been a bad 0-4, too. The Browns have yet to take the lead over a team. We haven't held a lead! In FOUR games! I get that we have a rookie QB, I get it. Basically every Browns QB is a "rookie" QB because it's usually their first year starting for the Browns. We also haven't lost to the best teams. The Steelers are mediocre, and while we nearly beat them, this is a team that lost to an atrocious Bears team. We then lost to the Ravens whose only victories came against the previously 0-3 Bengals and 0-4 Browns. After that, we lost to a Colts team who didn't have Andrew Luck as their QB. They only have one win on the year: against Cleveland. And we just lost to the 0-3 Bengals making them 1-3.
I hope all those Browns fans who were so excited at the Browns 4-0 preseason record are starting to realize that preseason records mean nothing. The Lions who went 0-16 in 2008 had a perfect 4-0 preseason record. They actually seemed a lot like Browns fans seemed like in games 1 and 2 of this year. The previous year, 2007, the Patriots went a perfect 16-0 in the regular season. They only won two preseason games.
I had people tell me, "well but they look really good out there" and "the players are really starting to come together." The reason the Browns won all four games is because we were trying to figure out who our STARTERS were while most other teams are trying to figure out their second and third strings. THAT is why preseason victories mean nothing. Don't get me wrong, there are things that you can learn about your team in the preseason, but none of those things are based on the number of wins. If people understand that the playoffs are different from the regular season, how is it so hard to realize that the regular season is a different beast than the preseason? If you're reading this and you get excited about preseason victories, please stop. They mean absolutely nothing. See 2007 Patriots, 2008 Lions, and possibly 2017 Browns for evidences.
To me, the hardest thing to see is when Browns players go elsewhere and really succeed. Why couldn't they do that in Cleveland? There's Josh McCown who's leading the Jets this year and find themselves in second place in the division. Terelle Pryor, now with Washington, who is their go-to receiver. Joe Haden, our best corner in a long time and the guy we could put on AJ Green, went to the Steelers and is doing well. Alex Mack is now the best O-lineman on the Falcons who made the super bowl last year. He was our SECOND-best O-lineman in Cleveland!
This tells me that the Browns really do have talent on their roster. Joe Thomas is the best O-lineman in the game. Kenny Britt is a good receiver. Isaiah Crowell is a good running back. Josh Gordon is a different story all by himself, but he could be the best receiver in the game. We had Joe Haden up until this year, perennial pro-bowler. Even if we didn't have talent, we've had access to top five and top ten picks over the last decade. We've had multiple first-round picks, and we spend them on guys like Johnny Manziel. We've had four, five, and six pro-bowl player selections in recent years. No, the Browns woes aren't about not having talent. They're about coaching and they're about the QB.
I don't know about Hue Jackson. I was excited to see him, and I think no matter his record he needs at least the rest of this season plus two more before we even think about firing him. This is less about Hue Jackson and more of a sign to great coaches around the league that the Browns have stopped their conveyor belt of coaching hires and firings. If Jackson doesn't cut it, fine. But other coaches will need to know that they have more than one or two years to develop an NFL team in Cleveland.
Jackson may end up being the guy. I'm losing hope, but I want to see how he commands his team and the respect the players pay to him. If he can control the locker room, he's definitely a coach worth keeping. He has a tough job working with the moneyballers upstairs.
Now the QB position. The Browns are a great example, it doesn't matter how many good, really good, or great players you have on your roster. If you don't have a franchise QB, you won't be winning very many games. We've had the most instability for the longest amount of time, so it's no wonder that we can't get out of the basement of our division, much less compete in the conference or for a super bowl. Until we get our franchise guy, we won't be winning anything.
So, Deshone Kizer. I liked the pick initially because of where we got him. I didn't think we'd be starting him this year much less this early in the season. We have a rookie QB and as fans we need to be patient with him. Similar to the coaching stability, we need to give Kizer the reigns for at least two years (although I'd like to see three) unless we truly realize that he's not the guy. If we pick up a Sam Darnold or a top QB out of college, we need to sit him a year and bring in a veteran guy to teach him. Let's not throw him in there. If after year two Kizer isn't the guy, we can then bring in our college prospect who now has a year of NFL learning under his belt.
It's too early to tell if Kizer is our guy. Maybe by week 14 we'll have a better idea. By the midway point next season, we'll probably know if he is or isn't the guy. If he's continually learning and improving on things he's trying to improve on, I think we should stick with him a third year.
While Kizer is a big guy with a big arm and can make throws downfield, his judgement is still in question. I thought he lost some games at Notre Dame late in the game. I personally prefer smart QB's, ones who show good judgement rather than athletic ability. I think those guys make it in the NFL. I think a lot of athletic guys who rely on their athletic prowess don't turn out. Look at some Ohio State guys: Terelle Pryor, Cardale Jones, Troy Smith. Vince Young is on the list, Michael Vick didn't pan out, Cam Newton, Colin Kaepernick, and then there's uber-athletic Tim Tebow. Some guys can do both but they don't look to run as much as they run to pass. These are Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck, Drew Brees, and Deshaun Watson is looking like the real deal. While that second group may not be as athletic as the first, they show better judgement and decision-making on the field. Up through his first four games in the NFL, Kizer hasn't shown that. We'll see if he can learn how to do that, especially since Hue Jackson is known around the league as a good QB coach.
Prediction: the Browns probably won't win more than 3 games. They let two very winnable games slip through their fingers in the Luck-less Colts and the Bengals. It hasn't gotten any easier to be a Browns fan. That being said,
GO BROWNS!!
