Let’s get this out of the way right now. You can already put the 2018 season in the books for the Cleveland Browns. It’s over before it even begins and that’s OK. If you’re a Browns fan, the absolute last thing you need to happen is a 6-10 or 7-9 season that looks promising on paper, but still makes you a loser.
What you don’t want, what can’t happen, is Hue Jackson and Gregg Williams still being employed by your team in 2019. Because then I’m going to have to write this article all over again.
First off, here’s what we can’t fix
Jimmy Haslam owns the team and unless/until the feds toss him in the slammer, that’s not going to change. There’s always the chance of Haslam getting caught in some sort of racist or sexist scandal, but considering he’s in an entrenched boys club that, as of today, has only ever lost soon-to-be former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson to such an offense, it’s best not to get your hopes up.
Nope, any culture or team change for the Browns will not be coming from the top. Instead, all your hopes must be tossed, rotten tomato-like, at new general manager John Dorsey. Dorsey was a good hire and the upgrade over former GM Sashi Brown can only be calculated by a quantum super computer. And measured against Brown’s predecessor, the text-man himself Ray Farmer? We’re talking math no one has even discovered yet.
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How much will Haslam try to interfere with what Dorsey does? It’s really hard to tell. We know that Haslam is awful and that’s a given, but with Farmer and Brown’s utter incompetence, there’s no reason to really pin any of that on the owner shoving his fingers in the punch bowl. But it’s safe to say that Dorsey will not put up with any ownership interference in his job. At least you better hope so.
What’s to like?
Well, I think Dorsey made the right call at quarterback with Baker Mayfield. He was my top-rated signal-caller in this past draft and, unlike the past amateur player selection meetings, the NFL seemed to agree with me. For the first time since maybe 2013, Cleveland has actual NFL-level talent at every position. Are they all stars? No. Do they all deserve jobs in the league? Yes. For the Browns, that’s a huge victory already.
The addition of Todd Haley at offensive coordinator actually puts a competent and successful coach in the building. Haley is a guy that has run some of the best offenses in the league back in the Arizona Cardinals’ Super Bowl run with Kurt Warner and again with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the last few seasons. While his personality clashes with Ben Roethlisbeger may have cost him a job, it wasn’t his playcalling or play design.
What’s to hate?
Hue Jackson remains the head coach and Gregg Williams remains the defensive coordinator. As long as those two facts sit there like a turd on the kitchen floor, Cleveland’s situation is hopeless. Whether it’s Haley taking over for good as head coach after Jackson is canned, or a guy like Matt LaFleur, who was recently hired as the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator securing the gig, sending those two guys out of Cleveland by trebuchet will pay dividends immediately.
Last year the Browns were the No. 19 ranked defense in the NFL, but do not be fooled. They were ranked No. 31 in points allowed and the only reason they weren’t in the bottom of the league in total defense is a hilarious combination of their allowed time of possession (32:37, also No. 31), 91 surrendered third downs (fifth worst in the NFL) both added to the fact that they, for whatever reason, didn’t surrender a lot of penalties. They were right in the middle of the pack at No. 18.
What those numbers tell you as that teams methodically kept the ball, drove down the field and put it in the end zone with no help from the referees. They didn’t have to pile up useless yardage on drives that ended in punts and stalls. If a team had the ball on offense against Cleveland, it was going into the paint.
What do they need to do?
So say Haley stays as head coach and offensive coordinator after Dorsey sends Jackson over the falls in a barrell. He hires Ken Flajole, linebackers coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, as his defensive coordinator, suddenly you’ve got an entirely new philosophy and coaching talent tree.
And, most of all, competence. That’s how you fix it, Browns. Competence.
