State of the Franchise: Can the Browns live up to expectations? Published: Jun 10, 2019 at 03:36 AM NFL.com Writer Members of the organization, fans of the and all of you BakerManiacs around the world: What a time to be alive in Cleveland! I know that I say something like this for a lot of teams. But I really do mean it for the . How great is it to back the right now? Fans are Mikko Koivu Jersey already slamming the doors shut on the bandwagon. The velvet rope is out, and the bouncers are checking the list to make sure that you truly deserve to walk through the doors. And this team won seven games last year. But there is a good reason for the optimism. For the first time in a long-a s time, there seems to be an answer at coach and quarterback. The team was already a pick to click acquiring one of the best receivers on the planet. There's a lot happening right now. Let's get started. How the Browns got here The highs: -- Finally a game!Yep, itwas a big deal when, in Week 1 of the 2018 campaign, the tied the , ending a game for the first time since beating the in Week 16 of 2016. -- a game! (And kicking off BakerMania). Taking over for an injured after Cleveland fell behind the , 14-0, in Week 3, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 dazzled the home crowd (and prime-time Thursday night audience) while snapping an epic winle s streak and turning a definitive page in franchise history. Oh, ! -- Winning five of their last seven games. It was the team's longest sustained stretch of succe s since 2014 -- you know, back when it made sense to see -- Losing to the in Week 17. This lo s ended up helping to keep the . So I'm saying that's a win. The lows: -- Not beating the in Week 1. Pulling off the upset could have kicked things into gear sooner for a team that eventually became a semi-viable playoff threat. -- Blowing a chance to win in New Orleans in Week 2. Similarly, helped ruin an otherwise-winnable game against the . Of course, both of these lows are related to No. 3: -- Not starting BakerMania soon enough. I can see, in theory, why it would have made sense to let Mayfield grow as a rookie while watching the veteran Taylor steer the ship. But knowing now what Mayfield was able to accomplish, it's not hard to imagine his presence turning the tide in either Week 1 or Week 2, potentially setting Cleveland on a very different course. 2019 VIPs Head coach: Freddie Kitchens. He kind of looks like a guy who would be typecast to play "football coach" in an ABC sitcom, or the guy you inevitably end up with when you use the "create-a-coach" feature on "Madden." But make no mistake, it seems like the dude can coach. Through the first eight weeks of the season, the were struggling under head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who always seemed to be . They were like that bickering couple at a party who makes everybody else uncomfortable -- and then, once they call it a night, the party comes alive. That was what it like when Kitchens took over the ' offense last year, stepping up as coordinator under interim head coach Gregg Williams. People were doing shots. Everyone hit the dance floor. Somebody in the wedding party ended up in a trashcan. It was like that. With Kitchens as coordinator, the averaged 395 yards per game. With Kitchens as coordinator, they averaged 6.86 yards per play. With Kitchens as coordinator, they scored 12 touchdowns on their first 12 trips inside the red zone. With Kitchens as coordinator, the offense scored 25 touchdowns. With Kitchens as coordinator -- you know what, you kind of get the point now, don't you? It's fair to wonder if someone whose first non-position-coach job came is ready to be a head coach. But the in-house promotion makes plenty of sense Alex Stalock Jersey when you think about the chemistry he demonstrated with the most important piece of the franchise puzzle ... Quarterback: . I'm a huge believer in Baker. And it's not like I'm jumping on the bandwagon just now. . Baker was the quarterback we 
all believed he could be. He broke Peyton Manning's record for touchdown pa ses as a rookie (27) despite not entering a game until Week 3. I mean -- and as I say this, I should point out that I -- Mayfield was no doubt the best quarterback in the room. Maybe he did benefit from not bearing the weight of the expectations that come with starting Week 1. The bottom line is, from Week 10 to Week 17, when the went 5-2, Mayfield ranked first among quarterbacks with 200-plus attempts in yards per throw (8.86) and fourth in pa ser rating (108.4). That first number is a significant factor that we'll come back to later. Projected 2019 MVP: Baker. I mean, he's a dark-horse candidate to be MVP of the league. Projected 2019 defensive MVP: , DE. That's right, the have a great young leader on the side of the ball, too. The first overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, Garrett finished last season with 13.5 sacks and expects to have even more in 2019. The added defensive tackle and defensive end this offseason to make life a little easier for Garrett. And even if he's not freed up in one-on-one battles, he's going to open it up for his talented teammates. The ' defense could be legit. Or, at least, it just needs to be better than what Kansas City's D was last year, which, frankly, it already is. 2019 breakout star: , DT. A third-round pick by the in 2017, Ogunjobi had a mini-breakout last year with 5.5 sacks, serving as one of the most consistent players up front. He could easily be the biggest benefactor of having Garrett, Richardson and Vernon on the defensive line. Don't be surprised if you hear his name called a lot. Jermaine Whitehead is another name to monitor, as he's from new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. Also worth noting: Wilks is a damn good defensive coordinator, even if things didn't work out so great in Arizona. New face to know: Jr., WR. I'm not sure if you heard about this move, but the traded OBJ to the . Crazy, right? Well, I know there isn't much new ground to cover regarding one of the biggest transactions of the offseason, but I did want to make some key points: 1) QB has done well during his NFL career. But he's clearly on the downside. This is the first time OBJ will play with a quarterback whose career is taking off. 2) But what I really want to impre s on you is that OBJ has always wanted to make more plays downfield. I want to be careful with the way I word that, because Beckham is not a malcontent. aside, he's never really pouted. about the ' play-calling last year -- "How come we can't throw the ball for more than 20 yards? How come we don't attempt or try to throw the ball for more than 20 yards?" -- it seems clear that his angst was focused on his ability to contribute on the field rather than stemming from concern over personal glory. And he never stopped working hard. Quite the opposite. OBJ is loved by his teammates. He just wanted to make more plays. 3) And that's the thing: During Cleveland's fiery season-ending stretch, when Mayfield and Kitchens were really clicking, Mayfield in yards per attempt, which suggests OBJ could really have the best numbers of his career this season. (Once he gets used to playing with someone who's that is.) I'm in on this. If you think OBJ will be a bust because of what you saw over the last few years, then you're clearly selling him short. I will die on this hill. The 2019 roadmap The competitive urgency index is: ELEVATED. In a perfect (or fair) world, we would give the a chance to grow. Kind of like the way no one expects their child to go out and drain buckets like Steph Curry the first time he/she picks up a basketball. But the internet is going to internet, and if the don't win the , people are going to wonder what the hell is wrong with this team. Which seems for Nino Niederreiter Jersey an organization that hasn't won a championship since the 1960s. I think. I didn't look it up. Fine. I looked it up. It's 1964. They haven't won a title since '64. Will the be able to ... Deal with expectations? I mean, it's a whole new world for the , coming in as the expected AFC North champs. Even their got a little (David Caruso puts on his sungla ses, "CSI Miami" style) "Greedy," proclaiming that the . We've seen "super teams" fail in the past. But I don't get the impre sion that the are in danger of that. There are a lot of guys who still have something to prove, despite all the hype. They're more like the Indians in "Major League" than the Indians in "Major League II." Find balance between and ? How have we not talked about this yet? The ' , who had been released by the after a video showing Hunt shoving and kicking a woman in a February incident at a Cleveland hotel , was surprising. Why bring him in when Chubb was coming off a rookie year in which he averaged 84.8 rushing yards per game during the final half of the season? If you're an on-pace guy, that would come out to close to 1,400 rushing yards in a full season at that level of usage. Chubb also had three of his four 100-yard rushing games during that span, which came after the veteran back . (Seriously, I don't mean to bash Hue Jackson; that's not fair. But wow.) How will Cleveland continue to get the most out of Chubb while also working in Hunt, who ranked sixth in the NFL in touches (532) in 2017-18, when he returns from his eight-game suspension? And that's not even factoring in dual-threat back , though he long-term. Keep the momentum going on the offensive line? In 2017, the allowed 50 sacks, sixth-most in the NFL. In 2018, they brought that total down to a more manageable figure of 38, 19th in the league. Plus, they allowed just five sacks over the final eight games of the season, the lowest total in the NFL over that span. Four-fifths of the line that finished out the season is set to return. Can second-year pro replace former right guard , who was sent to the in the Beckham trade? Will Cleveland regret the lo s of depth that came with ? Three key dates: -- . The were given kind of a break early in the schedule, which will present them with the (who finished 9-7 in 2018) in Week 1 and the (4-12) in Week 2, before this stiff Sunday night test against the reigning NFC champs. What that means is, the will probably start 0-2 and then beat the , because that's just the way football works. -- . Two huge games in back-to-back weeks. After this difference-making stretch, we'll know if the are a serious team ready to make a playoff run or, well, the same old . -- . This will function as the mid-term exam for Cleveland, coming right after the ' bye week. And it might be the regular-season matchup I'm looking forward to the most. One storyline people are overlooking:Todd Monken is a pretty good offensive coordinator. What a fantastic addition to Cleveland's staff. Remember last year, when was tearing up the league with the Charlie Coyle Jersey ? Gue s who his offensive coordinator was. (Seriously, if you gue sed anyone other than Monken, what are you doing with your life?) It's expected Kitchens will call the plays for the . And why not? He was pretty good there last year. But adding Monken is a pretty great move. He had other chances out there, because he's a well-respected coach. But he wanted to be a part of Kitchens' staff and work with Baker. Just another reason to start believing the hype. One storyline people are overthinking:How will they distribute all of these targets? Whenever something cool is happening, people are always drawn to the negative. It's like when your bo s springs for free pizza at the office. You always have that one co-worker who has to say stuff like, "Oh man, that's so many calories." Just stop it, already. Nobody is forcing you to eat that pizza. Yes, over the five years they've been in the NFL, and OBJ each rank in the top 10 in total targets (Landry is fifth with 719 and Beckham is 10th with 622). But the former LSU teammates seem to have where they can share in each other's succe ses Matt Dumba Jersey . Nobody is going to get upset when the other guy is out there scoring touchdowns. It's also fair to point out here that Kitchens is at his best trying to distribute the ball to everyone. Eight different players caught at least one touchdown pa s over the final eight games last year. So everyone is going to get a slice. One more thing: Hey guys, . Look, I'm one to talk about this. But sometimes you need to let it go. You know who you are, and you know who I'm talking about. I mean, I love the moxie. And calling out opponents is what made you one of my favorites at Oklahoma. And ... you know what? You do you, Baker. Go nuts. For 2019 to be a succe sful season, the Browns MUST ... -- Get off to a good start. They can't afford to overlook those two teams mentioned above, because the stretch from Week 3 to Week 9 -- which includes the two other key dates mentioned above, vs. the and , as well as contests with the and in Denver -- is fairly gnarly. -- Make the playoffs. Or at least win nine games. It is one thing to win seven games when nobody is expecting much from you. When people are counting on you, it's time to step up and deliver. In closing Here is why I believe in the . We've seen Cleveland take positive strides before, making (what we thought at the time) were good picks, or maybe by making a nice signing. They've settled on coaches who seemed like the right hires. And we've bought in before, only to learn that none of the hype was really warranted. This time, I truly believe things are going to be different. Kitchens pa sed his offensive-coordinator audition last year, and he strikes me as a Bruce Arians-type. Mayfield is a good quarterback. OBJ is a proven NFL superstar. Garrett is a good NFL player. There are legitimate football reasons -- -- to support the thesis that the are legit. This isn't hope; this is real life. The are going to be good this year. See if you can sneak by that bouncer and hop on this bandwagon. This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
