Mind Character

What about hand size? All Leaders have giant hands? Science.

What about best friends George Kokinis and Eric Mangini? It's true a starting good relationship matters, but Structure is vitally important and works hand in hand with relationship to prevent power conflict and political in-fighting.

Interestingly enough, I distinctly remember in their opening pressure John Lynch noted that they had it contractually written that they both report to one another. Beat writers thought it was odd. Lynch explained that for it to work they had to be accountable to one another. Shanahan affirmed this belief. One can speculate that Shanahan likely saw how back-stabbing worked in Washington and in Cleveland. There's a buffer layer between them and Jed York as well. At first, it was Martin Mayhew and to a lesser extent Paraag Marathe. Now, it's Martin Mayhew and Ran Carthon. We have no buffer layer reportedly in Cleveland. It will be GM and Head Coach and the next layer is Ownership. Not Paul Depodesta and Not a Sashi Brown or Elliot Wolf. Here's another difference... the difference between Jed York and the Haslam's. Some owners don't ask questions that provoke political in-fighting and make it clear that they don't welcome that type of back-stabbing. The Haslams heretofore have not been those types of owners.

Corbett was a terrible pick. There have been at least 7 High Quality Impact Starters drafted after that pick (Darious Leonard, Courtland Sutton, Harold Landry, DJ Chark, Braden Smith, Nick Chubb, and Kerryon Johnson). OBJ trade was still a good trade despite the Outcome. Jarvis Landry was objectively a good trade as well. Kizer trade was a sound one despite the current outcome. Olivier Vernon trade was buttcheeks. Good moves and buttcheeks as well. Had to hit on that Corbett Pick which was basically a 1st rounder. Imagine having Sutton, Leonard, Landry, or Chark... even Braden Smith at Guard.

A lot of trash starters at various positions in the league. We know that first hand. The Rams started him right away because literally they had a cardboard box starting at Left Guard with the words "we don't have anymore more Guards to play on our Roster" on it. He's been bad for them. It was a trash pick on its own merits and even worse considering the all-pros that came off the board after that pick. Coaching staff decision was independently bad as well.

.. haha... Indeed... the Cycle of Madness... we're headed back in .. and round and round we go.. See you in 2 years when we hire a Holmgren type and purge analytics completely... ... then 2 years after that when we bring back Paul DePodesta and Sashi for an Analytics revolution..

And then the Haslam's on a weekly basis or so and are going to ask questions to the HC and GM in isolation about the organization as both separately report to ownership. Given the propensity for the Haslam's to ask numerous questions, at some point it encourages back-stabbing if adversity hits. Instead of having a Buffer/Team President that the two report two, or make the Coach report to the GM. The latter 2 power structures naturally resolve power conflict amongst 3 or 2 people more often than not in comparison to what the structural dynamics the Haslams are going with now.

A couple interesting things of note from the Haslam Presser: 1.) Eliot Wolf at this time will not be the GM but will remain in his current role as the Haslam's like his work and how he functions within the organization. Wolf's has deficiencies that limit his ability to operate at a high level with all the functions of a GM, but he is a talented personnel executive and value-add. The Coach will influence the GM decision greatly. 2.) The GM will have final say over the 53 and the Coach will have final say over the 46/47. This will help avoid the coach having too much power and is ultimately the right way to structure things. 3.) Both the GM and Coach will report to ownership. We're F*cked. The Haslam's encourage in-fighting and they never understand how this element of organizational structure mixed with their propensity to ask questions inevitably leads to back-stabbing especially when things don't go well. 4.) No College Coaches Urban and Rhule both probably told them no. So, they "aren't interested" in college coaches anymore.

I can't take this sh*t anymore... Haslam is a savant idiot not an idiot savant. The number one thing we all said that we have to do with every hire is set up a buffer between the owner and the HC/GM as well as structure the hierarchy in ways that prevent political in-fighting (i.e., one reports to the other and not both to the owner). Jimmy just doesn't F-in get it. When adversity hits, people will try to save their own asz. The ability to lie, swindle, and sell snake oil doesn't take smarts, just ruthless sociopathy.

He does fly all over the place. There's a lot to like with him. He's not a lost cause or bad prospect... it's just draft position value matters. He's one of the prospect that in two games an evaluater can fall head over heels for. I loved him. He was one of my favorite prospects after working through 2 games. 16 games later....No Bueno. He has high high games and the lowest of low games where he looks like he should be benched mid-game. In the end, the good does not outweigh the bad and that was even more so the case this year though even last year the low lows were horrendous too.

No worries. Oh ok cool. There's an argument for Derrick Brown top 10. He's the most powerful DLine man I've seen since Haloti Ngata except no where close to the athlete. It's not my preference to take Derrick Brown top 10 because he doesn't offer much pass rush wise and top 10 is a lot for a limited function player, but he's an absolute FREAK and we could do much worse (i.e., taking a Safety). Delpit's not it. There are some good Safeties in this draft for where value could make sense. Antoine Brooks Jr., SS/NS Maryland (4th to 6th round) Xavier McKinney, S Alabama (mid-2nd to early 3rd round)

He can't cover either and his pass disruption instincts are worse than his run stopping instincts. High high intangibles; loves the game; plays with juice even when he's completely lost and giving up gashing plays. Love the player but he just ain't... at all. More hype fabrication because of the intangibles and big flash hits than substance. He'll be a positive add to the locker room until he hurts defenses and teammates realize he's a mismatch nightmare that offenses seek out. 3rd round is appropriate value. Top of the 2nd round will be where he goes because of all the intangibles and belief that some coach can fix his tackling and pass disruption issues. His analytics on passes completed out of 17 targets are not accurate as it doesn't take into account the dozen or so blown coverages he had all year long

Davis? As in Ashtyn Davis? Or someone else? Did you mean Raekwon Davis? You guys with these 2nd-round, late late first round caliber safety's selected with our top 10 pick are going to drive me pure bat sh*t nuts by the time draft time comes. I know my takes probably do the same to us. No SS Delpit. No FS Ashtyn Davis No LB Isaiah Simmons Just for the love of goodness... they are not who you think. SImmons is the best overall prospect but if you watch more than 6 games of his you'll see his deficiencies as a LB that will still his nose in it or SS with high quality instincts. Huge college production; tremendous build up speed athlete. We need a Free Safety and Strong Safety very bad, but you can't just pick one just because.

Even just from a positional value standpoint not even thinking about Delpit per se, the type of player a SS has to be to go top 10 is they have to be a franchise, immediate pro-bowler, all-pro traits and intangibles type of guy like a Jamal Adams type who can be effective in pass disruption and in run support. Delpit is not that. As a person that thinks you've had a good scout eye in the past (not that my opinion matters), I have no clue what possibly could make you think Grant Delpit is a top 10 player or really even a top 20 player, but would be interested in what you're seeing. Even when the hype train was on last year, he was not that. As his best self, he was still a late late first to mid 2nd type of prospect at best that was going to come with highs and some serious lows. He has nice intangibles. He has juice. He has no length. He's awful as a pass disrupting SS with instincts. His tackling is horrendous this year, but it's not just this year; even last year he had recognition and diagnosing issues.

Indeed, that is the goal. It's just really hard to find a mid-tier guy worthy of a 3rd or 4th round draft pick in this draft prospect pool, especially when compared to players with high impact or even pro-bowl ability that are likely to be available at other position groups that have a ton of depth. The DE-class is really that scarce and shallow to the point where if we don't spend our 1st round pick (AJ Epenesa-type) or 2nd round pick (Julian Okwara-type) the rest of the guys would be taking one just to take one because it's a need. In that case, I have no issue taking a late round developmental guy, but you can't depend on that type of rookie to be a guy. In Free agency (https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/ufa/defensive-end/) , it's a tough class. We can go out and break the bank 54 Mil GTD or more for guys like Yannick Ngakoue or Jadaveon Clowney. We can go out and Pay 30-34 Mil GTD for a guy like Robert Quinn We could go budget shopping and pay 15 Mil to 30 Mil GTD for Jabaal Sheard, Michael Bennett, Vic Beasley, Shaq Lawson, Ronald Blair, or Emmanuel Ogbah. I opted for a Ronald Blair type, but those guys will require more investment than Olivier Vernon who when healthy is (a big if) is a better player. Maybe there's a trade that can be made or some hidden gem in the draft that's on no one's radar.

Mock - Comprehensive Value Maximization Approach to Roster Building 2020: It's important that Free Agency and the Draft work in harmony so that a team can use the draft to acquire as many impact players as possible. To me, you don't pass on certain high quality players in order to fill needs at other positions. This draft has the most talented WR prospect pool in history. The WRs potentially available in Round 4 will be head and shoulders above other players at different positions in terms of high level impact ability. We have to hit on a wide variety of targets in Free Agency so that we don't have the pressure of and/or make the mistake of drafting based on need. Team Needs: RT, RG, LT, TE, WR on Offense and a FS, SS, DE, LB, DT on Defense. Needs Addressed in Free Agency: OG, SS; LB; Depth OT-Swing with Starter Upside, Needs Addressed in Draft: LT; RT; WR; TE Remaining Needs Not Addressed in Free Agency of the Draft: RT, RG, LT, TE, WR on Offense and a FS, SS, DE, LB, DT on Defense. ------ Free Agency: 1.) Jimmie Ward, SS-Hybrid 49ers 2.) Joe Thuney, RG New England Patriots -- OR -- Graham Glasgow, RG Detroit Lions 3.) Marcus Mariota, QB Tennessee Titans 4.) Joe Schobert, LB Cleveland Browns 5.) Joe Haeg, OG Indianapolis Colts 6.) Halapoulivaati Vaitai, OT Eagles 7.) Jarran Reed, DT Seahawks 8.) A'Shawn Robinson, DT Lions 9.) Ronald Blair, DE 49ers ------- Taking the Best Players/Starter Quality Draft: ;1.) Jedrick Wills Jr., OT Alabama 2.) Prince Tega-Wanogho, LT Auburn *** 2.) Jalen Reager, WR TCU (***TRADE*** a 3rd Rounder to move up form our 1st 3rd to Mid-2nd Rounder) 3.) ***TRADED*** 4.) Denzel Mims, WR Baylor *** 5.) Harrison Bryant, TE FIU (***TRADE*** our last 7th round pick and a future later rounder to move from the 6th into the 5th Round to take Harrison Bryant, TE FIU) 6.) **TRADED*** 7.) Josiah Deguara, TE/HB/FB Cincinnati 7.) **TRADED**---- ------------- The 53: Offense: QBs: Baker Mayfield // Marcus Mariota // 3rd QB RB: Nick Chubb // Kareem Hunt // Developmental RB FB: (Josiah Deguara) WR: Odell Beckham Jr. // Jarvis Landry // Jalen Reager // Denzel Mims // Khadarel Hodge // Taywon Taylor // Damion Ratley TE: David Njoku // Harrison Bryant // Ricky Seals Jones // Josiah Deguara LT: Prince Tega-Wanogho // Halapoulivaati Vaitai, LG: Joel Bitonio // (Drew Forbes) // Wyatt Teller // Eric Kush OC: J.C. Tretter // Willie Wright RG: Joe Thuney // Joe Haeg // Justin McCray RT: Jedrick WIlls Jr. // Drew Forbes // Kendall Lamm Defense DE: Olivier Vernon // Chad Thomas DT: Sheldon RIchardson // Jarran Reed // Daniel Ekuale NT: Larry Ogunjobi // A'Shawn Robinson // Justin Zimmer DE: Myles Garrett // Ronald Blair LB: Sione Takitaki LB: Joe Schobert LB: Mack Wilson // Willie Harvey CB: Denzel Ward // Tavierre Thomas CB: Greedy Williams // Terrance Mitchell NCB: TJ Carrie FS: Sheldrick Redwine // Eric Murray SS: Jimme Ward /// Juston Burris

Question: Should we pay Vernon 15 Million only guaranteed if we don't cut him before week 1 -OR- Should we be on the hook for 54 Million Guaranteed? That 54 Million is the minimum of what it will take to get Ngakoue. Yannick Ngakoue's projected market value according to spotrac is 17 million avg salary with over 54 Million GTD at signing (https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/jacksonville-jaguars/yannick-ngakoue-19018/market-value/ ). That's the type of money DEs get. Long years; Big GTD money; Huge Cap Hits; Huge Avg annual salary. The Zadarious Smith and Trey Flowers contracts were more last off-season. Ngakoue doesn't play the run all that well and is more of a pass rush specialist. Chiefs won't let Chris Jones out the building. He'll be franchised if no longterm deal is made. If we went after him he'd have to be paid a top 3 DT contract in the league. I'd love it but he's not making it to market. Armstead is 34 DE or 43 NT and doesn't generate pass rush from the outside like that. He takes plays off and isn't the best football character guy. He's having a break out season in a contract year. He's exactly the type of that is uber risky to pay and believe you'll get production out of after. We only owe Vernon 15 mil in salary meaning that as long as we cut at the end of the years we're off the hook going forward. I'd love to upgrade over Vernon, but now's just not the time. Ngakoue isn't worth the money he'll get much like Trey Flowers wasn't when he got his money from Detroit. Maybe we get Epenesa or Okwara but likely we have to spend that draft capital on an OLineman Keeping Vernon and hoping he plays healthy then cutting him after next season is more of a viable market. We have too many holes to fill and not enough resources to fill them in order t cut Vernon right now imo.

If Herbert, Tua, and a WR go in front of us we've won the lottery. Herbert and Tua are the players we should all be rooting for to do amazingly well in the process. Cards probably go CeeDee Lamb over Jeudy if they have to pick a WR. A LB has to be out the stratosphere with instincts, toughness, ability to go top 10. Simmons athleticism is the only thing out of this world. He'll be a highly coveted hybrid LB as I don't think he projects as SS anymore, but even still it's going to be shocking to see him go top 12. I hope it happens desperately as it would mean both the Browns didn't make the mistake of drafting him and another impact player gets pushed down the draft to us.

I understand the misunderstanding with the quotes. On this board, if I use quotes that are literal word for word dictated I always include the source. Always. I do so either by adding the links, articles, or videos specifically as I'm not a fan of purely loose sourcing. If I'm paraphrasing witnessed real events or statements and I know I am going to represent the heart of what was really said but just not the dictated specific literal word for words account I use " quotes " but leave the source out. For example, most of us probably still remember when Mike Holmgren said he tried to trade for Sam Bradford via the hot tub story. So, I might say I still remember when Holmgren said " I trade to get the picks up to get him. The trade talks involved a few drinks and the hot tub." That via memory accurately represents what Holmgren said in that presser, but if you tried to google "Sam Bradford; Hot Tub; Holmgren" it's unlikely to generate a link to that specific event. Even still we all remember that as a real event without really straining our memory. I could get why you may have thought I was pulling from a recent article due to the quotes, but google search really speaks to the limits of knowing our time if one hast to simply rely on the first page search results and really studies find that the vast majority of people don't scroll past the first 7 google search results Also, it it wasn't 15 years ago man lol... McNabb's was as I said when he was prompted to give positive insights about Shurmur when he took the Browns job in 2011.. that's 9 years ago.. Bradford's stuff 5 years ago and Case Keenum's 2 years ago. Point is... Ryan Lindley was a bum... Pat Shurmur's a competent QB Coach with the ability to help a QB get the larger Offensive and Attacking defensive picture and various QBs credit his skills throughout the years..

These are not secret private things that only those who have supernatural power are familiar with. Some information is acquired by living with your eyes open while events unfold. First, I mentioned numerous things about Shurmur's track record of QB coaching success that are just objective realities that can't really be disregarded. Second, I mentioned only 3 very basic specific things regarding Shurmur that were the following: 1.) McNabb credits Shurmur for his near sustained development even more so than Andy Reid when McNabb started battling injuries after his near MVP 2000 and 2001 season and in his own words "lost a step and didn't know I could back." 2.)" Keenum gives credit to Shurmur for instilling confidence and new vision." 3.)"Bradford credits Shurmur for rebuilding his confidence and helping him change his style of play in more sustainable ways after repeated devastating knee injuries." The First thing (McNabb): It's customary for when a Browns Head Coach is hired for fans and followers to go on a search regarding what competent coaches or athletes have to say about the coach. When Pat Shurmur was hired to Cleveland in 2011 various people came out and praised Shurmur for his positive qualities. One of those people who did so was Donovan McNabb who was reflecting on the ups and downs in his career (his career was coming to a close and closed in 2011) and spoke positively about Shurmur's influence in a media hit that I watched because I was a huge fan of McNabb and trusted what he'd say about our new coach. It was there that he told a story about how he had all this pressure on him after finishing 2nd in the MVP race in 2000, but what people didn't know is that as a young player he was mentally feeling it at the same time as battling injuries. He went on to say Shurmur would be a good HC in Cleveland because he helped him take off through injuries. You can take it upon yourself to find what McNabb said in 2011. The Second thing (Keenum): I watch and listen to basically every Cleveland Browns player or coach presser or media member sit down. A lot of us do. Some of us also have other teams that we follow and do similar things. I've said it before on this board that I lived in Minnesota for 2 years and Detroit. I follow the Vikings and Lions. Keenum when asked about what appeared to be new life and career bests in Minnesota in one of his media hits credited Shurmur for "instilling confidence and new vision.". The Third Thing (Bradford): I've been evaluating players for years and often name certain one's "My Guys" and follow what they do. Bradford was one of those players coming out of College and I hoped Holmgren would pull off that hot tub trade to get him. I don't follow the Jets but I've seen Sam Darnold pressers. Bradford has commented on the positive impact of Pat Shurmur many times throughout his career often being asked about Pat when they get paired back up on the Eagles and Vikings. In one presser, Sam told the story of how beaten down he was by injury and not trusting his eyes, knees, and mechanics; then went on to say what I said ""Bradford credits Shurmur for rebuilding his confidence and helping him change his style of play in more sustainable ways after repeated devastating knee injuries."

From trusted Minnesota beat writers first which made me confirm and find out more from family I talked to about Stefanski second. This season Stefon Diggs requested a trade. Adam Theilen was unhappy in the public and more so behind closed doors. Kyle Rudolph and Dalvin Cook wanted the ball more. Mike Zimmer was fueling the fires publicly and behind the scenes. The media was a circus (as much as it can be in Minnesota) around Kirk Cousins and whether or not the team should blow it all up. Stefanski by reports was having a hard time bring the various pieces on the same page, resolving issues, and putting out fires. Reportedly and apparently Gary Kubiak was the driving force with multiple meetings individually and collectively with Spielman and the players that brought things together. Stefanski played his part but he was secondary according to reports. Zimmer also had Kubiak inject himself more into weekly offensive planning meetings and call scripts. From that point in the season, the offense caught fire and it's been forgotten by NFL fans everywhere. We all can't be oblivious, unaware mouth breathing derp derps ...

Being a good coach isn't about turning a nickel into a diamond. It's about maximizing the talent a player has to its fullest and getting them to reach a high level not thought possible. By all accounts, through an extensive career of QB coaching and OC/QB coaching Shurmur has been good and very good at that task. If your standard is a coach is only really good if he turns okay/good talents into superstars and helps them maintain at that level then no coaches are really going to ever be good by that standard. Donovan McNabb -- Pat Shurmur was Donovan McNabb's QB Coach from 2002-2008 and McNabb credits Shurmur for his near sustained development even more so than Andy Reid when McNabb started battling injuries after his near MVP 2000 and 2001 season and in his own words "lost a step and didn't know I could back." Daniel Jones -- Absolutely had a good year for rookie. What's the standard for good year? Was he an elite QB? No. But what was thought of Jones and his skill was clearly maximized despite a trash OLine, UFA and late round picks at WR (Darius Slayton), and injured primary RB. He was a rookie man that had issues in college. Fumbles are a problem. Look at highs. He was #2 in big time throws number and big time throws rating according to analytics. His volatility ratings on the high upswings were the same as the top QBs in the league. His lows were lows. That's by all analytics indicators. Case Keenum -- You have to give credit to the player and to the coaches. Keenum gives credit to Shurmur for instilling confidence and new vision. Nick Foles -- How good is Nick Foles? That one year of premium play maximized his potential through the roof. Sam Bradford -- 2016 after Norv Turner was fired on the Vikings Shurmur came in and had the offense clicking and Bradford playing the best ball of his career. Previously, helped Bradford battle through injuries to good play. Bradford credits Shurmur for rebuilding his confidence and helping him change his style of play in more sustainable ways after repeated devastating knee injuries. We just had Ryan Lindley as our QB Coach. If the goal is to have a QB Coach,.that has and can implement a developmental coaching plan... one that can take into account key fundamentals and technique drilling while also helping the QB understand the overall picture of the offense and attacking defenses.. and ultimately how daily QB work helps the QB in a game with a game plan.... I think we'd take that.... few QB Coaches have that depth and experience. Pat Shurmur is one of them though he is not elite... he's a good one and one that could help Baker.

Stefanski couln't bring together egos in Minnesota without Gary Kubiak's help ... McDaniels without the force of Belichick clashed with vets and big money players in Denver and in St. Louis ... Mike McCarthy's big ego players criticized him and kicked him while he was going down... It's an interesting question regarding which Head Coach or which Staff with the Head Coach can command the room and get the respect of our big personalities and big ego players.

95% had perpetual tingles in their paints after "Brown and Orange don't matter" so yeah F-We Browns masses.

Success is a game by game, year by year proposition in the NFL. The point is that Shumur got multiple QBs of varying skillsets and talents on different teams all to play either at their highest level or a high level: Sam Bradford (Eagles and Philly), Nick Foles, Case Keenum, Daniel Jones, etc.