Pettine, Farmer and company, have a nice life.

 

Farmer

Note: On NNR Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports & I reviewed the Browns recent transactions and previewed the NFC South. The podcast is on http://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.

NFL NEWS FLASH: This is a quarterback league. If you don’t have a starting quality QB you will lose and be replaced by a group that will find one.

You reportedly spent $100,000 on a study to see which quarterback in the 2014 NFL draft had the best chance for success. The result of the study indicated that Teddy Bridgewater was that guy. So with him on the board, you drafted Johnny Manziel. If you had been reading FPS you would have known that Bridgewater was the best available QB on the board when your second first round pick came up. But you decided for whatever reason to go with flash over substance.

We saw what Manziel could do last year. First he was abysmal vs the Bengals. Then he tried to run the RG3 read option (which he never ran at Texas A&M) and ended up on IR. The comments from Mike Pettine indicate that Johnny will be much better in the new system. Just tell us what the “new system” is and maybe we can agree.

Now Manziel is in rehab. That is the first decision he has made I can support. I hope he gets his life together but having evaluated players coming into the draft since 1960, I have no confidence he will ever be even a quality backup let alone a decent starter.

Rather than resigning Brian Hoyer, they decided to go with Josh McCown who is 5 years older than Hoyer. Hoyer showed that he could win games. When his mechanics broke down later in the season the coaching staff seemed unaware or unable to correct them. McCown has been on 9 teams in his 12 year career. He is not a starting quality guy. Lovie Smith brought McCown to Tampa as the designated starter just as the Browns have done. McCown repaid his coach with a record of 1-10 and almost got Smith fired. The Bucs now have the 1st pick in the 2015 draft.

If the Browns were listening to me, they would have used their 2nd round pick in 2012 to take Russell Wilson and the QB issues would be history. I do like that fact that Ray Farmer finally convinced a couple of wide receivers to sign. Without a starting quality QB on the team that is hard. But his pick of Manziel may do him in. Unfortunately it may also do in the entire crew.

But maybe this is part of the plan to get the 1st pick next year. With either Manziel or McCown starting they have a pretty good chance of “winning” the first selection. To survive both Farmer and Pettine would have to have the approval of owner Jimmy Haslam. The new catch phrase of the Browns must be “Crash for Cardale.”

That is what I think. Tell us what you think by commenting here or tweeting me @NNRonDSN.

NOTE: News, Notes and Rumors podcast are BACK. Check out our thoughts on Fridays about the games coming up and Monday on the results of the weekend. My co-host is Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports. Podcasts can be heard on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/. Thanks for your support.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on and a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/. Follow him on twitter @NNRonDSN to get the schedule of Special News, Notes and Rumors broadcasts. You can hear the previous shows on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.

He also edits .

To keep up with the News, Notes & Rumors podcasts, follow me on twitter @NNRonDSN.

Rating: 5.0/5. From 1 vote.
Please wait...