/>Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesDawgs EDTEarlier this week https://www.brownsfanshop.com , Pro Football Focus went through and looked at every team’s projected starting roster in the NFL, and then ranked them 1-32. Fans abuzz over the offseason acquisition of talent may be a little surprised to hear where the Cleveland Browns ranked on that list: 18th.Below are the grades that PFF assigned to each player on the team. Note: the grades are from their performance last year, except for Greedy Williams and Genard Avery, where their college grades were used. You can see the strengths include the offensive skill players and the team’s front four, while the weaknesses include the offensive line and linebacker positions.For each team, PFF also wrote about the team’s biggest strength, biggest weakness, and their X-factor. The Browns’ biggest strength was QB Baker Mayfield, who had their second-highest grade for a rookie quarterback ever. WR Odell Beckham is the team’s X-factor Browns Customized Color Rush Jerseys , with PFF pondering whether Cleveland could have “the best QB-WR tandem in the league.”The team’s biggest weakness falls on the defensive side of the ball, where PFF notes how tackling was a big concern in 2018:Comparing AFC North teams, the Steelers had the 8th-ranked roster, the Ravens were 17th, and the Bengals were 25th. This is far from a wins-loss projection, though, as we all know how valuable the quarterback ends up being to the success of a team. This past week there has been a fair amount of bellyaching about the Cleveland Browns’ hotshot rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield.Of course it wasn’t enough that Mayfield had just tossed four touchdown passes (to four different receivers with no INTs) he also apparently needed to pretend that his former (and historically terrible) head coach Hue Jackson didn’t tamp down his development just before going on a scorched-earth media tour which preceded his going to our division rival.Baker was expected to hug it out anyway or else face accusations of immaturity (and worse). I get into all this in the Thursday Ez Does It.Generally speaking I don’t have much care what media types think about our situation, but in this instance I’m pretty great with a continuance of the complaining.Baker Mayfield is throwing down one of the most impressive rookie seasons for a QB as has ever been.It’s not just the (off the charts) talent, or even the legendary drive associated with being the only walk-on to (start an FBS opener as a true freshman or) win the Heisman.It’s also his ability to elevate the play of those around him Cleveland Browns T-Shirts , which seems have started the moment ‘ol Hue was sent packing. However when the media tear into him for his completely logical and understandable reactions, it only serves to fuel a team already fully bought-in to Mayfield as the unquestioned team leader.It galvanizes a locker room and reinforces the ‘us-vs-the-world’ rallying cry.It’s obnoxiously wrong and lacking in perspective but it helps our cause so I’m great with it continuing.I hope Colin Cowherd keeps pretending he doesn’t see what he’s seeing.In fact his shtick is so worn thin that support has come even from a division rival player (and former Sooner teammate)That Baker got a player from Baltimore to defend him is over the top awesome in it’s own right, and that’s just a footnote in the saga.However it does illustrate how much every teammate he’s ever had absolutely LOVES him.When his current comrades see all this nonsense, ESPECIALLY when they were in that locker room when Hue was running it and thus don’t need anyone to tell them how things were, it draws the team together even more, and rallies them behind said hotshot rookie quarterback.Speaking of Hue, here’s the story I cite at the beginning of this ‘cast:Hue Jackson’s final meeting with TV crew reveals how broken the Browns were before he got fired (Yahoo)Appreciate feedback in the comments’ section, thanks for listening!
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