FanPost

Roster Churn

A while ago Sassenach noted in a discussion that John Dorsey had replaced 3 young, cheap players with 3 more experienced and expensive players without any notable improvement in play. I found it to be an insightful observation and at the same time so obviously a repeat of what we’ve seen over the past ten (plus) years. It caused me to wonder how many former Browns are on rosters in the league.


I went through every roster in the league and tried to create a list of all former Browns. I probably missed some of the players who attended a camp. The list is mostly complete.


In the AFC I had 14 starters, 21 others on the active roster, 5 on practice squads and 8 on injured reserve. In the NFC I had 8/15/3/5 in the same categories. Of the 80 former Browns there were 29 draft choices, 18 UDFA by the Browns and 7 acquired players who got their first real NFL experience with the Browns. The remaining 26 were players experienced and inexperienced who made the Browns just another stop along the way.


Draft choices are an obvious category. UDFAs found by the Browns included Gipson, Snead, Gabriel & Crowell as examples. Acquired players who got their first NFL opportunities with the Browns included Poyer, Reiter and Vitale as examples. Players who made the Browns a stop along the way included McCown, Perriman and Hoyer as examples.


I found the 29 drafted players to be a surprise. Like so many Browns fans my perception is that we have failed miserably in the draft. We’ve had 80 to 90 earned draft choices over the past 10 years (excluding all of the trade down draft acquisitions). To still have 29 active in the NFL from those choices doesn’t seem as terrible. Also we should note that the absolutely horrible early draft choices (Weeden, Richardson, Manziel, Gilbert etc.) if done better would have added a few more currently active players. We should also note that some of our early choices considered as busts are currently earning a check on NFL rosters, Mingo, Erving, Kizer, C. Coleman & McCoy as examples.


While I don’t have the time or resources to do a similar survey for all of the teams in the NFL I think that having discovered 18 UDFAs still on rosters isn’t terrible. Most of those players are in the first years of what will probably be very short careers but several players have had longer than normal careers as key rotational players and special team players. Williams (SF, CB), Robertson (NO, LB), Bademosi (NO, CB), Gabriel (Chi, WR), Snead (Balt, WR), Fort (Balt, LB), Gipson (Hou, S) and Crowell (Oak, RB) certainly made the most of their opportunity with the Browns.


Looking at the former Browns there did seem to be some clustering of talent. In recent years the Browns seemed to be the font of backup QBs. I think at one point in 2018 there were 13 former Browns QBs in backup roles in the NFL. There are only 4 now. The former Browns on NFL rosters are more regularly represented on defense. The biggest concentration of talent is in the defensive backfield. Haden, Desire, Peppers, Poyer and Gipson are all starters. Williams and Skrine are nickel backs. Campbell (GB, S), Bademosi and Boddy-Calhoun are primarily ST contributors and reserves. The other concentration of talent is the defensive line with Nassib, Shelton, Ogbah and Sheard all listed as starters.


So it would seem that there is some inconsistency in the player acquisition history for the Browns.


While we seem to do a fine job of finding roster players in the draft, they are not the mainstays of a team but instead are the steady contributors, rotational players and special team members that every team needs. If those players are valuable, why haven’t we held on to them? Players such as Shelton, Desire, Sheard and Nassib are listed as starters around the league and every one of them would be valuable Browns although probably as rotational players.


It does appear that we’ve done an adequate to good job in finding UDFAs and discarded players from other teams (ex. Vitale, Coley, Reiter) who have proven to be worthy of several years as NFL players. Why haven’t we held on to them? It would seem to me that a good organization would keep most of those players through their rookie contract but we have generally released most of them.


I see these questions as a "chicken or egg" type debate. Have we failed to become a regularly competitive NFL franchise because we have not maintained a consistent roster over several years as we churn the roster? Or, has the weakness of our rosters provided opportunities for marginal talents to gain the experience necessary to carve out NFL careers with other teams?


I tend to think it is the later. When coupled with the regular changes in General Managers and Head Coaches as well as the frequent system changes (ex. 4-3 to 3-4 and back) the result has been to discard players either to better fit the new plan or to provide a new "stamp" on the roster. This constant leadership churn is doing an excellent job creating an apprenticeship program for the other NFL teams.


The disappointment so far this year is bringing the familiar refrain that we need to fire the HC. This would invariably bring in a new DC, OC & STC. The players would need to learn a new system and terminology. More roster churn and discarding newly experienced players to move on to successful NFL careers with other teams.


I’m equally frustrated by Freddie’s poor performance and wish that he would pass the play calling to the OC so that he could focus on game management which can’t be delegated. He has been equally inept in both facets of the game. Right now I would not want the Browns to make him a "one and done" unless they were going to keep the OC, DC, STC and all of the systems currently in place. We need to change the focus from churning to stability FOR THE PLAYERS. That never happens unless the new HC is promoted from the current staff. Wilkes is probably the only candidate for HC on the staff and I’m not sure how that would work.

As a Browns fan we have to let go of the past and look to the future for hope is a good thing. Right now it looks like he would have been better off keeping Williams as HC and taking a chance on losing Freddie. That didn’t happen. Just as they strong armed Hue into taking on an OC and giving up the play calling I believe that they will have to give Freddie the same ultimatum and hope that this year will serve as a good learning experience. Hue only lasted 8 games under that change as either his ego couldn’t take the reduction in duties AND/OR he didn’t use the opportunity to improve his game management and team leadership skills to an adequate level.


Of course our past isn’t a great indicator for that plan. Palmer, Davis, Mangini, Chud and Pettin have not been NFL head coaches since their Cleveland failure. Crennell was given another chance and he failed. Shumer is getting his second chance and appears to be failing. Never say never but it is hard to visualize Hue getting another chance as an NFL HC. Maybe riding with Freddie in 2020 will be a wasted year. I can see him being "one and done" if he doesn’t step up his game significantly over the next two months.


What I’ve decided is that we need to draft better in the early rounds (obvious I know), keep and develop our draft choices at least through their rookie contracts, continue to pursue UDFAs and young discarded players of promise as possible. Most importantly of all we need to quit talking about the nebulous "culture" and focus on continuity in coaching and system.


So is there any hope?


I do think that Dorsey is the best GM that we’ve had and with Wolf and Highsmith he isn’t alone in finding talent. I’m hopeful that Depodesta still has a significant voice as analytics are valuable and Dorsey was shown in Kansas City to need help with cap management. The Haslams appear to have learned some valuable lessons on letting the football staff do the drafting and hiring.


There has been a noticeable reduction in turnovers and penalties over the past two weeks. Even the Patriots game had some positive indications as the turnovers were fluke plays and although the number of penalties was still high we need to remember that the Patriots almost always get a penalty advantage. These are signs that the new players (churn remember) are coming together and that the players are developing a better understanding of their responsibilities with the new coaches and new systems.


Our early round drafting seems to be at least adequate with Garrett, Njoku, Ogunjobi, Mayfield, Ward, Chubb, Thomas and Williams as solid contributors from the last three drafts. Wilson, Siebert and Callaway are regular contributors as day 3 draft choices and Ratley, Redwine and Forbes might still develop into players. If they can continue that type of drafting it provides the financial flexibility necessary to keep the top performers and chase any necessary free agents.


The team has enough talent to be a playoff team. The proof is how close the scores were in loses to the Rams and Seahawks despite some truly dreadful play calling and penalties. Even the Patriots game was encouraging as the three consecutive turnovers made the margin of victory large although the rest of the game was a fairly evenly matched slugfest. Even the Titans and 49ers blowouts were even matches into the second half.


NFL success flows off of the QB position and Mayfield has the look. I think that his floor will be a QB of the Matt Stafford level of expertise. His ceiling could be higher. Matt Stafford if he were a Brown would be in the argument with Bernie Kosar as the second best QB in Browns history. I’ll take that.


For a Browns fan hope is not only a good thing….it is a necessity.



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