Sunday Dawg Chow: Browns news (7/2/23)

Dawgs By Nature:

• Dawand Jones ‘coming along’ as first training camp looms (Thomas Moore) - The Cleveland Browns made a huge pick in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft with the selection of Dawand Jones, a 6-foot-8 and 374-pound offensive tackle from Ohio State. While there is obviously a lot to work with in Jones, who even by NFL standards is massive and can be a handful for opposing defensive linemen, there is still a long way to go for him to transition from a player who vomited on the first day of rookie minicamp and spent a large portion of the day with the training staff.
• 2024 NFL draft: Browns should have this Buckeye on their radar (Jared Mueller) - With training camp around the corner and minicamp in the rearview mirror for the Cleveland Browns, this is a good time to be looking ahead to the 2024 NFL draft.
• Community Convo: Who gets the green dot on defense? (Jared Mueller) - While there are still questions on Cleveland Browns roster, one that we haven’t seen discussed much is who would be the player responsible for calling the defense on the field. The “green dot” was a discussion the last two seasons with LB Anthony Walker Jr. and safety John Johnson III considered for the role.
• Touring the Browns’ road cities: Indianapolis’ stadiums, cultural trail, and the Indy 500 (Chris Pokorny) - Our road cities tour continues with a look at Indianapolis, where the Browns will play in mid-October for their second road game of the season.
• Interview: Browns linebacker Tony Fields II (Barry Shuck) - Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry had quality depth with the linebacker group in 2022 and then was able to sign some linebackers who came in and attempted to fill the needs of the defense as the body count mounted. One of these able-bodied men was Tony Fields II.
• Touring the Browns’ road cities: Pittsburgh and the meeting of the three rivers (Chris Pokorny) - We are kicking off our road cities tour today with Pittsburgh. This is a new series in which we will look at all of our road opponents’ city from more of a tourist perspective. Despite being just a little over a two-hour drive from Cleveland, I’ve never been to Pittsburgh, but it’s one that has been on the “to-do” list for many years — more so to see a baseball game there than a football game there, for ticket affordability.
• Bizarre QB power ranking is not kind to Deshaun Watson (Thomas Moore) - When quarterback Deshaun Watson returns to the form he showed with the Houston Texans, the Browns offense should be among the league’s best, especially when you consider that head coach Kevin Stefanski had the unit operating at a Top 10 level during the first half of last season with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. Not everyone shares that thought, apparently, as this rather bizarre power ranking of the league’s quarterbacks by Pro Football Network reveals.
• Who should return punts for the Browns this year? (Jared Mueller) - The Cleveland Browns have very few question marks going into the start of training camp. Don’t get us wrong, there are still a lot of questions about how they will perform but, outside of injury, the roster seems pretty set except for the last couple of positions. The Browns roster doesn’t, however, have certainty for punt returners.

Cleveland Browns:

• A dive into the details of Joe Thomas’ Hall of Fame bust (clevelandbrowns.com) - When sculptor Ben Hammond sits down with a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and forms a clay mold for their bust, he strives to capture more than just the shape of their face. Hammond, one of three sculptors who constructs bronze busts for Canton, found that job easy for Joe Thomas, who spent roughly 10 hours sitting in front of Hammond in April at his studio in American Fork, Utah, while Hammond constructed a clay figure of Thomas’ head with the additional help of measurements and pictures.
• Nobody asked me but ... new Browns logo (Terry Pluto) - Once in a while, I’m writing a “Nobody Asked Me” column made popular a long time ago by legendary New York sportswriter Jimmy Cannon: Nobody asked me, but ... The Browns have a new logo, sort of a gloomy dawg. Or maybe it’s just me and my 68-year-old grumpy self. So you can ignore the opinion. But lots of black behind the orange.
• Browns’ Deshaun Watson has been impressed by this wide receiver (nflanalysis.net) - The Cleveland Browns revamped the wide receiver position this offseason. They are hoping some new weapons will help Deshaun Watson get back on track after a difficult 2022 season. It was the first time Watson played in nearly two calendar years, so rust was certainly a factor in his lackluster performance, but improving the supporting cast around him certainly won’t hurt.

NFL:

• Baker Mayfield ‘hit the reset button’ with Rams after career hit rock bottom (New York Post) - Baker Mayfield’s life after being taken No. 1 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. But now, he thinks he’s on the right path.
• As the Titans wait on Hopkins’ decision, they are content with current group of WRs (ESPN) - Help could be on the way for the Tennessee Titans if they are able to land free agent DeAndre Hopkins whom they hosted on a visit earlier this month. The visit went well and Tennessee believes they have a legitimate chance at signing the five-time Pro Bowl receiver.
• Did Raiders make winning decision replacing Derek Carr with Jimmy Garoppolo? (NFL.com) - Following a rather unceremonious benching and subsequent release, Derek Carr has left Las Vegas for New Orleans. The Raiders’ all-time leading passer has been replaced by Jimmy Garoppolo, who’s reunited with former offensive coordinator and new head coach Josh McDaniels. Thus, the prevailing quandary ahead of the Raiders’ 2023 season will be if Las Vegas made the correct choice replacing Carr with Garoppolo.