Browns and the 2023 NFL Trade Deadline

[Smooth]

Can I be mad without being mad at anything specifically?

I understand the season rests on Watson and Berry was aggressive during the offseason... And I still like Berry..

But just feels like Browns needed something and trading away a starter wasn't it..

 

[Vee-Rex]

Regardless of PJ Walker I saw DTR do some of the most absurdly awful shit in that Baltimore game I’ve seen from a QB at practically any level.

I’m fine with going back to him if KS prefers to. I’ll trust Kevin on that.

But it was more than just “he’s a rookie”

Eh, I think a lot of it had to do with him being a 5th round rookie in his first NFL start.

• Unprepared
• Not given nearly as much help from a play-calling standpoint (compared to PJ)
• Not given much help by the o-line (which was pretty bad)
• 2nd worst rushing performance by our team (the worst was against the Titans but Deshaun lit them up in the air)
• Against the (checks notes) #1 defense in the NFL

I rewatched that game and yes, while he was awful, a lot had to do with the fact that he was a rookie. A lot of his bad plays were made from two different reasons:
1. He didn't seem accustomed to NFL-level speed and tried to fit balls into tight windows.
2. Many plays were made out of desperation, trying to extend these plays and just being overall careless with the ball. And it got worse in the 2nd half when we were down 18 points and he was clearly trying to be a hero.

This is all EASILY fixable.

And believe it or not, I saw some positives. I saw the ability to extend plays, I saw zip on some of his shorter to intermediate throws, ability to carry out RPOs, and I saw something that PJ will never have - the ability to scan the field and hit the open target.

We got decimated by the Ravens and our 5th round rookie not only made some big mistakes, but some EGREGIOUS-LOOKING mistakes and now the fanbase believes he's irredeemable this year. Give him more clean pockets, screens, improved running game (the bye week REALLY helped with this), simpler plays, a full week of practice, non-Ravens defense, and I think he's capable of being an okay backup.

 

[Vee-Rex]

Also... I suggested months ago that we should trade DPJ during the offseason. There's no way we could retain him next year. I'm also not a fan of his game and think he was overrated. Also, Deandre Hopkins > DPJ and it's silly this board even thought they were near each other in skill.

If we got a 5th for Dobbs I'm guessing we could've gotten a 4th (or maybe even conditional 3rd) for DPJ during the offseason..

 

[Selby]

An elite QB can make good receivers look great, average receivers look good, subpar receivers look average, etc. I’d like to have acquired another solid option next to Cooper, but perhaps we are 100% banking on Watson returning to an elite level, making Bell and Tillman look serviceable.

I don’t know how I feel about putting all our eggs in the DW-returning-to-Elite basket, but our season was probably fucked unless he returned to that level regardless of our receivers.

 

[red.]

Wrong thread

 

[buzzdog]

This DTR discussion begs the question:

Did the Browns really give DTR zero first team reps before throwing him out there? Did the Browns really expect Watson to start against the Ravens? Did they really tailor the offense to Watson's skillset that week and then plug DTR into a Watson plan?

...or was that only true in Planet Bullshit.

My understanding is that DTR got all the throwing reps and Watson got the non-throwing reps.

 

[CBBI]

Also... I suggested months ago that we should trade DPJ during the offseason. There's no way we could retain him next year. I'm also not a fan of his game and think he was overrated. Also, Deandre Hopkins > DPJ and it's silly this board even thought they were near each other in skill.

For what it's worth, that discussion was a little more nuanced than just DPJ v. Hopkins

A big part of that was whether or not it was worth it to bring in another WR at $13M per season when there weren't going to be enough targets for the guys already here in the first place.

There were several people suggesting the Browns should sign Hopkins *and* retain DPJ, Tillman, Goodwin, etc and just run 4 and 5 wide receiver sets and stuff like that. Ignoring how there's only so many targets to go around.

Granted a good chunk of this is quarterback related, but DPJ only got 18 targets in 7 games, ya know? The lack of targets was such a problem that he got unloaded for basically nothing.