The Brandon Weeden Thread

[RappSoda]

I get that they're not always right but i'd rather listen to McShay and Kiper than a guy who has no track record on scouting or personnel decisions

What he was saying is that there's no reason to put any stock in what Kiper and McShay say because they have never been a scout. I agree, if they knew anything, they'd be in an organization like Banner has been. And Banner doesn't get paid by agents.

Not to say I want Banner making football decisions; I don't.

[Phills14]

Why would a guy like Kiper or Mcshay have to be an organization helping run a NFL team to prove their success? The job they have is great. Anything less is a demotion. They get to scout the players they want to scout, they are the featured draft guys on the dominant network, they are on TV 6 months out of the year, everyone knows who they are, I'm sure they are paid handsomely. If they were to go to a team, they would be held accountable for mistakes, they would be relatively unknown outside of their home city, and their jobs would be much harder work. So I don't buy the argument that they aren't good because if they were they'd be running a team by now. I'm sure Kiper has had some NFL offers to be apart of front offices somehow, maybe McShay has to, but the gig they both have is unbeatable IMO.

Regarding Joe Banner as the talent evaluator. It looks like he will have a very strong influential role in the players but in his mind the head coach should make those calls *most* of the time. Therefore, we won't have a true GM. We may have a guy who is called a GM but he would be in charge of the scouting staff but the ultimate decision will fall to the head coach. It could be that Banner fills that role too and we don't have a 'gm' but we have Joe Banner, Head Coach, and Scouting Director.

Q: Who will have final say on the 53-man roster?

A: We'll determine that officially when we see who's in those roles. My bias is for the coach to make those decisions. Now, we may end up with somebody in personnel who's so good that I tweak that, but going in, my bias is that the coach will have the most say on the 53-man roster and the 45 who dress for games.

Q: What will your role be in football decisions such as the draft?
A: I will be one of the four or five people in that room. I'll have a voice. In some instances, it will go through me, but our goal is always to drive a consensus. That's always been my role as it related to the football part of the operations.

Q: Will Jimmy Haslam be one of those four or five people?

A: Yes, absolutely because he's smart and he has common sense. The right decisions don't necessarily come out of someone who's been a traditional football guy. Sometimes they come more from common sense than anything. He watches football and he's going to have perspectives on what's most important. Will he be the guy watching the film and writing the report? No, although I'd be surprised if he doesn't watch some film because that's the best way to kind of see what you're seeing.

Q: Speaking of football guys, you're perceived as more of a business/salary-cap guy than a football guy. Is that accurate?

A: I think that definition has properly evolved over the last five or 10 years. There's a lot of examples of smart, hardworking guys running successful teams that are not thought of as football guys. You can't hire an Andy Reid without knowing something about football.

[b00bie]

I get that they're not always right but i'd rather listen to McShay and Kiper than a guy who has no track record on scouting or personnel decisions

I can't begin to tell you how ridiculous that is.

What is their track record? Talking on TV?

[Spectre]

I get that they're not always right but i'd rather listen to McShay and Kiper than a guy who has no track record on scouting or personnel decisions

Yeah I agree but the thing is, the guy with no track record on scouting or personnel decisions is taking the input from the guys do have that history and expertise. We're not talking about Banner sitting on his couch eating Cheetos on a Saturday scouting our 1st rounder this year... he's going to be getting input from coaches, GMs and largely, they'll be making the calls anyway. It's like in a company... the CEO might not be an expert in everything that his company does but he hires people that ARE and relies on their input and analysis to make his decisions, usually going with their recommendations. I don't see anything wrong with that to be honest... if anything, it's a sign of organizational stability.

[Triplethreat]

Not much discussion on Weeden lately.

I think he's been playing great honestly. Guy can make all the throws, just needs a little more experience. I think he's going to be even better next year.

[b00bie]

Great is a term I'd used extremely loosely.

[Amherstcavsfan]

He's playing like a rookie. Flashes of great and flashes of terrible.

His last game was pretty awful. He needs to be providing some consistency here. Thankfully for him, there are no can't miss prospects at QB.

[Triplethreat]

Great is a term I'd used extremely loosely.

For a rookie, he's playing great.

[b00bie]

For a rookie, he's playing great.

Except when you compare him to other rookies.

Ranking last among rookie starters in completion percentage, YPA, interceptions and QB rating

Hard not to be excited about the future there...


Seriously, dude has been incredibly below average. If you came here to troll, that's great....don't patronize people by saying he's played great.

It's painfully obvious that hasn't been the case...and he's not getting much better as the schedule has gotten tougher.

[Triplethreat]

Except when you compare him to other rookies.

Ranking last among rookie starters in completion percentage, YPA, interceptions and QB rating

Hard not to be excited about the future there...


Seriously, dude has been incredibly below average. If you came here to troll, that's great....don't patronize people by saying he's played great.

It's painfully obvious that hasn't been the case...and he's not getting much better as the schedule has gotten tougher.

In a year where Rookie QB's are making history..

You always find something bad to point out. Can't just accept the progress of the Cleveland Browns. If you want to be miserable, then go for it. I'm looking at the positives and seeing a whole hell of a lot of them in this kid. The Browns are finally trending upward.

[sjhughes]

I see two wins in the division from him this year so far and that alone makes me happy compared to what we have been getting.

[SauDogg]

I'd like to see how he'd do with a decent HC.

[b00bie]

In a year where Rookie QB's are making history..

You always find something bad to point out. Can't just accept the progress of the Cleveland Browns. If you want to be miserable, then go for it. I'm looking at the positives and seeing a whole hell of a lot of them in this kid. The Browns are finally trending upward.

I'm very impressed with the rise in the talent level of this team.

But I'm not going to pretend Weeden has been anything close to good. I'm more thankful the line has been absolutely outstanding to keep the pressure off him. More excited Richardson, Gordon and Little have each taking huge steps toward giving this team a competent group of skill position players. I'm thankful we've found a great group of interior lineman on the defensive end which has opened up the LB core to make some plays.

But Weeden has been well below average, sorry...there is no other way to say it.

Simply being better than Colt McCoy is not going to cut it.

[bigfoot5415]

I'd like to see how he'd do with a decent HC.

Agreed. He has made a bunch of rookie mistakes, but has shown flashes of being a good qb. When i watch the plays being called I cant help but think Shurmer's conservative nature is wearing off on him. When he just ateps back and lets it fly hes looked good outside of some early season errors. Not to mention the general play calling doesnt put our team in a position to win. I dont care who our qb is, when you call a run play on every first down, 2nd and long, and have a wr core who runs routes 3 yards short on 3rd down you will not win.

[b00bie]

Yeah, Shurmer sucks.

But that is no excuse for the inconsistency Weeden has shown this season, especially given how some of the players on offense have been making strides under the same coaching staff.