BrianS

Where did we get the idea that Wilks is a strong DC? He's not. Wilks is a motivator, a man-manager . . . just like Rivera. Wilks had the opportunity to work on a staff with Ron Rivera and Sean McDermott for FIVE YEARS. How many people remember how badly our defense tailed off in the second half of that season where Wilks was our DC? It was bad. People figured him out, and in a shocking twist, Wilks couldn't make adjustments. Wilks is an exceptional DB's coach. Never forget this. He is among the best in the business at it. However, forcing more on him at the NFL level isn't a great path to success. As a college head coach, Wilks could likely be outstanding. But his lack of X's and O's will hold him back forever in the NFL.

The guy made Tua look like an NFL QB. The guy has looked trash until this year, when he suddenly looks like one of the better young QB's in the league - when he isn't concussed. That's coaching and system. Would instantly wash the Rhule out of our system.

Agent89 will get in. His stats speak for themselves. But it was always an uphill battle this year. I'm disappointed for him, but not concerned.

In a vacuum we definitely should have traded Burns. Those picks would go a long way. But you can't make the trade. The optics within the locker room and within the league just wouldn't work. You can't trade away all your talent and hope that the picks you make work out. Potential coaches see it, agents see it, players see it. We're going to lose Burns. No doubt. We can't keep him, not for what he wants . . . unless we suddenly switch to a 3-4. The guy is an OLB, not a DE. We need a edge defender for whichever system we're running. We currently have a 3-4 OLB who we keep trying to hide as a 4-3 DE.

When I look at Frank Reich led offenses, I see a disturbing amount of mediocrity. 2014 - San Diego OC, 17th scoring offense 2015 - San Diego OC, 26th scoring offense 2016 - Philly OC, 16th scoring offense 2017 - Philly OC, 3rd scoring offense (Carson Wentz plays out of his mind) 2018 - Indy HC, 6th scoring offense (Andrew Luck's final season) 2019 - Indy HC, 16th scoring offense 2020 - Indy HC, 9th scoring offense 2021 - Indy HC, 9th scoring offense 2022 - Indy HC, 30th scoring offense Overall, his offenses are averaging about 15th in scoring. It appears that Reich needs a QB to play amazing in order to have a good offense. I think he would have a better chance than Wilks, but I don't think it's any sort of home run that he'll turn the team around.

The greatest ability in football is availability . . . and our CB's just don't seem to have it.

Also a Carr fan, also don't want him here. The only ways I want to see a veteran QB here are as a backup / mentor or as the final piece of the puzzle for a perrenial playoff team that just needs to get over the hump.

You're looking at it all wrong. QB's have the biggest bust rate of any position, period. Regardless of round. What is not disputable however is that non-first round QB's have a massive bust rate of about 90%, versus first round QB's who "only" bust at 50%. If you like a QB and he's available at your pick you take him. Regardless of round. There is no roster that has TOO MANY good QB's on it. Look no further than the 49ers.

Jimmie's and Joe's vs X's and O's. It's still true. The only way taking a chance on Steichen is a problem is if we aren't willing to move on if we don't see growth. Yes, that's historically been our issue. I'm not saying we need to light it up, but we do need to see growth. To me, that was why Rhule should have been gone. It was obvious we weren't growing as a team. As long as we recognize that quickly and do the right thing, I have no problem taking chances on young offensive minds.

When you're talking about Steichen vs Johnson, I'll take Steichen all day long. Look at who these guys have each worked for. With Steichen you get: With Johnson you get:

Reich has ONE season of success as an OC! One! I do not know why people keep trying to jump on his bandwagon, but aside from the year Carson Wentz - Carson WENTZ - went and played out of his mind offenses with Reich as the OC have been 17th, 26th and 16th in scoring offense.

The Rams have had an epic run of injuries. Context matters. Remember 2018? 6-2 Panthers go to Steelers, Cam gets his shoulder blown off. We end the year 7-9. For the record, I am in the camp that says we need to go get an offensive mind to compete in the NFL today with any sort of regularity.

Wilks has been a great story, no doubt. He's done what good defensive coaches do. He steadied the ship. We no longer look lost. Yea, he got a crap deal in AZ. He chose to take the job. He could just as easily have declined, especially given the circumstances. But that doesn't make him our long term answer. I have no confidence in his ability to take us to the next level. Specifically in his ability to identify, attract and retain the offensive coaching talent that is required to have a competitive team in this day and age.

Garbage time in this case is being classified as having either less than 20% chance of winning or greater than 80% chance of winning. Effectively when the game is out of reach for either team. It's a completely pointless stat. It could exclude drives in the second quarter of games for example if you happen to be down (or up) by 21 points. In the NFL, when it comes to defense, there is really only one stat that matters: Scoring. We are middle of the pack right now in that category, 13th. Somewhat interestingly, we are a top 10 defense at home, and a bottom 5 defense away from home. This feels about right to me. We have some pieces, but we need to put them together. We also need an offense that can give a good defense some time to rest. We're doing better lately.

Buyer beware: Reich as an OC has exactly one season of success: 2017 with the Eagles when Carson Wentz played out of his mind. His other three seasons as an OC his teams ranked 17, 26, 16 in scoring offense.

Robbie has more drops than catches in AZ.

Agree. We've got a bunch of "For the feels!" fans here who want Wilkes to continue, but I don't think that's the way to fix the franchise. We need a new staff. If the new HC wants to interview existing staff for roles going forward, by all means, interview them. I think Campen has been incredible for the franchise for instance.

Based on what? Hope? The Seahawks and the Lions are teams we don't match up to well. Yes, those teams have leaky defenses, but they score. A lot. The Bucs and Saints are divisional games, away from home. One of them is against Brady, who isn't "excellent" this year, but he's still Tom Brady. Leaving . . . the Steelers. Those guys own us historically (we're 1-6 vs Pittsburgh). Pickett is starting to figure it out. Whether you're a tank proponent or not, the fact is we are a bad team. We are far more likely to lose 4 of 5 than win that many.

No. Wilkes should not get the full time gig. He cannot fix the real problems here. For a couple reasons. First off, defensive coaches are great to steady the ship and establish an identity. Occasionally they will catch lightning in a bottle and put together a great run. Overall there are many, many solid defensive coaches. You can find tons of them. Dom freaking Capers is still a quality NFL defensive mind. Defense is easy to find and fix on the coaching side. Secondly, if you want to succeed in the NFL today, you need a head coach who has a highly successful offensive background. Not because you "need" that, but because if you bring in a coordinator who has any sort of success, he'll be gone in a year or two to be a head coach elsewhere. If you want to sustain, your HC needs to be the offensive guy. NFL teams are very in tune with this. When you look at the guys who are being sought out for HC gigs, how many of them are "offensive" and how many are "defensive"? It's just the way the league has gone. Wilkes seems like a great guy, a great story. I'm not saying he shouldn't be part of the staff. Set aside all the feels. The best way to have long term, sustainable success is to identify a quality offensive mind and make him your head coach.

He should be in the conversation. I don't think he should win it. Neither of those statements change the fact that the guy looks like exactly what we needed. This sort of trajectory and we could have our next Jordan Gross. Having that position looking solid changes SO MUCH about our offseason.

And yet, we have identical records since that SB. 39-58.

And none of those names are people I'd take over the guy we already have.

Kinda. A better example might be to look at the Browns history of drafting 1st round QB's over the last 25 years or so. They've drafted Baker Mayfield, Johnny Manziel, Brandon Weeden, Brady Quinn and Tim Couch. Statistically speaking, they should have "hit" on a couple of those. Heck, look at their picks in other rounds over that time period: Dishone Kizer, Cody Kessler, Colt McCoy, Charlie Frye, Luke McCown and Spergon Wynne. I mean, come on! Just sheer dumb luck at some point should have gone their way. But it didn't. This is where coaching and organizational quality come into play. The truth is that some of those guys probably were "good not great" QB's. Unfortunately, the overall situation in Cleveland doomed them. QB is the hardest position in professional sports to play. It's the hardest position in professional sports to predict. It doesn't invalidate the general statistical trend. Generally speaking, if you want the best opportunity for the most advantageous outcome you need to draft your QB in the first round. Generally speaking, having a pick toward the top of the draft is more important since the league has placed such an emphasis on offense in recent history. It's pushed teams to select QB's earlier in the draft since the difference between having a good QB and not having one can't be as easily overcome in the league today.

Statistically speaking, QB's selected in the first round hit at a rate of about 50%. Which isn't wonderful . . . until you consider that QB's selected in every other round hit at a rate of about 10%. Coaching and system play a huge role in this, yes, but the delta between round 1 and all other rounds is so high that you simply can't ignore it.