"Not At All" Hard to Leave Cleveland (Benjamin)
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Uh...why? Nashville doesn't have shit on Cleveland and neither do the Titans.
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Uh...why? Nashville doesn't have shit on Cleveland and neither do the Titans.
Uh...why? Nashville doesn't have shit on Cleveland and neither do the Titans.
i think it's more the organization than the city. I doubt he really wants to play for either though, but if TN takes him he'll always have that he was a first pick.
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Uh...why? Nashville doesn't have shit on Cleveland and neither do the Titans.
i think it's more the organization than the city. I doubt he really wants to play for either though, but if TN takes him he'll always have that he was a first pick.
i think it's more the organization than the city. I doubt he really wants to play for either though, but if TN takes him he'll always have that he was a first pick.
The only team drafting ahead of us in 2015 and 2016 is also one we beat in 2014 and 2015 - the Tennessee Titans. That's quite an impressive streak explaining the avalanche from the top. Consequently, both teams have new faces in charge of their draft and personnel today.
While I have more preferable scenarios - this is an alternative we could at least put on the scale for the sake of discussion:
IF the Tits draft Bosa and Tunsil lands on our door step, besides Ghoolie feeling like he has a bad case of food poison - do the Browns draft their future Left Tackle and current starting LG (moving Bitonio to RT shifting Greco to Center and anchoring down with Pazstor at RG). A wild card wrinkle could be signing Wisniewski to keep Greco at RG and Pazstor as a sub. Another possibility is Cam Erving showing up stronger with quicker feet and better pad heights (all doable btw) - leaving the where he fits in best with the coaching staff.
At #32 - wow, do we have options. Knowing how much Horton loves to use the 5 techniques - it's a rich draft at the DT position for the frames of need. There's gotta be some ready for impact guys at #32 overall. Because of the depth of DT in this draft, maybe we can do LBer or Safety or #32 and get our 5 technique near the top of round 3. Another possibility is we could understand Josh Gordon's tendency to hang around with the wrong people (ie; when he exceeds the speed limit my 40 mph and there just so happens to be a bag of marijuana that allegedly belongs to the guy Josh should NOT be hanging out with or more recently seeing him hang out with Manziel in Vegas). Maybe we stop de-prioritizing the WR position right here at #32 overall in a passing era now that Farmer is gone. I don't think we can afford another year of asking a guy that isn't wired to be a #1 WR to pick up the slack for Josh Spiccoli. At 1 time, Doctson was supposed to be available at #32 but fitness tests at the Indy Combine have been known to change projections. Pittsburgh's Tyler Boyd at 6'2" will also be there. We could also consider upgrading Tom Thumb in the slot with somebody like a 6'1" Braxton Miller who could actually pose a scoring threat for a refreshing change? Wouldn't it also be nice to have our QB feeling like he doesn't have to throw a quick slant pass downward? Miller could move around like Benjamin only his cap hit will fall under the new rookie salary cap so the new brass saves money and pleases the Ohio State homers. Speaking of homers, that's hitting it out of the park compared to Farmer.
This alternative has a QB to develop but it isn't someone many is considering at this time while our front office is chewing on how much they want to battle Elway for Kaep against the cap. As me and others have said already - I'm fine with keeping McCown to start the year with but open to thorough research we've been seriously lacking. I've been studying up a guy that kept jumping out at me at the combine - Brandon Doughty. Right now he's rumored to have a Andy Dalton type arm strength on the deep ball heading into the draft. Then again, Dalton finally showed me in 2015 that it is possible to improve it. Feel free to read up on Tom Brady's pre-draft arm strength or what BB told him he needed to do in order to go from blue jeans to suiting up on Sundays. Like Wentz, Doughty comes from a small school program at Western Kentucky. Like Wentz, he's got pretty good height at 6'3" but he was a 3 year starter. You can book it that he'll get nitpicked this time of year. That said, we're looking for an ideal starting point for a guy we don't have to draft until a mid-late round. These are his numbers the last 2 years:
2014 67.9 cmp % 4830 yds 8.8 ypa 49 TD 10 INT
2015 71.9 cmp % 5055 yds 9.4 ypa 48 TD 9 INT
Yeah but did he win like Wentz? Well, Western Kentucky finished 12-2 ranked 24th in the AP poll with an offense that averaged 40 points a game. Their Head Coach was a QB here in Cleveland for a cup of coffee - Jeff Brohm.
I think we now have 11 picks plus we get to see a 2015 draft pick (Ekpre-Olomu) who was rumored to have 1st-2nd round take the field for the first time. I'll take it.
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Nope....but there is a little something call tact and knowing when and how to use it is a big part of being successful in business and in life....and its a true skill to be tactful and classy.....so there are plenty of ways to say you're happy to be in SD and excited about new opportunities, while still expressing positive thoughts about the city, team and teammates you just left....Mudfly
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Exactly, Mud !
I threw off on him for fun, because by ommission, he was bashing the fans, and the city, and a new regime.
I'm like "it isn't tough leaving us? well don't let the door hit ya on yer way out..."
His reply was low class, wasn't necessary. What did the fans ever do to warrant a "goodbye you're easy to leave
because you suck" kind of statement. Just not smart, even if it was just a mistake. We cheered him, appreciated him
on the field like crazy. Not impressed with it, that's all. I hope he does well with the Jags, unless they play the Browns,
and I hope he gets addicted to donuts and gains 40 lbs.
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I'll not join in on the bad mouthing of Benjamin. The kid played hard & well here for a very disjointed coaching staff & FO. Of course it wasn't hard for him to leave.
He's gone, I wish him well, & it's time for us to move on by showing some class.
Mike
Yep, good kid, stayed out of trouble, improved significantly as a WR despite steady turnover (3 different coaching staffs w/ 4 different OCs in 4 years), also gave us a reliable-elite performance in the return game. Somebody had to be committed enough to lead our WR Corp in 2015 even if it wasn't a #1 WR pedigree.
Nobody will ever mistake him for a superstar; but he wasn't bad for a 4th round draft pick in Cleveland. It would have been fun to see a reliable #1 WR here teaming up with Benjamin, Barnidge and Duke out of the backfield.
Post-exhale, the group we looked to in 2014 when our running game was efficient was very helpful to our 6-4 start before we got Gordon back for our 1-5 finish. I see no reason we can't find a group willing to give us what we got over the first 10 weeks of 2014. Seems easier to tap upside when guys are prioritizing football. Very sad I have to type such a thing; but it is Cleveland where reasonable fans are trained for the unreasonable.
Yep, good kid, stayed out of trouble, improved significantly as a WR despite steady turnover (3 different coaching staffs w/ 4 different OCs in 4 years), also gave us a reliable-elite performance in the return game. Somebody had to be committed enough to lead our WR Corp in 2015 even if it wasn't a #1 WR pedigree.
Nobody will ever mistake him for a superstar; but he wasn't bad for a 4th round draft pick in Cleveland. It would have been fun to see a reliable #1 WR here teaming up with Benjamin, Barnidge and Duke out of the backfield.
Post-exhale, the group we looked to in 2014 when our running game was efficient was very helpful to our 6-4 start before we got Gordon back for our 1-5 finish. I see no reason we can't find a group willing to give us what we got over the first 10 weeks of 2014. Seems easier to tap upside when guys are prioritizing football. Very sad I have to type such a thing; but it is Cleveland where reasonable fans are trained for the unreasonable.
I guess I failed to see his elite return performance. Must have missed those games.
I'm awesome, and I fuck dolphins. Ghoolie 12/2/2012: I have absolutely no skills, training or pride -
Nope....but there is a little something call tact and knowing when and how to use it is a big part of being successful in business and in life....and its a true skill to be tactful and classy.....so there are plenty of ways to say you're happy to be in SD and excited about new opportunities, while still expressing positive thoughts about the city, team and teammates you just left....Mudfly
*****************************
Exactly, Mud !
I threw off on him for fun, because by ommission, he was bashing the fans, and the city, and a new regime.
I'm like "it isn't tough leaving us? well don't let the door hit ya on yer way out..."
His reply was low class, wasn't necessary. What did the fans ever do to warrant a "goodbye you're easy to leave
because you suck" kind of statement. Just not smart, even if it was just a mistake. We cheered him, appreciated him
on the field like crazy. Not impressed with it, that's all. I hope he does well with the Jags, unless they play the Browns,
and I hope he gets addicted to donuts and gains 40 lbs.
Nope....but there is a little something call tact and knowing when and how to use it is a big part of being successful in business and in life....and its a true skill to be tactful and classy.....so there are plenty of ways to say you're happy to be in SD and excited about new opportunities, while still expressing positive thoughts about the city, team and teammates you just left....Mudfly
*****************************
Exactly, Mud !
I threw off on him for fun, because by ommission, he was bashing the fans, and the city, and a new regime.
I'm like "it isn't tough leaving us? well don't let the door hit ya on yer way out..."
His reply was low class, wasn't necessary. What did the fans ever do to warrant a "goodbye you're easy to leave
because you suck" kind of statement. Just not smart, even if it was just a mistake. We cheered him, appreciated him
on the field like crazy. Not impressed with it, that's all. I hope he does well with the Jags, unless they play the Browns,
and I hope he gets addicted to donuts and gains 40 lbs.
LOL! I got your threw off on him right here. This isn't one of your better posts Cal I thought Mud articulated it extremely well about the high road. I wish Benjamin handled that better.
You went from saying the reply was low class to role modeling the style you're protesting. If I was the WR not wired to be a #1 only seen by many as just a #2 or #3 WR at best with very good return skills noticing that Bowe was the WR guaranteed 9 million $ in 2015 and whatever FA $ Hawk has robbed our cap with during tenure here while Josh Spiccoli was serving his 6th football suspension (counting the one that wasn't drug related in 2014 when Josh was failing to deliver on his we'll see the best version of him yet promises hitting the toilet paper).
Travis had 4 different OCs in 4 years with 3 different Head Coaches, countless QBs and 1 major reconstruction to hurdle to arrive at what we saw from him in 2015. I'm sure there were sour grapes from the only guy that stepped up to be our #1 WR in 2015 on top of what he added in the return game. If he knows he's NOT #1 WR material and he had the best season of anyone in our entire WR Corps facing the best corner of our opponents - he prolly wanted to be rewarded or at least acknowledged for what he gave us in 2 different roles playing his best football at 26 years of age. He should have communicated his disappointment to the appropriate people inclusive of his agent rather than choosing passive aggressive elsewhere. He feels he wasn't the guy we had to read about going way over the speed limit when there was a bag of marijuana in the car that allegedly/conveniently belonged to a guy he shouldn't have been hanging around with in between suspensions for dirty urine.
And do you really think Manziel was classy by saying nice things about Cleveland and fans while his actions never stopped giving us 2 middle fingers?
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Yep, good kid, stayed out of trouble, improved significantly as a WR despite steady turnover (3 different coaching staffs w/ 4 different OCs in 4 years), also gave us a reliable-elite performance in the return game. Somebody had to be committed enough to lead our WR Corp in 2015 even if it wasn't a #1 WR pedigree.
Nobody will ever mistake him for a superstar; but he wasn't bad for a 4th round draft pick in Cleveland. It would have been fun to see a reliable #1 WR here teaming up with Benjamin, Barnidge and Duke out of the backfield.
Post-exhale, the group we looked to in 2014 when our running game was efficient was very helpful to our 6-4 start before we got Gordon back for our 1-5 finish. I see no reason we can't find a group willing to give us what we got over the first 10 weeks of 2014. Seems easier to tap upside when guys are prioritizing football. Very sad I have to type such a thing; but it is Cleveland where reasonable fans are trained for the unreasonable.
I guess I failed to see his elite return performance. Must have missed those games.
I guess I failed to see his elite return performance. Must have missed those games.
Thanks a lot Couch! LOL! You had my back like Brutus and Cassius had Julius Caesar's.
Okay, he's just a good scoring weapon in the return game before the knee injury and 2 years post op. I still remember the last time we beat Buffalo in a night game Weeden took over for the injured Hoyer. if it wasn't for TJ Ward's pick 6 and Benjamin's return for a TD we prolly don't win that defensive battle of backup QBs. That said, if he didn't score 3 TDs vrs the TN Titans (2 via pass and 1 via return) - we'd be owning the first pick of the draft in 2016.
I welcome the only Defensive Coordinator to earn a Superbowl Ring in New Orleans while understanding Revenge of the Nerds is a sequel. "Come get some!" -
I guess I failed to see his elite return performance. Must have missed those games.
Thanks a lot Couch! LOL! You had my back like Brutus and Cassius had Julius Caesar's.
Okay, he's just a good scoring weapon in the return game before the knee injury and 2 years post op. I still remember the last time we beat Buffalo in a night game Weeden took over for the injured Hoyer. if it wasn't for TJ Ward's pick 6 and Benjamin's return for a TD we prolly don't win that defensive battle of backup QBs. That said, if he didn't score 3 TDs vrs the TN Titans (2 via pass and 1 via return) - we'd be owning the first pick of the draft in 2016.
Thanks a lot Couch! LOL! You had my back like Brutus and Cassius had Julius Caesar's.
That said, if he didn't score 3 TDs vrs the TN Titans (2 via pass and 1 via return) - we'd be owning the first pick of the draft in 2016.
And he would have had only 2 for the whole season....
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And he would have had only 2 for the whole season....
I'm okay with him going now believe it or not. You guys have made some good points about him here and there.
Where I was coming from prior to this is - we just haven't had too many recent examples of 4th round picks on offense playing their best football through 4 OC changes in 4 years especially when we've only been able to get our #1 WR active in 5 of our last 32 games. Let's just say I understand his sour grapes but it's not the fault of the people he aimed his passive aggressive at. Nobody in our current front office would have been dumb enough to throw the absurd cake Farmer threw at Bowe.
I didn't like losing Schwartz any more than I liked losing Benji. The few we got right in the draft - would have been nice to keep around when they're playing their best football at 26-27 years of age. I didn't mind losing Mack as much with an off season to address that because of his age. He's best in a zbs that he got his first comfort zone with at Cal so re-uniting with Shanny should serve him well.
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I guess I failed to see his elite return performance. Must have missed those games.
Thanks a lot Couch! LOL! You had my back like Brutus and Cassius had Julius Caesar's.
Okay, he's just a good scoring weapon in the return game before the knee injury and 2 years post op. I still remember the last time we beat Buffalo in a night game Weeden took over for the injured Hoyer. if it wasn't for TJ Ward's pick 6 and Benjamin's return for a TD we prolly don't win that defensive battle of backup QBs. That said, if he didn't score 3 TDs vrs the TN Titans (2 via pass and 1 via return) - we'd be owning the first pick of the draft in 2016.
Thanks a lot Couch! LOL! You had my back like Brutus and Cassius had Julius Caesar's.
Okay, he's just a good scoring weapon in the return game before the knee injury and 2 years post op. I still remember the last time we beat Buffalo in a night game Weeden took over for the injured Hoyer. if it wasn't for TJ Ward's pick 6 and Benjamin's return for a TD we prolly don't win that defensive battle of backup QBs. That said, if he didn't score 3 TDs vrs the TN Titans (2 via pass and 1 via return) - we'd be owning the first pick of the draft in 2016.
Ha, I just call em like I see em. He had potential to be a great returner, but a Cribbs he wasn't.
Benjamin is a good utility weapon but he doesn't really fit in anywhere. He's not a #1, he's not a #2, he's not strictly a return man....and the money he wanted didn't reflect his production.
Would have been nice to keep him, but not at the money he wanted. Then again, it's not like we used that money for anything else...
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And he would have had only 2 for the whole season....
Nope 1 of those was a punt return. He would have had 3 more receiving TDs to reach his WR Corps leading 5. So he led our WR Corps in TD receptions and yards per catch for 2 straight years and led us in receptions and yardage in 2015.
Someone had to do it since our higher paid free agents (Hartline, Bowe, and Hawkins combined for 2 TD receptions in 2015). I don't mind getting rid of Benjamin but of all the WRs that were here in 2015 - he was the least of all evils by a country mile.
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And do you really think Manziel was classy by saying nice things about Cleveland and fans while his actions never stopped giving us 2 middle fingers? Mr. Flugels
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No, no, no. lol.
Manziel had no cred with his actions, his words were just probly written for him by his publicist. But truthfully, I admired
how Benjamin played - I just wish he had said what he should have said - "it's easy to leave the situation - I want to win,
and we had all those changes..." or something. But he left it open, which includes, by ommision, all of us fans.
Now, if he didn't mean to do that, then I will email him and retract the joking about him in response...and I'll sign it
"Canton Mike"
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for the record fwiw i don't believe in voodoo, or Hanukkah.
Benjamin coulda easily been like, "there will always be fond memories from Cleveland that I will take with me, but I'm ready to start a new chapter"...or ANYTHING besides how he put it.
he knew what he was saying, and he was well aware he may be viewed as a jerk and did not care. we're in his rearview mirror, and now he's in mine.
until that comment i had planned on casually following his career in SD. call me fickle.
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I'll not join in on the bad mouthing of Benjamin. The kid played hard & well here for a very disjointed coaching staff & FO. Of course it wasn't hard for him to leave.
He's gone, I wish him well, & it's time for us to move on by showing some class.
Mike
I'll not join in on the bad mouthing of Benjamin. The kid played hard & well here for a very disjointed coaching staff & FO. Of course it wasn't hard for him to leave.
He's gone, I wish him well, & it's time for us to move on by showing some class.
Mike
but you hate kaep who did the same for his team and wants out?
kaep did more for SF than benji ever did for cleveland.
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I don't mind Benjamin's comments but I also don't lament him leaving. He's not nearly consistent enough to be worth what he's being paid. after his crazy start the NFL was like "oh, we need to pay attention to that guy" and the rest of his season was pretty boring.
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Is it supposed to be hard to leave arguably the worst franchise (currently) in the NFL?
Nope....but there is a little something call tact and knowing when and how to use it is a big part of being successful in business and in life....and its a true skill to be tactful and classy.....so there are plenty of ways to say you're happy to be in SD and excited about new opportunities, while still expressing positive thoughts about the city, team and teammates you just left....
That 'worst franchise" is the one that drafted him....gave him his opportunity .....and the one that was bad enough that he finally got a chance to play #1 receiver for a season....which is the whole reason he even got a deal in SD......cause for 3 years prior, even with our crapola receivers, he wasnt good enough to start or play....so, maybe if he landed in another city, with a better team, he'd still be riding the bench and sure as hell wouldnt have a $6m contract....guaranteed
Excellent postNope....but there is a little something call tact and knowing when and how to use it is a big part of being successful in business and in life....and its a true skill to be tactful and classy.....so there are plenty of ways to say you're happy to be in SD and excited about new opportunities, while still expressing positive thoughts about the city, team and teammates you just left....
That 'worst franchise" is the one that drafted him....gave him his opportunity .....and the one that was bad enough that he finally got a chance to play #1 receiver for a season....which is the whole reason he even got a deal in SD......cause for 3 years prior, even with our crapola receivers, he wasnt good enough to start or play....so, maybe if he landed in another city, with a better team, he'd still be riding the bench and sure as hell wouldnt have a $6m contract....guaranteed
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for the record fwiw i don't believe in voodoo, or Hanukkah.
Benjamin coulda easily been like, "there will always be fond memories from Cleveland that I will take with me, but I'm ready to start a new chapter"...or ANYTHING besides how he put it.
he knew what he was saying, and he was well aware he may be viewed as a jerk and did not care. we're in his rearview mirror, and now he's in mine.
until that comment i had planned on casually following his career in SD. call me fickle.
for the record fwiw i don't believe in voodoo, or Hanukkah.
Benjamin coulda easily been like, "there will always be fond memories from Cleveland that I will take with me, but I'm ready to start a new chapter"...or ANYTHING besides how he put it.
he knew what he was saying, and he was well aware he may be viewed as a jerk and did not care. we're in his rearview mirror, and now he's in mine.
until that comment i had planned on casually following his career in SD. call me fickle.
It sounded to me like he wanted to be paid by the team he blew his knee out for and came back 1 year later to lead our WR Corps with 17.4 yards per catch and TD receptions in 2014 (via part time duty) and then lead the WR Corps in receptions, first downs, TDs, ypc, and yards in 2015 at a 4th round salary while WRs like Bowe, Hartline, and Hawkins (all completely worthless in 2015) made all the money in the WR Corps. So which guy gets told he's not worth keeping? Let's not pretend if we were in his shoes watching who's getting the tenure around here - we wouldn't feel just as frustrated or unappreciated.
All I keep reading is -"he's only a #2 WR or a #3 WR at best." That's fine. The debate starts at - then why was he easily our #1 WR in 2015? We were paying generous FA $ for guys to handle all that stuff but couldn't. The only guy from our 2015 WR Corps advertising best football ahead was Benjamin. The same guy making the least money so he's the bad guy in here. When Dwayne Bowe leaves here complimenting Cleveland for their generosity and the fan base for their loyalty - he'll be a terrific guy. And don't forget, Manziel said the fans are great...
I'm glad nobody was worried about how much money Bowe, Hawkins and Harline made here.
I welcome the only Defensive Coordinator to earn a Superbowl Ring in New Orleans while understanding Revenge of the Nerds is a sequel. "Come get some!" -
Flugel - I'm sure nobody would contradict you on Benjamin being better than Bowe and Hartline, and probably Hawkins. Yes, he was easily our best wide receiver this year, but that wasn't against stiff competition, and I doubt there'd be too many complaints from the coaches if none of those guys were back next year.
But that doesn't mean we should roll out a blank cheque, and just give him whatever he wants - the leading receiver on a 3-13 is nothing to shout about in itself. He didn't crack a thousand yards, didn't make the pro bowl, and only had one touchdown in games 5-through-16. I would like to have seen him back, sure, but not at any cost, and he ended up getting paid more by another team. It happens, we can pick up a replacement, or lean more on Hawkins (who was our leading receiver in 2014 with about 850 while benjamin got 300).
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