Why did we go 0-16 on 2017?

[Flugel]

@nero said:

I wrote this post at 3AM after a long day so I didn't fully express my intention. 

First of all, Sashi didn't draft well, but the captain of the ship was the worst possible coach too. If your HC and QB are awful, your team is gonna suffer no matter what. Few players of that team got to redeem themselves as we saw yesterday with the cuts, so we were in for a shitshow anyway I guess. 

Finally, we are talking about people that HAVE LEFT the team. We improved each position of the stated above, and though we can't say if Kitchens is going to be a great head coach or not, at least we know he is a honest man, he is not fake, which is a main attribute any good leader must have. 

One of my friends that I introduced to the NFL asked me what did I think the Browns are going to achieve this season, and though I am cautious and I don't see a Superbowl, I think we are in for a long ride and we will enjoy every sunday with this team. And that's really good news. 

I joined this fandom that fatidic 2017 season. I haven't been here for all these almost 20 years of the factory of sadness, but it took me one year as a fan to see the Browns win, and in my opinion all that suffering is going to make us enjoy even more this season. 

Let's go Browns fans, you deserve this one!

I'm surprised our opponents didn't have "Here Comes Santa Claus" playing over the loud speakers when our Offense took the field.  That said, I do remember hearing some of the music from the movie  "Jaws"  one of the countless times the offense looked as helpless as that kid on the little yellow raft.

Adding insult to injury, a lot of our hand selected offensive linemen couldn't count to 2. So by all means, let's try a long count on the first play of the game so we can be looking at 1st and 15 as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, that was the better alternative to deferring when we won the coin toss and being down 7-0 just a couple minutes later. 

It's refreshing to have a FO that gives our coaching staff legitimate attack pieces to play gridiron chess with.  I never thought I'd type anything like this but the ONLY people mentioning SB expectations are some media sources that aren't quite up on our offensive line.  I think our Oline will gel and Baker will help that as he did last year when many expected disaster up front in life after Joe Thomas.  It's just a question of how soon and how prepared we are for injury.  On paper, we're much improved at the skill positions that put points on the scoreboard as well as pressure on QBs to justify a lot pre-season optimism with our fan base. In Dutch's Predictions thread last year, I predicted 8-8 (and we went 7-8-1) while the Browns were 1-1-1 in OT games (missing anything from extra points to multiple kicks). That was the only thing I got somewhat right aside from my screen name.

[TexasAg1969]

@flyingfooldoug said:

I’ve seen that. Maybe he can tell the difference between tall and short?

You know he will try to trade for Mike Evans from the Bucs! He played basketball before going to football his senior year in HS. He catches many a pass by posting up his defenders.?

[The Gipper]

@alkid3 said:

Why? They sucked. 

By they...I assume you mean:   Weeden/JMZ/Gilbert/Mingo/Coleman/Erving/Shelton?/Richardson.  A football generation of busts.

[The Gipper]

@flyingfooldoug said:

And from 1996 to 2008, other than 2 seasons, pretty much all suckage

I mean....they did go winless in 1996/97/98.   

[darren15]

[The Gipper]

[Unsympathetic]

We actually did get great value from signing Zeitler and Tretter before that 2017 season..

Even if Vernon leaves as FA after next season, the compensatory will still be part of our value from signing Zeitler as FA

Note that the Dolphins have 2 first and 2 second rounders in the next two drafts... they're tanking for either Tua or Trevor Lawrence, and that's a decent plan

[CLEVELANDwantsPLAYOFFS]

Hue was bad but I’m not sure a proven coach could’ve done much more in 2017.

[TexasAg1969]

@clevelandwantsplayoffs said:

Hue was bad but I’m not sure a proven coach could’ve done much more in 2017.

A blind squirrel could have won 1 game if you didn't give him the power to call plays in the redzone.?️

[Canton Dawg]

@dutch-oven said:

How does a franchise QB like Kevin Hogan get cut? 

Easy, we can get anybody to hand off the ball to the great Trent Richardson.

[Orion]

@nero said:

Sashi didn't draft well, but the captain of the ship was the worst possible coach too

ie:  Bad Management.

The only difference between the shit teams we've had and the team we have now is John Dorsey (management).  We're about to find out if Freddie is the 'good' HC.

John Dorsey brought players kicking and screaming (in other words, via trade) to an 0-16 football team.  -  Brilliant.  Because they're not gonna flock to ya as free agents.  Then he went and drafted the best QB in the draft...and followed that up with all that we've seen including this weekend's flurry of activity.

John Dorsey is the difference between our being 0-16 and whatever we are now.  (i just wish he didn't pick Corbette) 

[Flugel]

@the-gipper said:

I mean....they did go winless in 1996/97/98.   

They also went undefeated without scoring any points and giving up any points...

[The Gipper]

@flugel said:

They also went undefeated without scoring any points and giving up any points...

Huzzah!!

[jbluhm86]

I read a pretty interesting article recently which said that the Browns F.O. pretty much planned on intentionally tanking for a few seasons in order to stockpile the draft picks and salary cap to have the necessary resources to rebuild for the long term; basically they tore the organization down to the proverbial studs in order to do a complete rebuild. I think the 0-16 record in 2017 was just an unfortunate byproduct of that process.

Here's that article I mentioned if anyone is interested in reading it:

The Ringer: The Browns Brought the Process to the NFL. Surprisingly, It Worked.

[jbluhm86]

[TexasAg1969]

@jbluhm86 said:

I read a pretty interesting article recently which said that the Browns F.O. pretty much planned on intentionally tanking for a few seasons in order to stockpile the draft picks and salary cap to have the necessary resources to rebuild for the long term; basically they tore the organization down to the proverbial studs in order to do a complete rebuild. I think the 0-16 record in 2017 was just an unfortunate byproduct of that process.

Here's that article I mentioned if anyone is interested in reading it:

The Ringer: The Browns Brought the Process to the NFL. Surprisingly, It Worked.

So is this what the Dolpins are doing now? Sure appears that way.

[jbluhm86]

@texasag1969 said:

So is this what the Dolpins are doing now? Sure appears that way.

It's entirely possible. Seeing the Browns go from 0-16 to a potential playoff contender in only two seasons is probably intriguing to other teams. Tank for a few seasons while you shed excessive cap hits and refill your warchest with draft capital for later. Scorched earth in the present provides fertile soil for the future.

[mjp28]

@jbluhm86 said:

It's entirely possible. Seeing the Browns go from 0-16 to a potential playoff contender in only two seasons is probably intriguing to other teams. Tank for a few seasons while you shed excessive cap hits and refill your warchest with draft capital for later. Scorched earth in the present provides fertile soil for the future.

Except that the BROWNS overhauled the FO down to the HC and assistants and that may have been the decisive move......not just players.

[Dutch Oven]

@jbluhm86 said:

It's entirely possible. Seeing the Browns go from 0-16 to a potential playoff contender in only two seasons is probably intriguing to other teams. Tank for a few seasons while you shed excessive cap hits and refill your warchest with draft capital for later. Scorched earth in the present provides fertile soil for the future.

See: MLB's Houston Astros, too. 

[hoorta]

@texasag1969 said:

So is this what the Dolphins are doing now? Sure appears that way.

Plain as mud Ag- big time tank, ala the Browns. With the talent they dumped, and trotting out Fitzpatrick as the designated pinata- they stand a good chance of landing the #1 overall in 2020. 

Now that the dust has settled, here's what the 'Fins have amassed in the next two years..... (Sashi would be jealous)  Including all their own picks (except a fifth)  in 2020 they have. Extra first- Texans, extra second Saints, extra third compensatory. Extra fourth Titans, extra sixth Cowboys, extra seventh Chiefs. 2021 they have an extra first and second courtesy of the Texans. 

Now there's no way Miami is going to use 13 picks next year- so doubtless some of those will be traded off for either players or even more future picks.