Thank you for keeping the board alive

It would greatly help our run game if we had a legitimate long/ deep passing threat. Throwing all passes< 10yds allows more players in the box

Team playing with discipline. Only 3 penalties in 5 plays

@dutch-oven said:

I hate to talk in absolutes, but….

There is zero chance Tomlin would ever take the head coaching job for the Browns. There’s a better chance Mitch McConnell runs the Boston Marsthon next April.

Mitch is in training

@orion said:

My name is Orion. And I'm an Optimist. WELCOME ORION!!!

...actually, I'm usually a pessimist...that way I'm not as disappointed.

If Monken actually chose Watson because he was the best of his QB Crop, then the question actually is: As badly as Watson has played, how bad must Sanders be to not get the call to start? He'd have to be pretty bad.

Haslam has always struck me as the guy that wants Glitz! He wants the Glitzy guy. I would argue that Watson is not the glitzy guy in comparison to Sanders. Sanders is far more popular with the fans. Heck, his father is Prime Time! I would've thought that Haslam would've liked nothing better than for Watson to be mostly invisible on the bench this season and then put the Watson deal to bed next June.

I suspect Haslam will resign Watson and not draft a highly rated QB

@orion said:

Probably because of DePo's departure.

I'm going to hope that starting Watson was Monken's decision and that he didn't put any weight into Haslam's opinions.

You should attend Optimist's Anonymous. As badly as Watson has played, how could Sanders do any worse

@texasag1969 said:

Including the 3rd pass of the game??

IT was not an incomplete pass. He just completed it to the other team

The film on game one must not be bad (or Haslam rules)

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49941705/coach-monken-expects-stick-watson-browns-qb1-week-2

@warrendawg said:

The Defensive Line looked below average in the first game. There was hardly any penetration, or disruption. This needs to improve.

I disagree. There was plenty of disruption and penetration in our defense.

@texasag1969 said:

We need a lake jump promise from our current coach if that happens!!

with or without cement shoes?

@orion said:

That's the 'fan' view...from 5000 feet. But Monken is not trying to lose. He's trying to win. And he thinks that Watson gives him his best chance. Monken won't allow himself to think like that until he knows that he can't make the playoffs....which of course, is waiting way too long in the 5000' fan view. It's not easy being a HC. Your fired or not fired based on how many wins and losses you get. Not on setting up your franchise for a high draft pick which will benefit the team in the long run.

The Browns are NOT going to win with Watson now or in the future. Monken has 2-3 years. He better find out if he can win with the other 3 QBS in the room. Watson will not be here in 2027

@orion said:

Unless you have the QB room that we have. And the HC is telling you, As much as we may want Sanders to be the starter, he's just not as good as Watson. That's where we're at. And I don't want Haslam telling Monken who to play. We've got to let this season play out and then attack the QB position next April. (if it turns out that that's what's needed...and so far, in the early going, it looks like that's what's needed)

We may as well lose with Gabriel, Sanders and Greene. Then it becomes abundantly clear who to draft or trade. Unless you are certain that they are worthless as starters, you may as well play them. With Watson starting, the issue is in doubt.

@orion said:

That's just not true. The Haslams want the team to be successful in the worst way. They really do. You can dislike them if you want. Heck, I do. I don't like Jimmy. But I don't doubt at all that he wants his Browns to be winners. He wants the respect that comes from being the owner of a perennial winning franchise. And not the respect that comes from your business being raided for cheating customers. But since it's the latter that is his claim to fame he tries to make his team be successful. And he's just no good at that.

It is an inherent contradiction to want your team to be good with 2026 Watson as QB

Monkgen is preparing the fans for Watson's next start

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49933555/todd-monken-browns-big-loss-not-just-deshaun-watson

Watson's QB play makes me long for the heady days of Brady Quinn and Charlie Frye

@tiamat63 said:

The worst part is that the Buckeyes couldn't put away Texas last night as they should have done.

Tomorrow you're going to hear local media go ape shit for Arch Manning. The "gamer, leader, winner, comeback" will be at the forefront. It will be unavoidable.

.... and a part from making some throws outside of structure, he looked nothing the part of a 1st round QB.

But it's coming, and it'll will only further sink this franchise.

Well he would be an improvement over our current starter. Watson has returned to his 2024 form

1. Browns record? 5-12

2. Bengals record?9-8

3. Ravens record?10-6

4. Steelers record?10-6

5. How many points do the Browns score in 2026? How many do they allow? 320/450

6. How many games does Deshaun Watson start for the Browns in 2026?4

7. How many games does Shedeur Sanders start for the Browns in 2026?5

8. How many games does Dillon Gabriel and anyone else start for the Browns in 2026?8

9. The Browns have two first round picks in the 2027 NFL Draft - theirs and the LA Rams first round picks. What draft positions are their first rounders? (Example #5 and #28 overall) 6,30

10. How many yards, touchdowns and interceptions does Watson throw for? 700 5 7

11. How many yards, touchdowns and interceptions does Sanders throw for?1200 6 5

12. How many yards, touchdowns and interceptions does Gabriel and others throw for?1200 8 12

13. How many yards does Quinshon Judkins run for?1300

14. Who leads the Browns in receptions and how many receptions does he have? Fannin75

15. Who is second in receptions for the Browns and how many receptions does he have? Boston50

16. The 2025 Browns had 53 total team sacks. How many team sacks does the Browns defense have?35

17. Browns record vs the AFC North?2-6

18. What two teams play in the Super Bowl? Who wins? New England Chicago NE

@orion said:

The job of the HC is to play the players that give him the best chance to win. Unless a player is in a disciplinary situation.

So, Jackson must be saying that there's no chance that the former 1st round pick, pro bowl QB, Deshaun Watson, can possibly be better than the 5th round pick that nobody wanted. OR he's saying that Watson shouldn't play for disciplinary reasons regarding a press conference where he acknowledged that many Browns fans don't like him and he doesn't like them either. OR Lastly, he thinks that the midget or the olympian should be the starter.

Slap in the face? That's just not being helpful. What was Monken given as a QB room to work with? Watson. Shedufus, the midget and the olympian.

I'm going to say this 1 more time: This is a 60 yr old, 1st time HC who next weekend will be coaching in his 1st ever NFL game as a HC. You KNOW that he wants to win that 1st one. You can bet your bottom dollar that he'll be starting who HE THINKS are the players, at each position, that give him the best chance of winning.

This is an oxymoron: Winning with Watson in Cleveland

@orion said:

Monken's view was that he wasn't really all that interested in how he preformed in Stefanski's system but wanted to evaluate him, Sanders, Gabriel etc., in his own system. There are/were those here, including Dutch, that did not think that Watson was a good fit in Stefanski's system. So, Monken has graded them on what he has seen in real life...on the field, in the meeting room, etc.

When Monken was announced as our new, 1st time HC, I said that it was the best thing that could've happened for Watson. Monken is an older 1st time HC. He wants to win games Right Now. He's got no skin in the game regarding how the players were acquired. He's just going to want to play the guys that give him the best chance of winning games right here and now. And I felt that if Watson was a deserving 1st round pick...and supposedly a pretty talented QB, then he should be able to beat out a 5th round pick that so many league GM's didn't want anything to do with. And if he COULDN'T fend off Sanders, then, the Browns Brass that orchestrated the trade were pretty bad talent evaluators.

We have to entertain the possibility that he was just a bad fit with Stefanski's offense...until he demonstrates that he's just not a good QB.

I suspect that will take 2 or 3 games, but with Haslam and what is invested...

@tinythinker said:

Yeah, that's the coach's logic for it. And even with all of the sucking, he still sees more potential in Watson for now from what he's seen on the field.

Whatever people make of analyzing Monken's choices, most Browns fans already have their opinions of the QB situation whether they want Watson, Sanders, one of the other QBs, or none of the above. This approach is similar to instructors who start the semester with everyone getting an "A", then keeping it there or lowering it based on the the overall performance of each student through the course.

AS a professor, everyone should start with an A. It is appropriate to compare Watson then with Watson now to see if he can approach the ALL Pro Watson. So I am not at all comforted by this