- 13 hours ago
Mary Kay Cabot provides all the latest on the Browns following the NFL Combine and ahead of NFL Free Agency.
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00:00and she joins us every tuesday at 11 o'clock this would be tuesday combines over so let's go to
00:05the
00:05make it right call kyle wright hotline she covers the browns for the plane dealer in cleveland.com
00:10does a great job of it back from indianapolis she is mary kay cabot hello mary kay hey guys how
00:16you
00:16doing oh we're all right thank you very much how are you and how was the combine you know it
00:22was
00:22a really great combine in my opinion we talked to so many people we waited it out to the very
00:27last
00:27day on saturday and we talked to a lot of the offensive linemen there so i was really glad that
00:33we had a nice cleveland media contingent there for that saturday ol o-line stuff and uh so that was
00:41good got a chance to talk to ty simpson i even grabbed him one-on-one for a few seconds
00:47after
00:48his podium interview uh you know so we got to know the quarterbacks a little bit the receivers
00:53it was really good and then just running around talking to uh meeting some of the browns coaches
00:59and talking to todd and andrew i thought we got a lot out of it it was very very productive
01:04and tomorrow now we have an opportunity to meet the coordinators so i'm looking forward to that so
01:09it's been a very busy couple of weeks um mary kay as you walk out of that because now you
01:14get to
01:14spend a little bit of time with this new revamp coaching staff and you know and as they work with
01:19the front office what's your general overall feeling about the direction of the organization
01:24and and how you feel like they're going to move forward not only for this year but for the future
01:29after that well as i mentioned i got an opportunity to meet a number of the new coaches in indy
01:36just
01:36kind of in passing and i've talked to a lot of people about some of them including new defensive
01:41coordinator mike rutenberg and i think the browns are in really good hands i think that the existing
01:48defensive assistants are really really excited about mike rutenberg got a chance to talk to jason
01:54tarver the linebackers coach in indy and efrem banda brandon lynch these guys are really excited about
02:00what mike rutenberg is going to bring to the table and then of course he himself mike rutenberg brought
02:06in dom capers a senior defensive assistant to help him with this transition to a new role so i think
02:12they're going to be okay i really do i think between the staff the existing assistants that are
02:18already there and the personnel that he has on this defense i think he's going to be able to
02:22hit the ground running and have a seamless transition so they're okay from that standpoint
02:27and then on the offensive side of the ball todd munkin knows exactly what he's doing and you know
02:32again he's brought in some guys from baltimore that he feels really really comfortable with i think for
02:38them it's just a matter of new personnel and new scheme and how fast can you pull all of that
02:45together mary k what did you make of ty simpson's comments about the nice relationship with todd
02:52munkin and the history with todd and drew aller's thoughts about being a cleveland brown and any other
02:58rookie quarterback who might have said anything about the browns that made you think are they just
03:04trying to sell themselves to the highest draft spot or is this legit well there were a number of guys
03:10as
03:10you mentioned that have browns connections brown ties ty simpson was one of them his father jason
03:16simpson knows todd munkin very very well and actually when i had that little one-on-one interview
03:21with ty simpson he said it would absolutely be a dream come true to play for todd munkin then and
03:26that
03:26his dad would be really really excited about that and then got a chance to ask carson beck the same
03:31thing about todd munkin because he played for him for three years at georgia now he was a backup in
03:36most of those years but he says most of what he knows or a lot of what he knows about
03:41playing
03:41quarterback came from todd munkin so i think these were significant things and again drew aller i guess
03:46it just depends for the browns on if they feel like one of these guys could help them out as
03:52a
03:52developmental quarterback or if in the case of ty simpson they felt that he had higher upside than
03:58shador sanders that would be the case if you were going after a ty simpson who i think would be
04:02drafted
04:03much higher than those other guys and i know that browns will at least consider him at number six
04:08number 24 number 39 at this point i still think uh that shador has plenty over him just in terms
04:16of
04:16the experience that he's had here uh but you never really know you don't know exactly what these guys
04:22are thinking but i didn't come away from the combine thinking that any of these guys were going
04:26to be coming in to replace shador where is deshaun watson then in this scenario well i still think
04:34that todd needs to get a really good handle and feel for what he has in the current quarterback room
04:40and i think he's going to need to spend a little bit more time studying film getting to know these
04:45guys a little bit better when they come back in for the off-season program beginning on april 6th or
04:507th and uh i don't know if he is going to get to draft weekend and think you know we
04:56need to do
04:56something else or we have exactly what we need here in the room but as far as deshaun watson is
05:01concerned he's going to be right in the thick of it as of right now with shador sanders i mean
05:06he's
05:06going to have that chance to prove that he can be the quarterback that they traded for and that's
05:12not going to be easy he hasn't played a full season since 2020 he's coming off of three different
05:17surgeries on the shoulder and then the two on the achilles so i do think that he has a lot
05:24to prove
05:25and a lot to show them but they are intrigued i asked todd munkin specifically about that and he
05:30said he is intrigued by the notion of having a three-time pro bowler a once elite player in his
05:35qb room okay we just we just spent some time following what the browns have told us about adding a
05:44veteran option to that quarterback room and we just went through all kinds of guys we put them in
05:50tears and and talked about them a little bit there are only three guys who in the entire and there
05:57are
05:57tons of guys available only three guys who made us think this guy would be the answer at quarterback
06:03and daniel jones and malik willis were the top two guys we don't think they're coming here and kyler
06:09murray who might be an option can you think of anybody else that you would think would come in
06:16here and be the starting quarterback without any questions and do you think it's likely the browns
06:21bring in anybody who makes you think anything other than watson or shador
06:27in the veteran market right now at the moment i'm not feeling that yeah neither are we right i mean
06:34when i look at the the veteran options i don't see anyone that i think that they would point blank
06:40right now decide that um you know that they can be better than what they can get out of deshaun
06:46watson or even shador sanders i don't i've been saying this for weeks and weeks that i don't think
06:52malik willis is going to end up here uh because i think someone else will be willing to pay him
06:57the 30 million dollars if they can get that high that's what i think they're hoping for
07:02i think somebody else might be more willing to do that and then i just don't know if kyler murray
07:07is going to give you more than what you think you can get from deshaun right now so i don't
07:12know but
07:12the thing about free agency the trade market and the draft is that um you know it's not going to
07:21happen until it happens so you can think one thing on a tuesday and then things dramatically change
07:28when the market opens in 2022 we did not think that deshaun watson was coming here we did not think
07:36that they were prepared to move forward with baker mayfield until that trade landscape completely
07:42changed and shifted and they ended up with deshaun watson so those are the kinds of things that happen
07:48in free agency in the trade market so at this moment even though i don't see a veteran option
07:54that i think actually will come to fruition anything can change on a dime um when you i so you
08:03i mean
08:03you had a chance to talk to these offensive linemen and you know you got a good feel for it
08:07do you feel
08:08like the front office and the coaching staff is in lockstep on saying we want offensive linemen we want
08:15best available player or i'll even give you the third of the northeast ohio one best available buckeye you
08:20know what what direction do you think they might head in here as we go towards the draft pass free
08:25agency well i think that they really are very committed to best available player in the draft
08:33and that's important to do that because if you start drafting players that aren't the best available
08:38player you're going to have a roster full of players that aren't the best that you could possibly
08:42have had so uh you really have to pick the best player on your board at the time unless you
08:49know
08:49that you've got a starting franchise quarterback and that's who is your highest rated rated player
08:53at that moment but for the most part this year the draft strengths are matching up with the browns
09:01needs and that's offensive line and receiver and there are other really strong things to defensive end
09:06but i don't think they're going to have a problem with that i think that they'll be able to fulfill
09:11their needs in trades free agency and the draft because their strengths once again and their weaknesses
09:17are matching up with what they can fill their holes with
09:21i i just look at this draft mary k and i keep reading and seeing great defensive players at the
09:28top of the draft which makes me think boy you know if if you can add to a position of
09:32strength that's
09:33great we all know the issues on the offense what struck you at the combine was it the defensive
09:37talent was it the wide receivers offensive line what was it well it's hard to say because we are
09:43mostly talking to the players uh so you know our exposure to them at the combine is standing there
09:50in front of them asking questions and talking to them and then then of course i watched a lot of
09:55the
09:55drills and things like that on tv like everyone else does uh and i saw some things that i thought
10:00were really interesting that some of the defensive players the ohio state guys i mean my goodness the
10:06ohio the ohio state guys are so good in this draft and i just wouldn't be surprised if the
10:12end up with one of those guys there are so many good ones uh they really like uh the osu
10:17guys this
10:18regime does and uh they are plentiful in this draft and i wouldn't be surprised if they end up with
10:23another one mary k do you have a front runner for offensive linemen and you know munro freeling's name
10:29keeps popping up like crazy especially after the combine well there's another name i will throw out
10:34there and i did stand there in front of him and ask him questions and uh i stood for his
10:40whole 15
10:40minute press conference and really tried to get a feel for this guy and from a size standpoint very
10:45imposing an enormous huge guy and and that was caden proctor and i really liked him he's got a great
10:52personality he's dynamic he's huge he's six foot seven uh he just brings a lot to the table he's very
10:59athletic and i liked a lot about him now will the browns go after him i don't know i mean
11:04they are
11:04playing everything close to the vest right now they're still in their process and i'm sure they haven't
11:09even really set up their board yet and ranked those defense those offensive tackles uh but he was
11:15somebody that i would keep an eye on just because i was very impressed with him just from a physical
11:20standpoint and from a you know just a you know charisma standpoint he was just a really really cool guy
11:29to talk to and everything so i would just keep an eye on him and yeah all those other guys
11:35you know
11:35fano freeling lomu uh miller those are all guys to keep an eye on here as we move forward speaking
11:43of ohio state guys going back you know two questions there marvin harrison jr uh there's from you know
11:48a little bit of chatter here a little bit chatter there but in the back of my mind while i
11:52was listening
11:53to people say well marvin harrison jr for your second first rounder i kept hearing mary k cabot in the
11:58back of my go no don't forget it's silly season it's silly season what what'd you think of the
12:02marvin harrison jr chatter well i do think that um you know that sometimes where there's smoke
12:11there's fire but it is silly season and it is that time of year where we have to be really
12:15really
12:15careful of what we're hearing and what we're not hearing if people are saying something
12:20very definitive about what the browns are going to do at this point you have to take it with a
12:25grain
12:25of salt you really have to take it with a grain of salt because there's a lot of misdirection that's
12:29going on at this time of year and there are a lot of rumors and innuendo and it's hard to
12:34separate
12:35facts from fiction and you just have to do the best that you can what do you think of the
12:40trade
12:40yesterday picking up titus howard for a fifth round draft choice well it's hard to find a starting
12:47tackle in the nfl out there on the market and they did it they went out and they found a
12:51starting right
12:52tackle and they are paying him starting right tackle money so that is where i would expect him to land
12:57uh he's very very good against uh in pass blocking he's excellent in pass blocking uh he's got all
13:04the experience that you want in that realm uh so i think they're in good shape there uh he leaves
13:09a little bit to be desired in the run blocking space uh so so they might have to do some
13:15creative
13:16and different things in that regard uh but for the most part they went out and they filled a very
13:21very big need at tackle i think it's a pretty big deal and now they just have to keep worrying
13:27about
13:27the rest of that line mary k is is there a do you have a preference on this quarterback thing
13:33going
13:34into next year do you is there a mary k cabot this is what i think the browns could do
13:38at quarterback
13:39next year to be winners next year i'm not saying go through the playoffs and make it to the super
13:45but just to be winners next year is there a mary k cabot depth chart not really no there there
13:53really
13:53isn't at this point uh because like i said i don't look out there and see a viable veteran option
14:00that that i could actually say oh this is going to be the brown sam darnold and he's going to
14:04do
14:04exactly what they need him to do if there are a couple of guys like that that could fit the
14:09bill
14:09i don't think that they're going to either leave the current team that they're with
14:13or they're going to be priced out of the browns range uh so i don't have anything i mean
14:18in in a perfect world either dashawn or shador will come through for them uh and you know dashawn
14:26would play well and remind everyone of what he was like back in 2020 or shador will take that next
14:32step up and and really just keep uh pushing and grinding forward and becoming a viable quality
14:39nfl starter right now in my mind it's still between those two would you take a chance on anthony
14:44richardson to come in to compete um you know i'm not really sure i'm not really sure if i would
14:52do
14:52that or not i have to look a little bit more into that again i don't know if he would
14:57give you more
14:57than what you already have in the room the one thing i might do is if you think that you
15:03have seen enough
15:04from dylan gabriel i might consider moving him if you think you could get something for him
15:09and then adding a player that could come in here and either be a different developmental young
15:15quarterback out of some of those guys in the draft that we've talked about or maybe an anthony
15:21richardson that could fit the bill but not necessarily come in as your surefire bona fide starter
15:28well we're glad you're back from indy and get ready coordinators coming up and we'll be looking
15:33for all your coverage in the plain dealer on cleveland.com thank you mary k thanks mary k
15:37sure guys thanks for having me mary k cabot and you can read her in the plain dealer
15:41joining us on the make it right call kyle wright hotline
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