00:00A little surprise guest for everybody here, as we are welcomed by Hall of Famer, Hall of Fame Farms Beef.
00:07Piece of beef himself, if you ask many people on the Instagrams.
00:11Joe Thomas joining us now. What's up, buddy?
00:13Hey, what's up, guys? It's great to see you out here today.
00:15It's great to see you. Now, no pressure. Who won today, Deshaun or Shador?
00:21Deshaun. I thought Deshaun had a great day today.
00:23I mean, I think this was clearly, by what everybody has said, because I haven't been here for every day,
00:28this was his best day of practice by a long shot.
00:31He was sharp. He was on time. He was on the money.
00:33He was throwing the football in tight windows.
00:36They had a little red zone period down here where I think he completed almost every pass for a touchdown.
00:41And he was operating the way you would expect a very good starter in the NFL would.
00:46Yeah, I mean, Joe, yesterday he was awful. There's just no other way to put it.
00:49He wasn't good. And then to turn around today, why is that?
00:52Is it just inconsistency with him?
00:55How do we get to a spot where he can be as bad as he was yesterday?
00:57And then today, basically unstoppable.
01:00Yeah, I mean, that's a great question.
01:01I'm sure the coaches and Deshaun himself is asking, like, how can I be so bad in one day
01:06and then come back the next day in some challenging situations and play so well, look so proficient?
01:11So you hope that, OK, now tomorrow, can he follow through?
01:14That's the big thing for me.
01:15Anybody can have one good day of practice.
01:17But can you put good practice after good practice and stack good days together
01:21where now we say this is what we expect out of him instead of expecting the up-and-down rollercoaster
01:27ride?
01:27So we were actually talking about this because, you know, as soon as something good happens out there,
01:32we see the narratives begin to emerge on social media.
01:35It happens so quick now.
01:36And so one of the things that we saw when Shador was playing fine, solid, adequate,
01:41however you want to against the ones was, well, is he winning it or is Deshaun losing it maybe?
01:49What's kind of the difference there?
01:50Like in the locker room, what's the difference between somebody winning a starting job by default
01:54and somebody really being pushed and the perception being that they won that job and took that job?
02:00I think for everybody in the locker room and for Browns fans, you want two guys to win the job.
02:04And then you want it to be a tough choice between two guys that everybody in the locker room believes
02:09in.
02:10If they're not playing well, which at times so far in training camp, it's been, all right,
02:14we got two guys and really we don't like either one of them the way they're playing right now.
02:18So the difference is that consistency.
02:20It's the difference of I'm a receiver, I'm getting open, I'm the read, and I'm getting the football.
02:25If they can do that consistently, then the locker room's going, yeah, I love this guy.
02:29This is my guy, and that's something that Coach Munkin has said throughout training camp,
02:33going back to minicamp OTAs when he was here.
02:36He says, I'm not going to pick the starting quarterback.
02:38The players are going to pick it.
02:39And what he's saying is the quarterback is going to dictate who wins,
02:43and the players that are the receivers, they're going to know.
02:46The team will know because the players decide with how they play, how they perform,
02:50how consistently can they operate the offensive play that I've called.
02:54Joe, when you were drafted, it wasn't a question.
02:55You were starting week one.
02:57That was it.
02:57And most left tackles, that's the case.
02:58Spencer Fano, it sounded like today Munkin is really not committed to that being the idea quite yet.
03:04He doesn't know, hasn't made up his mind.
03:06Is this more about him almost pulling a Mike Tomlin with Broderick Jones thing
03:09where he's got to try to maybe earn it, and we'll see it a little bit later on?
03:12Or what's happening there with Fano?
03:15Yeah, you've heard Coach Munkin talk about he wants everybody to earn it, right?
03:18He wants competition across the board.
03:20And there's a lot of theories, you know, depending on the coaching tree you come from.
03:24And my third year in the NFL, Eric Mangini came in, and his thing was competition, right?
03:28Because it came from Belichick and Parcells, and that's what they wanted.
03:31Didn't matter who you were.
03:32You had to earn your job every single day.
03:35Some coaches are like, well, hey, these are our starters, and we want them to get all the refs possible.
03:39Everybody knows who's going to be the starter, so who are we fooling?
03:42And I think both have merit.
03:43It's pretty clear that Munk wants competition.
03:46He wants to push these guys, and he wants to say that if Spencer is our starting left tackle,
03:51it's not because of draft position.
03:52It's because he's done something on the field to earn it.
03:54And I think that's how you earn the respect of your teammates around you.
03:57As a man who is pretty – I'm not trying to blow smoke here – pretty good at left tackle
04:00himself.
04:01I know you've watched film on Spencer.
04:03I know you've had conversations with Spencer.
04:07What's the thing that he's got to get to be able to be that guy by week one?
04:11So I'd say two big things that is not necessarily his fault.
04:14It's just coming from the college game and the scheme that he played in at Utah
04:18and what you're going to see in the NFL is in college they're running a lot of short passes.
04:24It's a lot of the quick run and shoot, fast passes, air raid type stuff,
04:29where the offensive line really even in pass protection, they're not setting back.
04:33They're not setting off the line of scrimmage.
04:35It's aggressive.
04:35It's run blocking.
04:36It's short setting.
04:37And you're taking short choppy steps.
04:39Now, Spencer's going to the NFL.
04:42You need to be able to cover more ground because your quarterbacks are dropping back.
04:46You're getting more of those drop back.
04:48You're pushing the football down the field.
04:49Your receivers are running deeper routes.
04:51You're going against Jared Verse, who's running very, very fast,
04:5510 yards up the field from a wide alignment.
04:57You have to be able to cover that ground.
04:59So just making that change and that adjustment from being more of a short setter,
05:02being more aggressive in pass protection,
05:04to having to cover that ground and that space to be able to get to that spot,
05:08seven and a half yards deep, to be ready for contact against a defensive end,
05:11who, by the way, is already faster and more athletic
05:15and probably better looking than you are as a tackle.
05:18And that's no fault of your own.
05:19That's just the nature of the business.
05:21And the second thing is learning how to get off the ball quickly at the snap.
05:25That's the number one advantage that we have.
05:27We know the snap count.
05:28They don't.
05:29In the NFL, defensive ends, you've seen them for miles for years when he was here.
05:33He beats the tackle off the snap, runs around him.
05:36You can't even get a hand on him.
05:37He gets the sack.
05:38You've got to be able to learn how to win the snap.
05:41It's not as important in college because guys don't time the snap up
05:44the way they do in the NFL.
05:45So that, in a nutshell, are probably the two things that I'm looking for from Spencer
05:49the most to see that progression and that progress during training camp.
05:52Yeah, so you didn't have some of those problems because you're obviously great.
05:54But I remember, like, Miles Garrett versus Jed Wills.
05:57Like, at a certain point, everyone's like, oh, this is great.
05:59He's going to learn from them.
06:00This is awesome.
06:01At some point, it's like, this seems really demoralizing.
06:03Like, he's just getting beat out there every single play.
06:05Like, Jared Verse has been destroying Fano.
06:08I mean, he really has.
06:09At what point does that stop becoming, oh, I get to go up against the, you know,
06:12this game's great and this guy that's awesome,
06:15and it does just kind of hit you from a confidence standpoint?
06:18Yeah, that's the challenge.
06:20And, I mean, that was the challenge of going against Miles Garrett, right?
06:22I've said he's the greatest defensive player in history, and I stand by that.
06:25But he's got the sack record for a reason because he's going to beat all pro tackles
06:30that are in their seventh and eighth year in the NFL like a drum every single rep,
06:34especially in practice.
06:36Situationally, you kind of know what's happening typically.
06:38And there's a danger, and it's not pushing me anymore.
06:41It's just destroying my confidence because I'm losing so quickly,
06:44I can't even work on my technique, right?
06:46There's a good competition where I win some, he wins some,
06:49and then there's me playing my 10-year-old son in basketball,
06:52and I just back him in and, you know, slam dunk on him.
06:54That's how you make a man.
06:5511 times in a row.
06:56And he's going, well, I'm not really getting anything out of this anymore, Dad.
06:59Thanks a lot.
07:00All right, so you're a little more rosy than Vegas is.
07:04I'm a little more rosy than Vegas.
07:06And the difference for me year over year is,
07:08last year they were selling a vision that I couldn't quite see.
07:12Whether it was Kenny Pickett, whether it was,
07:14I didn't think they had enough guys on offense.
07:17The offensive line, especially on the tackle spot, was thin.
07:21This year I see it.
07:22Like, this year I can see, oh, I think you're pretty deep at offensive line.
07:26This year you've got some young wide receivers,
07:28and I don't think it's going to be all about the quarterback this year.
07:31I think the quarterback can just be a part of the offense.
07:34But what has to happen?
07:36By the way, do you agree or disagree?
07:37And then two, what has to happen?
07:38What's the piece that unlocks everything falling into place for that to be the case?
07:44I agree, number one.
07:46You're welcome.
07:47We got the clip.
07:48We got that clip.
07:49Clip that one up, put it on socials.
07:51Number two, I think it's going to come down to the offensive line
07:54because we're the ones on the offensive line that set the table
07:56for those other guys to have success.
07:58You know, with the Hall of Fame Farms,
08:00we've been going through all these branding meetings
08:01and talking about mission, vision, values, and purpose.
08:04And I always reflect back on what I know, right, left tackle.
08:07For me, the joy that I had when I was playing football
08:09is if I could do my job and set the table
08:12so that the receiver and the quarterback can be the hero.
08:14They're the guys that throw the touchdown pass,
08:16the fans are cheering for, the players are carrying them off the field.
08:19That gives me the greatest joy.
08:20That's what I want to do.
08:21And for this team to be successful,
08:23we think the defense is going to be pretty good.
08:26We've got some great receivers.
08:27I think we've seen it out there.
08:28We saw Boston today just shredding.
08:30And from what I'm hearing, that's the way he's been all training camp.
08:35Casey Concepcion, same thing.
08:36Like, they have weapons at receiver now that they didn't have last year.
08:40But to be able to utilize those weapons,
08:42they need protection up front.
08:43And I think if they can get that and they can have a solid running game,
08:46which we think Quinchan Judkins can be a very good running back in this league.
08:49He's proven it already.
08:50They can run the football like that.
08:52They can protect the quarterback.
08:53Then the quarterback doesn't have so much pressure to do it all himself
08:56and to be the guy.
08:58And he can just play within the offense and take what the defense gives him.
09:01And they're going to be able to be an efficient offense,
09:03moving the ball, scoring points.
09:05Will they score 40 a game?
09:06Probably not.
09:07They don't have that player at quarterback right now.
09:09However, they can be balanced and they can be hard to defend
09:13because they can put defenses in a bind because they can be physical up front,
09:16they can run the ball, and they've got weapons at receiver that can make plays,
09:20not only just catching the football, but catching the football,
09:23breaking tackles, and going the distance.
09:24Is there anybody out there today that kind of, maybe not even surprised you,
09:28but you're like, wow, that guy's really good?
09:31Other than Nick Wilson and Jonathan Peter.
09:33Other than the great Browns beat media and the radio guys over here, I mean.
09:39You mentioned Denzel Boston.
09:41Denzel Boston was a guy that, you know, talking to Zagura was like, wow,
09:45this guy's a real deal.
09:46You know, Z's been hammering the table for months, years about, hey,
09:50we need weapons at receiver.
09:51To be able to get a guy like that in the second round and then all of a sudden
09:54he shows up and he is as advertised, if not better, makes you very,
09:58very excited because big, physical, can catch the football, make plays,
10:02and opens up you as an offensive coordinator and us as fans to be able to
10:07truly evaluate the quarterback play.
10:09It was tough at times last year to be able to really know who we have at
10:12quarterback because we just didn't have receivers that could catch the football.
10:15We didn't have receivers that could get open.
10:17So it's hard to evaluate everybody if you feel like maybe some of the things
10:21are going well on the offense, but the ball's getting dropped
10:24or the receiver's not in the right spot or they're just not getting open.
10:28Joe, the University of Akron football team is doing a thing that you can win
10:33the opportunity to be the offensive coordinator for a day for the Akron
10:38Zips program against, they're playing like Howard or somebody.
10:42It's the first series is what it is.
10:43Yeah, the first series.
10:44They're playing Robert Morris.
10:45Oh, Bobby Moe.
10:46All right, so let's say that this was Joe Thomas.
10:49What is the first, how do you script that first drive?
10:52First drive, oh man, I'm going deep.
10:54Right off the bat, we're going play action.
10:56Well, you want to convert some first downs, right, to keep the drive going up.
10:58Well, I only get one drive, so I'm going bigger or going home.
11:01You've got to convert some first downs.
11:02If I get two first downs and we made 15 yards or 20 yards and punted,
11:06like I don't care.
11:07Three Hail Marys, is that what we're doing here?
11:08No, I'm not saying Hail Mary.
11:09I'm saying hard play action, you know, we're selling the outside zone
11:13and then we're going deep.
11:14That doesn't work.
11:15That's okay.
11:15We're lining right up.
11:16We're not getting back in the huddle.
11:18We're running another play, Chip Kelly style, 10 seconds later,
11:21and now we're going back to the outside zone.
11:23But I'm giving my quarterback the option to call it based on the strength
11:26of the defense.
11:27And then on third down, well, let's just assume we didn't get a touchdown
11:30on that, either one of the first two plays, which is unlikely.
11:33However, if we don't score on any one of those first two,
11:35now it's third down.
11:37Now we'll spread them out a little bit.
11:38Now I'm just going to try to convert with a sticks play
11:41and then hopefully keep the drive going and just do it again.
11:43Your guy Big Cat has bought season tickets already.
11:46Has he really?
11:47We bought all sorts of people that bought season tickets now trying
11:50to win this play.
11:50I love it.
11:51I love it.
11:51That's a great incentive.
11:53It's awesome.
11:54Bring the fans in.
11:54We should do that in the NFL.
11:56We'll talk to the haslum, see what they think.
11:58Might have to do that one of the preseason.
12:00All right, what's the latest on Hall of Fame Farms?
12:03Yeah, so it's an exciting week for us.
12:05So the guys drove from the farm yesterday all day,
12:08came out to Canton, Ohio.
12:09Fan Fest, as you know, is going on in the grounds of the Hall of Fame.
12:13Big festival.
12:13They got, you know, food trucks, vendors, music, all sorts of media.
12:18It's going to be down there doing shows live from outside the Pro Football
12:22Hall of Fame.
12:23We've got a mobile butcher unit out there.
12:26We're not actually doing the butchery, but we've got all the meats.
12:29We have the meats.
12:30Sorry, Arby's.
12:31We're setting it up.
12:32We've got our 27-foot freezer trailer out there, big tent.
12:35We've got our friends, Mr. Brisket, smoking Hall of Fame Wagyu briskets
12:39for samples.
12:40We've got Ant's Barbecue from Youngstown, Ohio, doing smash burgers for sale.
12:44And then we're selling all of our Hall of Fame beef steaks, the jerky,
12:47the stuff that you guys love, all the fresh steaks.
12:49We've got everything going on there.
12:50I'm going to stop by.
12:51Big activation, big opportunity for the first time ever to be able to buy
12:55Hall of Fame Farms products in Ohio.
12:5810% discount.
12:59Also extending it during Hall of Fame week to try to take care of our fans
13:03and our friends here in Northeast Ohio.
13:05Now I'm hungry.
13:05Joe, it's great with you, buddy.
13:07Great to see you, buddy.
13:08Great stuff, and enjoy this week.
13:10It's your week, Hall of Famer.
13:11Thanks a lot, guys.
13:12I appreciate you having me on.
13:13Joe Thomas, Hall of Famer, halloffamefarms.com.
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