00:00We head out to the Wiseheart Wright, We Make It Right, Call Kyle Wright Hotline, and welcome
00:04on Fox Sports NFL reporter and columnist, Ralph Vacchiano, who is in Cleveland covering
00:10the Browns today.
00:11Ralph, welcome back to the show.
00:15Thanks, guys.
00:16How you doing?
00:17Well, it's great to have you.
00:19We're doing all right here.
00:20A little hungover for a Monday, Ralph, and a little pissed that I'm still hungover at
00:23six o'clock at night.
00:27I get that.
00:28I've had that happen before.
00:30I understand.
00:31All right.
00:31Let's go ahead and get to Berea and what you saw and what you heard today.
00:35What did you hear out in Berea?
00:39Well, I heard a surprising amount of optimism, which I wasn't necessarily expecting.
00:46You know, the outside perception of the Browns has long been that they're a bit of a mess.
00:53Obviously, their quarterback situation, that's iffy, but a lot of people I talked to around
00:58that team, while they understand the issues, they like the young talent that they've assembled.
01:05And I don't know that anybody's predicting a great team or maybe not even a good team,
01:10but I think they believe they've got the talent there to be competitive and finally start to
01:16grow in the right direction.
01:18Obviously, the quarterback's still an issue, but the surrounding pieces, I think, you know,
01:22they feel like they're starting to put a team in place.
01:26As far as the quarterback is concerned, you watch both of them.
01:29Shador Sanders and Deshaun Watson up close and personal today.
01:31What were your impressions of each quarterback?
01:37You know, it's hard to know from watching just one practice.
01:41You know, I don't think, I think watching Deshaun Watson, he doesn't quite look like what you
01:48might remember him from, oh, five years ago or so.
01:52You know, obviously, he's an older veteran now, and there's probably still a lot of rust.
01:58But, you know, you look at a lot of veteran quarterbacks and training camps around the
02:02league, and they're pretty crisp, and they don't miss on much.
02:05You know, it should be easy for them in camp and preseason games.
02:09And it looks like it might be a little bit more of a struggle for him than a regular veteran.
02:14I think Shador Sanders is kind of in the same boat.
02:17It's like both of them are still trying to pick up the offense a little bit.
02:22And I got the sense that it really is kind of an open competition.
02:25I don't think either one of them has stepped forward and kind of claimed the job just yet.
02:30Oh, it's interesting you say that, Ralph, because, you know, judging off of Todd Munkin's
02:36comments in the preseason game, number one there, about Deshaun's performance, and even
02:44today, and kind of laying out how they're going to split the practice reps this week, it kind
02:50of feels like Deshaun is not just in the lead right now.
02:53It feels like, I don't know, something Herculean for Shador is going to have to happen for him
02:58to actually have a chance of winning it this week.
03:01That's not how you see it, though?
03:06I think short-term, you're probably right.
03:09I mean, I've kind of read the tea leaves on what Todd Munkin has said, you know, throughout
03:14training camp.
03:14And I would agree he's probably leading towards Deshaun Watson.
03:17I think some of that has to do with the fact that they open on the road, you know, first
03:23two games on the road.
03:24If I'm not mistaken, they have six of their first nine on the road, too, which, you know,
03:28it might lead him to go with more of a veteran presence so he can kind of run the rest
03:33of
03:33the offense.
03:34That seems to make the most sense to me.
03:36But I think if you're asking, you know, who is the more viable quarterback, who's going
03:41to be the one that emerges this season, I think Todd Munkin's really leaving it open
03:47that Shador Sanders could take that job at some point.
03:51You know, one of the things he mentioned to me, I had a chance to talk to him after practice.
03:55He mentioned to me that, you know, which is true, he said he wasn't here last year.
03:59He's not kind of really tied necessarily to either guy.
04:03And he doesn't know what the evaluations of the previous staff would be, but he's coming
04:08in with a fresh look.
04:09And because of that, I think he's going by what he sees, what he's seen on film, what
04:13he sees in practice.
04:14So, yeah, he'll probably go with Sean Watson at the start, but I wouldn't be surprised
04:20if he turns to Shador Sanders at some point, you know, maybe not too far down the line,
04:24assuming he shows in practice that he can handle it.
04:27If it was yourself, what decision would you go with?
04:33Well, I'd probably go with Sean Watson for exactly the same reasons.
04:38You know, I always would prefer to have a veteran quarterback.
04:41I always would prefer to have somebody who can go in there and, you know, has handled
04:46himself before when things go wrong.
04:48It's like he's not seeing it necessarily for the first time.
04:51I would feel differently if, as part of the organization, I had made a determination that
04:58Shador Sanders is my future.
05:00He's the guy we're building around.
05:02I think you've got to play him in that case and really get him, you know, a feel for being
05:06in the starting job.
05:07But I just don't get the sense that that's the case here.
05:10This is not a kid that they are ready to give the keys to the franchise to.
05:15They want to make him earn it.
05:17And until he actually earns it, I would go with the veteran every time.
05:21Ralph Acchiano, Fox Sports, NFL columnist and reporter on the Weishart, right?
05:26We make it right.
05:27Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
05:28So you did get the first look, a virtual first look at the Browns new stadium.
05:36Just what stood out to you, what you saw in kind of that immersive experience today?
05:43Well, it's pretty wild.
05:44They opened something called the Browns Experience, which is, it seems like a marketing type of
05:50thing where they can sell season tickets and, you know, bring fans in.
05:54They've got to pump them up about it.
05:55But one of the cool things was they had this little, like, they called it the immersive
06:00cube.
06:00If you're a Star Trek fan, it's like the holodeck.
06:03You walk into this little closet-sized room and it lights up and you're surrounded on all
06:09the walls and the ceiling and the floor by what it looks like to be if you were standing
06:13in the middle of the field.
06:14And, excuse me, the stadium from that view, obviously, it's just a virtual tour.
06:20It looked beautiful.
06:21It looked like it was really well done.
06:22Huge concourses.
06:25You know, I don't know how everybody in the Northeast is going to love a roof, but the
06:30roof looks spectacular.
06:31A nice, transparent roof.
06:34Obviously, lots of seats.
06:36They've got a wall of seats on one end that the dog pound will be in.
06:40You know, it just looked like it was a very comfortable place that I think fans will like
06:45a lot.
06:45A lot of parking and tailgate areas and party areas, which I know is a big part of the experience.
06:51So, you know, I thought it was really well done.
06:53It looked like, to me, some stadiums just look like they are embracing a tradition and
06:59you can tell that it belongs to the team.
07:01And it looked like a Cleveland Browns type thing.
07:04I come from, you know, I live in New York where they built the MetLife Stadium with
07:08the Jets and Giants.
07:09And it's just a big silver cube.
07:11It's not really, you can't tell if the Giants or Jets stadium.
07:14This looked like the Browns stadium at something that I think the fans can be proud of.
07:19So, but it wasn't cooker-cutty, right?
07:20Cooker, cookie-cutter, excuse me.
07:22I couldn't get that out.
07:23It wasn't anything like that.
07:24It was unique in and of itself.
07:29Yeah, absolutely.
07:30You know, kind of a unique design, little, I try to remember off the top of my head,
07:34it's kind of angular, maybe triangle-type roofs and archways and things like that.
07:39You know, very modern-looking.
07:41Now, again, these are, it hasn't been built yet.
07:43I know they just broke ground, so this is just what the plans look like and what their
07:47virtual tour is.
07:48It might change.
07:49You know, we heard from the people up in Buffalo, I'm actually headed up there now to
07:53see Highmark Stadium, and everybody loved that until they got there and they saw all
07:58the obstructed view seats and things like that.
08:00So, things could change, but from my virtual view, standing on their virtual 50-yard line,
08:05it looked pretty good.
08:06All right, Ralph.
08:07I know Berea was your sixth stop in training camp.
08:12I know that you just went to Steelers camp.
08:14We always like to look over the fence there and see what the rivals are doing.
08:19What stood out to you, what you heard out there at Steelers camp?
08:26Well, what stood out to me mostly was that I thought Aaron Rodgers looked pretty good.
08:32You know, I watched him a lot last year.
08:34I saw a bunch of Steelers games and never thought he quite looked like himself.
08:39You know, a little bit of the mobility gone, a little bit of the arm strength gone.
08:43He's still sharp as a tack and can run an offense, but he was a little bit of a drag
08:48on the team.
08:49Again, it was only one practice, but he looked good.
08:52His arm strength was terrific.
08:53He was zipping the ball downfield.
08:55He's got more weapons than he had before.
08:58I didn't have a lot of high hopes for this Steelers team, but I might have changed my mind a
09:03little bit.
09:03I think that Aaron Rodgers is 42.
09:05He's got to stay healthy.
09:06He's got to stay upright.
09:08But if he can, you know, they might be pretty good there.
09:11That offense might be a little more dangerous than a lot of people think.
09:13You also saw a joint practice involving the Bucs and the Jets.
09:17Baker Mayfield, what do you think happens there with Tampa Bay?
09:20Does he re-sign, or do we end up with him in a Steelers uniform a year from now, or
09:24even, I don't know, dare I say, a Browns uniform a year from now?
09:30Yeah, it's really interesting.
09:32I'm a little surprised they hadn't re-signed him, and I'm assuming it's money, and he's asking for a lot
09:37more than they're willing to go.
09:39So, you know, if they don't re-sign him, I mean, he's going to be able to name his price,
09:44I think, at some point, because if he gets closer to free agency, he's obviously going to be really attractive.
09:50If you don't have a quarterback and there's a guy like Baker Mayfield available, you're going to go the extra
09:55mile to get him, you know, especially if you don't have a top five or six pick in the draft
10:01next year.
10:02I know there's a lot of quarterbacks coming out.
10:03So, I think they might push again to sign him, but if it goes towards the end of the season,
10:10I think you're going to see him hitting free agency, and there's going to be a lot of teams lining
10:14up for him.
10:15The Steelers certainly could be one of them.
10:17They like Drew Aller, their young quarterback from Penn State, but he's just in his first year, and they wouldn't
10:23mind having somebody short-term sitting in front of him, I don't think, obviously, if Aaron Rodgers retires.
10:28So, that's definitely something to watch down the road.
10:31All right, Ralph, big picture.
10:33How do you see the four teams stacking up in the AFC North?
10:40You know, I think it's going to be a lot better and more competitive than it was a year ago.
10:45I think the Baltimore Ravens, to me, are probably the class of the division.
10:50I think that, you know, they might have been last year, Lamar Jackson had stayed healthy.
10:54So, you get him healthy, you know, Derek Henry, I'm assuming that Jesse Minter can fix the defense.
11:00They're my pick to win it all.
11:01I think the Cincinnati Bengals, the Joe Burrow healthy, are probably a threat to stay right on their heels.
11:08Now, they always get off to a slow start, so they've got to avoid that, and probably the Steelers right
11:13behind them.
11:13I think for the Browns, they're just in a tough spot until that quarterback emerges.
11:17I like a lot of their young talent.
11:19I think they're building a team in the right direction, but if you don't have that quarterback, you've got a
11:25four- or five-win team.
11:26So, right now, that's what they look like to me.
11:29Unless Deshaun Watson or Shador Sanders emerges, but I think that would be a surprise to a lot of people,
11:34even in Cleveland.
11:34I saw you'd pick Harold Fannin Jr. as your breakout candidate for the Browns this year.
11:39We all love Harold Fannin.
11:40We think he's exceptional.
11:41What's that ceiling look like for Harold, though?
11:43Can we get as easy as a top-five tight end in the game this year, or is that too
11:48early?
11:52No, I think he's got the skills to do it.
11:55It might be, you know, if you're talking just for numbers' sake, you know, to be like an 80-catch,
12:001,000-yard, 10-touchdown guy, to me, he's only limited by his quarterback.
12:05You know, can the quarterback get the ball to him enough to do that?
12:08I think if they target him that much and they've got a quarterback who can play, then yeah.
12:12I mean, he's also, you know, if Shador Sanders is the guy, maybe even for Deshaun Watson, he's trying to
12:18pick up the offense and find his groove a little bit.
12:21A tight end is always the best friend of a young quarterback, a struggling quarterback, so he certainly could be
12:27a high-volume guy.
12:28So I wouldn't be surprised about that.
12:31If the quarterbacks are even just good, I think he could have an elite season.
12:35If they stink, well, you know, that's going to drag everybody down, and there's really nothing you can do about
12:40that.
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