00:00We've missed the presence of our next guest, though, and we're happy to have him on here.
00:04We'll talk about Deshaun Watson. We'll talk the Chase DeLauder scuttlebutt on two straight shows
00:10on this station, by the way, on the Wiseheart Right. We make a right call. Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:15He joins us every single Tuesday, most Tuesdays, at about 4.20, and he's Cleveland's own,
00:22NBC Sports' very own, the great John Fantas, back with us. What's up, buddy?
00:27What is happening, guys? Great to be with you.
00:30It's great to have you back here. I honestly don't know which one I want to start with more,
00:36because I think you're going to give us something on CDL, but instead I will go to what feels like,
00:41from the last time you joined us two weeks ago, where you had a great promo, scalding hot promo,
00:48Deshaun Watson's over, donezo.
00:50Anybody that thought it'd be anything else is just an idiot, that type of stuff that you were saying.
00:54You used a couple pejoratives. It was really strong.
00:57Yeah, very strong. Great stuff.
00:58But since then...
01:00It was always going to look this way.
01:02It sure looks like Deshaun Watson's going to be the starting quarterback for the Browns.
01:06For sure.
01:06So what will your reaction be when and if Deshaun is named the starter in the next seven days?
01:12No, my reaction will be blah. I mean, my reaction will be I expect it.
01:17And there's a difference between what I would do versus what the Browns plan to do.
01:24And the fact of the matter is this.
01:26He is not a National Football League starting quarterback.
01:30He's just not.
01:32And guys, this competition is a joke.
01:37I mean, they don't have a quarterback.
01:40They just don't.
01:41And I would have looked into some sort of a veteran in the offseason because everybody's laughing at the Browns
01:53right now.
01:53The fact of the matter is this.
01:55Todd Munkin comes out yesterday and says that if he gets what he wants out of his starters on Thursday,
02:02that they're not playing in the second preseason game.
02:05Well, what about Shadur Sanders?
02:07Like, then you're not conducting an honest competition.
02:10This has been – it's not a competition.
02:14It's over.
02:15It's going to be Watson.
02:16And he's not an NFL starting quarterback.
02:18Not at that level.
02:20And so it's a disservice to the locker room.
02:22It's a disservice to the fans.
02:25And the Browns – I don't know how you could watch the preseason game
02:30and call anybody that we saw, anything that we saw, good quarterback play.
02:37It just doesn't meet the standard of the NFL.
02:40And the thing that makes me most upset about this is that the Browns have other pieces on their roster.
02:46They have other upside weapons on their roster.
02:51Then I'd be curious to see how good this team could be.
02:55But no franchise in professional sports has mismanaged one position
03:01more than the Cleveland Browns have mismanaged the quarterback position.
03:07It sounds like, John, you think that they put the finger on the scale, so to speak,
03:10in tilting this towards Deshaun.
03:12Is that accurate?
03:14Yes, because you put the finger on the scale and you tilt it to the way of $230 million.
03:20Jonathan, they don't want to be miserably wrong.
03:25They don't.
03:26They don't want to be wrong about this.
03:29But we all know it.
03:31And that's the thing.
03:32The players aren't dumb.
03:34You guys, for the most part, aren't dumb.
03:37I'm just kidding.
03:38You're very smart, the two of you.
03:40I can't believe you'd say that about Baskin and Phelps like that.
03:43They're going to be pissed.
03:45Yeah, Jeff Phelps hates me.
03:47No, he doesn't.
03:48I hope he doesn't.
03:49I like Jeff, but I don't want to.
03:52You're not going to defeat those allegations, kid.
03:57Here's the thing.
03:59This is a ridiculous trade.
04:03It just is, guys.
04:05And I know that it's dramatic.
04:08Look, they're feeding the National Network's material every single day of the week for this competition,
04:15which to me is over.
04:17So they are taking the scales to Deshaun because ultimately you're talking about not a first, not a second, not
04:26a third, not a fourth round pick.
04:28You're talking about, at the end of the day, a guy in Shador Sanders that 31 other teams kept saying
04:33no to about the most important position on the field.
04:37And, like, I don't know if Shador can pan out.
04:40I hope that he does.
04:41But don't you think, after watching Watson over the weekend, that if Sanders could pan out, he would just be
04:48the starting quarterback?
04:49Because how could you watch Watson play the position and say that he's going to show you something different?
04:56He looked no different than the prior times we've watched him, which has been bad.
05:01We all know how this is going to end.
05:04It's going to end poorly.
05:05And that's where I know that the Browns have seemed to draft well.
05:09They drafted well last year.
05:11And it looks like that they've drafted pretty well this year based on some early returns and based on all
05:16the things that we're hearing about Boston and, of course, Casey Concepcion and so on.
05:21But they just can't get this right.
05:24How can you get the quarterback spot this wrong?
05:26This wrong?
05:28So it's interesting, John.
05:30We do seem to have a fair amount of national folks starting to agree with us.
05:35Amina Kime said something like this on ESPN in the last 48 hours.
05:40I think Ben Solak, when he was on with us, said something similar, which is if the Browns only had
05:45a quarterback, right?
05:46Or the Browns are a quarterback away.
05:48So I'll ask you, give me a name of what you think is an average quarterback in the NFL.
05:58I mean, it's an average quarterback in the NFL.
06:03Maybe like a Brock Purdy.
06:04Is that average to you?
06:05Or are you more like a Baker Mayfield's average?
06:07I mean, I would take, I would take, no, I think Baker's a little bit above average.
06:12But like, guys, I would take Bryce Young today for Cleveland Browns and think that they'd be a better football
06:17team.
06:18All right.
06:18So if Bryce Young was brought in this offseason, if we do the, you know, let's get in the DeLorean.
06:25It's your kids, Marty, your kids.
06:26They went to the playoffs last year.
06:29Yeah, I'm aware.
06:32Tell Nick more about Panthers football, please.
06:34If we put Bryce Young on this Browns team, what do you think the Browns record would be?
06:41I think they, they could be a nine and eight football team and without, without him, with, without an average
06:48quarterback, I think they're with, with, with, uh, with one of the five, if not one of the worst three
06:55quarterback situations in the national football league.
06:58I think they're a four win football team.
07:02So the difference is, is four or five wins.
07:05Okay.
07:06Fair.
07:06Yeah.
07:06That sounds, that sounds fair.
07:07I think most people, if you're talking about what, what quarterback play you'd expect from Deshaun Watson versus let's say
07:12league average is somewhere between three, four or five wins.
07:15Sure.
07:16Guys, I would take Mac Jones.
07:19Like, I mean, I just, I would take, there's a, there's a lot of guys decent that I would take
07:24over this.
07:25Well, so did they, John, did they, did they screw this up then in making it Shador versus Deshaun?
07:29Should it have just been Deshaun versus somebody else?
07:32Or was it always going to end up being Deshaun for some of the reasons you've already laid out and
07:35that the Browns wanted it to be Deshaun?
07:39And they, they definitely wanted to be Deshaun.
07:43And I don't think that it should have just been Shador versus Deshaun.
07:47You know, also what is Dylan Gabriel's role in this?
07:49I mean, to me, the other thing about this is they're going to, I don't think that you're seeing Watson,
07:56Sanders, and Gabriel all stay on the, on the Cleveland Browns after all this is done.
08:03So there's going to be another move.
08:05I, I just, I would have brought in someone and there were, there were some options.
08:12Okay.
08:13I'm not saying that the cupboard was full of great options, but there were more options than what they've got
08:18currently.
08:19What they've got currently is they're going to start a guy who can't throw the football down the field.
08:24Like in a points league, in a points league, this guy cannot throw the ball more than 20 yards.
08:32I mean, I, I need to see it, to believe it.
08:35There's nothing about him.
08:36And I'm not saying he can't throw a football 20 yards.
08:39I'm saying he can't throw it in an NFL game against NFL players consistently down the field, deep shots that
08:47are accurate and on time.
08:49I mean, some of these requirements, we're talking bare minimum in a league where you've got to score.
08:55You have to score 30 points to win some of these games.
09:00If you're going to be any good, you're going to have to probably win a game where you have to
09:04score 20, 28 points.
09:06It feels like the Browns is going to be, if they're going to have any chance of winning, it's going
09:10to be a first to 14 game.
09:12And guess what?
09:13They'll probably pull three or four out of their hats and do that.
09:16But to me, like I would have made this Deshaun versus someone else.
09:22I mean, I, I, it's really up to me.
09:24I wouldn't have had Deshaun on the team, but that wasn't an option.
09:28That was never going to be an option.
09:29He can't play.
09:31And here's the other thing.
09:32If he's not starting guys, he, he's not a, he's not on the team.
09:37Like you're not having him as a backup quarterback.
09:41This is the only way you hatched your truck to this contract and you're paying the price of it every
09:49day.
09:51All right, John, we got the, uh, the giants in town today.
09:55Now we do have the, uh, guardians lineup up here.
09:58Do you have your favorite giants and guardians players in a all-star lineup?
10:03I had to play for both teams, giants and guardians.
10:06You want to do about 25 strong minutes on that one?
10:08Cause we can do it.
10:09Yeah.
10:10Let's take a deep dive, but there's so much OPS there.
10:14But, uh, after leaving the, uh, the game on Sunday, CDL is not in the starting.
10:19Let's chase a lot to, uh, to, uh, to family and friends.
10:22I, and it, which led to this, uh, strong Donnie Brooke between basket and Phelps earlier today.
10:28You're ready for it.
10:30All right, here we go.
10:31He's got to play now.
10:32No, he doesn't.
10:33Yes, he does.
10:33He has a slight hamstring strain.
10:35You sit him.
10:36They, they took about the other day.
10:38He got an extra day's rest.
10:39He's fine.
10:40Get back out there.
10:41Is this the hockey mentality?
10:43You'd never think anybody you should take care of from a physical standpoint.
10:48If he has a hamstring issue and he goes out and he tries to explode out of the batter's box,
10:54he yanks it.
10:55They said they were doing this out of an abundance of caution.
10:59Okay, that's fine.
11:00Can we trust the team on this one?
11:01Sure, absolutely.
11:02Then get his back out there.
11:04Well, no, you need to trust the team.
11:07You just said trust the team and then you said get his back out there.
11:10Yeah, that's because they said they did this out of an abundance of caution.
11:13Yeah, well, what if they're cautious again tonight?
11:15You're going to yell at him?
11:16All right, so he's not in the starting lineup.
11:17So we mentioned that.
11:19He's self-censor, by the way.
11:20Which of the extremes do you take in this?
11:24Do you take Baskin's position or Phelps' position?
11:30I am taking the position of he doesn't need to be in the starting lineup.
11:36And also, none of us are doctors, so we don't abundance of caution,
11:43but it could lead to, you know what, he really does have an issue.
11:46I mean, this guy is, he's a rookie.
11:50I'm sure if he, I don't think it's a lack of wanting to play.
11:54I'm sure he wants to be in there.
11:56This is a 60 and 65 ball club.
12:00And the reason why we're talking about them still is because the American League is as bad as I have
12:08ever seen it.
12:09Ever, ever.
12:11And the third wild card race is, I mean, it is a week 17 Browns-Jets game.
12:20Like, that's where we're at with the third wild card in the American League.
12:23It's just that rough.
12:25He doesn't need to be in there if he's got an issue.
12:28Why would you further destroy him or further hurt him?
12:32You know, I know these games are important for trying to get that wild card and trying to keep your
12:38pulse.
12:39But if Chase DeLauter has an issue of any sort, why are you compounding it when you are not a
12:45championship caliber team?
12:47So the debate, John, the debate we came into is if he's 90 to 95 percent, if he's like, if
12:53he's right on the edge of basically being cleared and being 100 percent,
12:56is that enough to go ahead in a giant series that kicks off basically a four-series stretch where you
13:02need to get easier teams,
13:04you should be better, you're within striking distance of the playoffs, everything that we've talked about.
13:09But, like, basically they need to just not fall down over the next couple games and make sure they get
13:14these games against the Giants.
13:15Way to put your finger on the scale there.
13:18Yeah, yeah, way to put your finger on the scale.
13:20Well, sometimes I've got to do that.
13:23Yeah, but here's the thing, too.
13:25What happens if he misses tonight and he plays the rest of the week?
13:29What if this is just a precautionary day off?
13:31Yeah, what if they lose this game?
13:32They had yesterday off, so two days off after he was taken off in the third inning of Sunday's game?
13:39Okay.
13:40Team is spiraling right now.
13:42Don't let him blow a dog, yeah.
13:43Team is spiraling right now.
13:44They can't win games as is.
13:46You're supposed to be beating these Giants teams.
13:48Yeah, and guess what?
13:50If you're any good, you should beat them regardless of whether you have them or you don't.
13:53I don't think they're good enough to do that.
13:54I think they're not good enough to do that right now.
13:56I think they need DeLauter.
13:57He's been one of their best players.
13:59But that's just it.
14:00Yeah, he has been one of their best players.
14:01But boy, what's that gotten them as well?
14:03I mean, collectively, this lineup has been historically terrible since the All-Star break.
14:12To a point that the bigger conversation is, what is going on developmentally hitting-wise with this organization?
14:20Like, let's talk about what Chase DeLauter, I don't mind him not playing tonight.
14:24It sounds like you take issue with that.
14:26I told you this team couldn't hit three weeks ago, and you guys both yelled at me.
14:31Well, we thought that they would get reinforcements, and guess what?
14:33They actually did more than I even thought they would.
14:36Those reinforcements have actually been good, and the rest of the team has somehow regressed.
14:42Somehow they've managed to be even worse than they were.
14:45So, I mean, at the time, I thought this is the most gettable that a playoff spot's ever been in
14:52the AL,
14:52and the Guardians have shown time and again that they normally fight through that.
14:55And wouldn't it be something if, you know, after all this, they still were able to get into the playoffs?
15:00But the fact is, we're talking about Chase DeLauter like he's a quarterback on an NFL team.
15:05I mean, he's had a good year for them.
15:08But this is a ball club that should be able to capitalize on this 12-game stretch,
15:16but has shown you absolutely nothing since the All-Star break to say that they could.
15:21They got embarrassed by the Mets, and they've gotten embarrassed by several teams that are not very good themselves,
15:29and they're not playing like a playoff team.
15:31They're playing closer to the bottom than they are the top.
15:33So, I'm okay with DeLauter sitting out tonight, especially if it means that he's going to be back tomorrow
15:39and the rest of the week and going forward.
15:41But to act like whether or not you beat the Giants hinges on him is a little silly to me.
15:48Well, all right.
15:49Strong stuff there, John.
15:50You didn't let him bulldog it.
15:51Proud of you, buddy.
15:52Great stuff, and we'll talk to you next week.
15:53No, barking back.
15:54I'm barking back at JP.
15:56I just got tired.
15:58Get back in your dog's house.
16:01Okay.
16:01That's enough of that, John Panta.
16:03On the Wise Heart Ride, we make it right.
16:05Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
16:07We'll react to what he had to say.
16:08Also, if he's the one barking back, shouldn't he be in the dog's house?
16:10I don't know, but you're both barking, and I appreciate you both.
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