00:00Today has been a big day. Yesterday was a big day. And to sum it all up, to get his
00:05opinion
00:05on the Browns handling of the Deshaun Watson situation we had to the Weishart Wright, we
00:10make it right. Call Kyle Wright Hotline and welcome on of the MMQBS. We do every single
00:15Tuesday at 520, Albert Breer. What's up, Albert? How you doing, bud?
00:19Yeah, it sounds like everybody's excited about the season there, huh?
00:21Oh, yeah, yeah. Hey, we are being very vocal right now. So I guess we can start. I know
00:27we want to get into the Deshaun stuff here, but I guess I want to get to the reaction
00:31of this. Do you think the Browns were caught off guard by the reaction to Deshaun Watson
00:36being named the starter this week?
00:42No, I think they knew what it was going to be. I think, honestly, I think the reaction
00:52like was what anyone would have expected, given like what the reaction in the stadium
00:58was. And like, I honestly think like a part of why they built out the plan they did, the
01:06way they did, and having Deshaun start on the road in the first game and having to do or
01:10get the home game, I think that it was a factor in that, too. You know, so I don't think
01:17they
01:17were totally caught off guard by any of it. Now, was it a little more intense than maybe
01:21they might have expected? Sure. But I don't think that anybody was stunned that the fan
01:28base reacted the way that it did. And by the way, like I'll defend Cleveland fans here.
01:33They should be thankful for it because after the last three decades that you guys have endured,
01:39the fact that the fan base is still engaged enough to get angry about this, they should
01:44be pretty grateful for that, I would say. I mean, Albert, if he just never spoke at the
01:48podium, I don't know that he gets the reaction that he just got. I agree. Yeah, I agree.
01:53You do agree with that. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. No, I think like the podium, like to me, the
01:58podium was really the crux of it. Like if he gets up there and he just, you know, says what
02:05he said on Monday, then I think this is much simpler. You know, if he, if he gets up there
02:11and says, like, I understand, you know, like the things haven't gotten the way that people
02:14expected them to over the last four years, I can take it, you know, like that's what
02:18we signed up for. That's pro sports. It probably wouldn't, it probably would be, I mean, I don't
02:26think anybody would be excited about the way that the, that the game went, but like, I think
02:31it would have definitely softened the blow coming out of it. You know, I mean, my reaction
02:35watching it was, and, and, you know, I still feel this way. It's like, it's sort of, you
02:40either have to cut them or start them, you know, like, I think it would have been hard
02:43to keep them on the roster as a backup, given the implications of everything and the way
02:48the whole thing went down. So, no, I don't think like, I don't look at it like, I don't,
02:55I don't, I don't, I don't think that like, this was solely about him playing poorly and
03:00the fans booing. I think the press conference was a huge factor in how everybody
03:05reacted both on Saturday and Sunday.
03:07Albert, it's interesting. Since, since Deshaun had a bad game on Saturday and the meltdown
03:14and everything, you know, I think there was already a sentiment from some fans that this
03:20was set up for Deshaun to win it and that it really, it wasn't maybe the even competition
03:26that, that maybe the Browns suggested it was going all the way back to J.W. Haslam, or
03:31sorry, J.W. Johnson, excuse me, talking about, you know, the, how good Deshaun looks, going
03:36back to Deshaun himself at mini camps in June saying, you know, that he had had conversations
03:41and that's why he felt so confident he was going to play again in Cleveland. And, and
03:46then to have what happened Saturday, him still be named starting quarterback, like, is it,
03:51is it fair just to look at this and go, well, I guess it was going to be Deshaun and
03:55it has
03:55been for the last six months. And people like myself were just in, I don't know, dreamlike.
04:01I mean, I would say like, he was probably, he was probably a leader in the clubhouse throughout.
04:05I do think like, I just knowing Todd Munkin, um, I think that the intention was to make
04:12it a fair competition. Um, I do think there was a desire for the organization after spending
04:19$230 million and three first round picks on him. Like, I think there was a desire organizationally
04:25to, to, to, to see him one more time, um, before this is over. Right. Like, so I think
04:31all of that, like, it's all sort of part of a mix to me. Uh, but I, I, like I
04:36tell you guys,
04:36like, I, I kind of go, and this is just the way I do it is like, I'm going to
04:41try to find people
04:41who are going to be honest with me. Right. So, you know, I talked to bears people. I talked to
04:46bills people. I, I can't find anybody who doesn't think that Deshaun Watson was their best option
04:51for right now. Right. And like a lot of it was like, he at least can run the offense. We've
04:58seen
04:58him play at an NFL level and we're not sure the other two guys are going to make it, you
05:03know,
05:03and, and that's just the reality of it. And I think part of what poisons this whole thing
05:08and the Browns, you know, to some degree to this themselves, like does, is anybody treating
05:14Shadour like a fifth round pick? I know I've said this to you guys before, but like, do you guys
05:18view it that way? I mean, he's being treated like it's like it was a first round pick sitting
05:21behind Deshaun Watson on the roster. That's just not what it is. You know what I mean?
05:27I hear what you're saying. I never got the impression though, that like, cause the Browns
05:30haven't really treated him like anything, but a fifth round pick. And that maybe that's
05:34just a lot of last year seeping in where he was fourth out of four on the depth chart.
05:37Maybe the advantage this year, he's ahead of Dylan Gabriel, but I don't look at that as
05:41some sort of massive, like, Hey, we did you a great solid. Dylan was a third round pick
05:45and he didn't play particularly well. No, but I mean, like, I think there's like this feeling
05:49like, Oh, we need to get a look at him. Do you, I mean, like, I mean, do you get,
05:53need to get a look at him any more than like the Steelers need to get a look at Will
05:56Howard?
05:57You know, like I, I, like, I guess that's where the disconnect is for me. You know, like if
06:02a quarterback's not taken in the first round, like, like, I don't think that like many organizations,
06:07maybe second round, but I don't think many organizations look at it like, Oh yeah, we
06:12have to get this guy in the field. I think that's offset by the idea that I need zero looks
06:17of Deshaun Watson. I've had three years of bad looks and injuries. Yeah. Yeah. And I understand
06:22what you're saying, but like if Deshaun is the best option for right now, and it's going
06:27to do more to help Casey Concepcion and Denzel Boston and, and, and, and Spencer Fano develop
06:35in the offense, quinch on Judkins, right? Like all this young talent you have Harold fan.
06:39And I think that there is a good base of young talent. Like, like if that, if he's going to
06:45give you the best chance on a game to game basis to, for those guys to develop and get
06:51the most out of them, then don't you sort of owe it to those guys and owe it to yourself
06:56to, to, to create that scenario. And if it doesn't work out that way, it doesn't work
06:59out that way. But if, if you believe that right now, like, are you that hard up to get
07:05a look at, at Shadour Sanders where it's like, okay, like, no, we're going to run a different
07:10version of the offense and we're going to, and we're going to do things like, and again,
07:14like, I'm not saying you won't get to October and Shadour might not, might, I'm not saying
07:18you're going to get to October and there's no way Shadour is going to be the best option
07:22that he might be. But I think right now the best option for the other 10 guys in the huddle
07:28is to have Deshaun Watson in there based on how you can run the offense with him there.
07:32And I think that's the part that I, that's the part that people ignore sometimes, but
07:36it is a factor, you know, and, and to me, like just as important as figuring out what
07:41you have a quarterback is to make sure all those young guys are rolling, going into 2027
07:46when I think there's a pretty good chance you will have a new young quarterback in the
07:49roster.
07:50Okay. So then off of that, I find it interesting then, because I think what Nick and I have
07:53done all day is basically say, if Deshaun had six games to start, he now has three. It
07:58feels like he like have that. And, and, and we had John Fanta on last hour. He's
08:02like, after one game, I'd consider benching Deshaun. If he looks bad, you sound like you'd
08:06have a longer leash with Deshaun.
08:08I would say I would have to make a real assessment after two weeks. Like I would, I would have,
08:14I would, I would look at game one, game two. And like, I think you have to consider the
08:20environment he'd be walking back into when you go back to Cleveland, right? If it looks
08:25really bad and you know, you think she'd do her as close, then I could certainly see
08:32a scenario where it's just best for the team that we pull the plug now and we start
08:37to do her. And like, we don't want to put the other guys in this scenario where things
08:43could get worse fast. So like, I, I certainly think that like the first two games, like that's
08:49a marker for you, right? Like, how does he play against Jacksonville? How does he play
08:52against Tampa? And if he plays well enough, you keep going. If it doesn't look any better
08:58than it looks on Saturday, well, then you can always go to Shudor. And that's the other
09:02nuance, this whole thing, guys, that like, I, I feel like I'm talking to a wall sometimes
09:06with people when I say this, but I think it's true. Like the coaches are never going to admit
09:12this, right? Because they're never going to say like, oh yeah, well, we're, we're, we're
09:15going with one because it's going to be easier to go to the other. If they go with Shudor
09:21Sanders, that's it. You know, like if they go with Shudor Sanders, like, I, I, I don't
09:27think you can go back to Deshaun Watson. In fact, I don't know that you can have Watson
09:30on the roster. Right. And then what's your answer after that, if that doesn't work? Like
09:34now, if it, if he struggles, you're just sort of SOL where, and I'm sorry if that's
09:40not, um, I'm sorry if that's not FCC compliant there, but you guys know what I'm getting at.
09:45Your compliance. Yeah. Um, yeah, but I mean like, but, but, but on the flip side is if
09:51you run Deshaun out there for two road games and it doesn't work, you can go to Shudor.
09:55And I think that's like a little, that's another nuance to this whole thing that again, like
10:00a coach will never say that, but I think it's something that you have to take into account.
10:04It kind of, it gives you your, you're necessarily giving yourself two bites of the apple rather
10:09than one.
10:09All right, Albert. So we know, all right, it's Deshaun versus Shudor. Here is the outcome
10:15and here are the stakes going forward. Do you think Todd Munkin, though, if, if he could
10:20have maybe avoided Shudor versus Deshaun, do you think Todd Munkin would have preferred
10:25trading for a, a veteran quarterback and maybe have a different setup going into this first
10:30season as a head coach?
10:32I mean, should you be asking, should they call the, the giants about Jameis Winston tomorrow?
10:38That should have been an idea. Yeah. I mean, like I, I actually kind of liked that idea.
10:43You know, and I, I, I'm with you on that. Like, I think there certainly was an escape
10:47hatch that they decided not to take. And like that part of it, like, because for me, it's
10:54just the way I look at it. Right. Like, I think what they did in trading the Travis Hunter
10:58pick was really smart. They knew they needed to get younger across the board and they needed
11:03resources to do it. And to me, like that was sort of the cost of the Watson trade is that
11:07you cost yourself the chance to inject young talent into the roster, which, you know, forced
11:12you in a position where you got old really fast and, you know, over the course of 23
11:16and 24, now you've got all these young players and you want to create an environment where
11:23those guys can develop. And I would argue that like, if you're not going to have your quarterback
11:28in the future, it wouldn't be a bad thing to have a guy who can just kind of keep his
11:32hands
11:32at 10 and two and run the offense, you know, and, and not bring a bunch of more, a bunch
11:36more attention with them. Like, and so like, I, it's kind of funny thinking of Jameis that
11:41way. Cause Jameis does bring attention to himself too, but Jameis is a really good guy. He played
11:46for Todd Monken from 2016 to 2018 in Tampa. And he knows the Cleveland market having played
11:51there, you know? So like that to me would have been one sensical option. And maybe like,
11:57if this doesn't work out, it's even something they can call the Giants about later.
12:01Albert, great stuff as always, buddy. You've been right about the Deshaun stuff since going
12:06way back to, to March. I begrudgingly give you credit for that, sir. And seriously, appreciate
12:13you for joining us, bud.
12:14Thank you, Albert.
12:15All right. Thanks guys. Have a good one.
12:16Albert Breer there. I'm the MMQB on the Wiseheart, right? We make it right. Call Kyle, right?
12:20Hotline.
