00:00Anyways, we're going to head out to the Weissart, right?
00:01We make it right.
00:02Call Kyle Wright Hotline and welcome on Ashley Bastock of Cleveland.com
00:06and the Orange and Brown Talk podcast.
00:08Ashley, please tell me you were upset about this as well.
00:13Nick, I like your little sign.
00:15I liked it on Twitter.
00:16I'm the only like on the tweet right now from what I can see,
00:19but maybe it just, you posted it three minutes before I liked it.
00:22So maybe the likes and the retweets are coming for you.
00:26We didn't need you to say it was the only like.
00:29Oh, I think Apple TV's got a cease and desist out.
00:32Hey, Nick, you're going to steal our storylines 100% that it is what it is.
00:36Guys, I will say this might be a hot take.
00:38I'm like not enjoying really the new season of Ted Lasso.
00:42I feel like they should have left well enough alone and it's kind of a money grab,
00:46but I don't know if you guys are caught up, but I'm like, I'm kind of over it.
00:51I hate to say.
00:53So I agree with you so far.
00:56I think it kind of, it looks like a facsimile of what they were trying, what they did,
01:02but I don't think they pulled it off yet.
01:04I'm still going to give it the full season because I love me some Ted Lasso and it makes
01:08me feel good.
01:08But I agree with you mostly through the first couple episodes.
01:12Yeah, me too.
01:13And you know what?
01:13My mom loves it.
01:14Jackie loves it.
01:15That's what I'm focused on.
01:16That's what I'm happy about.
01:17I'm happy she's enjoying it.
01:19My boyfriend likes it.
01:20So I'm happy for them, but I'm just, I'm waiting.
01:23I'm like you.
01:23I'm waiting.
01:24I'm going to still watch it.
01:25I'm going to see.
01:26But yeah, I mean, the Browns could use some good happy-go-lucky Ted Lasso vibes right
01:30now.
01:31I'm not against this.
01:32I just got a second like on the Twitter post.
01:34So we're heading in the right direction here.
01:36Is Twitter being broke right now?
01:37I have said, I've made four bold proclamations on the Browns that have been poo-pooed by Nathan
01:43Shelley to my right.
01:44The first one is the Browns will win eight games.
01:47The second is Quinshawn Judkins.
01:49If he remains healthy for 15 or more games, we'll have a top five rushing yards.
01:56Harold Finan Jr. will eclipse a thousand receiving yards and they will win week one in Jacksonville.
02:02Of my four proclamations, which one is the boldest, a.k.a.
02:06Which one might be the hottest take.
02:08If you have any questions, I can tell you why I don't believe in any of the four.
02:10You just need to ask.
02:11You don't need to ask.
02:12I wouldn't follow up on that.
02:13Okay.
02:13Deep breaths, guys.
02:14Deep breaths.
02:15Deep breaths, JT.
02:17I will say I feel like the boldest prediction is eight wins.
02:21And I think I have to stick with that because as I've told you, I think as I've written,
02:25I think an eight-win prediction is like the high end of the spectrum for me for this team.
02:30So I'm going to go ahead and say that that right now is the boldest.
02:34I think this team is so young.
02:37Obviously, they have an entirely remade offensive line.
02:40They're coming off of five wins.
02:42A lot has changed.
02:44A lot needs to go right.
02:45Guys, a lot of guys need to be on that linear development path and only improve, which doesn't
02:51necessarily happen.
02:53But I would say that for those reasons, eight wins feels like the boldest prediction to me,
02:59albeit in a perfect world, I think.
03:01It is not necessarily impossible.
03:03It's just going to be very difficult for them to get to.
03:05Tap, sign, believe.
03:07You've got to believe.
03:08My vote was for the top five running back.
03:11Quinn Sean rushing yards category of it.
03:14I just feel like that's an insanely high mark to get.
03:16To be top five in rushing yards at the end of the season, you're going to have to be around
03:181,500 yards total.
03:20You've raised that every time you've said it.
03:22You started at like 1,300.
03:23Then you went to get to be around 1,400.
03:25Now you're to 1,500.
03:27You move to go post.
03:28The fifth rusher in the NFL last year was at 1,450.
03:31I think Ashley was right.
03:32We do need to breathe.
03:34Continue.
03:34Sorry, buddy.
03:37Well, I mean, can I speak or am I going to get jammed up on an actual point?
03:40Am I okay?
03:41Am I all right?
03:42You're fine.
03:42All right.
03:43So anyway, so when it comes to the rushing yards, though, like I've lost enthusiasm for
03:47the take now.
03:48This is what happened here.
03:49I lost enthusiasm for the take.
03:50I think it's pretty hot.
03:52If it's like 1,450 for a guy that averaged 3.6 yards per carry last year, and I don't
03:58know.
03:59It just seems like a pretty high number, all things considered there, Ashley.
04:03You know what?
04:04Yeah, I guess we're going to have to wait and see on that one as well.
04:08I still think I would pick the eight wins, but looking at it last year, Quinchon had 827
04:13yards in 14 games, all starts.
04:17The caveat, though, of why I think, like, maybe it's not that crazy is we have to remember
04:23he did that without having a training camp, right, and missing the first week of the season
04:28because they didn't sign him because of his off-the-field legal issue that was still ongoing
04:34officially until that Saturday before the first game.
04:37So he didn't play in that game.
04:38Obviously, he suffers the ankle injury.
04:41And I will say the good thing is he looks like he hasn't lost a step.
04:46And, you know, if this O-line is better, then it might not be that crazy.
04:50Like, I think he was leading.
04:51He was getting, you know, the buzz for the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year award before
04:57he got hurt.
04:59And I think he was, like, the best rookie.
05:01I don't remember all the numbers.
05:02I don't have it in front of me.
05:04But I know he was getting that buzz for sure.
05:07So I don't know.
05:08It's a perfect world.
05:09Yeah, I think it's that kind of output certainly could be possible for him.
05:14I think the Browns are going to want to use it.
05:15Ashley, there were 17 running backs in between Quinshot Judkins and fifth last year.
05:20And the top five running backs in rushing yards was James Cook, Derrick Henry, Jonathan Taylor,
05:24B. John Robinson, Devin H.M.
05:25So, like, I just don't know who's coming off that list.
05:29And that doesn't even bring in Jameer Gibbs.
05:30That doesn't bring in Kyron Williams.
05:32That doesn't bring in Saquon Barkley or Travis.
05:35I guess he now goes by H.N. too.
05:37Travis Etienne.
05:38But, like, there's so many guys that you'd have to surpass in this.
05:42And I don't even know that our offensive line is good enough to even give him a chance.
05:45Like, the end result on Quinshot might be he's really good.
05:48It's just we don't have the offensive line to even get him in the conversation with these guys.
05:51It seems like there's things that are even outside of his control to get him to 1,400, 1,500
05:55yards.
05:56Yeah, I mean, I think the offensive line is a big part of it, right?
05:59And like I said, it's kind of an unknown.
06:00I mean, technically, we don't even know who the starting five are going to be yet.
06:05We know who four of them are.
06:07But Austin Barber is making this late push for the right guard spot.
06:11But I do think with offensive lines, it's very difficult to tell.
06:15And their impact on the run game, I think, is undeniable.
06:18Like, you're going to need them to be very good at creating those openings and blocking for you,
06:25if you're Quinshot Judkins, to get your output, that output.
06:27I agree with you there.
06:28I think there are just other things, like, working when we're talking about, like,
06:33I think he's obviously going to have more yards than last year for these other reasons.
06:371,500 might be a tall order.
06:39We're asking him to basically double his yardage total from last season.
06:43But I think if you can stay healthy, if the O-line is good, like, if all these things go
06:49right,
06:49he's going to be, you know, 1,000-plus-yard rusher.
06:52To me, that's not really a question.
06:55But, yeah, I mean, I think it's certainly bold to say top five, maybe.
07:00But I think the other interesting thing about running backs is, like,
07:02you just don't know year in and year out.
07:05You know, like, Nick Chubb was one of the best until he wasn't.
07:07So these are all things out of Quinshot's control.
07:11But the position, I think, changes very rapidly,
07:14depending on how much tread guys have on the tires,
07:17depending on who stays healthy, depending on which O-lines stay healthy,
07:21all of those things, like, play a factor to me.
07:25All right, Ashley.
07:26Who has more pressure on them in the Jacksonville game, Todd Munkin or Deshaun Watson?
07:32Wow.
07:33Who has more pressure on them?
07:36You know, I'll go with Deshaun for this,
07:39just because I think the last time we saw Deshaun Watson play in a game,
07:44he obviously got booed.
07:46He did not handle it well,
07:47which makes me question, in a real-game situation right now,
07:52how is he going to handle if things don't go well?
07:55Now, he's on the road,
07:56so he's not going to have to contend with being booed by his home fan base again.
08:01He also has historically played really well against Jacksonville throughout his career,
08:07so he's got that going for him.
08:10Obviously, this Jaguars team is very different than it was even the last time he played them
08:14and started against them in 2024, but I do think it's Deshaun.
08:20Like, Todd Munkin, to me, even if this is a loss,
08:22like, I don't necessarily think Todd Munkin is going to be fazed.
08:26Like, I think he's going to be like, it's one game, we're going to learn from it,
08:30we're going to move on.
08:31Like, he's going to take some things from that game, from that loss,
08:35and readjust his offense, I think, accordingly,
08:37or how he thinks it should be adjusted.
08:39But Deshaun, I do wonder, like, I will say the pressure to me is there for him
08:44just because that question of how is he going to handle any adversity
08:49sort of is at the forefront of my mind right now when it comes to Deshaun Watson
08:53after that post-game press conference in the second preseason game.
08:58For the last preseason game, I'm sorry.
09:00I feel like this is a disaster by the NFL,
09:02this two-week stretch without getting us an actual game.
09:05In between stretches where we're already watching games
09:08we don't really even care about in preseason football.
09:10Yeah.
09:11How badly did the NFL screw up this little stretch here?
09:14It's getting people excited to then basically say,
09:17hey, hold on, two more weeks, then we got you.
09:19Well, I don't know if it's necessarily, like, the NFL's fault.
09:24Like, I just think, like, this labor, it's the way the calendar fell this year.
09:27Labor Day is, like, the latest possible day it can be, I think.
09:31And, like, that weekend is the off weekend for them.
09:34So, I don't know.
09:36I think it's unfortunate.
09:37I think the whole schedule for this next year is so screwy just by nature of how the calendar fell.
09:43Like, the NFL combine isn't until, like, March 1st this year because of that.
09:48And the Super Bowl is late.
09:49It's on Valentine's Day.
09:51I feel like more people are going to be complaining about the Super Bowl being on Valentine's Day
09:55than they're going to be about this break here, this essentially two-week break here.
10:00And I think, like, the NFL is probably patting itself on the back for this Wednesday start,
10:04and it's in Australia, and they're doing it up big, right?
10:07Like, all of these things.
10:09So, I don't know.
10:10It doesn't necessarily bother me.
10:12I'm not blaming the NFL.
10:13I'm more so just blaming the weird calendar we have this year.
