00:00What are your expectations for the offense today?
00:02And I want to start, we'll get into kind of how this offense finds success,
00:07but I want to start like not what they need to do,
00:09but what you think they're actually going to accomplish
00:11when they take the field today.
00:12So I think, and like you said, we'll get into this.
00:15I think there needs to be a little bit of handholding today.
00:18And I know that might be an unpopular thing to say
00:21because you've got a 30-year-old veteran quarterback
00:24on the final year of a $230 million contract that was fully guaranteed.
00:30I just don't really have a lot of trust in Deshaun.
00:32So I really think that this looks the best.
00:34You have the best path of finding offensive success
00:38if you kind of neuter this thing and you really hold his hand
00:41and it's a lot of dink and dunks and you make it look similar
00:44to what the offense looked like against the Chicago Bears
00:47early on in the preseason.
00:49I don't know that that's Munkin though, dude.
00:51I think he's going to mix this thing up a little bit.
00:54I think he's going to, everybody he talked about with Shador all offseason,
00:59you know, see what you have, see what you have, see what you have.
01:02I think Munkin's going to see what he has in Watson today.
01:05I think he's going to see what he has
01:07in some of these young offensive weapons today.
01:10I don't know how that goes.
01:12I don't know how it looks,
01:13but I definitely think they're going to try some things
01:16and it's not going to look totally vanilla.
01:18Yeah, so I think that's kind of the issue I have
01:20is that we watched obviously a vanilla offense in the preseason,
01:23as you expect.
01:24They're not going to go and show their cards,
01:25but it was a lot of establish the run early,
01:28make the easy passes,
01:30don't extend it down the field too much.
01:32And like, listen, I haven't seen it in training camp either.
01:34They haven't been exactly, you know,
01:35airing the ball out from Deshaun Watson's side.
01:37He's taking some deep shots, but not like,
01:39you know, that's the staple of the offense.
01:41It's a lot, get the ball into the hands of your playmakers,
01:43go let things happen, right?
01:44Like, I'm kind of on the same page as you though.
01:48I think they're going to have to,
01:49and I think if you're Todd Munkin,
01:50you kind of have to, right?
01:51This is not a, oh, well, you know,
01:54let's make sure Deshaun gets confident.
01:56Let's make sure he gets comfortable in week one.
01:58Like, no, he's not a rookie quarterback.
01:59Like, he's a 30-year-old.
02:01That is, we presume to be,
02:03if it's not like a two-game leash,
02:04like I don't think it is.
02:06But I don't imagine that leash is, you know,
02:08guaranteed eight games right out of the start of the year,
02:10and they're not thinking about it
02:11until they get to the week nine bye.
02:13Like, I think they're going to sit there,
02:15or week 10 bye.
02:16I forget which one they have this year.
02:17I think it's week 10, but either way.
02:19Like, I think you're going to go into this game
02:21and go, show me what you got.
02:23Like, this is what we've been practicing.
02:25Go air the ball out.
02:26We've heard about the quarterback runs,
02:27and there's going to be some option plays
02:29for Deshaun to use his legs.
02:31I don't think he has anything in the legs left
02:33after two torn Achilles.
02:34I don't know how that works,
02:35but they're going to do it.
02:37They're going to try it.
02:37They're going to do it because they've been,
02:39you know, they've been practicing it.
02:40So they've been working on it,
02:41and they're definitely going to do it.
02:43And I want this offense to look good so bad,
02:47but my expectations for it are just so low
02:51because of who the quarterback is.
02:53And, like, I can sit here, you know,
02:55and falsely, you know, wag my fist and say,
02:58if you just run the football, you know,
03:00you've got Quinchon Judkins behind this revamped
03:03offensive line, and Dylan Sampson,
03:05like, just run the ball, and we'll be fine.
03:07That's a good Jags front.
03:09And let's be honest.
03:10We know ball.
03:11Like, we understand how this works.
03:13You could run the ball a little bit.
03:16Eventually, you're going to have to throw it, though.
03:17Especially if you're not winning this game.
03:19If they get behind, they've got to throw this football.
03:21If you're, you know, trying to play catch-up, A,
03:23or B, if the Jaguars realize,
03:26hey, they're starting somebody at quarterback
03:29who no other of the 31 organizations would start
03:32at quarterback because this guy is physically limited
03:34and just does not have it anymore,
03:36well, they're going to start moving those linebackers
03:38up into the line of scrimmage.
03:40The safeties are going to start scooting up.
03:41It's going to be harder for Quinshawn to run the ball.
03:43It's going to be harder for the offensive line to run block.
03:46Like, we've seen this movie over and over again
03:49with so many different limited quarterbacks in Cleveland
03:51that I'd love to sit here and say,
03:53well, there's your recipe for success.
03:54Like, you've got Quinshawn, you've got Dylan Sampson,
03:56even Harold Fannin, who I know we're both high on,
03:59you know, in kind of the short passing game,
04:01get the ball out quick, all of those cliches
04:03that you could throw into a pregame show,
04:05those all sound great.
04:07Executing them are a different thing,
04:08especially once the Jags defense figures out
04:10what you're trying to do.
04:11Also, I don't even know they need to figure out
04:13what you're trying to do.
04:14I think the recipe is pretty simple.
04:16Like, you have to get the run game going.
04:17Todd Munkin likes to establish the run.
04:20Quinshawn Judkins faced more eight-man boxes
04:22than anybody else in the NFL last year.
04:24May I remind you, he only played, what was it,
04:2515 games, 14 games, 14 games, I believe?
04:28More eight-man boxes than anybody else in the NFL.
04:32You think that's going to change?
04:33Like, put yourself in the shoes
04:37of the Jacksonville Jaguars defense right now.
04:40Am I going to go and set up in base defense
04:42and just let the Browns try and feel them out
04:44and see what they got to do?
04:45Or would you be the one to go and push the pressure
04:47and say, let's throw the guys in the box
04:49a couple of times there in the first drive.
04:50Let's force them to pass the ball.
04:52Let's force Deshaun Watson to beat us right out of the gate.
04:54And if we can kill his confidence in the first drive,
04:57let's kill the confidence in the first drive.
04:58That's exactly what they're going to look to do,
04:59especially because, again,
05:01with this whole Deshaun Watson thing,
05:02here's a guy that hasn't seen a live NFL defense
05:06in a whole nother season.
05:08He missed all of last year.
05:10So it's been a minute for him to see these guys
05:13at this real game speed in the regular season.
05:17You're right, dude.
05:18That Jags defense is going to look to attack them
05:20from Jump Street.
05:22Yeah, I think they're going to go right after him.
05:23I don't think they're going to give a ton of leeway.
05:25It's hot.
05:25It's humid.
05:26Do you want to get that run game going?
05:29I don't think Quinchon's going to be able to take 30 carries today
05:32and have his legs under him.
05:33You're going to need a little bit of a little Dylan Sampson,
05:35little Raheem Sanders in the mix,
05:37assuming he's going to be up and active for this game.
05:39So you're going to need a little bit of help in that running back room.
05:42It's not going to be all Quinchon.
05:44You know, I was thinking about that kind of just overall.
05:47This is one where you're going to need some of the depth.
05:49And when you talk about this being a line,
05:52and we're going to get to our odds and lines a little bit later in the program,
05:55but when you look at these, you know,
05:58these sports books that have the Browns now as eight and a half point dogs,
06:03it's like, well, it's going to be that beat down hot out there.
06:06You're going to have to rotate guys.
06:08You were talking about the running backs, but like, look at the defense.
06:11Like that's going to be true defensively.
06:13And what did we talk about all preseason long?
06:15How thin this team is.
06:17So you start to talk about all of this stuff in the pregame show
06:20and kind of start to slowly peel back some layers of this onion.
06:23And you really do understand why they are big underdogs.
06:27And it's like, we're talking about the expectations of the offense.
06:30I really want to, I want to be positive so bad for this game.
06:33I've been talking about it all week.
06:34Like everything in me wants to just, you know, pound my chest and be like,
06:37you know what?
06:37No Browns offense is going to find a way to look good today.
06:40And every single time I break it down, I just, I can't find a way to do it.
06:43I think about this Jags defense.
06:45I think about the temperature.
06:45It's going to be out there.
06:46Obviously both teams are enduring it,
06:48but the Jaguars are down there all the time.
06:50Like they're more acclimated to the heat and the humidity and being out there
06:54and the temperatures they're in.
06:57I just, I don't feel great about any front of it.
06:59Like, I feel like you have to establish the run.
07:02And if this gets, you know, turned into, Hey, we'll stack the box
07:04and Deshaun's got to go beat us.
07:06It's kind of where I just don't have confidence.
07:08Yeah.
07:08We, we, we, we know exactly how that movie plays out, right?
07:12Like if that game script plays where you're trying to run and you can't,
07:16and they start loading the box and it's okay, we've got to put the football
07:20in the hands of four and see what he could do, pushing the ball down the field,
07:24especially in a game where you're trying to come from behind.
07:26I think everybody in Cleveland kind of knows how that ends.
07:30And I just hope that the start of the game goes well for the Browns,
07:35because I do think that that's their chance at overcoming Jacksonville's defense today
07:41is if you can start this game fast, because the one thing with Deshaun Watson
07:46is when the mistakes start getting made, they have the tendency to snowball.
07:50And I think this is a game against the Jags team that won 13 games last year
07:55and made the playoffs and won the division and did that whole song and dance.
07:59And then they found a way to improve this off season.
08:01I know everybody was kind of poking fun at their draft, but then you look at their depth chart
08:04and it's like, okay, wait, they actually added some dudes in some positions of need.
08:08Like, you could see a world where, okay, this might not go our way,
08:12even though you and I both, like, I want to be optimistic, too.
08:15This is the opener.
08:16Like, this is the first one.
08:18We, you know, want to start 1-0.
08:20Coach Riz, who's about to be on in a little bit, spent the entire summer
08:25talking about winning week one, and that's what went into all the decisions that they made.
08:30It's just now that the game is actually here and we can curb all that other stuff,
08:34it is still a little tricky to try to find a map for them to win this game today.
08:40It's so difficult.
08:41And, like, this is not a great secondary, by the way.
08:43Like, we talk about how good this Jags defense is.
08:45They're great against the run, which is why it presents such a problem for the Browns.
08:48But, like, if you can get Deshaun going early, like you said,
08:51kind of put the Jaguars defense on the heels, that's where you're going to find success.
08:54Because if you're able to mix in the run game and actually get a little effectiveness out of it
08:58and then keep them honest with the pass, like, you can get that secondary for some yards.
09:03You can definitely go over the top.
09:04You can catch them with lapses in coverage.
09:06Like, you can go at the secondary.
09:09It's partially why, again, you mentioned it.
09:12We'll get to our odds and lines.
09:13But Deshaun's line has been staring me in the face, and I just want nothing to do with it.
09:17But, like, it is ridiculously low.
09:19And I'm sitting there going, it's probably a team that's going to play from behind.
09:22That's not a great secondary.
09:23If they can even run the ball with any efficiency whatsoever, like, Deshaun's going to have an opportunity.
09:29It's whether or not he goes out and seizes that opportunity.
09:31And everything is going to continuously to come back to Deshaun,
09:34not just because he's a quarterback and the quarterback's the most important position on the field,
09:38but because it's Deshaun.
09:40And he hasn't played football in a regular season game in over 700 days.
09:45Like, we are sitting here once again reliving the moment, like, all the way back when it was in, you
09:50know, 2022.
09:51And getting back to this thing, I just, I can't have the confidence that it happens.
09:57But it is, if the passing game has a chance to get going, like, today is the day that it
10:02gets going.
10:02It just, it has to be good.
10:04It has to be good early.
10:05And that's where it loses.
10:06It is a bummer that that's the one dark cloud that still is over this thing is the Deshaun Watson
10:11thing.
10:11Because, dude, like, we should be sitting here on the pregame right now.
10:14You're talking about how bad that Jaguars defense, you know, in the secondary is.
10:18It's just because they don't have too much high-end talent back there.
10:22Travis Hunter, they got with our pick.
10:24We should be celebrating the fact that the Browns pulled off a great heist on draft night two drafts ago
10:29when they were able to trade back, get Mason Graham, Quinshawn Judkins, obviously Carson Swessinger, Harold Fannin,
10:35like some real playmakers you're going to see.
10:37That all came because of that trade back with Jacksonville.
10:40Casey Concepcion was the last piece, the cherry on top of that great trade with the Jaguars.
10:45And then in the middle of the season, you did it again where you got Tyson Campbell to pair with
10:50Denzel Ward.
10:51And they both think that they can be the best secondary duo in the sport this year.
10:57So we should really be celebrating.
10:59Like, look at the Jags.
11:00They won 13 games last year, yeah.
11:02But we've had their number twice when it's come to these trades.
11:06Andrew Barry's fleeced them twice over the last two seasons.
11:10It's just like you've got to play the game on the field, though, and you've got to try to find
11:15a way to win it
11:16in the 60 minutes that you're given in between those white lines.
11:19And when my quarterback is Deshaun Watson, I can't feel as great about some of those really smart trades
11:25that Barry's been able to make.
11:26And listen, you think that doesn't ring, you know, right into their ear right now about that trade and about
11:33it.
11:33Like, look at who they named the captains for this week.
11:35I know we're talking about the offense, but look on the defense side of the ball.
11:38Defensive captains are Tyson Campbell and Mason Graham.
11:41You don't think that's by design?
11:43You think that was just by happenstance?
11:44Like, you know, Tyson's downplayed it, like, for the last, like, three weeks, being like,
11:49oh, you know, I don't have any.
11:50They named him a captain for a reason.
11:52Anytime a team pays you and then gives up on you, there's something there.
11:55Anytime a team trades out of the opportunity to be able to draft you, to be able to add you
11:59to the defense
12:00and goes gets another guy, there's a little bit of something there that, hey, I want to go prove it.
12:05I want to be better than that guy you just went and drafted.
12:07They got a chip on their shoulder today, and listen, I hope they do, and I hope it means something.
12:12You're right, like, you sit there and loom to Sean Watson and hang over me like the dark cloud we're
12:17talking about.
12:18It is the thing that keeps me, you know, it stops me and dead in my tracks from being any
12:23bit positive about this offense
12:25and what I expect.
12:26How much of the offense do you feel it comes down to Sean today?
12:28Like, it is based on whether or not he looks good.
12:31Oh, a ton of it, especially as we get into the game, like, because the Jags are going to adjust
12:37defensively.
12:38Like, if he, you know, looks okay to start, he's going to have to continue on, whereas I don't want
12:45to see him fall behind
12:46and start having to press because that's where I know things go crazy bad.
12:51So, like, if he starts competent, I'm not even asking him to look good, but can you show me baseline
12:58competence
12:59from the quarterback position, and then we could really sit back and get into some things?
13:05Because then, okay, I'm with him there.
13:08I want to see the young weapons.
13:09I want to see Denzel Boston catch a touchdown today or Casey Concepcion have a big return
13:14and then find a way to get into the end zone offensively.
13:17Because Barry's done a nice job supporting Deshaun Watson, but I do think a lot of it does come down
13:22to what can he do?
13:23It feels like that.
13:24And listen, I think Todd's going to do some really creative stuff to get those guys involved early,
13:27especially a guy like Casey.
13:28Like, I expect this thing.
13:30You're going to see a screen pass.
13:31You're going to see, you know, an end around something to get Casey involved in the game
13:35and get him involved early.
13:36I don't doubt that for a second.
13:37But to your point, like, you can start with those things.
13:42You can't run that the entire game.
13:43Like, what we've watched them do in the preseason and the lack of downfield passing they've gone to,
13:48that's not going to work for an entire game of football,
13:49and it's not going to work in the NFL regular season.
13:51Like, you are going to have to press the ball down the field,
13:53and that is part of Todd's identity.
13:55So I expect him to do it.
13:57I just, I have no expectation of what that looks like today.
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