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ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi explains how Browns at 3-1 isn't a fluke, Monken's impact on Deshaun Watson
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00:00Cleveland Browns reporter by way of ESPN, the homie Daniel Oyefusi.
00:04Daniel, good morning, brother. How you feel?
00:06I'm doing great. How about y'all?
00:07Oh, man, I can't complain.
00:08So I had a fan tweet at me not too long ago and said,
00:12four games doesn't erase almost a decade of misery.
00:16So I think my first question to you will be, you know,
00:20do you think people believe the Browns are actually a good football team?
00:23Or is it people that are just still waiting on the other shoe to drop?
00:28Well, I think, you know, maybe a little bit of both.
00:32Like, I think that nobody anticipated this 3-1 start.
00:35I know I didn't.
00:35And I was kind of one of the more optimistic, kind of prognosticators.
00:39I thought this was a 7-win team that would be competitive more games than not.
00:43But 3-1 start with, you know, a big home win.
00:46On prime time against the Steelers, a big road win.
00:48Like, I didn't see this, you know, right out the gate.
00:52So I think part of that is just maybe the expectations
00:54that a lot of people came to the season with.
00:56You know, they're not recalibrating yet.
00:58And it's still early.
00:59But we are starting to get a little bit enough of, you know,
01:02a sample size to say, like, hey, maybe this isn't, you know,
01:05maybe this team is better than a lot of us thought they were going to be.
01:09Daniel, aside from the fact that they're 3-1 and they have the record they have,
01:14what has surprised you the most about the way this team has played
01:18these first four weeks?
01:20I mean, truly, I think it has been Deshaun's ability to, you know,
01:26tap into that Houston-Deshaun-Layton game.
01:29Like, he hasn't been perfect.
01:30Like, early, I mean, this most recent game was, like,
01:33the best he's played in the first half of a game of this season.
01:38But his ability to just kind of just overcome and, you know,
01:41move past some of those negative stretches early on and then really, you know,
01:45drive this team down like a franchise quarterback, kind of.
01:49Like, that's what the Browns expected when they traded three first-round picks
01:52and gave him a $230 million fully guaranteed contract.
01:54So, I mean, he hasn't been perfect.
01:56I think that, you know, if you look at the totality of his body of work,
01:59I think he's been average above average.
02:02But when it's gotten late into those games and they've needed him to make a play,
02:06every single time he's made a play, and you can't deny that right now.
02:09You're around this team every day.
02:11What's the biggest difference you've seen in Deshaun from week one
02:14to where he is as we stand today on this Saturday?
02:18Yeah, I mean, I think it is, like, kind of like Todd Munkin has said,
02:21like, just getting those reps and getting more confidence.
02:24You know, there's no doubt that, you know,
02:26as much as he's struggled over the past couple years,
02:29like, when you miss as much time as he has, there's going to be rest.
02:33There's going to be an acclimation period.
02:34I asked him early on in training camp if some of the getting back to form
02:37is literally just playing games and being on the field.
02:40And he said, yeah, like, I'm just getting back to trusting what I see
02:43and playing with, you know, that confidence and letting it rip, like everyone says.
02:48So, you know, I think that through, you know, games two to four,
02:53we're seeing every day, like, he's just getting a little more confident in what he sees.
02:56It's not perfect.
02:57Like, he missed a lot of guys.
02:58Hey, they could have put this game away, you know, a lot sooner if he, you know,
03:01hits that third down past the fan and on the run.
03:04And so, not perfect by any means, but I do think that, like,
03:07you are seeing that confidence start to build as they, you know, stack those games
03:12and he just gives some more reps with these guys.
03:14Daniel, I know this is big picture and Browns fans, I think,
03:17are just trying to enjoy the moment right now.
03:19But given how Deshaun has played, like, if this continues for most of this season,
03:25is there a world, you think, where this team, you know,
03:28especially if they play themselves out of a top pick,
03:31where they can maybe get the best quarterback in the class,
03:34whoever that ends up being,
03:35is there a world where they potentially talk extensions with Deshaun
03:38and he's back next year?
03:40Well, it's so early, you know, even in, you know,
03:42the feature that I wrote before the Thursday night game,
03:45like, I wrote that, you know, such talk is just, like, so premature.
03:48And really, I think it comes down to how many games this team wins
03:51and whether Deshaun is the driving force behind it.
03:55And while you can say, like, hey, there's a lot of talent around him
03:58and, you know, he's still been average or whatever,
04:00like, he's made big plays when they've needed it the most.
04:04So it is a very, very interesting thought experiment.
04:07I'll say this, like, the Browns are not in a position to say no
04:11to above average and even indefinitely not good quarterback play.
04:15And it's funny, all these years, the past couple years,
04:17you said, hey, with this defense, with the talent,
04:20with the offensive line when they were in their prime,
04:22if the Browns just get average quarterback play,
04:25how good can they be?
04:26Well, right now, the Browns are getting average quarterback play.
04:28And if you want to talk about late in these games,
04:30they're getting well above average quarterback play.
04:33So we're seeing the results of that, which is a 3-0 start,
04:35and a team that's really starting to, you know, show some promise
04:38and, you know, let that spread across the entire city.
04:42You know, it seemed like when Todd Munkin first got here,
04:44fans was excited.
04:45You know, then we go through training camp.
04:48You got some of the fan base that don't agree with the decision
04:51to start Deshaun Watson.
04:52And so now the faith that they once had is no longer there.
04:56They're skeptical.
04:57They're unsure about Todd Munkin.
05:00And they see how the team responds after week one.
05:03We're sitting at 3-1.
05:05From your vantage point, what do you think the Cleveland Browns fans'
05:08temperature is on Todd?
05:10Well, I think, you know, the approval rating, you know,
05:13I think it definitely shifted and fluctuated a bit as, you know,
05:17the quarterback situation played out,
05:19and especially after the first game when the team as a whole,
05:23including Deshaun, played so poorly and whatnot.
05:25But I think, I mean, it has to be about as high as maybe when they first,
05:29well, I wouldn't say when they first hired him, but, you know, early on,
05:33you know, like I think that when you start 3-1
05:34and you really start to leave your imprint on this team,
05:38on this organization, that builds excitement, that builds trust,
05:42that builds equity.
05:43And I think that he's building equity with the decision-making that he's made.
05:46Like, he stood on that decision to start Deshaun.
05:49He stood on that decision to stick with Deshaun,
05:53to really put his faith in this young team.
05:57And the same way that they're rallying behind him as players,
06:00I think the team is, and the city is starting to really rally behind him as well
06:05and that personality as well.
06:07Daniel, when I've gone back and watched the tape,
06:10now, admittedly, I haven't watched Thursday night yet.
06:12I'm planning on doing that this weekend.
06:13But when I've come back and watched the tape,
06:16I have felt like the run game struggles have mostly been about the O-line
06:21and there's just not being a lot of room to run at this point.
06:24Now, it was better on Thursday just from, like, the, you know,
06:27how the game played out.
06:28But what have you noticed in terms of the struggles with that unit in particular?
06:34Do you think they found something on Thursday?
06:37Or is there a bigger question here, a problem here with Quinshawn, you think?
06:42Yeah, I mean, I do think, like, the overarching issues
06:46are really just like an offensive line that needs to gel.
06:49And a lot of times, you know, with the offensive line,
06:51if one guy misses his block, that can derail the entire run operation.
06:55That could be the difference between a three-yard gain
06:58and maybe a 10, 15-yard gain.
07:00But I think Quinshawn, in a way, is still maybe getting back to form
07:04from that leg injury that he sustained.
07:07But I also like what they've done, you know,
07:10kind of mixing in some of these other backs,
07:11like Raheem Sanders and Jaleel McLaughlin.
07:13He had one snap in that Thursday night game,
07:15but that was his 28-yard touchdown.
07:17So I like kind of the switch up.
07:19I think that when they came into the season with Quinshawn and Dylan Sampson,
07:23like the thought was like, hey, Dylan Sampson's going to be that number two guy,
07:26that kind of lightning to Quinshawn's thunder that can do some stuff,
07:30you know, outside on some of these zone runs and these sweeps outside.
07:35I think Jaleel McLaughlin kind of provided that on Thursday night.
07:38Raheem Sanders is running the ball really, really well and really hard.
07:42So it's a little bit of everything.
07:44The offensive line needs to come together,
07:45but I do think that, you know, they're kind of finding,
07:47they're kind of fairing things out and finding their identity still.
07:50And that includes just maybe what each player, each runner can individually do well.
07:54When you look at the Cleveland Browns defense on film,
07:58what's the biggest thing that jumps out to you as the reason why they've been able
08:02to have such an impact on getting to the quarterback?
08:06You've heard two teams now talk about them disguising their coverages
08:10and, you know, causing issues for the opposition.
08:13What are you seeing from the Cleveland Browns defense that jumps out the biggest to you?
08:17Well, man, they went back to the basics.
08:19They went back to the basics.
08:21Week one, they played one of the highest rates of zone coverage that they've played in years.
08:26And I know that with Mike Rutenberg coming over as the D.C. taking over for Jim Swartz,
08:31there was a lot of talk about maybe him doing more disguise and going to zone coverages.
08:35But that's not what these guys do in the second day.
08:37They're a man-to-man defense.
08:38That's why Andrew Barry traded for Tyson Campbell in the middle of the season last year
08:42because he was not fitting in that zone coverage scheme.
08:45And the credit to Mike Rutenberg for making that change.
08:48Todd Munkin alluded to it yesterday in his Zoom conference.
08:51He said, you know, I think that we realize that we can't be stagnant.
08:55We've got to be aggressive.
08:56So these last couple weeks, they've been playing man coverage.
08:59On Thursday night, they played 73% of the dropbacks in man coverage.
09:03That's the highest single-game rate of any game this season, not just the Browns in the entire NFL.
09:09So they're saying, hey, our guys on the back end, we're going to lock you up.
09:12We're going to do enough up front to disrupt you.
09:15And you're going to have to beat us more times than not.
09:17And right now, they're winning that battle.
09:20Daniel Iofusi, ESPN, joining us on the YSR, right?
09:23We make it right.
09:24Call copyright hotline.
09:25Daniel, back to the quarterback room for a second because this is the first week where
09:31Dylan Gabriel will potentially be able to be at least activated to practice or however
09:35the Browns want to handle that.
09:36He's missed the first four games now.
09:38How do you sort of think this quarterback situation is going to sort itself out once
09:43Dylan is working his way back?
09:46I know there certainly are some teams that might be looking to add quarterbacks.
09:50We just saw the trade with Jackson Dart this week.
09:53But how do you think they sort of handle this?
09:55Do they keep four?
09:56Do they look to trade one?
09:58What's kind of your read on that?
10:00Yeah, it's going to be really interesting.
10:01Like you said, I mean, Dylan is eligible to come off injured reserve and return to practice
10:07or whatnot.
10:07There's a 21-day kind of ramp up that once they designate him to return to practice, they
10:13have to make a decision.
10:14And so there is a little bit of time, you know, maybe really three weeks before they
10:18have to make an official decision.
10:20And that'll kind of lead us into the trade deadline.
10:22So that'll be really interesting.
10:23I'll say this.
10:24Like, Andrew Barry loves him to trade.
10:26He loves him a quarterback trade, whether that's trading for one or trading away one.
10:30I don't think he wants to necessarily give away anybody in that quarterback room, but
10:33if the value is there, I think that he'll definitely be open to it.
10:37But because, you know, the roster mechanics and, you know, these roster spots are so precious,
10:43it's tough to keep four and really keep two guys who are going to have no type of impact
10:48on game day.
10:49So that's definitely going to be a kind of underlying storyline to watch as we, you know,
10:53enjoy this Brown strong start.
10:55You know, Mason Graham goes down early.
10:58It didn't really matter.
11:00You see Aiden Huntington step up and he had a monster game.
11:03Malik Collins step up, had a monster game.
11:06Mike Hall walked away Thursday night.
11:08Daniel, what a game ball.
11:10You know, I want to go back to the defensive side.
11:12Just talk about this defensive line because, you know, we've both seen this defensive front
11:18forward with Myles Garrett on this roster and it was Myles and just everybody else.
11:23And at least for the last two or three games, it seems like more of a by committee and so
11:29many more names is involved when it comes to making some plays out there.
11:34No, it definitely is.
11:35And, you know, while Myles Garrett rightfully got, you know, all the attention and praise
11:39for his record setting season last year, you know, he wouldn't have been able to do that
11:44without, you know, the other guys on the defensive line.
11:46Like the rush really comes together, whether that's, you know, the interior defensive line
11:51collapse in the pocket or the edge pressure forcing, you know, the quarterback to step
11:57up.
11:58And, you know, like a lot of people don't know the name Malik Collins because he's not a
12:01household name, but he had a career high six and a half sacks before he had his quad
12:05injury last year.
12:06I know Mason Graham is off to like a really strong start in year two, but he had a pretty
12:11good rookie season as well.
12:13I know the sacks weren't there, but he was 20th in pass rush win rate as a defensive tackle.
12:18So like he was still getting pressure.
12:20It just wasn't any winning his, his pass rush attempts.
12:23He just wasn't always, you know, ending it with the, with the sack.
12:27So the depth is something that has definitely, that was kind of one of the things that we
12:31were worried about during training camp because they had so many guys out, you know, Malik
12:35Collins was out.
12:36My call was out, but like when all those guys are healthy, they have a really, really underrated
12:41defensive tackle and really defensive line that I think is starting to now get some,
12:46you know, well-due attention.
12:48Daniel, you know, the rookies are at the core of a lot of the success this season.
12:52I think we all anticipated a number of these guys are going to, you know, play a bunch.
12:57You know, Emmanuel McNeil-Warren saw his most snaps on Thursday of the season.
13:00I don't know how much of us thought Austin Barber would be starting, but he's been important.
13:04Obviously Spencer Fano and then the two rookie receivers.
13:06Have these guys in your mind already even exceeded like what expectations were going
13:13to be for them?
13:15I'm not sure.
13:16I think that when they drafted Casey and Denzel first and second respectively, like you knew
13:23those guys were going to be two of their top wide receivers.
13:26You just didn't know maybe if like Denzel was going to be the number one, but I will note,
13:29I voted for Denzel Boston to be the Maurice Bassett award winner.
13:33And it was very clear to me that he was going to be the number one wide receiver.
13:37And that's what we're seeing.
13:38So I'll kind of, you know, pat myself on the back for that.
13:40Hey, you deserve it.
13:41I appreciate that.
13:43Hey, look, we get criticized for being wrong.
13:45We got to let ourselves know when we write sometimes.
13:48I respect it, Daniel.
13:49Exactly.
13:50But even then, like you look at a guy like Austin Barber, who, you know, really the projection
13:55for him was to be a swing tackle.
13:57Like it was like, hey, we drafted him to be a tackle.
13:59And then halfway through training camp, they're like, hey, let's throw him in at guard
14:02and see what happens.
14:03And he does nothing but take off.
14:05And then he really has an opportunity because of injury.
14:07And he's not looking back.
14:09Like that's their starter.
14:10People are calling him a backup.
14:11Like, no, he is their starting right guard.
14:12So I think in some ways, some of these guys you expected to really step into roles and
14:17contribute immediately.
14:18But you also have a case like Barber where, you know, these guys are playing bigger roles
14:24than I think even the team expected early on.
14:27You know, you talk about Austin Barber, which is, you know, a part of that offensive line.
14:31Shout out to George Warhop.
14:33You tweeted out yesterday that Deshaun Watson was pressured on 22% of his dropbacks versus
14:38the Steelers.
14:38That was the lowest pressure rate he had faced in 23 career games with the Browns.
14:44And that was per ESPN research.
14:45Talk about the improvements that you've seen from the Cleveland Browns offensive line and
14:50how George Warhop seems to be getting the most out of this group.
14:54Yeah, well, that was this hiring of George Warhop.
14:57First of all, he was the first assistant that Todd Munkin hired and obviously bringing him
15:02over from his time in Baltimore was a really important, you know, emphasis point for Munkin
15:08when he came over.
15:10But yeah, I mean, it's a young, I mean, it's an interesting mix because you have the vets
15:14like Titus Howard, Zion Johnson, Elton Jenkins.
15:17But then you have those two rookies and they talk about how detailed George Warhop is, how
15:22demanding he is.
15:24And, you know, that was, I think that was the coalescence of this offensive line was always
15:29going to be a major part in how quickly and really maybe the ceiling of this offense because
15:35for so many years, you know, as that great offensive line we watched in Cleveland with
15:39those with, you know, Joe Petonio and Teller and all these guys as they kind of got older and
15:43out of their prime, it really, really diminished like the functionality of the offense truly.
15:49You know, just them kind of getting a little bit older and dealing with injuries.
15:53But what we're seeing, especially in pass protection, like these guys are kind of all aligned, like
15:57they're five working as one, they're picking up stunts, they're, you know, being able to
16:02kind of communicate pre and post snap.
16:04So I think that the offensive line, even though as well as well as they're playing this early,
16:10I think that's been a mild surprise as well because I think the general thought was like,
16:13hey, it's going to be maybe a little bit rough.
16:15And it has been, you know, got off to some slow starts.
16:18But this offensive line has definitely gelled a bit quicker than even I anticipated.
16:24So, Daniel, you said you had them at seven wins.
16:27Given how the start has gone, how much are you amending maybe what your projection was for
16:32this team?
16:33I know, man.
16:34I was looking at the other day and I'm like, man, I could talk myself into maybe 10 or 11
16:39enough, but I don't want to get too ahead of myself.
16:41I mean, I'll say this.
16:42I'll say this.
16:43I don't think that they're a fluke.
16:46I think, you know, I don't want to, obviously you don't want to get ahead of any individual
16:50game, but week six is going to be very, very interesting and fun against Baltimore.
16:54Tom Munkin's first game against the Ravens, a game that, you know, more or less is probably
16:58still, again, going to be really, really big early on for positioning in the division
17:03and conference records, division records and whatnot.
17:07But I don't think this team is a fluke in the sense of, like, I think that they have
17:10a lot of talent.
17:11I think that they are a good team.
17:13Like, I don't even, like, I think that we can kind of amend, like, they have talent and
17:16I think that they have a formula to competing and winning games this season.
17:21So, I want to see them, you know, kind of build on that and see what happens when they
17:25face an upper echelon team and kind of take that step up in their opponent.
17:29It's going to be really fun to see as the season goes on.
17:31Like, it's going to be fun.
17:32I mean, that's all we ask for.
17:33Like, I know it's been a long time coming, you know, for the team playing well, for Deshaun
17:38playing well.
17:39And we saw how rocking the stadium was on Thursday night.
17:43So, it's a lot of fun.
17:44And, you know, it makes it all the more exciting when the team's competitive and you get to
17:48see them in these hot sticks games.
17:50Big fact, Daniels.
17:51And you know what?
17:52To add on to that as we get ready to let you go, that is all we ask for.
17:55You know, just be fun.
17:56And so far, we've gotten much more than we could ask for from the 2026 Cleveland Browns.
18:02I do agree with you.
18:03This team is not a fluke.
18:04And by the way, I had the Browns win in seven or eight games myself.
18:07So, I'm right there with you.
18:08I'm not going to try to overpredict it.
18:10I'm just going to let this thing play itself out.
18:12I want you to go enjoy the rest of your weekend.
18:16All of us are off on a Sunday.
18:17Give a hand clap to that.
18:19Let's give a hand clap to that, man.
18:21And I'll talk to you soon.
18:22Thanks for your time today.
18:22Thanks, Daniel.
18:23Enjoy your time at home, man.
18:25Y'all take care.
18:26See you soon.
18:26I appreciate you.
18:27Daniel Yufusi, Cleveland Browns reporter by way of ESPN.