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Dan Labbe explains why Browns feel real, can stay in contention; QB room plan behind Deshaun Watson
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00:00joins us every Wednesday at 920 of cleveland.com it's our good friend Dan Lobby joining us now
00:04Dan what's going on hey Jake how are you I'm doing well the Guardians won a playoff game
00:10that put me in a good mood and uh well the Browns are three and one Dan I don't know
00:13that vibes
00:14could be any higher right now I know things are things are looking up all of a sudden kind of
00:18nowhere yeah it's absolutely crazy and I mean Dan we can start kind of with the Thursday night
00:24performance against the Steelers and what was you know we talked about replicable could
00:30Deshaun continue to come up with game-winning drives and playing close games left and right
00:35he found a way to do it again and might have played his best half of football as a cleveland
00:41Brown in that first half yeah I thought that first half is probably the best we've seen him
00:46and and it was sort of all the things that make him who he is I really liked how aggressive
00:51he
00:52was downfield they were really looking for Denzel Boston early uh finally got him on that 60 yarder
00:57but that's really you know even going back to his Houston days that was Deshaun when he was at his
01:02best he was hunting big plays he was trying to push the ball down the field he was aggressive
01:06uh with with the football and I thought that's what he was able to do on Thursday night against the
01:11Steelers and I think that was the next step for him because we've seen him be relatively efficient
01:16with the short passing game but they hadn't really gotten a ton going downfield and now it gets really
01:21dangerous if they can continue to do this against teams other than the Steelers who were obviously
01:25hurting in their secondary but you know they they took advantage of it and that's how the NFL works
01:30where is the the trust level at right now for Deshaun because I find myself obviously not in a spot
01:37with him where I would feel of a you know top five top 10 quarterback in the NFL but oddly
01:42after he can
01:43win three lead three game-winning drives and play the way he did in that first half I know it's
01:50not
01:50trust that might be building there between uh Deshaun and the fans yeah and I think that trust
01:56starts with the fact that if you can just kind of stay in the game and give him a chance
02:00at the end
02:00he knows how to you know manage a two-minute drill manage an end of game drive it helps any
02:05of a kicker
02:06and Andre Schmidt that you get him within 60 yards he's almost automatic maybe not even almost he just
02:12is automatic so I think that's really where the trust level begins is the fact that we've seen him
02:17again and again be able to lead these game-winning drives they've tried this formula before with him
02:22and it didn't work back in 2024 but it's working this year he's finishing the job in these fourth
02:28quarters and so I think that's where the trust is now the next step is can you put together more
02:33halves like you did in the first half on Thursday night can you consistently get the ball down the
02:38field can you play a cleaner 60 minutes you know he had he got stripped twice in that game he
02:43lost one
02:44uh he threw an interception on on the Jack Sawyer tipped ball he's got to clean some of that stuff
02:49up but I think that trust is slowly building and it's probably building in the right way because
02:53it's resulting in wins because he's leaving these these drives at the end how did you feel a I know
02:58we walked away from a week three kind of just Casey and Deshaun not being on the same page it
03:04felt
03:05like they were more on the same page and I know uh both Deshaun and Denzel talked about their
03:09relationships just how he's connected with the young wide receivers on the field yeah I think
03:14Casey is interesting because he's such a different receiver than than Denzel Boston but with Deshaun's
03:19connection with Denzel is very similar I think to kind of what he had with DeAndre Hopkins and I'm not
03:25saying Denzel Boston is DeAndre Hopkins at this point although who knows he might get there at the
03:30rate he's going but he always kind of had this safety blanket with DeAndre Hopkins when he was in
03:35Houston and he was able to just kind of throw it down the field and trust that DeAndre would make
03:41a play and I think Denzel sort of has that similar sort of vibe with Deshaun Watson I know you're
03:47going to be down there I can throw the ball in your direction you're going to make a play Casey's
03:51a
03:51little different right he's a little shiftier a little you know works in kind of closer quarters
03:55I think he can get to the field but he's at his best uh with some of the short and
03:59medium stuff and
04:00frankly that's where John has struggled going back to training camp it's fine and consistent
04:04on those sorts of throws so I think it's taking a little bit longer with Casey but I think he's
04:11getting there and again Dan Lobby with this here on the hotline I did the one thing that stood out
04:17to me from Casey and something that I don't know uh we've seen a ton of is just the run
04:22played by
04:23Julie McLaughlin the touchdown him matching up with Patrick Queen and re-engaging a block three
04:28different times and winning that battle like again I don't know that I can look back in years
04:32past and think of wide receivers giving that type of effort and winning consistently in the blocking
04:37game especially a rookie receiver um and you know going in into that matchup and I think the great
04:43thing about that play is obviously there was Casey who you know two or three times had to engage with
04:48Patrick Queen and won every time Denzel Boston is downfield blocking Malachi Corley is downfield
04:54blocking so I at Todd Todd Munkin today actually called that play it was sort of a an example of
05:00how selfless this football team is and uh you know a lot of wide receivers coaches will tell you that
05:05the way to get on the field is is obviously you have to catch football and be able to play
05:09the position
05:09but if you can block and you're a willing blocker that'll get you on the field but to see a
05:13guy like
05:13Casey do it who's going to be on the field regardless to embrace that at his size going against a
05:19linebacker like that that was really impressive yeah I can't remember who brought it up this week
05:24but uh somebody compared it to Kyle Shanahan always said uh you know if you don't block you don't get
05:28the rock and kind of uh you know mesh it together and have the rhyme I'll compare this team to
05:32a
05:32Kyle Shanahan offense in a different way and maybe this is a step too far and you can tell me
05:37but
05:37how close are they to just being a good enough offense that a a quarterback like Deshaun a game manager
05:44style kind of how we think of Brock Purdy is good enough for this offense to be successful when
05:50you talk about the skill uh the weapons and then obviously just the balance across the board
05:56I think there are little ways from that and I think the Shanahan I mean look it's the reality is
06:01the Shanahan thing was kind of built over years and years and years so that takes time but you know
06:05I
06:06will say with Todd Munkin we have seen him have success with with different types of quarterbacks
06:10different styles of quarterbacks uh obviously all as an offensive coordinator but the thing
06:15about Todd Munkin's offense and you know our guy Lance Risen likes it I'm sure he says it to you
06:20all
06:20the time he says it to me all the time Todd Munkin likes to find matchups and he does a
06:25really good
06:26job of getting guys in space kind of hunting matchups finding favorable ones and putting his
06:31quarterback in a position where he's just got to make the throws so you know we saw what he was
06:35able
06:35to do kind of taking Lamar Jackson to the next level he was an OC for a national championship
06:40team that had Stetson Bennett he found success with Jameis Winston a little bit in Tampa so
06:45I think Todd Munkin is the type of coach that can bring out the best in a quarterback I don't
06:50know
06:50if it'll ever reach Kyle Shanahan levels of like it kind of just doesn't matter who's playing
06:54quarterback he's going to make it work but I do think there could be a little bit of that and
06:58how
06:58Munkin calls an offense and kind of views creating creating opportunities for his playmakers
07:05Dana I thought the offensive line put together their best performance all season on Thursday
07:10how much of that do you think is a little bit of a sign proof of concept that the five
07:15new guys on
07:16the offensive line and obviously they were missing Elton Jenkins and had Luke Whipler but that this
07:20group is starting to gel and starting to figure it out there's good things coming down the road
07:25I think it's a good sign because we started to see little glimpses of it I think against Carolina
07:29and then I do think it kind of leveled up against Pittsburgh and I thought that third quarter drive
07:33it was it was the one that ended in Deshaun Watson strip sack unfortunately but that's the best the
07:39Browns have run the football all season long and if you go back and watch that drive and just watch
07:43the lines you'll see the Browns are getting real push and the line is moving forward it's not getting
07:48pushed back by the Steelers they're moving the Steelers forward and I thought in that third quarter
07:53the Browns ran the ball better than they have all season so I think it's a promising sign that they
07:58got
07:58it going a little bit against Carolina and they really got it going against Pittsburgh and now they're
08:02going against the Jets team that look they've got names people will recognize up front but they
08:08haven't created a lot of pressure and they just got run all over by the Chicago Bears who limited them
08:13to 32 offensive plays the Bears just manhandled that front for the Jets so this could be an opportunity
08:20for the Browns to kind of keep this momentum going with that line Dan let's talk a little bit about
08:24this Jets game because you mentioned the defense I'll start with the offense since we were just talking
08:29about that group but do you see this as a potential game and maybe the first one in a long
08:35time where
08:35you walk into it feeling like you might have the quarterback advantage I want to say that but for
08:41for some reason the Jets have been favored in this game all week and it hasn't flipped but I you
08:47know
08:47I'll say Gino looks better than he did last year with the Raiders I think there were just a lot
08:51of
08:51things that were broken with that Raiders team from you know the offensive coordinator all the way down
08:56to the line and and sort of everything Gino had to work with I think he looks better than he
09:00did
09:00there but I do think that you know if Deshaun plays like he did on Thursday night if Gino kind
09:05of just
09:05his status quo to this point and his credit he hasn't thrown a pick all season so he's playing well
09:10I do think the Browns could have an advantage of that position but the other part of it is
09:14I think the Browns are going to be able to pressure Gino they got to him 10 times last year
09:18they sacked him 10 times with the Raiders now again that wasn't all Gino that was a lot of the
09:23structural issues in Las Vegas but I do think they're going to get some opportunities to get
09:29to Gino and make him uncomfortable and he's the type of quarterback that'll hold the ball
09:33and you might get some coverage sacks like you did against Aaron Rodgers yeah in looking at this game
09:38now obviously talking about that pressure up front Dan this seems going through some injuries there was
09:43no Mason Graham as expected out at practice today with the MCL and ankle sprain
09:47Mike Hall who came back in that Thursday game was also a non-participant in practice today
09:53how much trouble are they in up front in an interior group that obviously has been creating
09:58pressure yeah I think I think that's the big concern and I know Mike Hall I believe he said
10:04after the game I didn't hear but I think I saw someone say this that he was planning to play
10:08against the Jets now that was obviously on Thursday but look you go back and watch that sack and you
10:13can see him hopping around on that bad ankle after the sack so I don't know necessarily if he is
10:20going
10:20to get out there now also kind of weirdly Todd Munkin didn't just come out and rule out Mason
10:25Graham I would be surprised if Graham played in this game but we did see him walking around the
10:30locker room today no brace or anything so you know maybe there's a chance he could get out there for
10:35a few plays but I do think this is an area of concern and it's not a coincidence that they
10:40designated Kalia Davis to return this week but you know they're they're trying to kind of maneuver
10:46things around on that interior to maybe call some guys up off the practice squad so I think that's
10:52a major area of concern here is the depth of that defensive line we knew that coming into this season
10:57and now it's going to get tested because they might be without two of their key defensive tackles
11:01how much of an impact do you think that makes against the Jets this week because this is a group
11:06that
11:07offensively like a Gino looked good but they looked bad last week they're going to be missing
11:11Brees Hall I mean there there's a slew of wide receivers out a lot of the guys that I feel
11:16like
11:16people would know from the Jets offense probably not playing in this game yeah I think it's good
11:23but again the thing about this Browns a defensive line is it has sort of been built on the interior
11:27pressure it has been built around Mason Graham creating pressure Malik Collins and then of course
11:33with Mike Hall coming on that that's been a big development so they're really going to need these
11:38dead rushers to step up and they're going to need this Jared verse breakout game that I think is
11:43coming you know Jared versus the guy that gets hot and he'll pile up sacks and quarterback hits and
11:48pressures you know over a three or four game stretch you'll see those numbers pile up a little bit but
11:52it hasn't happened yet this would be a great weekend for it Isaiah McGuire is making some plays on the
11:58edge but I think they need a little more consistent presence on that other side so I do think it's
12:02a
12:02challenge because so far this pass rush has been very inside out and it's been very dependent on
12:08Mason and Malik and Mike Hall being able to create some of that pressure
12:13Dan obviously I we're talking about injuries we mentioned Clea Davis coming back a designated to
12:19return from practice to practice now from IR uh Dylan Gabriel also you know and now designated to
12:24return from practice his 21 day practice window open four-man quarterback room once he's activated
12:30and healthy at least that's the way it would play out right now what do you see the Browns doing
12:35in
12:35that quarterback room it doesn't seem like they're in any rush to to um first of all to activate
12:41Dylan Gabriel we'll see um maybe they do it this week maybe they wait uh but it also doesn't seem
12:45like they're in any rush to move on from any of these guys and I just knowing Andrew Barry and
12:50knowing how he operates and thinks about things he's not going to paint himself into a corner he's
12:55not going to cut or trade a quarterback just because people think he has to uh there's there's three
13:01other teams I think it is right now that have four quarterbacks on their active roster that's uh
13:05Philly uh Atlanta and and the Steelers so it's not unprecedented to have four active quarterbacks
13:12if you did it with this team I guess you have to kind of look at who you'd be giving
13:16up right would
13:17it be somebody like a Tevin Jenkins who really hasn't even practiced I think he's participated in
13:22like one practice since the season started or you know right now you have four active running
13:26backs when Dylan Sampson or if Dylan Sampson is able to come back could you change the makeup
13:31of that room a little bit so I think there's some spots where you can maybe give up a player
13:35and use some practice squad elevations to make up for that if you need to uh but I just don't
13:41think
13:41Andrew Barry is going to get painted into this like deadline of we have to make a decision on a
13:45quarterback by this time or you know I don't know what's going to happen I just think he's if he
13:52wants
13:52to keep four he's going to find a way to keep four if you look at this team big picture
13:57and
13:57Dan Lobby at this on the hotline how close do you think they are to being legitimate contenders for
14:03the playoffs and how much of the Browns success right now feels real you know a lot of it does
14:09feel real and I don't know why because it's been close games so you would think you would say well
14:13it's been coin flips and maybe they could be in the jet spot if some things go differently but
14:17I think because so much of it has come with the performance of Denzel Boston who we you know we
14:23just talked about he's been really good and I think that was expected that's not a surprise it's only
14:27surprising that it's happened this quickly um you know KC is starting to come on that's not a surprise
14:32Harold Fannin being good that's not a surprise this defense being good turns out that Jacksonville
14:38game was an outlier so yeah I think we sat in training camp and watched this defense all summer
14:42and said the one thing you can bank on is is this group's going to be pretty good so I
14:47think the
14:48thing that gives me confidence is a lot of the things coming out of training camp that we said hey
14:53this could be good have been good now the big thing is Deshaun Watson can he sustain this can he
14:59kind of
15:00keep playing like this because that was that was one guy that I looked at and said I don't know
15:04if
15:04this is going to be very good when the season starts so that's a big one quarterback obviously most
15:09important position if Deshaun can continue to play at at least this you know 15 to 20 ish level I
15:16think they can stay in contention does a if you had to make a pick right now offensive rookie of
15:22the
15:22year is it going to Denzel Boston yeah I think it would have to um I mean he's leading all
15:28rookies
15:29in receiving yards he's making big plays um I mean maybe there's a chance I'm forgetting about
15:34somebody out there who's off to a great start that would deserve it but it's hard for me to argue
15:39against Denzel Boston and and the impact he's having and I think he's only going to continue
15:44to make more of an impact because if you do think about that Steelers game there were a couple big
15:48plays that he left out on the field including the one I know there should have been a flag I
15:52know he
15:52was getting his nameplate tugged on the whole route but he even said today that's a ball he needs to
15:57catch so you know that's another play he left out there so I think there's still some meat on the
16:01bone even for Denzel Boston I I think he's probably after a month here the the leader in the
16:06clubhouse for that award yeah I mean I off the top of my head I don't think there's anybody that
16:11you're forgetting like Carnell Tate is slightly behind him doesn't have a touchdown yet this year
16:15unless they're like throwing that award to an offensive line which they don't they commonly do
16:20uh it feels like Denzel's kind of in the driver's seat but yeah and then and Fernando Mendoza's not
16:25playing yet I'm trying to think like there's not really a rookie quarterback right now who who I
16:29think would steal I don't yeah I think it's Boston's to lose right now yeah it definitely feels that
16:34way Dan we appreciate you setting aside the time as always always good to talk to you and uh
16:38hopefully next week we're talking about a four and one football team as crazy as that is to say
16:43who uh who could have seen that coming appreciate the time Jake yep absolutely
16:47Dan Lobby cleveland.com with this there