May 25, 2013

NFL News: Chudzinski “excited” about Weeden, still needs to see more

February 22, 2013 by 26 Comments

Speaking at the NFL Combine on Friday morning, new Cleveland Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski said he was “excited” about second-year quarterback Brandon Weeden.

Despite said excitement, Chudzinski stuck to the team’s mandate about not naming one of last season’s first-round draft selections the unchallenged starter, stating that “competition makes everyone better.” Chudzinski touted Weeden’s strong arm and throw-making ability as well as his calm in-pocket demeanor. Inconsistency, however, remains the outstanding issue as the quarterback was wildly so in his rookie season in the NFL.

“We’re going to put the best guy out on the field who gives us the best chance to win,” said Chudzinski.

In 2012, Weeden completed 57 percent of his passes for 3,385 yards, 14 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. The team, who will reportedly bring in another player to challenge Weeden, continues to be linked to other quarterbacks like San Francisco’s Alex Smith and Miami’s Matt Moore.

[Related: How the Browns could win a Joe Flacco negotiation]

 

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  • Harv 21

    Sure, these politic public words are devoid of meaning and must be stated for a dozen reasons, from not harming Weeden’s confidence to not signaling draft intentions to not weakening a negotiating position with a free agent or trade partner.

    But, Browns fans being Browns fans, this quote will be regurgitated and reinterpreted, in and out of the correct context, until draft day and beyond. Can’t wait until we enter an era where the starting QB is not an annual issue. Until then, have at it, people.

  • Roosevelt

    This is the most obvious thing in the world, and they couldn’t figure it out until now. Tell Weeden that he’s going to have to compete for the starting job, then go tell the media that he’s your guy and you love him but you don’t want to foreclose any options. You gain absolutely nothing by being negative about him in public. Rex Ryan always talks his players up even after he cut them, because why the hell not?

  • mgbode

    You’d think we’d be numb by now:

    well, we’ve heard:
    “X QB is the unquestioned starter for next season”
    and
    “X QB will be competing to be the starter for next season”

    We’ve seen the guy who wins a competition get benched at halftime of week1 and be traded the next day.

    We’ve seen the unquestioned starter play well to start but get hurt in week1 and play terribly the rest of the year (either due to injury or his own ineffectiveness).

    We’ve seen coaches flip and flop between 2 options and sometimes 3 throughout a season or even over multiple seasons with the same guys.

    and, a Browns specialty, we’ve seen QBs with specific skillsets be force-fed into our offensive system which requires them to be strong where they are weakest.

  • Natedawg86

    I heart McCoy

  • Harv 21

    also:
    - The coin flip.
    - Replacing the “mentor QB” with the prized first pick in the draft in only the second game of franchise existence, so rookie could get his brains and body scrambled behind a joke of an offensive line on one of the worst patchwork rosters in NFL history.

  • Roosevelt

    That’s the spirit!

  • Garry_Owen

    Don’t forget:
    “Jeff Garcia” (He Who Cannot Be Categorized)

  • mgbode

    Garcia is well encapsulated in my last category. WCO QB force-fed into the Butch Davis system. Good times.

  • mgbode

    I think we win for most QBs who start week1 and do not start week2.

    Detmer
    Frye
    Delhomme (and he’s the only one because of injury)

  • MrCleaveland

    Every time I see bullet-headed Trent Dilfer on TV I have to change the channel. The guy has zero personality, which isn’t a good thing for a QB or a broadcaster.

    Now that I think about it, he’s the same in the studio as he was on the field. I’ll bet ESPN tells him to be just a “show manager” and let the skill people get the ratings. Or something.

  • Garry_Owen

    And just like that, the champ knocks me down a rung.

    Adrian?

  • mgbode

    i pity the foo who starts at QB for the Browns

  • Bryan

    I agree that this particular statement is meaningless, but if you collect all of the statements made about the QB position by the new regime together, I think there appears to be a rough plan in place:

    1) Regime has said they want “competition” at all positions including QB.

    2) Regime has said that they don’t want to make “pricey” free agent signings. They want to build through the draft.

    3) Regime has said they like SOME of Weeden’s skills and think he could improve quite a bit. They just aren’t 100% sold on him.

    All of this suggests the regime is either going to a) sign a reasonably priced veteran backup who can push Weeden, and be effective if Weeden flops (a Matt Moore type), or b) going to draft a young guy. The second scenario seems less likely given the lack of talent in the draft, so I really think the first scenario is the most likely outcome.

    Of course, that won’t stop Grossi and MKC from obsessively writing stories about Alex Smith and Joe Flacco. But no one ever accused them of searching for the truth.

  • Garry_Owen

    Agree. His Total JBR (Jock Broadcaster Rating) is a 3.

  • Harv 21

    I put Dilfer in a separate category: aging QB who grabs his last decent money by promising to mentor, tells the media he wants to mentor, but once replaced says “eff the young guy, I can play.” Worse than Seneca, who was already here when the The One was drafted but is terminally delusional about his abilities. Seneca is more ill than evil.

  • Vindictive_Pat

    Does that make Jim Rosenhaus a 1 since he is both not a jock and has zero personality?

  • Harv 21

    Wonder if the one consistency in Browns’ QB evaluations is the old-school analysis of the girlfriend’s hotness level. You know, more emphasis on the confidence intangible, like the baseball scouts in the book Moneyball.

  • Garry_Owen

    Well, not being a jock, he technically doesn’t even qualify for a Total JBR. The Total JBR is reserved for the Dilfers, Keyshawns, Sharpes, Deons, Irvings, etc. of the world. (None of whom, by the way, have a very high rating. They are all well below the “Gannon Line,” which is roughly equivalent to the “Mendoza Line,” indicating “barely listenable yet still on a major broadcasting team.”)

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    Mr. DeCesare – oh yeaaaaaaaaaa!

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    Well at least he won a Super Bowl, well not really he just didn’t lose it. Now Jon Barry or Jalen Rose whoever hired them should be fired if they haven’t already.

  • The_Real_Shamrock

    Yes please Chud lets end the QB carousel until some actual offensive minded coaches actually work with the players they have on the roster. If the Browns want to be a vertical attacking offense I would think Weeden’s physical attributes would be perfect for that system. He just needs help/tutoring/learning on everything else.

  • http://twitter.com/bbo13 B-bo

    I like to see old Trent, just to bask in the glow of his blinding hatred for the Cleveland Browns organization. He seems to think he was an elite-level guy that we somehow wronged, and he takes shots our way any chance he gets. Hell hath no fury like a legend in his own mind scorned.

  • cmm13

    Call me crazy, call me old fashioned, but I sincerely miss the days when a coach would literally crush his QB to the media in order to see what he was made of.

    I know it’s not in Chud’s makeup, but to hear him just come out and say “Brandon is inconsistent, Brandon has a lot of work to do, We won games in spite of Brandon last year not because of him” would really let us see what type of QB we have.
    Does Brandon fold up the tent upon hearing those comments and cry in the corner or does he come into OTA’s carrying Thor’s hammer ready to shoot lightning bolts from his arm?

    To win consistently and at a high level, we need Thor and we need to find out if Brandon is that guy. Now. Not “ehhh….maybe in camp we need to see more film, field, blah blah blah”.

    /rant complete
    #nowimdone

  • http://www.facebook.com/oscar.shlotkinz Oscar Slotkin

    I like that he said he will put the best players in that give us the best chance to win… you know, like normal, regular teams and coaches act… the point is to win. I just hope Chud means it. As we saw last year with Murmur, he didn’t put in the guys (Colt) who could get us the win, he stayed his stubborn course. At least we got the 6th pick out of not winning 3 more games with Colt.

  • Henry Brown

    Weeden’s already said he expects, and looks forward to the competition so yeah, thanks for yet another pointless, typical fan comment.

  • eldaveablo

    Yeah, like a first time coach should know 100% how he feels about a player he has never coached, never had a practice with, and by rule can’t talk football with him. That makes sense. We are all hungry for NFL news, but it doesn’t mean we need to make things up to be angry about.