Is the Cavaliers’ Win Streak a Mirage or the Start of Something Different?
December 6, 2013Browns to start Jason Campbell on Sunday against Patriots
December 6, 2013Continuing on with the results of the polling I did of you, the Browns fans, we’re talking about personnel today. How does everyone feel about the personnel moves from draft, free agency, to trades and upcoming Browns free agents.
Overall, it’s hard to say there’s a consensus with regard to this first question. 38% feel good about the Browns’ personnel moves even considering the Browns’ record. So, what’s the cause for those 38% to feel good? Is it free agency, the draft, or trades?
Browns fans don’t seem to feel as good about the draft as they do the team’s overall personnel moves. 50% of Browns fans polled feel good about the team’s use of free agency. This poll was taken before Desmond Bryant was ruled out for the rest of the season with an irregular heartbeat, but I still think it’s instructive. Browns fans seem to appreciate the acquisitions of Bryant and Paul Kruger. This overall feeling about free agency probably also has a lot to do with Brian Hoyer and potentially even Jason Campbell. Speaking of the quarterback situation…
Despite the fact that I think Browns fans almost all like Brian Hoyer, the fans are still dissatisfied with how the QB situation has been handled. 68% of Browns fans believe the QBs were handled poorly, rating the Browns a two at 38% and a one at 30% rates. We also see at the various decision points with regard to the quarterbacks how Browns fans feel. How about going forward?
Browns fans a cautious bunch. While I think most Browns fans liked Brian Hoyer, 37% are sitting right there on the fence to see what Hoyer can do next year. 35% of Browns fans feel good and 22% feel not good. With regard to Brian Hoyer, there really aren’t any people on the fringes in love or hate with his prospects going forward. The same cannot be said for Jason Campbell. 24% are all the way at the bottom with him.
The results are overwhelming and pretty obvious with regard to Trent Richardson. An overwhelming majority of fans – 90% – either think it’s a good trade or love the trade right now, while 32% hated it when it first happened. In case you are wondering I count among the 38 fans who said they’d “Wait and see.”
While Browns fans overwhelmingly like or love the Trent Richardson trade, it’s interesting that 44% of Browns fans are either skeptical or not confident at all in teh Browns’ prospects of using Indianapolis’ pick wisely. That might speak to the front office, or it might speak to the percentages of busts in the NFL draft overall. We’ll be getting into fan confidence in the front office in another post later.
And we round it out with Browns fans weighing in on upcoming free agents. It appears that Browns fans overwhelmingly want the team to re-sign Alex Mack and T.J. Ward. That’s not a big surprise. Fan also want to keep D’Qwell Jackson despite his large salary cap number, although at a smaller preference than Mack and Ward it would appear. It’s also hard to make the comparison because fans’ preferences could drastically shift on Ward and Mack depending on the contract dollars that end up being reality.
12 Comments
I lauded the Trent Richardson trade but the fact that he’s now riding the pine in Indy means the brain trust was correct. That being said that’s only half a win. I want to see what they do with that draft pick before I call the trading of Richardson a success.
I like the fact that Banner didn’t get hung up on the “we used a #3 pick on him, plus the other picks to trade up” line of thought to justify keeping the average guy around when he could flip him for a first rounder. I didn’t like wasting the roster spot on an obviously done Willis McGahee, though.
I find it sort of strange that fans are SOOOO down on Campbell and rather positive on Hoyer for next season. I agree that Hoyer is marginally better, but it’s not a big distance between them and it could be non-existent if Hoyer had to continue to play.
if Hoyer is our starting QB week1 next year, then it better be because we want to take it slow with our 1st round QB.
I think the feeling is that Campbell is a known commodity at this point because he’s had plenty of chances. He’s a slightly above mediocre quarterback, who will have a great game now and then, but can’t do it consistently and makes too many mistakes when he’s off. He’s a good backup, but not somebody you pin your super bowl hopes on. Hoyer, on the other hand, may have some untapped upside. He hadn’t had many chances (and those starts in Arizona were hardly chances given the offensive line they had that year) and despite his numbers not being jaw dropping in his three wins here, the eye test said he was efficiently making reads and running the offense. There may be some unreasonable optimism about him due to the three wins, but nonetheless it’s easier to feel sure Campbell won’t be the starter next year than Hoyer.
I can’t fathom any circumstance in which there is not a new quarterback introduced next year in one way or another, but I’m not sure it’s a lock that he starts right away – especially if Hoyer impresses in camp.
2 wins. I know that the NFL credits him with the Bills game, but he did not contribute to that win (though he would have if Gordon held onto that 1st drive ball).
I agree with your assessment though. It makes sense and as long as we don’t make him the only option, then I’m okay with it if he straight-up wins the job.
McGahee might be washed up, but he’s only filler and has basically produced roughly the same numbers as Richardson. At least he won’t be back next season.
I think the question was interpreted in regards to the QB starting. Campbell is a capable backup and would be a good mentor to the draft pick QB. Hoyer should be more than capable of holding down the starting QB spot until the pick is ready to start; i.e. Rodgers learning behind Favre, Brady learning under Bledsoe, etc.
I have a feeling that DQ will work with the FO on an extension that will lower his overall cap number. It would be a dumb move to not retain the captain of the defense, especially since he got the guys to buy into it since Day 1.
Agreed, but I would have rather seen the Bobby Rainey types get those carries. Use this season to find a two down back to pair with Dion Lewis as the third down back next year.
Everyone said D’Qwell might struggle mightily in the 4-3 defense as he had 5 years ago… but he’s been awesome. His number are downs because he’s not the ONLY guy making tackles back there. I hope we re-sign him… and I don’t care if he gets the 8.1 million. He deserves it.
If you lauded it, that meant you praised it highly. So, I guess from the rest of what you said, you didn’t laud it.
I’m glad the Trent trade and use of the draft pick were separate issues, as they should be. The jury is not out on the Trent trade pending the pick. If the Browns traded a first round pick for a running back who subsequently got benched in 10 games, nobody would be saying “well we have to see how team x uses the pick before we know if we made a good deal.” The Browns received FAR above fair value for Trent. Not squandering it is obviously huge, but it doesn’t change the fact that they robbed the Colts.