Cleveland Browns trim down the quarterback room but not the desired way

the Cleveland Browns ended up not trading a quarterback they waved veteran Tyler Huntley couple other roster moves but we're getting ready for the regular season we're going to break it all down your latest lockon Browns starts [Music] now you are locked on Browns your daily Cleveland Browns podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome back my friends to the show that never ends your daily delivery of all things dog pound LGB and the lb the lockon Browns podcast for the lockon podcast Network your team every day I'm your host Jeff Floyd we appreciate everybody that makes lockon Browns their first listen every single day the numbers keep going up don't miss out join the everyday crowd subscri subscribe to lockon Browns YouTube channel the show is always available it is always free wherever you get your podcasts today's episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply download game time today what time is it game time we are joined by the obr's Pete Smith you know look we try to get Pete in here as much as we can busy for him all the work with the obr obviously the Streetsboro program uh heading into week two after being Victorious week one congratulations all around um Tyler Huntley the move was made and look I I think we kind of had it should have had a feeling that maybe there wasn't much of a market for Tyler Huntley when you know the there was talks of maybe that teams were inquiring about jamus Winston teams were inquiring about DTR so you're always trying to you know keep that tool going to keep the flame going um but there were plenty of teams as of yesterday when they first got down at 53 that only had two quarterbacks on the roster if it didn't happen yesterday it kind of felt more and more like maybe it wasn't going to happen does he return to the practice squad certainly possible certainly possible um but the Browns at the end of the day however you're going to slice it up they ended up with the three best quarterbacks that they had this spring this summer on the roster that is the ultimate goal um Pete some thoughts on that and also the way this worked with the rule is this mean that most teams should probably just keep three on the 53 man roster uh I think it depends on your situation if the Browns didn't have a promising Young quarterback I wouldn't bother with it I like I like DTR I like DT's Talent that's why I want to want him on the roster if they had let's put it this way if if it was uh Watson jamus Winston and Tyler Huntley or PJ Walker or uh somebody else in that vein I'd rather just have the roster spot but that to me is what the third roster spot is for at quarterback having a young guy that you're excited about that can be your scout team quarterback they can help your team get better every week while also uh developing and and I think DTR gives you that but other than that I don't care and I mean ultimately if you in a situation where you're you're on your third quarterback you're probably in a world of hurt anyway so I mean you need to have somebody that warrants the spot otherwise you are probably going to have somebody else you'd rather have an offensive lineman a defensive lineman some you know a DB anything else rather than a third quarterback which you can just put on the practice squad even if even if you can't sort of activate them like the rule that they they wanted to implement now Pete it's looking probably more and more like we're GNA get Jack honin out at left tackle for week one and I think everybody's trying to paint the picture that they know what's going to go on here um that maybe Jed could be the swing I I I don't think it's necessarily that jedric Wills is going to be the swing tackle I think it's that we just don't know yet and you we know that danan has done nothing on the left side that is what we know they didn't you know didn't work with it yet last year they didn't attempt to work with it at all this you know I guess summer because nobody was essentially available in the spring for the Browns as far as the offensive tackles are concerned and maybe because of Jack's in injury maybe they feel a little bit more comfortable with him on the left side at least for week one but this looks to be what the plan is going to be for the offensive line and look you're trying to get your five best out there you are playing the Dallas Cowboys yeah I'd be really curious if uh if that if wills and cocklin and dwan Jones weren't coming back from injuries would that have changed it and specifically wills and Concklin I feel like they got to a point where they're like Dean Jones is functional at right tackle let's not mess with it because at least at that point in time they only had one tackle so moving him doesn't fix a problem it just potentially creates another one so you basically got to a point where you're like let's just leave him there we'll figure out what happens when these other guys get healthy and go that way like I I have to think that if all these guys were healthy throughout danan would have gotten a look at the left side at some point because it benefits you to take that look you're not going to lose anything doing it and you have a potential answer at position which you are going to have to deal with now if Jack cocklin could do it great like he could theoretically do it I do think it creates some weird awkward uh run like strengths for you unless dwan Jones has improved in that area dram Al I've not seen it to this point I honestly very concerning to me but like if Jack hlin is good at left tackle then your primary run strength is left that's not the end of the world but it's just a little bit awkward that Joel bonio is such a good move uh mover as a guard being able to pull and do some of those other things not to say teller can't we've seen him do things like trap block and pull around to the left and stuff like that but it just sort of everything was sort of catered to the right in the past and obviously when Le Bron have been at their best and when conin was an all pro it was on the right side and Nick chub flowing that way so it's not ideal but you can certainly do it and ultimately it's a question of um you know to your point get the best five out there and I think that's ultimately where they're going to end up and not the ideal start for Coach Dickerson by any means whatsoever um you know went almost all the way up until August without having his top three offensive tackles made it till I guess you know want to go two three days ago probably August 26 27th before he got you know at least one more of his starting tackles into the fold still jet is available not practicing yet so certainly you know muddies the water so not the ideal scenario there I just do want to get to this before we get segment two and start with things up entirely um the tight end room Pete it was always weird and you know for me maybe it was just being in the structure of it oh it's got to be three it's got to be three it's got to be three you were more of if it ain't worth it it don't matter um and look you're not g to have a guy that's going to step in if something happens to David nooku anyway but two guys brought in brought into the practice squad um I think the idea of latu might be a little bit of a luring you know good blocker did have 12 touchdown receptions in his final two years at Alabama sure so uh obviously the seak EA pick was nothing short of disastrous um this doesn't fix it but they do get a former another third round pick from that draft um that now has the potential to develop into something if he does great you get an extra value and maybe that sort of mitigates a little bit of the damage uh from that that could have been that pick but ultimately latu has been more of an inline guy a true why I don't think he offers you a terribly Dynamic receiving uh option but you know if David andoku gets injured which is the whole thing I mean he is the tight end position right now and they want to get somebody who can get up there and sort of line up and do some of those things then latu can theoretically do that which is fine uh they got H they got a true Y and then they got another F Type in uh whiteart uh the kid who played at Wick Forest I'd be very curious to know if ultimately trayon Welch just thought his options were better with the New Orleans Saints because personally I think more highly of traon Welch than whiteart but uh they got one of each which is fine ultimately I think that makes sense and even still though I mean you know you can still go James Hudson blocking tight end which is something James husband has been decent with the least you know the amount of time that you've asked him to do it there are those options but if we're talking about run blocking we're talking about the running game we can talk about the running back position we're going to get to that as your latest lockdown Browns continues everybody please stick around when is the best time when do do you need that punch for me I get up at 4:45 in the morning so when I'm at work and I hit that lunch hour that is when I need the punch so you're not alone in fact research shows that more than 70% of us hit the wall after lunch let a Five Hour Energy Shot help you leap over that wall instead of crashing into it five energy is the brand hardworking people like you have trusted for over 20 years to give them uh the alert energized feeling they need to get through a busy hectic day you always know where to five five energy shots right at the cash register at nearly Ever every convenience store drugstore grocery store Nationwide stock up on money-saving multipacks to make sure you never run out of a delicious energy 5our energy shots if you go to 5our energy.com that is the number five hour energy.com and get some 5 Hour Energy product today you can use my promo code locked on FB to receive 20% off your order this offer is only valid through September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions the code is not good on subscription orders go to 5our energy.com today your latest lock down Browns continues I am your host Jeff Lloyd we are joined by the OB Pete Smith I appreciate everybody that makes lockon Browns there first listen every single day the everyday crowd the numbers keep going up and I appreciate you all for that make sure you subscribe to lockdown Brown's YouTube channel the show is always available it is always free wherever you get your podcast as far as the 53 man roster is concerned yes Tyler Huntley was released um I don't think to a shock to anyone we knew it was only a matter of time Dante Foreman back on the 53 man roster uh also a running back brought in as well to the practice squad two things that I told you you're probably going to look out for um you look at it and you know look we know for at least September you know Jerome Ford is most likely ideally your number one running back nothing has changed since last year when Nick went down uh you know Jerome gives you a nice mix hopefully you know he'll pick up a little bit on you know the zero to negative yard runs understand that hey if it's even if it's a yard I'll just take the yard um but that's also where he and the offensive line they have to work in udison I know a lot of people pointed that statistic and want to put it on Jerome Ford um that was certainly a collective effort that led to that statistic from Jerome Ford you have Foreman um Pierre strong you the thing with Pierre strong is you know there's explosion there it's kind of like Pierre Pier Strong's kind of like a number seven hitter you may get 20 home runs but you also may get 150 strikeouts um but this has been a huge part and look it started to change certainly last year with the injuries to Nick chub certainly with uh to the offensive line Pete but for a team that was so great at running the football for so long and now this is you know still the same regime you know obviously assistant coaches have changed you're kind of Reinventing yourself on the Fly here looking to throw the ball more certainly have the ammunition to do that but you still need to run the ball when it counts where's the confidence level with the way the running back room is currently assembled I like Ford and Foreman I'm not as uh convinced that pierce jerly adds anything other than potentially on special teams as a returner um his contact balance is frustratingly bad um I mean I was a big fan of his coming out of college I just every time it seems like he's got an opportunity he just falls down or trips over hash or whatever for the ball other thing but I think Ford and Foreman is better than what they had last year um so long as Foreman can stay healthy he gives you a hammer he asks a sort of a governor if Ford is not doing what uh du Staley wants finish runs doing those things but uh I I like the combination I think it can be fine for uh up up until Nick chub is back and ready to go I think Foreman gives you everything that Kareem hunt did maybe not as quite as as effective as a receiving threat but he's better as a Just Pure Runner um so he's pretty good I'm hoping that Ford can build on some of the momentum he gained from last year I think he got better over the course of the year he's got to carry that over he's got to be more consistent but I also think lowering his usage a little bit would be good for him hopefully you get better touches uh out of the few if he's taking fewer of them um so we'll see how it goes but like obviously the key here really is G be the offensive line can they open up polles for these guys if they can do it then I think the bronze are gonna be fine uh the the if they if they want to spread him out that should create some you know favorable situations and that could help them quite a bit as well now with you know the way it works there and you know the theem Hines thing you know once we got to you in the preseason games and the he wasn't doing anything I'm not sure you know where the Browns were with that you know was it a surprise you know that Hines is also going to be minimum October as well who knows but you know certainly a tough blow you know with the you know two running backs and Hines is kind of be a guy that's going to contribute like a jack of all trades so certainly a tough loss as far far as that one is concerned um the practice squad running back G Brightwell um I don't know if anybody remembers but you know if you remember maybe Chris Ivory a few years ago played some time with the Jets played some time with the Saints um you I'm not comparing Chris IV certainly had a nice little career for himself but Gary briw well if you want to talk like that bumper car running back just seems to kind of crash in everything and runs 100 million miles an hour like his hair's on fire that is what you would get with a guy like Gary bright well uh Pete now the wide receiver group and it was weird for some I don't get it now it seemed pretty cut and dry the six wide receivers that were going to be on this team um and you know Mike Woods does come back to the practice squad you know pre jayen Darden uh and even the other guy brought in the practice squad today all pretty much Cut From the Same Cloth here but this six collectively it's by far one of the deepest wide receiver groups in the in the now eight years I've been covering this team by far um and there can be times where any one of these guys can be on the field I think the confidence level should should be there with any one of what these six guys are capable of and if it's anything with the offensive line questions as far as just everybody trying to return to health Deshawn admittedly known to everybody without the league throughout the league is somebody that maybe holds on the ball longer than most but if there's anything that can maybe get Deshawn going as far as you know picking up the pace getting the rid of the ball quickly it should be the confidence level he has in guys he's throwing to and maybe also that he's got questions certainly about you know the amount of guys you know block for him and he just doesn't know where they're at just yet right so obviously Ami Cooper is aari Cooper He's just a great wide receiver and getting Jerry Judy in there gives you a lot of opportunities uh you have David njoku which should help out everybody um and then you have Elijah Mo coming off of a career year in yardage even if it was sort of a um uneven sort of roller coaster of year in terms of not only his efficiency but just how the Browns utilized him Cedric Tillman uh by all accounts has has taken every criticism from last year and sort of really worked on it and certainly that last preseason game didn't hurt help didn't hurt anyone's feelings in terms of being able to Showcase what he's capable of um but you know there's talk that they like really like Jamari thrash already and David Bell um is a seems to be a better fit with this offense with the ability to sort of play his leverage and find his own opening and those type of things um it should I mean there's always the potential for miscommunications when you have two different uh people or multiple people thinking what they see reads whatever but it should create more open opportunities I mean throughout the preseason you saw nothing but open receivers so maybe that's a good indication of where this thing's going uh but there there's plenty of potential here now it's just a question of can they make it work uh you know if you're looking at this sort of as a reflection on deshun Watson you know there's no it's not an excuse to be unsuccessful one I keep talking about and you know like everybody because you know and look we know where the pressure comes from and you know we certainly know you know how some people feel about desan but look we got to evaluate the game that's in front of us but I think the key thing for Deshawn Pete this year it's not about total yardage it's not about touchdown passes more important things to probably discuss are going to be completion percentage and probably interceptions yeah I mean protect the football don't get hurt I mean that's it I mean if you if you can who cliche for a guy making what he's making but ideally the way this team is structured that is it yeah and I think he's got to sort of embrace that a little bit and not try to make the $230 million throw all the time just get it out of your hands let your guys you know be Playmakers and trust your defense um I'm convinced that if he just plays staying healthy he will get better if he just gets the ball out and trusts his guys he will get more opportunities to then make the big plays what does that equate in terms of how good he can be I have no idea but it's certainly gonna be better than what we've seen from him to this point and if he just does those things and is average the Browns are now a contender for the division I mean that that's a really low bar but that's where they're at and look that that should be the expectation you know you know again the money the deal the investment that was made the draft Capital be one of the 22 go out there and play your role deshan does that everything else should probably just fall into line we're going to talk a little bit of the defense how can we not talk about the defense so we're going to continue here are your latest lockon Browns appreciate everybody for being along for the ride we are winding down towards the end of summer look some last opportunities maybe you want to go catch the Guardians maybe you want to catch a baseball game I'm sure you want to get out and check out the Cleveland Browns music anytime anywhere concert you want to see it you go check it out that's why you check out game time they have a new feature called Game Time picks that makes 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off download game time today what time is it Game Time closing out your latest lockdown Browns the obr P Smith is here as always I appreciate you all for making the show your first listen be coming every dayer don't miss any of the action subscribe to lockdown Browns YouTube channel the show is always available it is always free wherever you get your podcast now Pete you we didn't get to see a good amount of this defense this summer understandably I'm extremely excited because I think there are so many returning parts and it went so well last year I want to see where this team now plays with even more confidence with even more Swagger on the defensive side of the ball Quinton Jefferson brought in one of the few changes on defensive line one of the other ones we're probably gonna have to wait a little bit on of course in Mike Hall Jr I think Jordan Hicks joining the linebacker room um it gives J in my opinion the best linebacker he's played with up until this point on a consistent week in week out presence the secondary I think they made the right choice in keeping the six guys at corner who can cover they still have the five safeties here we'll see if that continues up until that time we kick it off against the Dallas Cowboys but it's hard to find whether or not there's any questions on this D Pete um other then you know can they at least be what they were or perhaps be even better yeah so I think there's a lot that sets up well for them to be better I mean like the questions start with slot and seemingly Greg Nome is back if he's truly ready to go he it's such a relief for that group and credit to him he he had to have worked his butt off to get back that quickly I still have questions about what what the surgery actually involved but who cares you say hamstring surgery that just scares hamstring pole alone is enough you know I mean but beyond that I mean you just look at this group and it's just strengths I mean the other question I would have is backup nose um and maybe they're content to just act uh promote Jan Briggs uh when they need somebody but you know if dvin Tomlinson were to get actually hurt you know I think they'd be in a world of hurt but beyond that to your point I think Jordan Hicks is a big big get for them uh improves their overall athleticism I think uh you know you look at the just the corners in general everybody seems to be thinking Martin Emerson's Prime for a monster year I think Grant delpit is phenomenal at what he needs to be doing and gives you a guy who can cover tight ends at a high level and do everything else the safety does one Thornhill just regresses back to the mean he's gonna be infinitely better than he was last year uh and then yeah they they did not hold they did not sleep on trying to improve the defensive line further you know Quint Jefferson is a big big addition in terms of getting another pure pass rusher uh we'll see what happens with Mike holl when he's actually able to be used um but like Alex Wright can he take another year step forward can you know zidus Smith's pressures and everything else suggested he should have had way more uh you know production on a stat sheet that people would sort of look at and go sack and pressure so if he can repeat that he's probably due to have a whole lot of uh a lot more on the stat sheet and then you know miles Garrett I mean let's he has um obviously he's coming back from being defensive player of the year but it's like you sort of take him for granted he's really good uh like you know the further we give away through the season I think he has a you go back and you sort of have a case for him as the MVP considering that so many people seem to think he's that no one else on the Browns is like a top 100 player so if that's the case then he should be even better than that so they' they've just got a ton of talent uh on that and depth I mean obviously you know if injuries happen they've still got Cameron Mitchell they've still got you know khif hassi they've still got guys like Ronnie Hickman and Rodney McLoud they've got you know a lot of guys that should be more comfortable in this year you know if it's true that they are pissed based on what happened in the playoffs and that has focused them they could be you know every game could be them trying to go out and prove a point which is pretty terrifying if they are you know obviously another year in the system they've added some things to try to change up how they can attack defense opposing offenses that could really be fun to watch uh and you know it could end up being a much better product against more difficult competition yeah one of the things I I I I take away from you know over the summer was you know there was you know a lot of national people there for the joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings and they could not stop talking about the Browns defense now keep in mind Denzel Ward Craig Newsome were not participating also you know keep in mind so that means the younger Corners were playing also keep in mind your pass rush is limited you know you can only do so much in a situation like that because they don't want quarterbacks get affected or whatever so you think of the fact that you know miles Garrett was basically you know neutered or muzzled in something like that the top Browns Corners weren't playing but yet people came away and they could not stop talking about the Cleveland Browns defense so again offense just do what you have to do because the defense should certainly be pulling you know a lot of a lot of heavyweight uh Pete Smith make sure you check everything out pting the crew of DVR they just you know keep plugging along day in day out I mean for all of us you know comes that time of the year where you know you wish your best to your family and you know your friends and you know hey maybe you know all goes well we'll see you you know sometime late February um it's what we do we love it wouldn't have it any other way so make sure you check out all the content over the obr make sure you are following at PS smithore um just continue another year here um as we get ready to tee it up here and I guess from now it's probably about nine days or so uh I'm your host Jeff Lloyd I appreciate everybody who makes the show their first listen every single day uh the everyday crowd you're a bunch of filthy animals but you're my filthy animals I suggest you all become a filthy animal subscribe to lockon Browns YouTube channel be coming every day or the show is always available it is always free wherever you get your podcast this has been your daily delivery of all things dog pound LGB on the L let's go Browns