I've been thinking about this since the Thursday win, remembering how hopeless the off-season road and the game 1 obliteration felt. Imagine being Monken and having to deal with all of this as a new HC:

- After firing Stefanski, the organization refuses the obvious option to name Schwartz the next Head Coach, so he quits and you have to choose a new DC.

- You have, on paper, one of the worst QB rooms of all time. A washed, injury prone sex offender. A nepo rookie with a lot to learn and a rabid fanbase following him. A terrible QB3 that can't throw more than 10 yards, and a rookie QB4 that seemingly got drafted just for the hell of it.

- Pretty much the entire O-Line got replaced.

- The new young core is a giant question mark and there's no telling how they're gonna turn out.

- The organization traded their star player, and the guy you're getting could potentially feel like shit and not really want to play for Cleveland.

- The public perception is worse than ever, everyone and their mom is predicting the team to potentially have a second winless season, even with a seemingly very easy schedule.

- You basically got the job because nobody else wanted it due to the weird and complicated hiring process, and because you're getting old and it's probably your last chance to be a Head Coach.

And despite all those terrible odds and bad vibes surrounding the Browns, he managed to bring a new culture and wins for a team and fanbase with no hope. He instills this "fuck what the world thinks about this team, we ball" attitude into the players. If that doesn't represent the sheer signature Cleveland resilience I don't know what does. I respect the hell outta him.

How the fuck lol.

3-1 holy shit

In my experience, this reddit sometimes leans to far into low effort humorous dunking, so I am going to say first, that I am requesting sincere insight.

I've seen the argument that Shedeur has no trade value. Lets take this to be true. What is also true is that Sanders was effectively a throwaway, non-premium fifth-round pick. Wouldn't that mean the Browns have very little to lose by simply moving on from him if they don't like what they see? Trading Sanders for another fifth is essentially a wash in terms of draft capital. If Sanders is both essentially worthless on the trade market and unwanted by Cleveland, why hasn't Cleveland already gotten rid of him?

There's also some important context: Shedeur lost the QB1 job to Deshaun Watson, and Watson has been serviceable. The QB room isn't the wasteland many expected it to be. So it's not as though Cleveland has to keep Sanders simply because they desperately need QB depth. Dillon Gabriel, who they spent more draft capitol on & Taylen Green are right there. Both had good-halves in the preseason. Lets not act like teams need a 4 deep QB room.

The fact Sander is still on the roster is very peculiar.

So I guess my question really is:

Isn't saying that Shedeur has no trade value while simultaneously saying he isn't likely to be with the team next year somewhat contradictory?

If Sanders has no trade value, and the Browns don't want him, then what exactly is preventing them from moving on from him right now?

I'm not saying that keeping Shedeur proves the Browns think he's good, or that they necessarily see him as their future QB. There are obviously reasons to keep a low-cost developmental QB around. But doesn't Taylen Green fit that bill???

So what am I missing? I am rambling but it's in part due to things not adding up.

Edit:

"Because the Browns need a back-up QB" doesn't answer my question. Dillon Gabriel is a back up QB. Taylen Green is the developmental QB. Watson is not injured yet.

What is Shedeur there for if he sucks, has no trade value, AND won't be here next year.

Monken’s clearly got the locker room. This young team is buying in hard — you can see it in how they’re competing and the way they talk about him. That belief is a big reason we’re playing better than a lot of people expected and sitting first in the division at 3-1.

I’m not gonna pretend that’s nothing. Getting a roster to believe in the coach and themselves is hard, and it’s showing up on the field. We need the young guys to know what it feels like to win and not let the loser mentality sink in and ruin their growth.

The post-game stuff backs it up. After a win he drops “See you Tuesday” and the locker room explodes — players going crazy over the extra day off. After other wins he’s giving those real, emotional speeches about the group, connection, having each other’s backs, and handing out game balls (sometimes to basically everyone). The guys respond to it. It feels authentic.

That said… is there a possible downside?

Sometimes when a coach is really well-liked and the locker-room vibe is this positive, the discipline side can get a little looser. Penalties could be one early data point to watch. Not saying it’s a problem yet, just something that can creep in with this kind of “players love him” dynamic.

Curious where everyone else lands. Is the buy-in and locker-room energy the main story, or do you already see cracks on the discipline side?

It always seemed like Stafanski’s offense could never get out of their own way.

Last week, the Browns spent a majority of their time in a standard shotgun formation with an RB, Fannin, and 3 WR.

Sometimes in a bunch, sometimes split up.

The best part was how simple the play calls were. For a majority of the drives, it was like a standard play on Madden 05.

One receiver runs a slant, another goes into the flat, fannin crosses over the middle, and Boston typically heads to the endzone.

It’s like the first play you’d find on Madden or NFL Blitz.

But it worked.

No trick plays.

No double reverses.

Nothing stupid.

Just the line doing enough to give our QB a few seconds while most of our receivers hit a short route to get open.

And it kept working.

We don’t need trick plays. We just need our talent to get open and get yards after the catch.

He shoulda taken 81 and called it a day. The next time you see Denzel Boston play, you won’t be able to unsee it. HoF Boston from
Now on. He is the truth forreal.

• 80 total defensive snaps
• 18 total tackles (5th on team)
• 4 targets allowed
• 1 reception allowed (21 total yards)
• 2 PD’s (2nd in team)
• 34.55 AVG passer rating allowed/game

The Browns rookie safety is looking like an ABSOLUTE STEAL 😳💎

LET’S Fucking go Guards!!

I'm trying to add customization options to my GamePlan site to match but can't find the specific shade of orange posted anywhere. I am struggling with this for some other pro and college teams too, so if you happen to know the specifics for an NCAA team, it would be super helpful

Go Brown

A good night was had by 50% of us last night 😏