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00:00we're going to go out to the wise heart right we make it right call call right hotline our next
00:05guest here on the show covers the nfl at large formerly of nfl.com now over at yahoo sports
00:13eric at home joining us on the show eric we haven't had a chance to talk since your your
00:18move congrats on the the new uh the new digs man yeah the new slash old this is actually my
00:24my
00:24third right in at yahoo which is uh i don't know it's like jeremiah trotter with the eagles they
00:29just keep bringing me back i'm not sure why but i love it i love the i love the reference
00:34there
00:35that's a good one um eric well we'll start we'll start local obviously and so as far as the bronze
00:40are concerned you know we were just joking about it last segment i i think we know that the browns
00:44are probably going to end up playing multiple quarterbacks this season i think the question
00:48kind of is how long is that leash for deshaun watson so from your outside perspective you know
00:54everyone's talked about this we heard ryan fitzpatrick on that thursday night game even
00:57saying when deshaun fails how long of a leash do you kind of anticipate deshaun watson gets here
01:02to open up the season i think it's two games and you see how he's doing right i mean i
01:07think
01:07i i don't know i maybe i'm making too much of this i i kind of was playing it halfway
01:13when they made
01:14the announcement i said you know they do start on the road for two games i know other people made
01:18this point but like i wonder how much that played into it you know if it was at all if
01:23they opened
01:24in cleveland would you be able to roll out deshaun watson and and have any kind of positive fan
01:32reaction i mean i don't know i i think it was so ugly in that preseason game that you that
01:37you kind
01:38of got a preview of what was to come and now look watson may have been by definition the better
01:44quarterback from the start of camp till the end you know you factor in every throw every play every rep
01:50in the coach's eyes i think they probably viewed it that way there also is this other factor that
01:55has to be considered so if after two games he's done some good things and the browns are one and
02:01one or better you know i think there's a there's a discussion to be had about like can we keep
02:06this
02:06thing rolling so i maybe i'm looking at it too simplistically but i do think that he's got to show
02:14you something pretty good in the first couple of games against you know against two good teams you
02:19know i mean the jaguars were a nine win improvement a year ago i know the bucks some people are
02:24kind of
02:24wondering are they really good are they decent are they not as good as everybody thinks but i think
02:29they're competitive they obviously the baker connection everything but um i really think it's
02:34two games and then you have to make another call eric talking about this offense i the browns went out
02:39and they addressed their offensive line they drafted some receivers the tight end spot uh with
02:44harold fan and not a lot of depth behind him uh the the running back room with judkins what do
02:49you
02:49think of this offense what have they done uh where you think they're going to struggle early on and
02:53what do you think some of the strengths of this offense will be moving forward yeah i mean until we
02:57see the offensive line work as a unit it's hard to put a judgment on that group i know a
03:02lot of folks who
03:03you know spend a lot of time studying offensive line play they know the personnel they know the schemes
03:08very well we'll put the browns closer to the bottom of the list because look a lot of new faces
03:14uh
03:15potential rookie start you know rookie starter at left tackle um basically everything is is almost
03:21everything is new so until we really see how they work together it's hard to know what you got there
03:26um in terms of playmakers though you can get me excited about the idea of casey concepcion
03:32running uh routes out of the slot for for the next four years and you can get me excited about
03:38denzel boston because you know look he's he was always a talented player in college i don't know
03:44that he always was able to to put it forth in in terms of you know weekly production and just
03:50sort
03:50of you know i think there was a reason why he slipped a little bit but the browns i think
03:54are
03:54thrilled to have him fan and as you mentioned you know just has turned into a volume target and a
03:59very
04:00interesting guy tricky guy to cover uh and then a pretty good running back 202 that i think was
04:05just starting to scratch the surface so i mean you know it sort of comes back to the quarterback
04:10play in the old line those units obviously have to buttress and help kind of fort you know fortify
04:17the offense as well as the whole picture but you know individually speaking there are some really
04:22enticing pieces on that offense eric you mentioned casey concepcion i have him as an offensive rookie
04:31of the year candidate is one of my bold predictions for the season i'm kind of listen i'm following up
04:36from last year i i said around this time of year that i thought carson swessinger could win defensive
04:40rookie of the year so i'm trying to sort of double down here with with concepcion um where does he
04:44kind
04:45of fit in that that picture you think and beyond him like what rookies do you think will have the
04:50biggest impact on their respective teams well just big picture there's not this is not the kind of year
04:56that is going to be a it doesn't look like a bonanza right now for offensive rookie of the year
05:01candidates so i mean as things stand we have one quarterback who's expected to play enough games
05:08right i think at some point fernando mendos is going to take over um you know kind of like we
05:14were
05:14talking about with the browns like you just feel this inevitability about it right um whether it's 10
05:19games 14 8 i don't know what so that that kind of limits things a little bit i think receiver
05:26probably
05:26has a decent chance you've got carnell tate and you've got other talented guys uh depending on when
05:32jordan tyson comes back i would put concepcion in that mix just because you know i mean look i think
05:38he'll get enough touches both as a runner and possibly on some trick play stuff we saw the play in
05:43chicago he's got the special teams potential as a punt returner so there are a lot of different ways to
05:49get on the ball and i think that's appealing to to viewers and to people making the votes for
05:55these things so yeah i think he's i wouldn't put him as the favorite for that list but i don't
06:01think
06:01he's an absurd choice at all especially in an offense that has to be creative that has to be
06:05resourceful that that has to squeeze every last drop out of what it's got given the the limitations
06:12and other spots so yeah i think he's got to be in the mix there as well you know i
06:17mean if if
06:18kenyan sadi can can bust out for the jets maybe he's a factor as well they also have omar cooper
06:25i think there's a good chance that it's a it's a receiver this year um not to say that you
06:31know
06:31uh jeremiah love couldn't win it for the cardinals or even jadarian price for the seahawks but
06:37it's it's just a leaner year and this might be the year where a wide receiver
06:41can kind of take advantage of that a little bit eric going back to the browns going to the other
06:46side
06:46of the football when you look at their starters at all three levels pretty talented guys they
06:50don't have a lot of depth if this team can stay healthy defensively can they allow them to maybe
06:55compete a little bit in this afc north uh this fall yeah yeah i mean i it's a tough division
07:00you
07:01know the big picture is still clear look i know that you know obviously two new coaches in the
07:06division you got to have a um a little bit of a limited in your expectations but i i guess
07:14i'd be
07:14surprised if the steelers went into the tank i don't think you know again it's like are they a
07:19super bowl team i don't know but i still think they're going to be competitive you know um i think
07:25the bengals are going to be back as well so again it's hard to know but yeah i would i
07:31would think that
07:31there's still a chance for them to be competitive given how good the defense is and you know is
07:36jared verse a carbon copy of what miles was no but i think he's a really good player and i'm
07:42excited
07:43to see what he does in this group and you know i mean i i don't you know mason graham
07:47is obviously
07:48the other sort of difference maker up front but you know i i really like the way they've drafted
07:53the last couple years you mentioned schwestinger i mean i i think he's going to end up being one of
07:58the
07:58the better linebackers of this generation and a big part of what they do defensively
08:05you know obviously the secondary has some talent as well miles harden was always my uh my draft crush
08:11i saw him a couple years ago was excited that that he made it into the league and um but
08:16yeah they've
08:16got a good group your point about the depth is interesting too i mean you know when you're stuck
08:21repairing the offense and committing two-thirds of your draft picks to that side of the ball and
08:26you know really kind of fortifying things sometimes it comes at a at a cost elsewhere and that may be
08:31the case if there are one or two injuries this thing could you know could look a little different
08:36you see talk about miles harden i've always really liked him too i like him uh you know he's been
08:41inside outside during practice i mean spencer get to go to practice do you like him better in the at
08:46the nickel in the slot or do you like him better outside because i think he could add to their
08:50depth if
08:50they go to more of a three safety look what are your thoughts on that well yeah watching him outside
08:54in
08:54college i was i was encouraged right he's not the biggest guy but i mean i think he can he
08:58can compete
08:59out there and and he was sort of doing his job i i understood why most people coming into the
09:05league
09:05sort of thought if he's gonna have a chance he's probably gonna start inside and then you know you
09:10see what he can do that sort of thing so it's been a while since i kind of drilled down
09:14on him but
09:15uh yeah i would say that that he's versatile enough that you have to consider it eric at home yahoo
09:23sports joining us on the wise heart right we make it right call car right hotline eric
09:27we asked this earlier in the show do you given everything that's transpired this offseason there's
09:32been a lot of change miles garrett gets traded very young team as we know but also i i do
09:38think
09:39this that there was improvements made to the side of the football that todd munkin specializes in
09:44obviously from a year ago do you think todd munkin has been set up more for success or failure
09:51going into his first season as head coach and what does that mean you think for his
09:55his ultimate tenure here with the browns yeah i it's a really fascinating experiment right i mean
10:02i think it's going to be really interesting to see what he does with this team i think from the
10:07outside perspective and again it's hard for me to know exactly what people think in cleveland but i think
10:11a lot of people were really willing to kind of get on board early on as he set this this
10:16quarterback
10:16battle up and you know his little sound bites and everything i think people are kind of intrigued
10:21all of a sudden and um you know he's got the college history and he's got some history in the
10:26division stuff and you kind of think maybe this is one of those guys who can who can surprise us
10:31right browns fans have seen every different type of head coach there is i mean you know they've
10:35they've gotten every type of guy this one's a little different so there's there's some
10:40encouragement there and you know it seems like it's been a good camp in the reports i'm going to give
10:45you kind of filter out some of the quarterback noise and everything else i mean it you know it
10:50feels like the browns been able to get a lot of things done which is good so i'm willing to
10:54give
10:54him a chance i'm just kind of interested to see what he what happens to this team once they face
11:00some
11:00real adversity and and are they able to kind of flip the script a little bit as things start going
11:05awry so you know i never try to make any grand proclamations about anybody who's who's a first-time
11:13nfl head coach and you know decide this is what their their future is going to be and stamp it
11:18in
11:18ink but at the same time you know it turned out to be intrigued even if look i mean we
11:25know that
11:25there's some you know he's he's still got some some things to to figure out i mean this quarterback
11:31thing isn't going to go away at any any time so he's going to constantly have to be answering
11:36questions about it i believe throughout the course of the season you know like even if there's a
11:42second you know there's a possibility of a second quarterback change that not every other nfl team
11:47has so um i think that's uh that's the interesting kind of layer to the whole thing eric you talk
11:54about
11:54the quarterback situation let's say the browns are more successful than most people think obviously
11:58the win totals between you know four and six or whatever it is i think they're going to be more
12:02successful if they stay healthy if the browns are successful this year it's why well if they're
12:07better than people think what has to happen yeah i mean i think first and foremost if that offensive
12:13line comes together whoever's the quarterback is going to have a much better situation and they're
12:18going to have a lot more freedom play calling wise and there's there's a lot more they can do to
12:22help their quarterbacks out i mean i you know it almost sounds rudimentary but i mean i really believe
12:28that teams that are that are fortified in that way have a have a much easier path back to
12:35respectability because you know you can kind of dictate some things right we can we can punish you
12:41for four quarters with our with our run game or we can keep you off our quarterback as well and
12:46you
12:47know i remember talking to brad holmes about it when he was taking first taking over the lions about a
12:52year
12:52of the job and i mean you saw the the commitment they they made to the offensive line like that
12:57was
12:57the unit they had to get right right away and it's held up as one of the better lines of
13:02the last five
13:03years and i think that's you know la's done a good job even with all the star talent out there
13:08about
13:08you know collecting all the you know the the pukas and the mild carrots and and the aaron donalds and
13:13all that stuff yeah that's a big part of the the shiny race car element of their of their team
13:18but they've also quietly put together a pretty respectable offensive line it's not maybe a top
13:23five unit but it's a good group you know so that to me is what's going to separate you know
13:29a
13:31an expected season or a below average season from what could be intriguing you know some team that
13:38that competes for the playoffs or is in the mix until late in the season again i don't know if
13:43they
13:43have a playoff run in them but until i get quarterback clarity i don't think i can make that
13:48kind of statement but that i think is going to help make all roads a lot more smoother final
13:54couple minutes here with eric at home eric is there a team that we're not maybe talking about
14:00enough right now that you think could be a sneaky playoff contender or like make make a run at some
14:07of the top teams in the in the nfl this year yeah i i've been kind of throwing the saints
14:12out there
14:13now i know they've had some injuries that are a little bit disconcerting this preseason but
14:17you know tyson and brissy and some of their key guys i think if the new orleans saints are
14:24a little bit better defensively than they were a year ago and hopefully a fair amount better on
14:31special teams that was really a hidden killer for them a year ago and we see a continuation of what
14:36they did the final six seven games of the year tyler shuck took over kellen moore really seemed to be
14:42in his bag as a play caller they were getting chris olave involved now they have travis etn
14:49they've beefed up the offensive line to david edwards comes over i mean i think joan johnson's kind of one
14:55of those sneaky weapons who may surprise some people this year this late in his career so i mean
15:01there's some elements there the nfc style's up for grabs you know the bucks like i said earlier i think
15:06they're pretty decent i don't know the world beaters carolina panthers same thing falcons they
15:12just named to a starter a couple minutes ago hard to know how long that's going to last or whether
15:18that's going to get a bear fruit so they're kind of in a good situation with the division and they
15:24were riding a high into the offseason so they're one that i could see sneaking up on some people and
15:29winning 10 11 games in a surprise year and the more things change the more they stay the same for
15:34kevin stephanski going to a new team and he's still got to deal with a bunch of different
15:37quarterbacks oh my goodness yeah right uh eric i'll get you out of here with this uh we love
15:42predictions this time of year what is your super bowl matchup prediction who wins it and give me an
15:49mvp candidate as well yeah gosh it's funny i i just turned in my picks last week and i already
15:54can't
15:54remember who i selected right real conviction there at home yeah man stand behind your work um i definitely
16:01had the rams as my team i think i had the rams over ravens if i remember correctly and i
16:06had a
16:06pretty close game and uh not to not to get you guys too too riled up i think i had
16:12miles as my
16:13super bowl mvp but i know i know if you know if they get there i just have a feeling
16:19you know that
16:19game is going to be everything to him but um big picture mvp i mean look josh allen's kind of
16:27entering the end of the prime of his career he's won one already i could see him battling for a
16:31second you know drake may will be a popular candidate obviously coming off last year even
16:36the way the season ended as disappointingly as it was lamar's got to be in the mix too i just
16:42have a
16:43feeling that declan doyle and that offense is going to work wonders for him and and that he'll be back
16:49if that again kind of like cleveland if that offensive line comes together he's eric at home follow him on
16:55x at eric underscore at home you can read his work at yahoo sports does a tremendous job
17:00covering all things nfl across the nfl including sometimes even our cleveland browns eric appreciate
17:06you man really good insight as always and uh enjoy the first week of the season have a great morning
17:12you guys thank you yeah you too thanks again eric at home
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