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00:06Brian Baldinger, Odyssey NFL Insider, joins us right now.
00:10Baldy, welcome back to the show.
00:12Well, it's good to be with you guys, man.
00:14Thanks for having me.
00:15I appreciate it.
00:15Well, it's great to have you all the time.
00:17It's a little better when the Browns are 3-1.
00:20I'm in the good vibe lane here.
00:23I'm just enjoying what I'm seeing here.
00:26What do you think of what we've seen from the 3-1 start?
00:28What do you think is most real about this Browns fast start?
00:32I think the coaching is real.
00:35You know, I mean, you just look at not just Todd, Coach Munkin, but, you know, Deuce Daly, George Warhop,
00:41Bobby Johnson.
00:42I'm just looking at the coaching staff.
00:43The coaching is real.
00:45You know, you've got five rookies starting and playing, and all of them playing very well.
00:50That doesn't just happen because Andrew Barry selected good players.
00:53I mean, you've got to coach Casey Concepcion up and, you know, the whole group, you know, Austin Barber, whatever.
00:59So, I think the coaching is real, and, you know, the execution is real.
01:04And so, I think those things are staples right here going forward.
01:09All right.
01:09That's good to hear.
01:10We believe in that as well.
01:11Now, tell us what you see on the field that you think is real.
01:15Well, I think that Todd Munkin is a really good play caller.
01:20I mean, this offense started off, it was, you know, they made a play here to Denzel Boston, but it
01:25was basically dink and dunk.
01:27And it was just trying to hang on to the ball against Tampa, just possess it.
01:31You know, but now I feel like it's really evolving.
01:34It's, you know, you bring in Jaleel McLaughlin for one play, and, you know, they execute a play.
01:40He goes 28 yards, score a touchdown.
01:41I feel like it's evolving.
01:43More guys are getting involved right now.
01:45The passing game has evolved.
01:47It's gone from basically screens, short passes, to now you're seeing Deshaun throw the ball on timing.
01:55All right, it's third and seven.
01:56Let's throw an eight-yard out to Casey Concepcion, and let's throw the ball before he comes out of his
02:01break.
02:02Let's beat the coverage with good anticipation and good, you know, just good accuracy.
02:09And you're seeing that come on and develop now in the passing game.
02:13And then defensively, even without Mason Graham last week, they're generating pass rush with playing good, sticky press coverage behind
02:25it.
02:25And that is really the way Cleveland has been doing it with Jim Schwartz, but it's doing it now.
02:32And they're executing that aspect of it in the man coverage that they're playing with the pass rush that's got
02:39after Aaron Rodgers, got after, you know, Baker Mayfield, et cetera.
02:43So, Baldy, Denzel Boston has been a revelation here through the first four games.
02:49Has any part of his game surprised you?
02:52Because for me, he's much quicker than I thought he was.
02:57When I saw him in practice in training camp, I mean, Casey was kind of banged up that day.
03:02It seemed like every ball went to Denzel Boston, whether it was stop routes or dig routes or go routes.
03:09It felt like the whole passing game was going to him.
03:12I think his size, I thought we, you know, he has good, good size, but I think his tracking of
03:19a deep ball, his ability to high point the ball, catch the ball with his hands away from his body.
03:26I think all those things kind of jump out.
03:28Like he looks like a complete receiver.
03:30I thought he was kind of just a go ball type guy at Washington, but he seems like he's really
03:36good at all the intermediate routes right now as well.
03:38I don't know.
03:39I don't remember, Baldy, where you stood on Deshaun Watson before the season, but if you're like a lot of
03:43people, you're, you know, I, myself, I'm shocked that he's able to play as well as he has.
03:48What have you seen from Deshaun and how improbable is it that he's been able to put up not only
03:53three game winning drives, but start off the season now three and one and have the Browns in a really
03:58nice spot?
04:00Well, we haven't seen him healthy for the most part.
04:03And, you know, his scrambling ability right now is helping them out.
04:08Like his legs are good.
04:09That 21-yard scramble last week on Thursday night was, you know, but you see it every week.
04:15There's one or two where he's scrambling for yards or he's avoiding pressure or whatever it might be.
04:21Like his legs look like they did not just when he first got to Cleveland, they look like he did
04:26when he was the reason why the Browns signed him in the first place.
04:29Like he was really good at extending plays, extending drives, and avoiding, you know, being sacked behind the line of
04:37scrimmage.
04:38Like I feel like his legs are all the way back.
04:40And then I think his decision-making has been good.
04:43But you only, those things only show up if you're staying on the field and you're healthy and you're building
04:50rapport with all the new teammates.
04:53I mean, it's literally Deshaun and a bunch of kids right now, right?
04:56Like he's the old man of the whole thing.
04:59And I just thought Todd laid it out perfectly in training camp.
05:04Each guy's going to get a day.
05:05Shadour's going to get a day.
05:06Deshaun's going to get a day.
05:07He goes, I hope I don't have to make decisions.
05:09I hope the decision gets made by the performance.
05:12And that's what he said.
05:14And that's what he did.
05:14And people weren't happy with his decision when he named Deshaun the, you know, the starting quarterback.
05:19But he's the one that watched it every day.
05:21He's the only one that watched it every day.
05:24And I felt like the decision was going to be based on merit.
05:28And I felt like that's what he did.
05:30And then he got a chance to become the starter and work with all these young kids,
05:34offensive linemen, young tight end and Harold Fanning, you know, the receivers, the backs.
05:40Like, it's all a group of kids that are just figuring out the game.
05:44And he's kind of making it work.
05:45Week by week, he's gotten a little bit better each week.
05:48On the Wise Heart, right?
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06:04So, we've talked about the run game.
06:08Deshaun has had his success there.
06:10They've had a couple one-offs.
06:11Rocket Sanders here.
06:13McLaughlin there.
06:14But the lion's share of the ground game with Quinshawn has struggled.
06:20Is that more on Quinshawn or is that more on the offensive line?
06:25Well, I mean, they're the only team in the league that has five new starters on the offensive line.
06:30Now, George Warhop and Bobby Johnson are great.
06:33And they have a good track record.
06:34A lot of different places that they've been.
06:36But I do think it's going to take some time, you know, before they figure out what runs their game.
06:42It's only the first month of the season.
06:44And they're not playing in preseason for the most part.
06:47And also, Barber's in there at right guard and Spencer at left tackle.
06:50Like, they're trying to figure this thing out, right?
06:52Luken's in there at center right now.
06:54So, where he was.
06:56But, you know, I mean, you've got all these new players coming to a regime.
07:00And really, I think Quinshawn's a good back.
07:03But there's always a marriage.
07:06There's always a dance between the back and the offensive line and how they're going to block things.
07:11How were they going to get to Patrick Queen last week against Pittsburgh?
07:15Like, you might have walked through it during the week.
07:17You might have practiced it.
07:18And then you can't get to Peyton Wilson or, you know, you've got to figure out on the sideline how
07:24we're going to get to the Mike linebacker, whatever it might be.
07:27And so, those things take time.
07:29Building that trust, how they're blocking the backside linebacker, how they're cutting off, who they're scooping to on the front
07:37side.
07:38Like, all these, I'm talking technical stuff.
07:40But, you know, for an offensive lineman, that's when the running game gets going.
07:44Because running backs and Quinshawn's no different than James Cook or anybody.
07:48Like, you feel one, you see two.
07:51Like, you feel the hole.
07:52But your eyes are up on the linebacker and how you're setting them up for big runs.
07:56And so, you know, they're still trying to get lanes for Quinshawn to run through, where the lanes are, how
08:02they develop.
08:03So, I just think it might just take a little bit of time.
08:06But I know he's averaging, I don't know, somewhere around three yards a carry.
08:09That's not pretty.
08:10But, or a little bit more maybe.
08:12But I feel like if this thing develops where I think it can develop with who they have coaching,
08:19I think we can see that, you know, start to get to four yards a carry and start to look
08:24a little bit more, you know, a little bit more acceptable.
08:29Baldy, the pressure numbers for this defensive line is through the roof right now.
08:33It's really, really high.
08:35What do you attribute that to with the idea that there's no Myles Garrett, Jim Schwartz is obviously gone.
08:40And now we might have Mason Graham out for a couple weeks as well.
08:43And for the majority of Thursday Night Football, he was not on the field.
08:45But the numbers are really, really impressive in that regard.
08:50Well, I mean, Aiden Huntington stepped up immediately.
08:52As soon as Mason went down, Aiden Huntington stepped up.
08:55And he's never really gotten a big chance to play.
08:58I mean, he made the team as a free agent last year.
09:00It was a great story.
09:01But he's a great kid.
09:02And he's difficult to block.
09:05You know, they didn't have Sam Williams last year.
09:08Sam Williams getting a chance to play.
09:10You know, he was a high traffic by the Dallas Cowboys.
09:13You know, whatever reason, they moved on.
09:15But Sam has pass rush ability.
09:17You watch him, you know, when he was at, you know, Ole Miss.
09:20Like, he's a good pass rusher.
09:22You know, and Isaiah McGuire.
09:23Like, they've got individual guys, I think, that can get off blocks, can win one-on-ones.
09:28Malik Collins is playing as good as Malik Collins has ever played right now.
09:32So he's just, I mean, just in my head, I'm just going through some guys.
09:35You know, they've been out there.
09:36What we haven't seen yet is what really surprises me.
09:41And that is Jared Burse.
09:42Because I was around Jared this summer at the SAC Summit.
09:46Like, that kid has a chance to be a great player.
09:48And he was a very good player with the Rams.
09:51And we just really haven't seen much from him yet.
09:54But when Jared Burse starts getting his game off, he's as powerful as anybody coming off the edge outside of
10:00Miles Garrett in this whole business.
10:01And we just haven't really seen him pop yet.
10:05And that's, if I'm a Clemen Brown fan, I'm encouraged by watching him this weekend against the tackle with the
10:13New York Jets that I think is average at best in pass protection.
10:18Like, you might see Jared Burse, like, put up his best game of the season right now.
10:23Baldy, we had a lot of debates in the draft process.
10:26And then after the draft, was Spencer Fano truly a left tackle?
10:30Would he have to slide inside?
10:32It's only four games here.
10:34But how do you feel about Spencer Fano's first four professional games as a left tackle?
10:40I thought the same thing.
10:41I thought, you know, he was right tackling Utah or whatever.
10:43But I thought he struggled against Carolina.
10:45I thought he played a lot better against good pass rushers in Pittsburgh.
10:50You know, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig are really good.
10:53They pay those guys a lot of money in Pittsburgh.
10:55And I thought he did a good job against those guys.
10:59I feel like he's a little bit, like, they're turning the corner on him a little too easily right now.
11:06The good guys, you man, Emile in Carolina, turned the corner on him too easily.
11:12But I felt like he improved last week.
11:14And I just, like, he's got good feet.
11:17He's got good size.
11:19Sometimes I think he looks more like a guard than a tackle.
11:22But, you know, they don't have that luxury right now.
11:25That's okay.
11:26He's a tackle.
11:27I think he needs, you know, I think he probably gets good work.
11:30When I was out there at training camp this year, I thought Jared Burst got the best of him throughout
11:35the day.
11:36So he's working against a guy that knows how to practice, gives him good looks.
11:40I expect him to improve as the season goes on.
11:44Brian, great stuff as always, buddy.
11:46I really appreciate you.
11:48Thank you so much.
11:49Yeah, my pleasure, guys.
11:51Enjoy it this weekend.
11:52You as well.
11:52Brian Bouldinger there on the Wiseheart Right.
11:55We make it right.
11:56Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
11:57And that NFL Insider Call presented by Nationwide for your insurance and financial needs.
12:03Nationwide is on your side.
12:05We take that with him behind.
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