00:00Linnell Willingham was bullish on the Browns back in August. I can only assume what he's like
00:04with the Browns now, but I don't have to assume any longer because we head out to the Wise Art
00:07Right. We make it right. Call Kyle Wright Hotline. You know him as a Westwood One Sports Network
00:13host. Linnell, welcome to the show. What's going on, gentlemen? I appreciate y'all making some
00:17time for me, man. Well, hey, it's always great to have you. You're one of the rising stars in
00:22this business, and you were, I like to consider myself a seer of seer, a prognosticator. I can
00:29a few quatrains here, but you did a bang up job there. But can you admit that four and
00:35two, at least that surprise, that start surprised you a little bit? No, gentlemen, I'm not surprised
00:41at all by what we've seen from Cleveland here in the first six weeks of the season. If you
00:46remember what you just heard in that soundbite, the season is gone exactly the way that I thought
00:52it would. Defensively, obviously, I think everyone was ready to jump off of the ledge after week
00:57one in Jacksonville. Just leaks everywhere, bust all over the secondary. The pass rush
01:02wasn't very impactful. But since then, they've really cleaned things up on the defensive side
01:06of the football. Mason Graham, when in the lineup, has been hell on wheels. We know what
01:10Carson Swessinger represents. I love what they have defensively. I'm glad that Coach Ruttenberg
01:15has been able to kind of pick up the pieces after, you know, week one, things were looking
01:19kind of bleak. Offensively, I mean, I'm not going to sit here and lie. I mean, their offense,
01:2410 to 13 on Sunday against Baltimore. It was like watching paint dry, guys. It's awful
01:30watching this team play offense week in and week out. But the most important thing that
01:34they're doing is they're protecting the football. And I know Deshaun Watson's not going to blow
01:39anybody away with how he's played throughout the first three quarters of football games.
01:43But in the fourth quarter, Deshaun Watson's got the ninth best EPA in the National Football
01:49League, playing big boy ball when it matters. And then for the Deshaun Watson detractors,
01:54because I follow you all on social media, I know people are very upset with how he's played
01:58to this point. He's doing it with no run game. And I think that's the biggest surprise to me
02:03for the 2026 Browns is that they can't run the football. And I know they've had some attrition
02:08in the running back room, but they're just not getting a whole lot of movement up front
02:11with this offensive line. I would say if I'm Todd Munkin, man, if it continues to go this way on
02:18the
02:18ground, you have to get Taylor and Green involved here somehow in terms of helping your rushing
02:24attack in finishing off drives with touchdowns instead of field goals in the red zone. And
02:28then those short yardage situations.
02:30Well, so I'm glad to bring that up, Winnell, because like in listening to the clip, it almost
02:34felt like you got the answer to the test right, but you didn't show your math 100% the right
02:39way. You know, like it was, you got the end result correct. But in getting there, you'd mentioned,
02:43you highlighted, you said Judkins and Fannin and you said Concepcion and Boston and all
02:49these other guys. And Boston's been great. Concepcion's been fine. Judkins has been a
02:53disaster. Fannin is just a blocking tight end right now. He's got 13 total yards in the
02:57previous two weeks receiving. Like, it's interesting how this has unfolded. It's like, I feel like
03:02a lot of the rhetoric we were talking about before the season for why this team would be
03:06able to overperform is not actually the reason why this team is overperforming.
03:10So that's the crazy part about it all. And I, and I go back to the run game and look,
03:15I think when you look at the young pups that they have starting up front along, along this
03:21offensive line, you want to give them a little bit more time, right? To, to gel and to play
03:27together as one. We know there was a makeshift offensive line really all throughout training
03:31camp for this group. They haven't had a whole bunch of time with this five together. So part
03:36of me is like, eh, maybe they'll get better as the season moves on. But like, man,
03:40if you're not going to be able to muster anything on the ground, you put a lot more
03:45pressure on Deshaun Watson in this passing game. And we know they don't need, you know,
03:49any added pressure. I want to double click on tail and green for a second. I haven't paid
03:54attention to the actives and inactives for Cleveland through the first six weeks. Has
03:58he been active yet to this point? I know that was a big point.
04:00Emergency quarterback role. He's just been the emergency quarterback. Look, if the run game
04:06continues to struggle the way that it does, maybe you throw him in the mix. I think there's a
04:11reluctance to run Deshaun Watson as far as the, the, the, the designed run game. And I know we've
04:16seen it at times, but man, I think if they could get the quarterback involved in the run game,
04:22it'll help the traditional run game out, man.
04:24Lanell, is there a key to sustaining this for a full season for the Browns?
04:29I would say health and they've already overcome the early, early injury bug with Mason Graham being,
04:34you know, in and out of the lineup, you lost Samson. Like they've been able to overcome it early.
04:39I think you hope as an NFL team, right? That you're playing your best football
04:44in the end of November, early December, right? They're not playing their best ball right now.
04:49And yet they've gotten out to a foreign to start. And then you look at the next couple of weeks,
04:53there's a real opportunity for them to be seven and two, six and three, you know,
04:57going into Thanksgiving time. So I think the arrow was definitely pointing up with this group.
05:02I think, you know, I heard you all talking about it before I was brought on here.
05:07I don't know how much it's been laughed about this week on the air. I probably would laugh about it
05:11if it happened in DC, Deshaun Watson's little mansion party that he threw. I think there's some
05:16legs to that boys for this reason. I don't know if the general public understands this,
05:23they liked Deshaun Watson in that locker room for all of the consternation about what he is off
05:28the field as a human being, for all of the messy things that Browns fans have to say about him.
05:34The people that showed up to that party, the fact that they're winning, I think they like
05:40Deshaun Watson more than people understand. Deshaun's a hip dude. He's on Instagram. This is a young
05:45Browns core. He listens to little baby and future and all the cool hip hop artists. He wears the fancy
05:50clothes and the jewelry. Like there's a lot that they can relate to with Deshaun in terms of,
05:55you know, just being a youthful dude. He's obviously been through a lot. He can share,
05:59you know, his trials and tribulations of the things that he's been through off the field.
06:03I don't like to get into that stuff. I like to look at him as just a quarterback, but man,
06:07I think the vibe of that group, and that was part of the thing that I picked up during my
06:11couple of
06:11days down there watching him in camp. Todd Munkin in his time at the University of Georgia,
06:16working with the young pups. I think it's helped him really garner the attention of this locker
06:22room, and they respect him, man. They respect him. Old man Todd, as I like to call him, man. He'll
06:27cuss you out, but he'll put his arm around you. I like the Todd father. The Todd father. I like
06:31that.
06:32Old man Todd might be offensive. I'm not sure. We're not ages here. We also don't kink shame,
06:38Linnell. No, we don't kink shame. You mentioned, though, you mentioned that party,
06:43and you mentioned listening to us previously then leading up to this. So what do you make
06:47about the report that Shador was not at the party? And you can even throw Jared Verse in there if
06:51you
06:51as well. Like if you throw a, if Deshaun throws a party, are you expected to be in attendance as
06:56a
06:56Browns player? Starting quarterback, man. I would think you're going to be in attendance. As far as
07:02Shador not being there, does that really surprise us when you think about what their dynamic is
07:09potentially behind the scenes? And Shador has done a good job of playing his role the right
07:13way in the media and saying all of the right things throughout camp. But I can only imagine
07:17like he probably doesn't care too much for Deshaun. There's a competitive, you know,
07:22confrontation and tension that probably exists there with those two. So I'm not surprised
07:25that he didn't show up. Jared Verse not showing up. I feel like the party was not as entertaining
07:29because Jared Verse didn't show up, man. I know you all love Miles Garrett there in Cleveland
07:34because of the sacks that he brought. You know what you got in Jared Verse that Cleveland hasn't
07:38had in a very, very long time? A real leader of men. Jared Verse is a leader, guys. On the
07:45practice field, you hear him barking for two hours at a time. Him and Spencer Fano going
07:49at it on the day that I was out there. I love what Jared Verse has brought to the table
07:53in
07:54terms of the leadership stuff with the Browns. I think there's a confidence that he has exuded
07:58into this group. And think about where he comes from, man. The Rams have been the big dog
08:02of the NFC, you know, for the past five, six seasons. He doesn't want to lose. He comes
08:08to Cleveland and brings this winning mentality, this, hey, we're not going to suck. We're
08:11going to talk our trash. We're going to be physical. I love his post-game soundbites.
08:15I mean, he's been awesome. I hate that he wasn't at the party, but I don't look at that
08:19as a negative. Maybe a negative for the party, but not for the team.
08:22Linnell, it's great to catch up with you, man. You work with my buddy, Josh Graham,
08:26often, so make sure to tell him I said hey, and we appreciate you. We'll have you on down the
08:30line.
08:31Yes, indeed, guys. Keep doing your thing.
08:32All right. Linnell Willingham there. Westwood One Sports Network host on the Wiseheart
08:36Right. We make it right. Call Kyle Right Hotline.
