Upon further review – Triple Dose

Austin Hooper upon further review

By STEVE KING

Tight end Austin Hooper is getting a lot of hype as the Browns’ top free-agent signing this year.

And that’s certainly understandable — actually, it’s more than that in some regards in that it’s almost a fait accompli — because the Browns were really weak at tight end last season. They had no one – absolutely no one – to go to in short-yardage situations, especially near the goal-line where the field is so very greatly squeezed.

“One of the teams they both were talking about in a very positive way was Cleveland.”

How 2 former Browns TEs sold Austin Hooper on Cleveland, and why it spoke volumes » https://t.co/cKTHSegYzn pic.twitter.com/E8XV8CwppX
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) March 25, 2020

Now, in Austin Hooper, they have one of the best in the business in that role and overall. His presence will pay great dividends for quarterback Baker Mayfield, which, in turn, will pay great dividends for the offense, which, of course, will pay great dividends for the team overall since the NFL is so quarterback- and offense-driven now.

With all that having been said, though, I think – to be more specific, I know – that the two free-agent signings who were even better are right tackle Jack Conklin and quarterback Case Keenum.

The Browns haven’t had a long-term great right tackle since Cody Risien – Cody Risien! – and he retired 30 years ago. Before that, you have to go back to Monte Clark in the mid- to late 1960s. Conklin has the ability to be on a par with those two outstanding players. He really, truly does.

Longtime Browns fans will remember how good the pass protection and run blocking were on that side of the ball when Risien and Clark played. Being able to do both equally well really helped the offense.

Considering that, then, watch how much better – and more complete – the offense becomes with Conklin stationed there.

As for Keenum, the Browns – and, of course, Mayfield in particular – needed a proven, unselfish and smart veteran to serve as a capable backup. The last thing the Browns needed was a quarterback competition. They just needed someone who could seamlessly step in if – gulp! – Mayfield got hurt.

Now they have that man in Case Keenum — and a top-tier right tackle in Jack Conklin – to go along with Austin Hooper, and all of a sudden this offense looks a whole heckuva lot better.

DOSE 2 – A SWING AND A MISS

So, then, the Browns and Chris Hubbard have agreed to a restructuring of his contract and the team is planning on using him as the swing offensive tackle for next season.

Ugh.

Double-ugh.

Using Hubbard as the swing tackle is a swing and a miss by the Browns.

Actually, it’s the third swing and a miss of Hubbard’s at-bat – his stay — with the Browns. As such, it is a strikeout.

Hubbard is more of a swinging gate – an old, rusty, beyond-its-usefulness swinging gate – than he is a swing tackle for any NFL team.

Hubbard did not play well last year. That’s obvious. The eye test from 2019 tells us so. And if you disagree – I don’t think you do, or can, because it is that clear-cut – just check the stats. He graded out as one of the worst tackles in the NFL.

He was one of the key reasons why the line struggled so much, why quarterback Baker Mayfield struggled so much, why the offense as a whole struggled so much and why the Browns overall struggled so much.

That’s a lot of struggling, folks, and in many ways, it all traces back to the line, and in particular, to guys like Hubbard and left tackle Greg Robinson. Robinson was jettisoned, and Hubbard needs to be, too. That Hubbard is being retained is troubled. Thankfully, it will not be as a starter, but Hubbard is an injury away – a play away – from being in the lineup.

Yikes.

That scares me, and I’m sure it scares you as well.

I’m surprised it doesn’t also scare the members of the Browns’ new regime, who have used a big broom to sweep out the door much of what – who – they have inherited, even some stuff they could have, and should have, kept.

But in reality, it doesn’t matter what you and I think, only what the Browns think.

Still, I can’t, for the life of me, understand their thinking.

DOSE 3 – DON’T COMMIT A PERSONAL FOUL

We bill this website, Browns Daily Dose, as a place where you’re going to see something you won’t see anywhere else, or at least a different view of it.

And so we continue down that road.

I just got back from the store – literally minutes before I sat down to write this, in fact. It doesn’t matter which one, other than to say you’ve heard of it – thousands of times.

Anyway, with this ugly, dangerous coronavirus and an order to stay home unless absolutely necessary to go to a store like this, there weren’t many shoppers.

But the ones who were there were apparently a bit grumpy. I get that – in a way. I really do. We’re all grumpy. Everything that’s going on has made us so. We’re scared, too, and disappointed, frustrated, anxious, etc.

What I don’t get, though, is being unkind. We should be kind whenever possible, and it is always possible.

Anyway, the woman ahead of me in the checkout line at the store added a whole new meaning to the word “rude” with the way she treated the cashier – for no reason other than the fact she was … well, grumpy.

The cashier, also a woman, retaliated the best way possible by being patient, kind, understanding and civil – very, very much so. I think I am a patient, kind, understanding and civil person myself, but I don’t think I could have kept myself under control like she did.

God bless that cashier. I made a point to relay what happened to the head cashier.

She smiled and thanked me, then added, “The customers have all been rude to us today.”

We’re going to get through this coronavirus eventually. When that is, who knows? But when it does end, we’re going to look back at everything that happened during this nightmare. Don’t let rudeness – your own – be one of the things that comes to mind.

We’re all in the same boat, and as such, we need to come together, not apart. That applies to everything, even when you’re in a checkout line.

And oh, yes, I’ll be back to football – and the Browns – in my next post.

But think about what I wrote here.

Please.