I don’t like it.
I don’t like it one bit.
It is disheartening, disappointing, distressing and even scary.
Was it just a meaningless comment?
Or was there something more there? Is there something more there?
I want to believe the former, the “meaningless comment” stuff. I really, truly do.
But at the same time, I’m not naïve. I’m also well aware that where there is smoke, there is usually fire.
And there has been smoke too many times over however many months for there not to be fire now – some sort of fire, anyway, even if it’s just smoldering embers.
What am I talking about?
The report by a national writer that Browns head coach Hue Jackson wanted to take Ohio State safety Malik Hooker in the first round, at No. 12 overall, in the 2017 NFL Draft on Thursday night, only to have Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown trade out of the pick with the Houston Texans. That pushed the Browns all the way down to No. 25, where they took the safety of the Buckeyes’ arch rivals, Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers, who doubles as a returner.
Why would Jackson say that? What would he divulge that? Why did he feel the need to out that seemingly private, behind-the-scenes information out there?
Why wouldn’t Jackson just say essentially nothing, simply that the Browns had several players they were considering at No. 12, but that it became a moot point once they made the deal with Houston and that he really likes the player they got in Peppers? Why would he stir up the waters after the fact?
There have been rumors for months that Jackson and Brown are not always in agreement on everything, that there is sometimes discord. And what happened in this situation certainly does nothing to refute that contention.
That Jackson also said he really likes quarterback Pat Mahomes and thinks he has the most upside of all the quarterbacks in the draft, seems to throw a little bit of a zinger on the quarterback the Browns ended up taking in the second round in DeShone Kizer. So what about Kizer? What kind of potential does Jackson think he has?
We’ll see how it all works out – probably fine – but in the very least, it’s a bad look for the head coach to want one thing, only to have the guy running the draft to do another.
The Browns had better be in unison on this and all other matters. They don’t have time to chirp publicly about what coulda, woulda, shoulda happened.
They have to pour all their energy into getting this football team back on track
