Intangibles - Cleveland Browns

He's a winner

When asked about Brian Hoyer, Coach Pettine responded:

“I think he’s a winner, I think the intangibles with Brian are off the charts. I think he’s a football junkie and I think you can tell he loves the game. He came from a system where he learned from the best in the game and that showed on the field. A lot of people based on his background kind of fall asleep on him a little bit. I think he’s a winning quarterback in this league.” - from Mary Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

This could be simply being polite, or a smoke screen to disguise their draft plans, or even a ploy to increase the value of Hoyer in case they don't retain him. But realistically, after the spark he showed last year, the Browns have no choice but to give him another shot to prove he can lead this team. He's earned that and I for one see him as being the QB for many years.

However, Pettine is not only beginning to positively change my view of him, but he's ingratiating himself with his QB, at least his QB at this time, and a guy the rest of the team likes and respects. This is a significant and smart first step to getting both the team and the fans on his side, and that has a large impact on whether or not he will find success here in Cleveland.

Offensive System

I'm excited to see who is hired to be the OC - hopefully someone who knows how to utilize TE's in his offense. Nothing would be more annoying than seeing Cameron take a step back or go back to hiding on the sidelines because the offense doesn't utilize him. The other reason that a TE-utilizing offense will be critical is because QB's who make quick decisions don't always make those decisions to throw down-field. Running backs and TE's offer great safety valves for QB's who don't take a half hour to decide where to throw the ball. Their routes are faster developing and even when they're well covered, TE's provide large physical targets making the completion chance higher than throwing outside against defensive backs.