New, different Watson

Browns mandatory minicamp officially concluded Thursday after three days as Browns Nation was treated to vast amounts of praise from the coaches and positive footage through the various social media outlets.

So what conclusions should denizens of the Nation come away with? Yes, it's only three days and the players worked out in shorts and helmets, but you gotta admit the offense sure looked good in the seven-on-seven drills.

The Deshaun Watson we all saw was brilliant, connecting on pass after pass with his new receiving corps. Had to be an imposter. Looked nothing like the quarterback who staggered through the final six games last season after serving an 11-game league suspension for being a bad boy off the field. 

His timing was impeccable, exquisite in fact, bordering on flawless. Yep, that's how good he was. The media marveled at his accuracy. This, most likely thought, was the quarterback the Browns traded for a year ago. He was like a machine, connecting on throw after throw.

And the new receivers? If this group had played with the Browns last season, we'd be talking now about them returning to the playoffs for the second straight season. The arrival of Elijah Moore, rookie Cedric Tillman and Marquise Goodwin make Watson downright dangerous.

For three days, we saw Moore making sensational catches while lining up all over the formation; Donovan Peoples-Jones constantly making defensive backs look foolish with his moves; Amari Cooper being Amari Cooper; Tillman using his 6-3 frame to win 50-50 balls.

The argument Watson had no one in his face is valid. But neither did Baker Mayfield, Jacoby Brissett, Johnny Manziel, Barndon Weeden, Brian Hoyer, Cody Kessler or DeShone Kizer the last 10 years and none threw like Watson.

So am I getting excited about the coming season? Not really. Way too early, of course. But the little I saw from a distance strongly suggests this new offense will be capable of doing something last season's team could not do: Flat out outscore the opposition, much like the 2020 team that made the postseason.

If you recall, the Cleveland defense that season was abominably worse than the last two seasons. They were pitiably awful. Any kind of decent offense the last two seasons could have overcome the embarrassing defensive  lapses. 

With the current group, that will not be the case. We saw a sneak preview of that in this minicamp. The Browns with all that offensive talent this season will rarely, if ever, be out of games. They do not lack the ability to come from behind.

Combine that with a decidedly improved defense under new coordinator Jim Schwartz -- it certainly can't be any worse --- and the likelihood of duplicating the outcome of the last two seasons shrinks considerably. 

Watson finally faces the pass rush when training camp officially opens July 22 at The Greenbrier, a luxurious hotel resort in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., in the Allegheny Mountains. After a nine-day stay, they move back to Berea.

Of course, Watson will be a different quarterback with defensive linemen in his face. But unless I miss my guess, head coach/playcaller/wannabe offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski will occasionally turn his quarterback loose to pick up yardage with his legs to slow down the rush.

On paper, this is the most talented team the Browns have had since, well, since can't remember when. The last 25 seasons have been that dismal. That needs to change. And this team has the goods to change that.

As the late Marty Schottenheimer often said to his teams before games, "Deeds, men, not words. Deeds." Talk all you want, the former Browns head coach meant. Words mean nothing if there are no accomplishments to back them up. This team is in that position right now.

Helmets and shorts

So what exactly can coaches glean from mandatory minicamps around the National Football League? What can Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski and his staff learn in the next three days in Berea that will make a difference this season?

Correct answer? Not much really.

These sessions are nothing more than an extension of an earlier rookie minicamp and voluntary organized team activities. Key word: Voluntary. Read absolutely nothing into the absences of Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb, David Njoku and Joel Bitonio. 

This minicamp is the final stage in getting the 90-man roster ready for training camp next month. It's a reintroduction to what lies ahead for the next seven months. Hopefully longer. 

It's also time to get to know your new teammates who have been acquired through different means, whether by the college draft, trades or free agency. Everything is relatively laid back. This is just a preview of what's to come later.

Not much coaches can learn watching players going through their paces wearing shorts and helmets. Contact is not permitted. All that good stuff comes later. 

This is as much an indoctrination to brand new coaching in all three phases of the game with new coordinators for the defense and special teams and a totally new offensive philosophy for an offense geared around a $230 million quarterback playing in his first full season with the club.

So what will the coaches be looking for? 

On offense, it's all about timing. That simple. Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who share choreographing that offense, have no more excuses with an attack that is more loaded than last season. Teams with exquisite timing, whether on the ground and/or through the air, generally realize great success.

The Cleveland receiving corps has been greatly upgraded with a number of the newcomers who have never been on the receiving end of a Deshaun Watson forward pass. Establishing good timing in this phase is extremely important. 

On defense, it's all about aggression. Winning defense is nasty, opportunistic, fearsome. It is and has always been about aggression. That characteristic has been AWOL from the Browns for three long seasons under the departed Joe Woods.

New coordinator Jim Schwartz is the antithesis of his predecessor, whose laid-back approach to that phase of the game cost the Browns at least three games last season and a chance to return to the postseason. His goal is to always make the opposing offense feel uncomfortable.

General Manager Andrew Berry responded to the beat of Schwartz's drum by bringing in veteran linemen Dalvin Tomlinson, Ogbo Okoronkwo and Za'Darius Smith and third-round draft pick Siaki Ika (6-4, 360) to complement Garrett, the otherworldly quarterback punisher.

All they'll do this week, though, is just walk through many of the pass-rush schemes Schwartz is plotting. 

Aggression in the secondary will come in the form of much more man coverage and press coverage in the passing game. None of that zone stuff nonsense that seemed to confuse the secondary last season and resulted in too many embarrassing losses in games that should have been won.

What will be interesting to look for in this camp is how the new receivers fare against the new-look (at safety with veterans Juan Thornhill and Rodney McLeod Jr.) in the secondary with regard to the timing with Watson.

Warning: Don't get too excited about the news that comes out of this minicamp. Or take it seriously. Most of it will lean toward the positive. It should. After all, they're going up against each other in relatively slow motion in  helmets and shorts.

Don't think so 

OK, so DeAndre Hopkins in on the open market. Predictably, it is sending shock waves throughout the National Football League landscape.

An All-Pro wide receiver entering the latter stages of his prime years is now a free agent and the media is all over it, speculating almost wildly where his next stop will be. And whattaya know, the Browns have made that list.

And why not? After all it was Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson who combined with Hopkins for three seasons in Houston (2017-19) to put up spectacular, almost otherworldly, statistics before the Texans shipped the wideout to Arizona.

Fans have jumped all over it. Sure, they think, Hopkins would look great in a Cleveland uniform. Reuniting with his good friend would enable him to rekindle their phenomenal success in Houston. Pair them with the great running game and anything is possible. Right?

Normal speculation with regard to the Browns, whose wide receivers room has been reshaped and immensely improved by General Manager Andrew Berry since the end of last season, was assumed because of the previous connection between the former Clemson stars.

Took mere hours after the Cardinals cut Hopkins loose the other day for the Browns, as well as a major majority of the other 30 NFL teams, to respond to the possibility of removing Hopkins from the ranks of the unemployed.

It was met with mixed reaction throughout the league. At least a couple early contenders with Super Bowl credentials did not have the salary cap space to become proactive. Most of the others, including the Browns, officially chose a non-comital approach.

Watson, on the other hand, was all over it. "Of course we would love to have him, but that's kind of out of my range of things," he replied at a charity golf tournament the other day, deferring to the club's front office. 

Therein lies the rub. 

How seriously is Berry going to investigate the possibility of such a move? The Browns Friday will have roughly $15 million of salary cap space, which probably won't be enough to satisfy Hopkins unless he's willing to take a one-time hometown discount to reunite with Watson.

Then again, the GM might want to listen to his head coach, who seems to have fallen in love with his wide receivers room. Asked about the possibility of adding Hopkins to that room, Kevin Stefanski was downright ebullient. 

"I really, really like our wide receiver room," he said, one "really" away from practically gushing. "I love the guys in there." And why wouldn't he with the likes of Amari Cooper, Elijah  Moore, Donovan Peoples-Jones, rookie Cedric Tillman, Marquise Goodwin and David Bell.

Why mess with that group? Unlike the the last couple of seasons, talent now abounds in that room. Good hands, terrific route runners, enough speed to keep opposing teams honest. Why spoil it?

Remember one thing about Hopkins: He needs to see the football. Often. In his career (145 games), he has been targeted an average of 9.4 passes a game with a catching percentage of 62.4. In his three campaigns with Watson, he was targeted 487 times -- that's 10.6 a game -- and grabbed 64.7%.

So if the Browns entice him to Cleveland, who is going to see his targets dwindle? More than a couple will. And not just a little, but significantly. Who? Cooper, Moore, Tillman, DPJ? Tight ends David Njoku and Jordan Akins? Nick Chubb? Taken away by a 31-year-old (next Tuesday) on the back side of his career.

Hopkins has also missed time the last couple of seasons because of injuries and league suspension. He is not the same player he was with the Texans, Fans of the Cardinals will attest to that. The life span of a receiver in the NFL, as a general rule, is not that long. He has booked 10 seasons.

Going after Hopkins would be foolish. Makes no sense. It would all but wipe out the offensive game-planning for the upcoming season. He would be much better off landing somewhere else in his quest to get back to the postseason.

Nothing more here than just another case of being very careful what you wish for.