Shedeur Sanders Sits, Dillon Gabriel Struggles & Browns QB Battle is a MESS Heading Into Preseason

Shedeur Sanders Sits, Dillon Gabriel Struggles & Browns QB Battle is a MESS Heading Into Preseason

Straight like that, man. Y’all know the vibes. If you woke up this morning, you already won. I hope you are doing something right now that your future self will thank you for, man. I’m Earl of Pearl. That’s Cecil Shorts, and this is another episode of the Ultimate 216 show, man. Make sure y’all smash that like button. Subscribe to the Ultimate 21 uh to the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show YouTube channel. Cecil, good morning, man. How you feeling, bro? I’m good, brother. Uh, how about you? I feel good, man. I see you got the head shaved out. You know what I’m saying? You ain’t got the church on. I ain’t got the church hat on today. Um, you know what though? Got me thinking. Remember Ponder Rosa? So, at the church today, we went to Golden Corral. Remember Ponder Rosa? Yeah, for sure. Ponderosa, man. Yeah, I used to be the spot. And at them after church at after church meals where they used to be clutch on a Sunday, man, they man doing Sunday service because I was fidgety. I couldn’t sit still. I had one of them old grandmothers. She had a, you know, the silk scarf on her lap, the church hat on. Boy, be in church forever. Like I gotta move. Like what, bro? Be in church like six o’lock at night, man. Like, man, crazy. Like it’d be crazy, man. It’d be crazy. But uh make sure y’all drop in the chat where y’all watching from. Daniel O Yusi uh from ESPN covers the Cleveland Browns is going to join us today. And uh we gonna have some fun. Ask somebody already who cut your hair. Chill out. Don’t start. Don’t start. I got the locks in the crown. I got the locks in the crown. That’s the crown. It’s the crown. It’s clean. It’s clean. And somebody said brow derby. Brow derby was definitely another one. Miss by two for sure. Watchers from Arizona. Shout out to everybody. We always got people watching from Arizona. Toledo in the house. Cleveland of course is in the house. Louisiana in the house, man. Shout out to everybody in Louisiana, man. How’s the weather down there? It’s beautiful, man. 90s. I mean, you know, it’s hot here, so it’s gonna be hot all summer, but it’s beautiful. Big facts. Big facts. But listen, this entire show is going to be, you know, dedicated to what transpired this last week, uh, in Cleveland Browns training camp. Everything from Jimmy Hlam comments to Martin Emerson Jr. going down with the season ending injury. You know, that touched my soul right there. And, uh, we gonna talk about the latest. Shador Sanders did not throw yesterday uh, during 11 on 11 with some reported arm soreness. So, Kevin Stfansky made the decision to hold him out. And uh Dylan Gabriel continues to struggle with the with the refs that he’s receiving. So just your initial thoughts before Daniel join us on I want to start with the struggles of Dylan uh Dylan Gabriel. What’s your thoughts on how how he struggled as of late with the reps that he’s been getting? Time will tell. And I think I’m ready to see Friday’s game versus the Panthers, right? Because when you look at practice, defense always comes faster than offense. That’s just how it goes. So, I expected especially the rookies to struggle a little bit in training camp, especially after the defense figures out what the offense does. They know their plays. They know everything is similar. Don’t get the same guys all the time. But at the same time, this is your guy you drafted third round and you expected certain expectations from him and certain standards from him. And I think this week was a big week where he he kind of struggled and didn’t live up to that. So preseason games will tell us everything. That’s what I’m big on lie. And you mentioned it before, Errol, when this joint practices start next week when uh when when we go against somebody that doesn’t know your plays and that’s completely different in the preseason games, that’s what’s going to tell us how good these guys are. So, I’m not reading too much into it, but I am paying attention because um it’s obviously something to watch. You know, I think for me, I think the same issues that he had in college are showing up now in the pros. And I think the one issue that he didn’t have is starting to become an issue. You know, he struggled under center. He struggled in the red zone. He did not struggle as far as having balls batted down, but at the same time, he was in shotgun a lot. Uh it seems like every other practice he’s getting the ball batted down. I think Dylan Gabriel does his best work when he’s outside of the pocket. When they have these design roll outs, that’s when he’s the most efficient. I think when he’s under center, it’s a huge problem. I think that a lot of his completions are closer to the line of scrimmage and he can’t see over the offensive line. And I think what’s interesting about that is with Dewan Jones, with him being a left-handed quarterback, when he drops back, Dewan is his big ass is right in his face. You know what I mean? And so I think there’s been some inconsistencies there. You know, everybody pick and choose whose content that they want to consume and what Cleveland Browns reporter that they know. I have my select few that I really go to. And uh it’s been said that it’s been a lot of inconsistencies as far as work, you know, as far as timing. And it just seems like right now for Dylan Gabriel that the game is a little bit too fast. And it’s funny because a lot was said about his processing, right? And I took that as, okay, well, he just picked up the playbook fast. But just because he picked up the playbook fast doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s gonna be able to go out there. And so for me, I’ve said this numerous times, but I think that next week is a huge week for them, for defenders, for you know, everybody involved. You get an opportunity to have these joint practices against other teams. You know, you go up against somebody else finally who don’t know your plays as your leadership. And I think those are going to be the practice sessions to where okay now we can start to really you know see what’s what. But I think it’s a bummer that Shadur didn’t throw. You know he was coming off that nine and nine in that pattern practice and he looked good and so it would have been interesting to see what he could have done if he was given the opportunity to duplicate that weight in the wing. We are not going to keep waiting. We’re going to do a FanDuel Regy and Daniel. We have a conversation, man, about the Cleveland Browns, what’s going on in training camp in week two. But like I said, let’s hear from FanDuel first. There is nothing like the energy of a live game. 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And it’s time to bring in Daniel to the program, man, as we talk about the Cleveland Browns. There he is. Let’s see here. Daniel, what’s up, my guy? Hey, how you doing? How you doing, man? Pretty good, man. That’s Daniel Yafussi of ESPN covering the Cleveland Browns. Man, uh I want to get started with yesterday. Is there any updates? What what took place? Did Shador Sanders go to Kevin Stfansky and tell him his arm was sore? How did we get to the point of the arm soreness and him not throwing in 11 on 111s yesterday? Yeah. Well, well, just to kind of give you a um this context surrounding, you know, the the entire day, um Kevin Sansancy spoke to to local reporters before practice started about 30 minutes before practice started. Um and and he doesn’t always Kevin doesn’t always do this, but yesterday he actually gave us like some injury updates on a couple notable guys. So, he says, “Hey, um Greg’s not going to be out there. He’s day to day with the shoulder. um we’re going to hold out Miles for precautionary rest um and Kenny’s going to still be limited just to individual drills. So we’re like, “Okay, we’re noting that.” And um sometimes you have to ask them about guys to to make to get the updates, but he volunteered a lot of this information. Um so practices in the beginning of practice was normal. You know, the quarterbacks are doing their individual drills, their throwing and whatnot. And then um once we get into team drills, you know, we consistently just see Joe and and and Dylan and that that’s that’s normal at times like early on like they they’ve done that where when they break out in the team drills it might be Joe steps in for a couple plays and Dylan steps in for a couple plays and then Shador doesn’t get any reps but when they you know take a break do special teams and come back to another set of team drills like Shador will get in. So that’s that that that was normal at first, but then we just continued to see like Joe, Dylan, Dylan, Joe, Joe, Dylan, and we’re seeing Shador just standing like 20 yards behind them with the rest of the uh you know, with Kenny and the other offensive coaches. Um and and obviously got to the end of practice and he didn’t get any reps. And then, you know, postpractice, they have the the Hungry Dogs, opportunity period, whatever you want to call it, where they have a lot of the young guys and the rookies get some extra competitive work in. And that’s usually where Shador and Dylan um can get a whole bunch of reps, extra reps. Um, but you know on the other field where they’re doing that, we see Shadore doing post-practice sprints with the wide receivers. That’s where we’re like, okay, this is this is very very strange. Like it’s one thing if Shador for some reason just they just didn’t give him any team any reps in team drills, which that that was the first time that that happened, but then for him not to throw post practice, you see usually see him work out post practice, that was really weird. So, you know, we ask about it. The team says that he reported some some arm soreness. Um, well, he he was hold out of teams for arm soreness. And you know, Mary Kay uh Kitt.com, she said that, you know, that was something that Shador reported um you know, during the individual drills and then they decided to keep him out um as a precaution. So, obviously they’re off today, they’re back tomorrow um and we’ll see you know that gives them you know an extra day to rest and kind of do some tests and see how he’s feeling. Um, but I thought it was just strange because it got me thinking and it got me thinking like, have I ever heard of a QB3 or QB4 on a depth chart essentially getting off for arm soreness? Like I’ve been in Baltimore where they might give Lamar a day off because he he’s sore. He’s been throwing, you know, 20 25 passes of practice. They might give Tua when I was in Miami, they gave Tua off one or two days because he’s been throwing 20 25 passes of practice. But I’m like, I’ve never heard of a QB3 or QB4 who’s getting the fewest reps every day in practice reporting arm soreness and getting off. So that was really strange. Uh but obviously, you know, if he’s back on Monday, then it’s like, you know, no harm, no foul, I guess, and you just keep on moving. But that was kind of a weird development uh in yesterday’s practice. That’s interesting. Um I wonder, and this is my mind is going. And I wonder is that from him getting cuz I’ve seen like videos and pictures of him going out pre-practice 40 50 minutes early trying to get warmed up trying to get into it. Um or is that just after practice him throwing a lot? That’s that’s all curious here. Yeah. Yeah, he I mean he does he he does do a lot of throwing post practice with the guys, but like I I mean this is just me a layman like and I’ve never played up to that level, but I’m like I just it’s almost hard to believe that, you know, eight days in the camp, you know, he’s he’s throwing that much that he’s that sore and nobody else is sore and he’s getting the fewest reps out of out of anybody. But I mean, we’ll see what happens if he’s out there on Monday. I mean, he was in uniform and and out there on the field, so like it wasn’t like something where they didn’t think he could even like dress. Usually, you know, sometimes they guys don’t even dress and they’re just kind of working on the side or they’re inside working with the trainer. He was out there and and working out during individual drills, just nothing in the team session. So, he did individual Did he do seven on seven? He didn’t do any seven on seven. I don’t even think they did seven on seven. If they did, I mean, I don’t remember off the top of my head, but like he didn’t do any seven on seven. No 11 on 111. It was just individual drills, passing to the wide receivers and running backs, and then once they got into teams, uh, he didn’t he didn’t line up for a single snap. All right, let me ask you this then. How is Joe looking? Him being older. Um, I’m not expecting him to get tons of rep in preseason, but with him getting more reps because Kenny’s out and then Shrew was out yesterday, how is he looking? And then going to Dylan, is Dylan, how your thoughts, your honest thoughts on how Dylan has progressed these eight days? Well, I’ll start eight days. Yeah, I mean I’ll start with Joe. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that, you know, the last two practices when it’s only been three guys and then two guys getting a bunch of reps, Joe has looked his best. Joe’s gotten it looks like Joe’s gotten into a groove. And that was really my my worry and kind of like almost like my frustration with the first week of camp. I’m looking at uh them try to divvy up reps between four guys and I’m like there’s just no way any of these guys can get into a groove. And you know, to their credit, none of the quarterbacks are complaining. They’re saying there’s enough roughs to go around, but like you you see the stat tracker, like they’re throwing like six passes, six passes of practice. Like it’s hard to really say you’re getting much out of that. Um, but they’re they’re making the best out of it. But obviously, you know, I thought Joe looked really good. I thought he’s looked the most comfortable in this offense, and that’s to be expected because he played in it two years ago. Um, and we’re seeing that with the way he’s operating the offense. like they had he had a really nice sequence where, you know, he throws a like a skinny post or a post pattern to to Cedric Tilman and then they they they’re doing more 11 on 111 and it’s third down and, you know, he he goes hard count and he gets the the defense to jump off side. So, it’s like you’re seeing like that veteran aspect really kicking in with the way that he’s been taking control of this offense the past couple practices and as he’s getting more. Um, w with Dylan. I mean, you again, you’ve seen the stat track or you seen you’ve seen the clips and and obviously like I don’t want to make too much I try not to make too much of like highlights or low lightss because like one great practice I mean one great pass doesn’t make a great practice. An interception in a practice doesn’t mean you had a a terrible practice or a bad practice. Um, but I think he struggled with the speed and I think that that was something that stood out to me in the spring where he was getting a little bit of first team reps, but he was also working with the backups as well. And it just seemed like um it was a little too fast for him in the spring when he was working against the first team defense. And I’ve seen that a lot these past couple practices where it’s like, you know, his calling card was his accuracy and it’s like some of these passes aren’t even, you know, on target like close. Exactly. So, um, you know, I I wrote a story entering training camp where I broke down where everybody stood in this in in this quarterback competition, however you want to call it. And, um, I said that regardless of like what anybody thought about the pre-draft, whatever the pre-draft notion of or thought of dealing Gabriel was, they saw something in him, um, that led them to take him with the top 100 pick. And the fact that he was getting first team reps in the spring, despite Kevin Sansancy saying, “Don’t read into it.” that was telling that the Browns saw potentially a pathway for him to play early. Um, so I know everyone’s saying like, why isn’t Shador getting any reps with the first team offense? I mean, the fact of the matter is he was the fourth quarterback added in this quarterback room. They brought in Kenny Picket. They sought him out as a trade target the first week of free agency. They brought in Joe Flacco a week or two weeks before the draft. They drafted Dylan Gabriel in the third round and they drafted Shidor Sanders in the fifth round. Just naturally, you’re going to start fourth on the dep chart and you got to work your way up. I thought he’s I think he’s had good moments. I thought he’s looked good. Um but again, you know, like when they pick somebody in the third round, they’re going to give them an opportunity to to make their mistakes to learn and to show that they can um that that they can play. And I think that, you know, the first two weeks um we started to see, you know, by the nature of of attrition with injury and just performance, we start to see, you know, a little bit of a distance where I think Joe is um clearly the most comfortable in this offense. We got to see what happens with Kenny when he comes back. And then the rookies are kind of in a their own separate kind of slot. I think we’ve all talked about this as a four-way quarterback competition. And I’ve kind of build it as that. I’ve written about it like that because I think that the Browns were open to one of the rookies really like blowing them away and then maybe you know usurping the vets. Um, but I really think the first two weeks even even with Kenny’s injury, we’ve seen that this is more like they’re really evaluating the vets. It feels like for the starting job and they’re trying to see if Gillan’s maybe ready to play uh early in this season or halfway through the season if things kind of go by the wayside. So, a couple things to what you said. I’ll just share my thoughts on that. I think you’re accurate in what you just said. I don’t think this was ever a quarterback competition. And I think and I and I want to add real quick, Kevin never said because I know a lot of people have been saying this on social media. Kevin never said Shador was going to get first team reps with the starters. He never said that Shador was going to get the same number of reps as anybody. He never said anything to that extent. He said um the reps might not be equal, but they’re going to be fair to the to what we believe is fair to the player and fair to the team. So like when you see any Flaco and Picket getting the majority of the first team reps in the in the first week of camp, that makes sense because they’re the vets. They’ve been in the building a little bit longer. They know the playbook a little bit better. And then they have a player who they drafted in the third round. And if you draft anybody in the third round, you probably think that they can contribute fairly early as a rookie. You’re going to prioritize them. Like there there is a priority and there is a hierarchy right now that they’re going about. Whether that changes, we’ll see. But there is a priority and there is a hierarchy by which they want to evaluate these guys right now. So, so to that, I think that the whole quarterback competition, I think it was always about Joe and Kenny when it came to, you know, who’s going to start this season. And I think the evaluation ultimately in my opinion for the rookies is who’s going to be the QB2 and get that first opportunity to, you know, show what they can do when when those times come. But when I look at Dylan Gabriel, and I said this on this show a couple weeks ago, I go back to the pre-draft process and I I think about my job as a producer and how I made all these different stat graphics for all these different quarterbacks that was a possible option for the Cleveland Browns. And not once did anybody that was above me said, “You know what? I need stats and montages on Dylan Gabriel.” And then I go read everything and I see this dude is being ranked ninth or tth by quote unquote draft experts. I mentioned that I felt like the Browns are operating like they found a needle in a hay stack. I don’t think personally he’s a better player than Shidur Sanders. And so what I said this yesterday on the radio because he’s a third round pick, because he’s Kevin’s guy, like you said, he’s going to get the opportunities first to show what he can and cannot do. And I think that the more he’s put out there in these situations, he’s going to show who he’s not. And then the Browns can move on and, you know, see what happens from there. That’s just how I see the situation. I I can understand him getting the reps that he’s getting, but for me, it’s like, okay, I’m cool with it because I don’t think Dylan is that guy. So, let let him just continue to show that he’s not. That’s how I see it. The game is too fast. This is I I hate talking like this because it’s we’re making it seem like, and this is not a knock on anybody, it’s not going to be good. So if you have to go from Kenny Picket and then who gonna play the second time the next opportunity comes is it gonna be Shador Dylan when you switch quarterbacks that means you’re not doing well that means you’re struggling right and I don’t think the expectations are extremely high for the Cleveland Browns but I agree with both of you when you say D is going to get every chance to prove like when you’re a draft pick in the first three rounds you’re going to get every chance to prove you’re not the guy you’re going to get every opportunity to prove you cannot play football. So even when he does struggle the first couple games or whatever the case may be, whenever whenever Dylan plays, he’s still gonna get the next opportunity because they’ve spent that particular money and asset on him. So he’s going to get more opportunities than Shadore naturally because that that’s how the pecking order goes, right? Um so it’s just interesting that we that we talk about that and it’s it’s frustrating from a fan standpoint, from a media coverage. It’s like what are you really doing? Why did you even draft Shador? If this is the case, you got Joe, you traded for Kenny, and then you draft Dylan, why the heck would you draft Shadore? So, let me ask you this, Daniel. When the owner came out, Haslam, and said what he said about Shadore and that process, the draft Friday night, Saturday, they talked to the right people. I have my opinion. I want to hear Earl’s opinion. What’s your opinion on how how did you take what he said? It was funny to see the reaction to it because I actually asked that question that solicited that that response and because Yeah. Shout out to you. Oh, that was you. That was crazy. Daniel asked the question. I’m gonna let you but I’m pretty sure you seen the national headlines. I thought it was taken out of context from Cook. Yeah. I mean, I I wanted to give Jimmy a chance to like explain his perspective and himself because again, that was like the national narrative that it was an owner’s pick and we all saw like the the video of Kevin and AB um you know like in the in the draft room in the war room and like they looked less than enthused which I think that was a little taken out of context as well. Um and I think that Jimmy’s comments were too you know when when he said when I’m driving back home Friday night if you told me we’re going to take Shador I would have said that’s not happening. A lot of people took it to say like he didn’t want to draft him. Um, and that’s why he said that was AB’s pick. Like no, I think first off him saying that that was AB’s pick was like I think locally that’s what people wanted to hear. Like they don’t want to hear that Jimmy is like meddling and telling people who to who to pick and whatnot. Um, and when he said that’s not happening, I think that that was for multiple reasons. I think that first off that Friday night they had taken Dylan third third round and um, not only was it a shock that they took Shador, I mean took Dylan, it was a shock that they took Dylan over Shador. Um, so I don’t think anybody expected them to take Shidor after that. I didn’t. And then you just look into the like in the matter of like if you were to tell the Browns that they were going to be able to get Shidor in the fifth round, like I don’t think anybody would anticipate would have dropped that far. Um, so I think that like Jimmy is probably like a a victim of like being like too honest in that case. Um, but I don’t think it meant like they didn’t want him there or like I’m hearing stuff about like they’re trying to sabotage him. Like I I don’t believe it’s that. I think that um AB even said like we didn’t go into the draft expecting to take two quarterbacks. Um but they they kind of saw where they were at. I mean, it’s a fifth round pick. It’s a quarterback that they thought was way more talented than a fifth round pick. Um and it’s almost like a like a lottery ticket. It’s almost like, you know, hey, if this pans out, um we got something special, but if not, it’s it’s a fifth round pick. So, um I think that they were it’s definitely taken out of context a bit, but just like, you know, just with the nature of um how polarizing, you know, Shador is right now, like it’s just kind of kind of part of the course. So, to that point, because we both know, all three of us know that Shador Sanders has a very, very strong personal fan base. And Daniel, you get tagged on a lot of stuff. I’m pretty sure you know that his fan base is like uh he’s not shot. he’s being sabotaged or that the Browns just didn’t really want him. When you hear these theories and what’s your opinion to that? Like what would you say to his fan base when you hear stuff like that? I would say that um the nature by which like I would say I would say I I don’t think first off I don’t think like there’s any sabotage taking place. I don’t think that there’s like any deeper level conspiracy. I think obviously like there was um his pre-draft process um and him landing in Cleveland, how he did, it’s a lot of nuance to it. Um there’s there is a lot of nuance to it and I think that some stuff is a lot of stuff that like people can’t even report um because it’s you know stuff has been disclosed kind of off the record just to give kind of context so like media understands but they can’t say everything. But I’ll say there’s a lot of nuance to his pre-draft process, how he landed in Cleveland. And I think that what we’re seeing in Cleveland right now is like not anything. It’s not what people are making it out to be. Um, you know, I keep on saying like take away whatever pre-draft notion you had about him because I think that the public perception of him um didn’t necessarily align directly with what the NFL thought. And um I don’t think that anybody thought that he was a fifth round quarterback. Um but you know I don’t think he was a short doubt the surefire you know first round pick that a lot of people thought that I honestly thought that he was. Um and now we’re seeing just kind of like the natural thing that takes place when you’re a fifth round pick and you got to work your way up the depth chart. So I would say give it time. You know there’s a process in place. Um I would almost just say like when you take somebody in the fifth round you’re almost looking looking at them as like a developmental prospect. um they’re not going to get thrown out there um before the team thinks they’re ready or before they earn it. Um so I would say just just give it time. Like we have two during practices coming up. We got three preseason games and we have a whole season that that’s going to play out. And if you know anything about the Browns, you’re probably going to play three or four quarterbacks during that season. So um I would say just to just to give it time and let it all play out. Let me ask you this. With the preseason game coming on Friday, I believe joint practices all week in Carolina. What is your suspicion or how who will play quarterback? How how many reps, how many quarters, who’s going to start Friday night? I mean, if I had to guess, I would say Kevin and his staff would just let the rookies like rock out. Um especially like what we’ve been seeing nowadays with like joint practices and the NFL going to three preseason games. It’s like the joint practices is like the preseason games for the vets where they’re going to get um a ton of reps and then you know the the young guys get to really like go for the first two games and then the final game is like really for uh the dress rehearsal. So, if my guess is that we’re going to see a lot of Joe in the joint practices, if Kenny is ready to go, they’ll give Kenny a lot of reps and then um you know, they’ll kind of save those first year preseason games or the first preseason game for for the rookies and that’s when we’ll really get to see Dylan and intro. That’s really what I’m waiting for at this point. Like, I’ve seen these guys practice a lot. We’re debating over like stat trackers and, you know, what would be a sack, what would be a touchdown. like at this point I just want to see them in like the actual games and like see if like the learning and practice they’re really going to take over um carry over into the preseason games. Let me ask you this because we spend a lot of time you know focusing on the quarterbacks but Mason Graham and Carson Swisser talk about the you know just what you’ve seen from those two young men as they went throughout this entire process. To me, I think Swisser of all the rookies in this class is going to be the guy that’s going to have the most immediate impact. How do you see those two guys? Yeah, I mean, when we first entered training camp, I thought it was probably going to be more Mason Graham and then like Harold Fann and maybe Jenkins who’s obviously dealing with his situation right now. um Swiss and Dashers thought that I thought that he was going to there was going to be like a pathway for him to playing a role, but um you know, you anticipated that Jordan Hicks was going to was going to be around before his surprise retirement and all that stuff, but um I mean I think that it’s a real testament to what they think about Swisser that um the first day of of camp, we’re seeing him in the middle of the defense calling the defensive plays. Um, and that says a lot about what they view about his potential as a rookie to not only like start, but to be the the defensive communicator. Um, so he’s been all over the field in the right place. We saw, you know, the hit that he put on Dylan Samson on like the second day of practice. Like I love that. I love that because um, you know, I think that they needed a increase in intensity from last year at the Greenbryer. Um, so to have like a rookie in the middle of the defense like delivering the first big hit of camp like that was something that like I got hype on the sideline seeing I got just like woo, you know what I’m saying? So, um I think that he he’s going to be I think he’s going to be a great fit for this defense like just as a athletic physical guy. Same thing with Mason Graham. Um you know, a guy who maybe like is probably going to have maybe like the leash taken off of him in Cleveland where he’s in a different scheme where they’re just going to tell him to attack as opposed to maybe being like a a guy that takes up double teams. Um so, you know, I think that if the Browns are going to have any success, find any success this season, it’s going to be on the backs of this defense. So, it’s good to see like some young guys, you know, with some turnover with JK and obviously Martin being out and whatnot. It’s good to see like some of these young guys are flashing a lot cuz I think they’re going to need it. So, let me ask you this. Uh, we’re talking about the defense. Emerson’s out for the season. I think it’s an Achilles you guys reported. Should we go out? Should the Browns go out and get a Sante Samuel Jr.? Should they go out and get another young guy that can come in and help this defense right away or do the Browns have enough in the stable right now? Yeah, I mean the the the depth is definitely being tested right now, especially with Greg being out and in and day-to-day. Like we’re seeing a lot of young guys get get thrown out there. Like I think yesterday it was it was shoot what was it? Cam Mitchell on the outside opposite Denzel Ward. It was Miles Harden in the slot and then they’re like rotating a bunch of guys. So um the the the depth is is a little bit dicey right now. I think that um Greg has looked really good so far. I think that he probably say he’s probably a little more comfortable on the outside. That’s where he was before. you know, MJ came in and he was moved to the slot. Um, but then you’re counting on whether it’s Cam Mitchell or or Miles Harden to to really step. I would say like this time of the year like like the front office and the coach like they’re going to give guys the opportunity to like like we said about like Dylan, they’re going to give themselves some time and some leeway to show if these young guys can can grow into these roles and play. And if you know like, hey, I mean, we’re about to have joint practices, we’re about to have these preseason games. if after, you know, a week or two, some of these young guys, it’s not really translating to to these real competitive um atmosphere, like maybe you go out and you get a guy. But I think they’re probably going to give it time. Um especially because again, like they drafted a lot of these guys. They drafted Miles Harden last year. They drafted Cam Mitchell two years ago. Like they’re going to give them time to to work through. Um and honestly, I was I’ve been impressed with some of these guys. I think that the past couple days, like I’ve seen Miles Harden step up with some plays. Um I’ve seen Cam Mitchell step up with some plays. They’ve got some other kind of less heralded guys who are who are going up like they’re rot rotating these guys in with the first team defense and they’re getting a lot of reps. So I would say um I wouldn’t expect like a move immediately maybe like a depth piece. We’ve seen that. Um but I think it’s it it’s probably closer to you know roster cut down or maybe after roster cut down you’re looking for at the waiver wire maybe a vet who can step in um with some competitive snaps if need be. All right Daniel I’ll get you out of here on this one man. you you first of all, thank you for your time. Kept you a little bit longer than what I All good. All good. Uh just just bro like when you assess nine practices, you’ve been there for every single one of them. Just take us through it. How do you think pra how do you think training camp has been so far overall for the Cleveland Browns? Yeah, I mean it kind of alluded to it before like I think um I was so last year obviously was my first year covering the Browns and I was almost like shocked by how how slow the ramp up period was. Like I’ve that was the this is my seventh training camp practice that I’ve covered. Last year was my sixth and like in the five years prior I had never seen a training camp where like it just felt like it was just like the most elongated ramp up. We’re like two weeks in, we’re after we ride back for 10 days and like I don’t think that I saw like real real like physical practices being held. And again, I think that part of that was just the nature of where the team was at. Like you had Deshawn coming off of his his shoulder surgery. You had a lot of guys on the offensive line and across the team who were coming back from injuries. And I think that like Kevin and his staff, I think they just wanted to get to week one as healthy as possible. Um but you know, a lot was made up about the physicality and the toughness of the team. And players talked about how like they were a little more aggressive and it was a little more intensity in the spring. I think we’ve seen that in the summer where like people are saying this is the first time they’ve ever seen Kevin go live. Like guys are like really getting tackled to the ground and they’re not like keep them up, keep them up. It’s like nah like we’re going live. Like in special teams, but we’ve been showing the special teams coordinators like we’re going live. Touch everybody but the returners like we’re being physical. I think it’s going to help them when we get to week one. It’s like that first six game schedule is the toughest schedule in the toughest six game start in the NFL. like they’re going to have to bring it. Um and and they’re going to have to be they’re going to have to win off their physicality. They’re going to have to win off their defense. So, I like the way that they’ve been going about it, you know. Um and I think it’s going to help them in the long run. Hey, real quick, give me one name in the receiving room that stood out these nine days outside of Judy. Give me one name that’s been standing out and gonna make plays. Okay, I’m gonna give you a known name and an unknown name. I thought I really think that Deontay Johnson has looked really good. Um I really think I put it on Twitter a couple days ago. think he’s the most talented receiver in the room, not named Jer Judy. Um, and you know, if if like if if everything goes right, like he should be like starting in the slot, you know, with with with with Judy and Cedric Tilman. Um, an unknown guy. It took me a minute to get his name right, but he’s been making so many plays like I have no choice but to get his name right now, but uh Gage Larvidan, um, he’s been looking really good. Um, I think he’s undrafted guy out of South Carolina. Um he had, you know, touchdown catch on a really nice uh fade ball. It was like a slot slot fade from from Joe in red zone drills. He’s catching everything. They’re target about that, too. He was he put it on. He was like, “Man, I caught a touchdown pass from Joe Flacko.” Like he’s he’s catching my eye. Um and and I said it like there’s there’s roster spots to be had. There’s one, two, maybe three roster spots to be had um at the wide receiver position. So, he’s been looking good. I’m excited to see what he does enjoying practices in preseason games. Hey, bro. Man, we appreciate you. We appreciate your work, man. You got boots on the ground. You work your ass off. Thanks for taking some time off your on your off day to join us. I appreciate it. Most definitely. Thanks for having me. All right, bro. I’ll talk to you in a minute. Yes, sir. All right, let’s get back to it. All right, there it is, man. So, we gonna wrap up, man. I know we got some super chats. We’re going to go through that. Uh, thank y’all for watching this show, man. Make sure y’all smash that like button and uh just go through what some of you had to say. Uh Ja Tony G asked Shidur about his arm after practice and Shandur said it was good. Interview was out there. I’ll have to go check that out. Me too. Me too. Beautifully blessed says just be honest and say they wanted those reps with DG 12 is always ready even with a fractured back. Uh Chantel says earlier they’re not looking to win. How do you they explain this to the locker room? Miles Denzel Joel they’re going to what the best quarterback out there not throwing picks they want a QB who could win coffee says uh Daniel Shador is the developmental quarterback what is Gabriel because he looks awful at this point I believe press had meeting with Browns to sell us BS and then we have this one that says Stefansky was decipherful deceitful I’m sorry Barry took one for the team said Dylan uh Dylan’s play is This is just bad days. It’s obvious why they’re last. Shador needs out. And I think that was the last of the super chat. What did you think from Daniel real quick before we get out? Uh, loved them. Um, very insightful. I’m curious about preseason, man. Like if you go in the preseason and like he says the rookies are getting majority of the reps and one outshines the other to me you should like say Shador outshines DG. All right. He should jump him. He should be number three. Let’s let’s keep it moving. Keep keep the competition rolling. If it’s consistent in week two because you only got three games. Yeah. And and in one of the games, if not two of the games, you need your starters to get reps with starters, whoever that may be. Um so time is ticking, man. Time is ticking. I love what he had to say though. Love what love what I heard about Carson. Um it’s some exciting things happening with the Browns. Just this quarterback thing is gonna be something to watch. I can’t wait till hear the reports this week. Can’t wait to watch the game on Friday. Um but it’s going to get real interesting really really soon. Yeah, I definitely agree with everything you just said, man. This week is a big evaluation week when you have joint practices. You got the preseason game. Uh I don’t think either veteran quarterback will play in the preseason game. So we’ll see a lot of Dylan Gabriel. We’ll see a lot of Shadur Sanders and live game action. And you know Dylan has struggled. If Shadur has a solid week coming off his nine for nine in that padded practice, if he has a solid week and then he outperforms in that game, there’s no way going into the next week, he should still be behind Dylan Gabriel on the depth chart. Man, this has been another episode of the Ultimate 216 show. Man, remember, be great and spread love. Being great come with a price. Spreading love is priceless. We’ll see y’all next week. Peace.

The Cleveland Browns just wrapped up a wild second week of training camp, and there’s no shortage of headlines. Martin Emerson Jr. is out for the season with a torn Achilles, throwing the cornerback room into immediate chaos. Meanwhile, the quarterback room continues to stir up questions — and concerns — as injuries, missed reps, and shaky performances dominate the discussion.

We’re joined by ESPN’s Browns reporter Daniel Oyefusi for an exclusive breakdown of everything happening in Berea. From Shedeur Sanders missing Saturday’s padded practice due to arm soreness, to rookie Dillon Gabriel struggling to stay in rhythm, to Joe Flacco quietly gaining ground — Daniel gives us the inside scoop. We also dive into whether the Browns could make a splashy move in the wake of Emerson’s injury.

After the interview, Earl and Cecil react to everything we just heard — and tap into fan comments live. This is a must-watch episode for Browns fans trying to make sense of where this team is trending with the preseason opener just days away.