CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) – Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
THE DAILY BLOVIATION
An early bloviation today. I’m so excited about some of the stuff going on in the background here that I couldn’t sleep this morning. More on that when the time is right.
About the Quarterbacks…
Alright, I’ll stick with my previous argument for the Browns to go get Mendoza, who was incredible last night for the Hoosiers, but the cost of getting him just went up even higher. I don’t think the Browns can afford it. Unfortunately, two in-division wins that couldn’t even save Kevin Stefanski’s job take the Browns to the sixth position in the draft. The cost for Mendoza will be exorbitant, especially considering how badly the Las Vegas Tankin’ Raiders need a quarterback. The search continues.I’ve not been a big supporter of Dante Moore, although I think he has a high ceiling, for the reasons exposed last night against the quick, well-coached Hoosiers defense. On one hand, the weakness of this year’s QB class beyond Mendoza gives him a great opportunity to be drafted higher than he really should be, especially with a much bigger set of quarterbacks to be available in 2027. On the other, he’s clearly not ready to face NFL defenses at this point. I think he could be destroyed quickly if rushed into action against some of the best athletes on the planet. He should stay in school, if only to avoid the New York Jets.I’m not a big Ty Simpson guy, either, although this draft represents an opportunity for him to get overdrafted in a weak QB class. Some desperate team might take him in the first, but I hope it’s not the Browns.I hate to say it, but I think the Browns are unlikely to find their long-term quarterback answer this offseason. The draft is singularly unhelpful, and the price tag on Malik Willis is going to be out of sync with what he’s shown so far. I see it as a caretaker role, filled by someone like Geno Smith, because I sense the team is unwilling to commit to Shedeur Sanders as the answer due to questions about where his ceiling lies. We’ll need to wait for a head coach to be picked to lock that in. Unless this team is really focused on Willis’ upside, the price tag is going to be too damn high for a team burned so badly by the price for Deshaun Watson. I really hate to do this because it seems like every quarterback draft class seems a lot better 365 days before their time comes, but 2027 looks like the best opportunity for the Browns to secure their long-term answer.
Other subjects for a Saturday morning:
I took a bunch of Pete’s threads about coaches who have been asked to interview by the Browns and organized them a bit in the Insider Discussion board. This doesn’t yet include coaches who haven’t been definitively approached by the Browns (e.g., Mike McDaniel, John Harbaugh), though I may expand it to that realm today. These threads are open to anyone to offer their opinions about the candidates or share information they find, whether or not you work for the OBR. Join us.Geez, it seems like Kevin Stefanski and Fernando Mendoza would be an interesting combination in Las Vegas. Mendoza’s charming nerdiness would fit right into Stefanski’s zone as a quarterback teacher who has never had a quarterback of Mendoza’s youth and potential to mentor (don’t yell at me, Shedeur fans). I’d much prefer Stefanski go there than Baltimore, which would make the situation between Baltimore and Cleveland even weirder. The NFL would love the soap opera storyline between the two teams, however.The only two teams that could beat the Ohio State Buckeyes are facing off in the CFP Championship, and OSU gave them both better games than they’ve been getting elsewhere. I look on the Buckeyes as the third-best team in the country. You can’t finish on top every year, and the activity around the Ohio State portal is concerning, but I expect the program to be in the mix next year once more.No, Tony Grossi did not “find out” what John Harbaugh wants for the next head coaching job. By his own words, he spoke to an “NFL Insider” (who knows what that means) who speculated (his words) about what Harbaugh might want. This does not come from the Harbaugh camp. In other words, it’s a guess by someone we have no idea about. This tweet does Grossi no favors because it clearly claims something other than what is actually produced. But what else is new in the “look-at-me” world of Cleveland sports talk radio, which I stopped listening to over a decade ago after I realized how awful and manipulative it is.Twitter continues to be disgusting, and Elon is now using Grok for nefarious purposes to attract an audience by letting it plagiarize a lot of paywalled content. It needs either public rejection or government regulation. I tend to be a free enterprise guy, so I’ll continue to be involved with the platform as little as I can.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
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Yes, ice cream can be part of a healthy life. Here’s how. – (bigthink.com)
A healthy life appears to be about balance, which I struggle to achieve because I tend to be either actively working or spending time with my family, and I don’t give myself time to exercise. Like 65% of the public, I’m trying to reboot myself after the holidays and work more dog-walking and trail walking into my routine. But it’s good to know that, should I do that, I can keep my beloved ice cream treats from time to time. Balance is hard. Ice cream is easy.
WRAPPING UP
When not depressed about the 2026 quarterback situation, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
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