Kansas had been the perceived leader for Sarr before a big pivot in his recruitment.
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As recently as Tuesday, it seemed Kansas had wrapped up its recruitment for talented Italian wing prospect Dame Sarr and all that was left was for an official announcement.
But on Wednesday morning, things shifted, and Sarr made a big pivot in his recruitment.
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Difficult Schedule Demands Cleveland Browns Rapidly Forge Identity
The Cleveland Browns have a difficult schedule to begin the 2025 season. They will need to know who they are almost as soon as the season begins if they are going to successful.
Pete SmithMay 15th, 8:46 AM
If the Cleveland Browns are going to be a competitive football in 2025, they need to become a physical team that runs the ball well and plays great defense, one of their four contestants for the quarterback position must excel or, ideally, both. The schedule now released (along with a psychedelic video) shows the team will need to know exactly who they are when the season begins.
The team is going to do everything in their power to determine if one of the quarterbacks can hit the ground running to start the season. Joe Flacco has shown an ability to succeed, but there's no future there. With Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, the team is taking three swings to find a quarterback that can become a long-term starter.
It's a good approach and the changes they are making in how they intend to practice could be beneficial for all three players. Still, no one would be surprised if none of these guys show enough to stop the Browns from taking a quarterback in the first round in 2026. Particularly for Gabriel and Sanders, one of them is going to have to be a genuine sensation this year, likely competing for offensive rookie of the year to stop the Browns from taking a quarterback next year. Could it happen? Absolutely, but it's a steep hill to climb in just one season.
So even as the Browns are going to do everything in their power to create a situation that allows one of these quarterbacks to thrive, that will be difficult to manifest.
It should be easier for the Browns to train to be a tough, physical football team. Head Coach Kevin Stefanski understands what this team has and how it's going to succeed, evidenced by the signals he's been sending over the past several weeks.
The moment the team shows up for the start of the offseason program, Stefanski was talking about earned toughness. That's the theme for the team this year. Earned toughness in how they train and how they practice.
In the draft, the first five picks the Browns made were all physical picks. Defensive tackle, linebacker, tight end and two running backs. After basically two years with an anemic running game, the Browns know it has to be significantly better.
They hired an offensive line coach in Mike Bloomgren with roots in running the football at Stanford. They added two more capable veterans to that unit in Cornelius Lucas and Teven Jenkins. Now they have two talented backs added to the room. It's not just going to happen. The Browns have to practice it. They have to live it. It has to become who they are.
They fortified the middle of their defense. Yes, some of that is to replace what they are losing in Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. The Browns didn't just draft Carson Schwesinger. They added the best defensive tackle in the draft in Mason Graham. While they absolutely want Graham to be able to get pressure up the middle, he's there to disrupt the line of scrimmage and stop the run.
Graham is a better scheme fit to replace the role Dalvin Tomlinson played for the Browns the past two years. Additionally, the Browns added another great fit for their scheme in Maliek Collins in free agency. His primary function is going to be rush the passer, but he's 310 pounds in his own right. Graham and Collins are being added to a position group that saw nice flashes from the rookies the team added last year, Mike Hall Jr. and Jowon Briggs.
This has the makings of a physical football defense. They have to prepare that way. They have to live it.
Rookie minicamp featured 56 players to help set the tone and prepare the staff to practice faster. That is partly for the sake of the quarterbacks, trying to get them as many reps as possible. However, in order for that to happen, the rest of the team has to be ready to put in that work as well. When the pads come on, they have to be prepared to practice in a way that's going to develop that physicality and earned toughness.
The Browns have scheduled joint practices with the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles ahead of their preseason matchups. Those practices are competitive. The teams don't hold back in terms of scheme. These joint practices, not the preseason, are going to function as measuring sticks for the season. A great tool to see how effective the quarterbacks are, it will also be the best indication as to whether their approach to practices this year was effective.
That hopefully also means that preseason will be almost exclusively for the two rookie quarterbacks and younger players to get reps.
The Browns open up the season with the Cincinnati Bengals at home. That is an opportunity for them to potentially push the Bengals around in a manner that has allowed them to succeed in the past. They can reclaim that identity, hopefully taking it to another level with their defense. After that game, the physicality is going to ramp up and the Browns must be prepared to answer the challenge.
The Baltimore Ravens on the road in week two, then three NFC North teams in a row including going from playing the Detroit Lions on the road to then going across the pond to play the Minnesota Vikings in London. They come back to the states to face the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. The Browns won't get a home game for a month.
When the Browns finally do come home for the game against the Miami Dolphins, there's going to be a pretty definitive answer about the team's toughness and physicality. Regardless of the team's record, their character will be revealed. That could determine if they are going to make a push when the team's schedule appears to soften up, but more importantly, whether the team's mission for the summer was successful.
Yes, plenty will be gleamed about the quarterback over the course of the season and that's important. Still, so much of the season is working to reestablish an identity, a sustainable path forward so when they do have the right quarterback, they are ready to not simply get into the postseason, but have the fortitude necessary to succeed there.
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