CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
The Browns defeated the Los Angeles Rams' future-waived players yesterday in a 19-17 nailbiter. Overall, it was an informative pre-season game and showed us a lot. Unfortunately, a lot of what was learned (and essential) was overshadowed by a quarterback "battle" that's really not a battle at all. Let's get into it.
THE DAILY BLOVIATION
There are times I question my reason for existence in this world, which is to run a Cleveland Browns site alongside 381 other Cleveland Browns news sources available on the internet and social media. Rather than just doing what I enjoyed the most, perhaps I could have pursued more noble endeavours. Maybe I could have helped make the world better by delving into my love of science, or getting involved in social betterment in some other way. Maybe a professional dog walker?
However, I realized this morning that, without my running a Cleveland Browns forum, a thread comparing "cartoon Velma" and "movie Velma" could not have sprung into existence on our Watercooler board. The world would be without this fundamentally critical journey into the world of Scooby-Doo had I decided to take an offer from MIT Lincoln Labs to help design better satellites. Or pursue a career in making car insurance back-office processes more efficient. The paths not taken... ah, to consider the possibilities...
After much thought and reading the comparisons of different iterations of an orange-sweatered cartoon detective, I know I made the right choice.
One thing that's for sure is that if I hadn't met Fred Greetham two decades ago, yesterday's Browns press conference with head coach Kevin Stefanski would have revolved around the team's quarterback situation exclusively. It was Fred who brought up the excellent performance by defensive lineman Adin Huntington, prompting head coach Kevin Stefanski to comment that Huntington had already secured a spot on the 53-man roster ahead of the Tuesday deadline.
Indeed, despite the uniform insistence from the sports media to focus on updates in the oh-so-clickable quarterback battle, there were other noteworthy events on the football field Saturday.
Huntington's performance was one of them. He broke out and gained the attention of Cleveland Browns fans yesterday, at once becoming an emerging object of fascination for Browns fans and providing public vindication of our own Pete Smith, whose project of hyping Huntington has now paid off handsomely.
Huntington was a revelation to those who hadn't been listening to Pete the day before. Contributing on offense, defense, and special teams, the undrafted free agent lit up TV screens with his performance.
Adin Huntington
Adin Huntington makes life miserable for Rams third-string QB Dresser Winn (Photo: Getty)
It's somewhat dangerous talking about Huntington because his body type makes him a "tweener", neither an obvious edge nor an obvious defensive tackle. It's a body type not dissimilar to that of all-time great interior lineman Aaron Donald, who made much of the last decade a total nightmare for interior offensive linemen. Just putting the two players in the same paragraph makes me nervous, since Huntington is just a UDFA who has looked good in pre-season. But he definitely looks like a "find" for oft-criticized GM Andrew Berry.
Berry's drafting credentials are further burnished by the emergence of linebacker Carson Schwesinger, who looked devastatingly fast on a linebacker blitz early in Saturday's game, increasing the likelihood that Rams quarterback Dresser Winn will need therapy to forget his stint against the Browns' first-team defense (notably minus Myles Garrett) early yesterday.
Helping that dominance were fellow Berry draft picks Mason Graham and Isaiah McGuire, who seem to be thriving in Jim Schwartz's attack defense. Graham has picked up his new assignment well, and McGuire has improved so much since the start of last season that it's hard to reconcile that he's the same player.
Despite the Browns' lack of depth in the secondary, which creates some nervousness, the Browns' first-team offense clearly overmatched the Rams' reserves yesterday while they were on the field. They look special. And fun.
Yes, everyone is talking about quarterbacks. Yes, the quarterback "battle" is all about 2026, since the 2025 team belongs to Joe Flacco right now.
But it's the Browns' defense that really has me looking forward to the season. Instead of spending the day worrying about whether there's a grand conspiracy to make the team's fifth-round draft pick fail, go back and re-watch those defense snaps in the first quarter. The team struggled a little against the run initially, but when they were turned loose to attack the quarterback, there was little opposing force.
And all that without Myles Garrett. I can't wait to see this group in action.
Yes, Virginia, there is more to NFL football than quarterbacks. And it's focusing on the other things happening on this Browns squad that has me so anxious for September 7th against the Bengals.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
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THE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond...
Two 10-Year-old Girls Just Defeated Chess Grandmasters on Separate Continents Just Hours Apart - (goodnewsnetwork.org)
I want to address our younger generation at this time, but getting them to look up from their phones is a challenge. So, I'll talk to you guys instead, to assure you that there's hope for the generations that follow. There are some brilliant young minds out there who turn up in this part of the Massive Morning Missive from time to time.
One of them is from Ohio and has just defeated a Chess grandmaster decades her senior, alongside another youngster who has achieved a similar feat. It's minds like these I'm counting on to save the planet from some of the mistakes of my generation, and make this world a better place.
I found out recently that my birthdate supposedly makes me a "Boomer", which means I'm partially responsible for pet rocks, disco, and Cheech-and-Chong. My grumpiness about this is intense, and it is helped only by the emergence of young minds like these, who will hopefully clean up all the garbage we left behind.
WRAPPING UP
When not looking for his Cheech-and-Chong album he bought at 12 years of age, 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.
CONTACT Barry to sponsor the OBR. We have plans for nearly any budget!
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