New Era. Same Garbage.

It’s going to take at least three years to undo the damage done by the two-year Pat Shurmur era. After building a bad team to play outdated football, the new Browns regime is left with a bad roster to play bad less-outdated football. Here are some things we learned after Week 1, most of which we knew well before Week 1:

  • After two years of signing guys to play laterally in the outdated West Coast offense, the Browns don’t have anyone that presents a downfield threat. Josh Gordon may develop into that player, but there is no guarantee he’ll be on the field beyond this season if he can’t get his off-the-field issues sorted.
  • Buster Skrine is not a starting NFL cornerback. Oniel Cousins is not a starting NFL guard. The Browns roster, once again gutted thanks to constant turnover, lacks the requisite depth to survive injuries. Seeing guys like that get regular action says plenty about the job ahead for the front office. It’s clear the Michael Lombardi roster is a mess. Perhaps this is Joe Banner’s master stroke. As the roster needs to be overhauled and major holes plugged, Banner can take the long view while allowing Lombardi to take the heat.
  • Brandon Weeden, at the peak of his potential, is probably nothing more than a serviceable NFL quarterback. He can’t consistently make the basic throws to be an effective performer. He is not a classic game management-type quarterback and can’t deliver the big play often enough to worry opposing defenses. He is a tweener-type that’ll probably get his coach or offensive coordinator fired if they try and do this again next year.
  • This high-pressure, high-attack defense looked awfully passive as Ryan Tannehill, the Ryan Tannehill, picked it apart in second half. On a positive note, D’Qwell Jackson can play. Regardless of system, the guy is always all over the field making plays. Very underrated player. Not enough pure football players on this roster. Too many “system” guys for too many years has this thing a mess. Again.