Browns Offense: Build Around OC or QB?
The Cleveland Browns offense has been the discussion of the off-season already. What will they do with Josh Gordon? Will Johnny Manziel start next season? Will they bring back Brian Hoyer? Will they bring in a veteran QB to compete with Manziel? Could they draft another QB?
Then came the resignation of Kyle Shanahan and new questions. Who will be the new offensive coordinator? Will the new OC be more run or pass oriented? How will the new hire impact free agency, the NFL Draft? And maybe most importantly, how will the new coordinator impact what the Browns do at the quarterback position?
And that leads us to where we are today. As the Browns go through the process of interviewing candidates they have to keep their quarterback, specifically Johnny Manziel, in mind.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler made an interesting note about the interview process:
"No doubt, Johnny Manziel will be a prominent topic at these meetings — what their plan is for Manziel, how to make him better, play to strengths (mobility, arm strength) and mask on-field weaknesses (fitting into language-heavy NFL offense, decisiveness)."
Fowler’s statement makes it seem as though the Browns could want the new offensive coordinator to build the offense around what Manziel does well, run and throw the ball hard, instead of teaching him how to be an NFL QB. That seems to hint toward the Browns looking to build around Manziel as the QB instead of hiring the best coordinator possible and fitting Manziel to his system.
Then Fowler followed with this statement:
"What potential coordinators say about the talented but maligned quarterback could shape the Browns’ long-term views on whether he’s the answer in 2015."
What happens if the coordinators all come back with the same report: We can’t build around Manziel? Do the Browns decide to move on quickly for Johnny Football to go along with their new offensive coordinator? Or do they continue their search to find one that believes they can win with Manziel?
That becomes the biggest question of the off-season. The best teams hire the best coordinators and work to create schemes that fit the talent on the team. Yet could the team’s investment in Manziel lead them to turn that around? With Manziel already in the fold could he be the linchpin of the coordinator position?
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So what do the Browns do? Most, or all, Browns fans likely believe the team should build around the coordinator. We wonder how this answer would be different if Manziel had not played at all last season, or played well, would fans believe you build around hi and not a coordinator?
Obviously that didn’t happen but the Browns still have the very difficult decision to make. In a perfect world they hire the best coordinator they can and hope that he, along with his offensive staff, can develop Manziel. It isn’t a perfect world and the Browns’ decision is very tough.
We look forward to the decision the team makes with the coordinator. It seems that it will tell a ton about what the Browns think about Manziel. Will the Browns decided to build around him or will they hire a coordinator in spite of the presence of Johnny Manziel?
Will the Browns offense be built around the new offensive coordinator or the quarterback, particularly Johnny Manziel?