So this year the Hard Knocks is following the Cleveland Browns. The first episode aired last night and Tyrod was obviously a part of it. Seems like the film crew are trying to make a story out of the (sort of) incumbent Tyrod vs the first overall pick Baker Mayfield. While the head coach is at the moment speaking as if Tyrod will be the starter at the beginning of the season, I'm not sure that given their track record, the Browns will keep Baker on the bench for too long, even though I think this would be a foolish decision. This is definitely the most interested I've been in this series for some time and it is nice to see a little more into the work ethic of one of our former players. A quick tidbit I found really interesting was the fact that Tyrod apparently starts his workouts at 5am, and the coach asked Baker why he wasn't doing something similar.
Hard Knocks (Tyrod Taylor) Discussion
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I mean, one of three things happen:
1) Browns still suck. Tyrod is scapegoated and Baker takes the reigns mid season or early next season.
2) Browns marginally improve. Win a few games here or there. Tyrod becomes well liked and will ride out a few seasons while mentoring Baker/insert next drafted QB prospect, then rides into the sunset.
3) Brown do significantly better. Tyrod becomes a demigod in Cleveland, shrines are erected, and the fan base revolts if the thought of benching him is mentioned.
I see scenario 2 as the most likely.
FWIW, I saw Dianna Russini on one of the ESPN shows give a report when she was embedded with the Browns for a few practices and she kept going on and on about how impressive Tyrod was. She said the impression she got was Todd Haley really liked Tyrod, was impressed with his skillset, and was excited to mold his offense to him and the other weapons the Browns have brought in (Landry, Hyde, the returning Gordon). She also commented that the players really like Tyrod as well (no shock there). Her summary was that everyone around the camp seems to believe Tyrod is going to do very well this year which will improve his stock for a team next season.
I agree with you. But I will add one thing: never underestimate the Browns' ability to suck.
T-Mobile - First one in, last one out. He had to earn everything he has.
I think Tyrod will play pretty well given that he finally will have a few weapons, especially if Josh Gordon comes back. He had a few good balls.
Baker seems likeable though. He will start eventually, but not if T-Mobile can get it going.
Sidenote, Tyrod has the strangest voice. I have never heard him speak much before, and I have even met him in person right after he signed his letter of commitment.
I've thought so too, but I think it's become raspier prob from being in Buffalo and having to yell out plays during practice and games. He seems to be naturally soft spoken so this may have something to do with it as well...
Saw some clips of Jarvis Landry making circus catches and was reminded that no coach has done less with more than Les Miles in 2014.
Mayfield hasn't gotten to where he is by luck. Kid seems assured, put together and focused on bottom lines of QB performance.
Compare and contrast his attitude with that of Lamar Jackson and you have to wonder why anyone would ever willingly play for Petrino. Sometimes I think Lamar is a fictional matrix meme. Answering questions about how Vick tried to call him but he hadn't called him back. Always talking about how he might throw, he might take it down and run, you just never know. How Petrino's offense is a little bit of everything so he is familiar with a lot of offenses.
I'm calling Tyrod to the Ravens after they trade RGIII and Lamar fails. And yes, I want all three of these guys to do well and become prototypical successful mobile NFL QBs. And I want to believe TT has a shot at winning the starting job in Cleveland if he can get them into the playoffs. Two years from now I think both TT and BM will have shown they can play. But only one is going to be in Cleveland.
Well you are way off base. Lamar is not going to start or fail within the next 2 seasons.
RGIII is not getting traded anytime soon. He has absolutely no value.
They are going to roll with 3 deep at QB this season. Flacco, BOB, and Lamar.
Also, if they fail this year Harbough will be gone Newsome is already retiring. Tyrod will have no ties to the Ravens (Even though their players rep is a former Hokie)
Tyrod probably will be off the Browns after this season, even if he does well. He'll end up somewhere QB hungry. Where I have no idea at this point.
I really wish he could go to Arizona. I think they would love him out there.
That's not going to happen anytime soon.
I had no idea RGIII was even in the league still
Last time we checked, Tyrod has one of these:
... including these:
No hardknock on Mayfield but he'll need to step up.
I mean, to be fair to mayfield, he won the Heisman trophy and went to two different CFP games, with a sugar bowl win in between.
I'd say his college achievements dwarf tyrods.
And I mean the super bowl ring is awesome but he was the back up and didn't see much playing time....
In fairness, you cant really say Baker is lacking for his own hardware...
He did go out and get himself something no Hokie has yet to do in the Heisman.
If the pollsters didn't have their anti-freshman bias back in the day, we wouldn't be able to say this, now, would we?
You could be right.
Ehh, its hard to really hate on Ron Dayne, dude put up his second 2,000 yard rushing season in 1999 on the eventual Big 10/Rose Bowl champs, and Hamilton may have been on a just ok GT team but he was damn good on a personal level. We are all familiar with Vick's explosiveness and efficiency in just taking games over, but aside from the optics of two Sr's in front of a Fr it is a disservice to say neither of them didnt have strong cases for the award all their own.
In Montee Ball's senior year in 2012, he had his 2nd consecutive 1800+ yard/22+ TD season, won the Doak Walker Award, was a consensus All-American for the 2nd straight year, won the Big Ten for the 3rd straight year, and didn't finish in the top-10 in Heisman voting.
Johnny Manziel won the Heisman that year as a freshman. I think it's safe to say Michael Vick would've won if the voters had the same mindset that they have today.
Hard disagree, at least as it speaks to age bias.
I think it speaks FAR more to how much the RB has lost value as a position when it comes to being considered essential or worth national awards vs the QB. Just remember this millennium its been 3 RB's and 15 QB's, but in the 20 years before that RB's won it nearly a dozen times.
If I'm remembering correctly there were people who stated the only reason they didn't vote for Vick as #1 was because he was a freshman. No one is saying that Ron Dayne didn't have a great year, but I definitely believe that Vick would have won had the mindset been the same as it is today.
NO WISCONSIN RUNNING BACK SHOULD EVER WIN THE HEISMAN.
Because their offensive line is WAY better than everyone else's.
And they still can't win the Big Ten.
And they still can't win major bowls.
And their out of conference schedule is always a joke because they slack off.
You know what? Just f!ck wisconsin overall.
I saw a few minutes of this. Tyrod completed a touchdown pass to himself. Pass was deflected back to him by a defender and he caught it Sean Glennon-style, turned himself into a running back and juked through the line Tyrod-style.
Tyrod got stuck in a bad situation when they drafted a QB #1 overall. Baker wasn't drafted to be a backup. If Tyrod can win 2 games out of the first 4-5, that would be wildly successful in Cleveland and a coach who's fighting for his job would be hard pressed to bench him. It should be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Just Started tonight after things were done around the house. Why in the first 2 minutes is hard knocks talking about Lebron?
So far I'm not a fan of Mayfield.
I came away with this same feeling, but I couldn't put my finger on why. You can only take so much from what you see on camera, but he didn't seem to gel with the teammates in the scene where he had to stand up and sing, and several other times just made me feel like he wasn't ready. Could just be editing.
I think some of it is my Tyrod bias. The show puts a lot of camera time and emphasis on Baker and his story, which makes sense given the former walk-on to first overall pick journey. I just wanted more screen-time and focus on Tyrod.
For me it was the RV and the hotel room/airport scenes.
I saw the complete opposite. I saw someone that was rooting for his players, cheering them on and giving them the love they deserve when his Oline was protecting him, the RB scored. He didn't care who scored, just as long as they scored as a team. Seemed like someone I would want to play with.
I love Tyrod, but the situation is what is. Tyrod will eventually be benched for Mayfield. I'm just happy I get to watch Tyrod on TV, especially when he is outworking everyone.
Haven't watched Hard Knocks but I feel that if Baker is to truly succeed in the NFL he needs to sit at least a year. The game is faster, the guys are bigger. Tyrod is a good QB to learn from, he's smart with the ball, can run, and has been to the biggest game and been a part of a team that won it all.
I hope Tyrod brings the Browns success so that some team that needs a QB will want him to be their QB instead of the not-optimal situations he's been in.
I hope TT is in a better position to succeed in Cleveland than he was in Buffalo. So far it seems like he might be.
Sidenote on Mayfield: just from watching him last season, he seems like he has that "it" factor that great QBs have. Leadership, swagger, ridiculous amounts of confidence sometimes overlapping into douchiness, etc. But will that allow him to overcome his physical limitations? That's another question entirely. Definitely gonna be keeping an eye on the Browns the next couple years.
He will be. They're willing to mold the offense around him and I like the weapons he has, especially Landry. Tyrod loves to be safe with the ball and throw short to intermediate routes. Juice is the exact type of guy that can bail him out. Along with an improving Njoku and what should be a solid backfield I think this is much better for him than Buffalo was.
Tyrod is every bit the ambassador for Virginia Tech that we knew he would be. And then some.
This is exactly what I expected to happen. Tyrod gets in the spotlight and wins over casual fans from all over the country who unfortunately never got a chance to get to know him. People are becoming fans and wondering why they didn't appreciate him before now.
In the second episode, Tyrod was literally coaching the head coach. Pulled him aside and told him how to get these guys hustling. He sets the tone and it's clear he commands respect from the whole team. I could not be more proud to have him representing us.
Best of luck to T-Mobile...
But contrary to claims made by others, Cleveland DOES NOT rock.
Baker looks better than a rookie. One thing I noticed is that he always keeps his feet moving and his eyes downfield. I think Baker still needs the year to learn the whole playbook and offense, but I don't see a way that Tyrod stays the starter in Cleveland past this season. I was really hoping Browns would just commit to Tyrod and trade out of the #1 and shore up the team, but what's done is done and Baker looks like the real deal. Either way I think Tyrod gets PAID after this season by a team like Miami once they pull the plug on Tannehill.
Yea it was funny in the first episode when Hugh Jackson was talking with Baker about going in and working out early like "#5" it felt they really want Baker to earn the starting job. I mean I get get it but it does suck for Tyrod. I just can't help but to imagine what could have been if they had just taken Saquon at #1.
I mean, he IS guaranteed 10 million, right? And an additional 6 million for playing? Just for 2018...
The Browns did not give him a bad deal, it's just the one year. I am thinking he gets a 3-year 60 million type deal next season. I there was talk Kirk freaking Cousins was going to get one of the biggest QB deals of all time and he isn't in the top tier of NFL QBs.
Kirk got all that money, because taxes in Minnesota on professional athletes are outrageously big. They did it, so he can make a descent wage after taxes.
What I would give for a reboot of this game series...
Anybody else catch the part during Willie McGinest interview of Myles Garrett that he is working with Bruce Smith? About 41:18 into episode 1
Saw that too. Always good to learn from the best
Loved how Tyrod was tell Hue to put them walking on and off the field on tape and show it to the players. Not sure if Tyrod stepped out of bounds by doing so, or if Hue has done it in the past. It just showed how much of a leader Tyrod is.
I don't have HBO so I can't watch these...but just to get context. He was noticing the team being lackluster and wanted them to see it as well?
Is that the takeaway?
Hue was chewing out the whole team and coaches at practice because they were walking to and from drills. Then Tyrod walks up to him a little later and suggests the above