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Mark Eckel
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By BOB McGINN
Chances are that neither cornerback Damarious Randall nor quarterback DeShone Kizer will amount to much with their new teams.
Since time immemorial football organizations have always thought they could change flawed players with better coaching, a fresh approach or some tender loving care.
In most cases, however, players with checkered resumes like Randall’s and Kizer’s are what they are no matter their address. That is, underachieving physical talents more interested in themselves than the team.
In a trade reported by multiple outlets, the Green Bay Packers acquired Kizer from the Cleveland Browns Friday in exchange for Randall. In what might turn out to be the most important aspect of the trade, the Packers and Browns flip-flopped choices in the fourth and fifth rounds; Green Bay will move from the middle to the top of those two rounds.
None of the flurry of trades in the last 10 days can become official until the start of the league year Wednesday.
It should be clear that the new regime in Green Bay headed by team president Mark Murphy and general manager Brian Gutekunst was done with Randall. It’s the only conclusion because cornerback might have been their weakest position even with Randall who, despite his many warts, was the team’s best at the position last season. I gave him a final grade of C-plus.
By the same token, the new regime in Cleveland led by GM John Dorsey was dead set on washing their hands of Kizer. Earlier in the day, the Browns traded a third-round draft pick to Buffalo for Tyrod Taylor. It’ll be Taylor, not Kizer, who will serve as the bridge to the quarterback the Browns are expected to draft in the first round.
Thus, the Packers gave up on Randall, their first-round draft choice (No. 30 overall) in 2015, and the Browns gave up on Kizer, their second-round pick (No. 52) in 2017.
Last week, a source said the Packers planned to make a strong run at 28-year-old Ram Trumaine Johnson, probably the best cornerback on the unrestricted free-agent market. The problem is that Johnson might warrant a contract averaging about $15 million per year, and unless the Packers either cut or exact pay reductions from wide receivers Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson it might be a stretch to assume they can afford Johnson. Looming over the franchise is the contract extension for Aaron Rodgers, which is expected to be completed not long after Kirk Cousins signs a new deal.
The Packers’ depth chart at cornerback looks something like this: Kevin King, Herb Waters, Josh Hawkins, Lenzy Pipkins, Demetri Goodson, Quinten Rollins and Donatello Brown. Davon House seems headed for free agency.
Still, I can fully understand where the Packers were coming from regarding Randall. Despite his ball skills and speed, they knew after three years they simply couldn’t count on him.
Consider the end of last season. Randall played all 75 snaps in Game 14 against Carolina. Before the last two games, he was listed as questionable with a knee injury. He didn’t play in either game.
Think that wasn’t remembered by the coaching staff? Coaches never forget someone that quits on his team.
Two days after the last game, Randall spoke to reporters critiquing the organization as if he were a team leader. That was too much even for Mike McCarthy to stomach.
“I’ll tell you what I told Damarious,” the coach said a day later. “He needs to focus on himself … He probably played the best football of his career but then he didn’t play the last two games. He needs to go home and self-evaluate and clean his own house.”
Randall spent his first three seasons coming on and off for what appeared to be a variety of nicks and ailments. He couldn’t stay on the field. Until the second half of his third season, his play remained erratic.
“How can you depend on him?” an NFL executive in personnel said. “Takes himself out of games. Never played 16 games. He’s got all kinds of ability. He can be a slot or play (outside). But you can’t trust him. He won’t play. He can look great or he can look like a scrub.”
Ted Thompson’s decision to select Randall near the end of the first round wasn’t the result of unanimity in the draft room. The Packers were divided on Randall, a safety at Arizona State who hadn’t played cornerback since junior college.
Rebuffing opportunities to trade down, Thompson’s choice of Randall was made over cornerback Eric Rowe, who went No. 47 to Philadelphia, and defensive tackle Malcom Brown, who went No. 32 to New England.
Randall played well early as a rookie before collapsing down the stretch. He failed even to compete in his second season, but some excused it because of a groin injury.
Last season, Randall quit on his teammates at halftime against Chicago in Game 4 before being banished by McCarthy to the locker room. He performed respectably after that, leading the team in turnover-producing plays with five and at times challenging and covering top receivers on a man-to-man basis.
Still, Randall almost seemed delusional about his performance. He lobbied via social media for Pro Bowl votes. He constantly drew attention to himself. He spoke as if he were a sure-fire member of the team’s core.
“Most talented player on that defense but he’s a nut case,” said an NFL personnel man familiar with Randall. “He needs to be somewhere where there’s somebody tough.”
You can’t win consistently with an emotional diva like Damarious Randall. When an organization concludes it doesn’t even want a player around the locker room anymore, and that probably was the case in Green Bay, it’s good business to move him when there’s still value and then pressure yourself to get better.
It’s now on Murphy and Gutekunst to find a cluster of cornerbacks that are more durable, tougher and better teammates. Randall’s talent wasn’t sufficient to put up with his behavior and poor intangibles.
Randall’s base salary of $1.090 million, roster bonus of $374,037 and $50,000 workout bonus will be moved off the Packers’ salary cap and onto Cleveland’s. The $1.004 million pro-rated portion of his $4.017 signing bonus will count as “dead” money on Green Bay’s cap.
At the same time, the Packers will inherit the last three years of Kizer’s four-year, $4.948 million contract. His base salary of $689,928 in 2018 is guaranteed against skill and injury, an element negotiator Russ Ball would regard as anathema. The Packers also will pick up his base salaries of $914,856 in 2019 and $1.14 million in 2020.
Gutekunst, who has been on the job for two months, already has made as many trades (one) for a veteran of consequence as Thompson did in his last 12 years. After trading for running back Ryan Grant in September 2007, Thompson acquired safety Derrick Martin in 2009, safety Anthony Smith in 2010 and running back Knile Davis in 2016.
Kizer was deemed worthless in Cleveland after evaluations made by Dorsey, coach Hue Jackson and new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, among others.
Former executive VP Sashi Brown drafted Kizer in the second round after his sophomore season in which Notre Dame posted its second worst record (4-8) in 54 years. The plan was to let Kizer, who didn’t turn 22 until January, apprentice behind Cody Kessler, Brock Osweiler and Kevin Hogan.
When the veterans flopped, Kizer became No. 1 by default and started all 15 games. He was benched in favor of Hogan in Game 6.
The results were abominable.
Cleveland became the second team in history to finish 0-16 and Kizer ranked dead last in almost every passing category.
Of the 32 quarterbacks with enough passing attempts to qualify, Kizer was last in passer rating at 60.5. Between 2011 and ’16, the worst rating in the league was the 65.4 by Jacksonville’s Blaine Gabbert in ’11. Kizer’s mark was the lowest in the NFL since Carolina’s Jimmy Clausen, a fellow Golden Domer, posted 58.4 in 2010.
Not only did Kizer throw a league-leading 22 interceptions, he also lost six of his nine fumbles for a total of 28 turnovers. Only three entire teams gave it away more times.
Before the Dec. 10 game in Cleveland between the Browns and Packers, an executive in personnel said, “Right now it’s just the quarterback (Kizer) and his decision-making that’s keeping them from being a decent offense.”
The scout went on: “He’s a very, very inexperienced quarterback. He probably should have gone back to Notre Dame for another year of experience. Look at Kansas City’s situation with (Patrick) Mahomes. Those guys really should be sitting for a year or two years.
“He believes in his arm. He believes he’s an elite quarterback, and I think eventually he’ll be a pretty good quarterback if he manages to survive.
“He holds the ball, forces the ball. He doesn’t have a real feel for it. He does have good arm talent, size and toughness. He’s got tremendous arm strength.”
Jackson said Kizer easily played his finest game against the Packers. His passer rating was a season-high 99.4, and early in the fourth quarter the Browns were sailing along with a 21-7 lead.
In overtime, Kizer held the ball for 5.6 seconds as he searched for a receiver on third and 2. Just before throwing long, Kizer was hit by Clay Matthews and the ball was intercepted by Josh Jones.
A few plays later, Brett Hundley finished off his strong performance (111.2 rating) with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams.
Kizer has prototypical size (6-4 ½, 233), adequate speed (4.86 in the 40) and a score of 28 on the Wonderlic intelligence test. His record with the Irish, however, was merely 12-11.
Before the draft, I asked 13 personnel people to tab which of the four leading quarterbacks had the best chance to be a bust. Kizer drew nine votes compared to two for Mahomes and one each for Mitchell Trubisky and Deshaun Watson.
Several scouts (see other story) expressed serious reservations about Kizer and what they perceived as his questionable reasons for playing football. Some portrayed him as someone who demanded special treatment and wouldn’t work at his craft.
At the combine, Dorsey put his best diplomatic foot forward when asked about the youthful quarterback that he inherited.
“What I thought was really nice was how much he improved week in and week out,” said Dorsey. “I think a young quarterback from year one going through his rookie year into year two makes exponential improvement moving forward. I would expect nothing less from him.”
It should be obvious that Dorsey and the Browns were through with Kizer and were just hoping that they could get something of value in return.
Now it remains to be seen if the Packers have sufficient trust in Kizer to hand him the No. 2 job over Hundley, who ranked 30th in passer rating at 70.6 as Rodgers’ injury replacement.
Hundley did outplay Kizer head-to-head. He also has three years of seasoning in McCarthy’s offense whereas Kizer has none.
Might the Packers trade Hundley? Yes. He has an easy-to-move base salary of $705,000 for 2018, the final year of his contract, and if the Packers keep three quarterbacks they could attract a late-round pick at some point in the next nine months. Joe Callahan, a third-year free agent, remains on the roster, too.
“We felt that he could have been better prepared so we’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” McCarthy said last week. “I do believe Brett has a big upside and am looking forward to getting back to work with him.”
By acquiring Kizer, however, the Packers probably signaled that Hundley really was a major disappointment in their eyes. Gutekunst was on staff when that fifth-round choice was used for Hundley in 2015 but Thompson was making every call.
Kizer did rush for 419 yards, the fourth highest total among quarterbacks.
The post Randall for Kizer, a trade that won’t help either team appeared first on Bob McGinn Football.
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Chances are that neither cornerback Damarious Randall nor quarterback DeShone Kizer will amount to much with their new teams.
Since time immemorial football organizations have always thought they could change flawed players with better coaching, a fresh approach or some tender loving care.
In most cases, however, players with checkered resumes like Randall’s and Kizer’s are what they are no matter their address. That is, underachieving physical talents more interested in themselves than the team.
In a trade reported by multiple outlets, the Green Bay Packers acquired Kizer from the Cleveland Browns Friday in exchange for Randall. In what might turn out to be the most important aspect of the trade, the Packers and Browns flip-flopped choices in the fourth and fifth rounds; Green Bay will move from the middle to the top of those two rounds.
None of the flurry of trades in the last 10 days can become official until the start of the league year Wednesday.
It should be clear that the new regime in Green Bay headed by team president Mark Murphy and general manager Brian Gutekunst was done with Randall. It’s the only conclusion because cornerback might have been their weakest position even with Randall who, despite his many warts, was the team’s best at the position last season. I gave him a final grade of C-plus.
By the same token, the new regime in Cleveland led by GM John Dorsey was dead set on washing their hands of Kizer. Earlier in the day, the Browns traded a third-round draft pick to Buffalo for Tyrod Taylor. It’ll be Taylor, not Kizer, who will serve as the bridge to the quarterback the Browns are expected to draft in the first round.
Thus, the Packers gave up on Randall, their first-round draft choice (No. 30 overall) in 2015, and the Browns gave up on Kizer, their second-round pick (No. 52) in 2017.
Last week, a source said the Packers planned to make a strong run at 28-year-old Ram Trumaine Johnson, probably the best cornerback on the unrestricted free-agent market. The problem is that Johnson might warrant a contract averaging about $15 million per year, and unless the Packers either cut or exact pay reductions from wide receivers Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson it might be a stretch to assume they can afford Johnson. Looming over the franchise is the contract extension for Aaron Rodgers, which is expected to be completed not long after Kirk Cousins signs a new deal.
The Packers’ depth chart at cornerback looks something like this: Kevin King, Herb Waters, Josh Hawkins, Lenzy Pipkins, Demetri Goodson, Quinten Rollins and Donatello Brown. Davon House seems headed for free agency.
Still, I can fully understand where the Packers were coming from regarding Randall. Despite his ball skills and speed, they knew after three years they simply couldn’t count on him.
Consider the end of last season. Randall played all 75 snaps in Game 14 against Carolina. Before the last two games, he was listed as questionable with a knee injury. He didn’t play in either game.
Think that wasn’t remembered by the coaching staff? Coaches never forget someone that quits on his team.
Two days after the last game, Randall spoke to reporters critiquing the organization as if he were a team leader. That was too much even for Mike McCarthy to stomach.
“I’ll tell you what I told Damarious,” the coach said a day later. “He needs to focus on himself … He probably played the best football of his career but then he didn’t play the last two games. He needs to go home and self-evaluate and clean his own house.”
Randall spent his first three seasons coming on and off for what appeared to be a variety of nicks and ailments. He couldn’t stay on the field. Until the second half of his third season, his play remained erratic.
“How can you depend on him?” an NFL executive in personnel said. “Takes himself out of games. Never played 16 games. He’s got all kinds of ability. He can be a slot or play (outside). But you can’t trust him. He won’t play. He can look great or he can look like a scrub.”
Ted Thompson’s decision to select Randall near the end of the first round wasn’t the result of unanimity in the draft room. The Packers were divided on Randall, a safety at Arizona State who hadn’t played cornerback since junior college.
Rebuffing opportunities to trade down, Thompson’s choice of Randall was made over cornerback Eric Rowe, who went No. 47 to Philadelphia, and defensive tackle Malcom Brown, who went No. 32 to New England.
Randall played well early as a rookie before collapsing down the stretch. He failed even to compete in his second season, but some excused it because of a groin injury.
Last season, Randall quit on his teammates at halftime against Chicago in Game 4 before being banished by McCarthy to the locker room. He performed respectably after that, leading the team in turnover-producing plays with five and at times challenging and covering top receivers on a man-to-man basis.
Still, Randall almost seemed delusional about his performance. He lobbied via social media for Pro Bowl votes. He constantly drew attention to himself. He spoke as if he were a sure-fire member of the team’s core.
“Most talented player on that defense but he’s a nut case,” said an NFL personnel man familiar with Randall. “He needs to be somewhere where there’s somebody tough.”
You can’t win consistently with an emotional diva like Damarious Randall. When an organization concludes it doesn’t even want a player around the locker room anymore, and that probably was the case in Green Bay, it’s good business to move him when there’s still value and then pressure yourself to get better.
It’s now on Murphy and Gutekunst to find a cluster of cornerbacks that are more durable, tougher and better teammates. Randall’s talent wasn’t sufficient to put up with his behavior and poor intangibles.
Randall’s base salary of $1.090 million, roster bonus of $374,037 and $50,000 workout bonus will be moved off the Packers’ salary cap and onto Cleveland’s. The $1.004 million pro-rated portion of his $4.017 signing bonus will count as “dead” money on Green Bay’s cap.
At the same time, the Packers will inherit the last three years of Kizer’s four-year, $4.948 million contract. His base salary of $689,928 in 2018 is guaranteed against skill and injury, an element negotiator Russ Ball would regard as anathema. The Packers also will pick up his base salaries of $914,856 in 2019 and $1.14 million in 2020.
Gutekunst, who has been on the job for two months, already has made as many trades (one) for a veteran of consequence as Thompson did in his last 12 years. After trading for running back Ryan Grant in September 2007, Thompson acquired safety Derrick Martin in 2009, safety Anthony Smith in 2010 and running back Knile Davis in 2016.
Kizer was deemed worthless in Cleveland after evaluations made by Dorsey, coach Hue Jackson and new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, among others.
Former executive VP Sashi Brown drafted Kizer in the second round after his sophomore season in which Notre Dame posted its second worst record (4-8) in 54 years. The plan was to let Kizer, who didn’t turn 22 until January, apprentice behind Cody Kessler, Brock Osweiler and Kevin Hogan.
When the veterans flopped, Kizer became No. 1 by default and started all 15 games. He was benched in favor of Hogan in Game 6.
The results were abominable.
Cleveland became the second team in history to finish 0-16 and Kizer ranked dead last in almost every passing category.
Of the 32 quarterbacks with enough passing attempts to qualify, Kizer was last in passer rating at 60.5. Between 2011 and ’16, the worst rating in the league was the 65.4 by Jacksonville’s Blaine Gabbert in ’11. Kizer’s mark was the lowest in the NFL since Carolina’s Jimmy Clausen, a fellow Golden Domer, posted 58.4 in 2010.
Not only did Kizer throw a league-leading 22 interceptions, he also lost six of his nine fumbles for a total of 28 turnovers. Only three entire teams gave it away more times.
Before the Dec. 10 game in Cleveland between the Browns and Packers, an executive in personnel said, “Right now it’s just the quarterback (Kizer) and his decision-making that’s keeping them from being a decent offense.”
The scout went on: “He’s a very, very inexperienced quarterback. He probably should have gone back to Notre Dame for another year of experience. Look at Kansas City’s situation with (Patrick) Mahomes. Those guys really should be sitting for a year or two years.
“He believes in his arm. He believes he’s an elite quarterback, and I think eventually he’ll be a pretty good quarterback if he manages to survive.
“He holds the ball, forces the ball. He doesn’t have a real feel for it. He does have good arm talent, size and toughness. He’s got tremendous arm strength.”
Jackson said Kizer easily played his finest game against the Packers. His passer rating was a season-high 99.4, and early in the fourth quarter the Browns were sailing along with a 21-7 lead.
In overtime, Kizer held the ball for 5.6 seconds as he searched for a receiver on third and 2. Just before throwing long, Kizer was hit by Clay Matthews and the ball was intercepted by Josh Jones.
A few plays later, Brett Hundley finished off his strong performance (111.2 rating) with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams.
Kizer has prototypical size (6-4 ½, 233), adequate speed (4.86 in the 40) and a score of 28 on the Wonderlic intelligence test. His record with the Irish, however, was merely 12-11.
Before the draft, I asked 13 personnel people to tab which of the four leading quarterbacks had the best chance to be a bust. Kizer drew nine votes compared to two for Mahomes and one each for Mitchell Trubisky and Deshaun Watson.
Several scouts (see other story) expressed serious reservations about Kizer and what they perceived as his questionable reasons for playing football. Some portrayed him as someone who demanded special treatment and wouldn’t work at his craft.
At the combine, Dorsey put his best diplomatic foot forward when asked about the youthful quarterback that he inherited.
“What I thought was really nice was how much he improved week in and week out,” said Dorsey. “I think a young quarterback from year one going through his rookie year into year two makes exponential improvement moving forward. I would expect nothing less from him.”
It should be obvious that Dorsey and the Browns were through with Kizer and were just hoping that they could get something of value in return.
Now it remains to be seen if the Packers have sufficient trust in Kizer to hand him the No. 2 job over Hundley, who ranked 30th in passer rating at 70.6 as Rodgers’ injury replacement.
Hundley did outplay Kizer head-to-head. He also has three years of seasoning in McCarthy’s offense whereas Kizer has none.
Might the Packers trade Hundley? Yes. He has an easy-to-move base salary of $705,000 for 2018, the final year of his contract, and if the Packers keep three quarterbacks they could attract a late-round pick at some point in the next nine months. Joe Callahan, a third-year free agent, remains on the roster, too.
“We felt that he could have been better prepared so we’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” McCarthy said last week. “I do believe Brett has a big upside and am looking forward to getting back to work with him.”
By acquiring Kizer, however, the Packers probably signaled that Hundley really was a major disappointment in their eyes. Gutekunst was on staff when that fifth-round choice was used for Hundley in 2015 but Thompson was making every call.
Kizer did rush for 419 yards, the fourth highest total among quarterbacks.
The post Randall for Kizer, a trade that won’t help either team appeared first on Bob McGinn Football.
Continue reading...
