Cleveland rookie cornerback Greedy Williams made a prediction for this year’s Browns some people might find a little . . . greedy.
“I know one thing – that the Browns are going to the Super Bowl this year – that’s a fact.” Williams said in a conference call with Cleveland reporters after getting picked in second round of the 2019 draft.
How about making the playoffs first?
The Browns haven’t made the playoffs since 2002.
And this week the Westgate Las Vegas Sports Book posted odds on whether teams would make or miss the playoffs, and listed the Browns as a miss.
But there are high hopes in Cleveland with a roster many experts consider one of the NFL’s most talented.
It looks like they finally have their franchise quarterback in former Oklahoma star Baker Mayfield, who set an NFL rookie record with 27 passing touchdowns last year.
And there are no shortage of weapons for Mayfield to throw with the addition of star receiver Odell Beckham Jr., acquired in a blockbuster trade with the New York Giants on March 13. Beckham, a three-time Pro Bowler, joins former LSU teammate Jarvis Landry, a receiver whose made four Pro Bowls. The Browns also have a talented running back in Nick Chubb and a speedy tight end, David Njoku.
On defense, there’s no shortage of talent either, with a pair of skillful edge-rushers, Myles Garrett (first pick overall in the 2017 draft) and Olivier Vernon, acquired in trade with the New York Giants. In free agency, they added a gifted interior rusher, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, a former first-round pick of the New York Jets. With Garrett, Vernon, Richardson and rising star nose tackle Larry Ogunjobi, the Browns could cause fits to opposing offensive lines.
And their defensive back field should be very good. Just ask Greedy Williams.
“Oh, my God,” Williams said in his press conference. “Me and (cornerback) Denzel Ward, we are going to tear up the league. You can go [man-to-man] on the outside all day, and we will lock down those receivers. Denzel is a Pro Bowl corner, came in his rookie year and did what he needed to do. I know he’s going to prep me up and get me ready to do the same thing. Possibly we can be the two Pro Bowl corners in the league playing for the same team.”
But while the Browns look good on paper, they have some major question marks, like having a rookie head coach, Freddie Kitchens. The former Alabama QB got high marks as a long-time NFL assistant, but nobody knows how he’ll do as a first-time head coach.
And Kitchens doesn’t seem thrilled with Williams’ bold prediction for the 2019 Browns.
“This time of year, everybody wants to talk about the roster and wants to crown somebody,” Kitchens said. “All of this is good, but this is not going to win us any games. This is not even going to win us a quarter. It is not going to do anything for us but set us up for failure if we don’t have our head on straight and we are ready to play football, because the games are going to be won and lost in September.
“All of this other stuff is fluff. It is just things for people to talk about in April and May. You are going to have a different narrative come September, and that is when we want to control the narrative, not in April or May.”
And Kitchens has a message for Williams:
“We don’t want to talk about it. We want to do our talking on how we prepare and how we work.”
Maybe he should’ve had that talk with Williams before his press conference.