Inside The Hashes Football Q & A with Kris Thomas
Inside The Hashes Football Q & A with Kris Thomas
Tune in each week as I field questions from you, the fans! You can ask your questions on our facebook football chat room here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/insidethehashes
Should Lamar Jackson be in the MVP race?
In short yes. Lamar Jackson is on pace to a feat that has only been accomplished once in NFL history by Michael Vick; rushing for 1000 yards as a QB. Watching Jackson in his 2nd season has been fun to watch. He still has ways to go but his decision making, more confidence throwing in the pocket and most of all the most important thing for a QB 3rd down conversions whether in the air or on the ground has been a nightmare for opposing defenses and exciting for the fans of Baltimore. Everyone is worried about can he last a 16 game season because of his style of play and how Greg Roman the Ravens offensive coordinator schemes him. However, when you watch Ravens game Jackson doesn’t take those big pounding hits as Vick or Newton did. Jackson is getting better in protecting himself as well.
When you have a season like a Russell Wilson or a Deshaun Watson is having, it’s hard for me to defer to someone else as the frontrunner but Lamar Jackson is on pace to throw for over 3000 yards and 1000 yards rushing which has never been done before. With a signature win over the Patriots which their defense has been a juggernaut at creating turnovers and scoring plays, Jackson was never taken out of his comfort zone against the New England and record 3 TDs. If Jackson can continue this over the course of the 2nd half, it’ll be hard to knock him out of the MVP race.
What can you pinpoint as the struggles of the Cleveland Browns? Is it all on Baker and/or on Kitchens?
Well, the issues in Cleveland aren’t Odell Beckham’s cleats I know that. I’ve said this before in Free Agency and I’ll say it now going into week 10, John Dorsey should have pulled all the stops to get Bruce Arians to coach the Browns over promoting Baker’s guy Freddie Kitchens. When you assemble an offense with talents like Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Nick Chubb, Calloway and Higgins in the slot and Kareem Hunt who is on ice for the 1st 8 games, you need a Veteran offensive guru to lead them. Fast forward to midseason, regardless if Tampa Bay keeps Winston or not, Arians is getting the most out of Winston good or bad, whereas Mayfield has regressed dramatically.
Kitchens didn’t have enough experience to be groomed as a head coach. You can all around the league and watch other offense who doesn’t have the same tier talent as Cleveland but its more consistent on a weekly basis. Baker has been struggling and under no circumstance should be off the hook especially going every week except last week in Denver throwing a pick but the play calling Kitchens does which is basically all play-action and downfield throws make it difficult for this offense to sustain a rhythm. Landry is a possession guy, Odell is great with yards after the catch and chubb is a bell cow. There’s no reason why almost all your offense is all downfield throws when your offensive line isn’t good. Baker doesn’t have enough time to throw on these long developing throws and that falls on Kitchens mostly but also John Dorsey for being confident enough to promote him. The Browns need an improved offensive philosophy next season because I’ve seen enough this year.
Who should be the next coach for Florida State?
All signs point to Bob Stoops becoming the next coach by either the end of this week or the following week. If this does happen it makes sense. Florida State has been a mess since Fisher left and Taggart got a rough deal. The next coach has to be a big name to propel and get some good recruits down in Florida and make FSU relevant again. We all know Stoops resume. 10x Big 12 Champion, 6x Big 12 coach of the year and a former National Champion almost 20 years ago. It also basically groomed Lincoln Riley to continue Oklahoma’s dominance in the Big 12. The reports say that Kendal Briles will stay on as offensive coordinator and groomed to become a head coach as well similar deal with Riley.
Stoops from a name perspective makes sense for Florida State. Another name that I believe will be better for Florida State is Lane Kiffin. Look at his tenure in Tennessee and USC which was respectable given the circumstances of the programs when he took over and now. Also his tenure as offensive coordinator with Alabama, Kiffin now is at Florida Atlantic which has been one of the best offenses in college football the past 3 seasons and hasn’t lost a bowl game during his tenure. Kiffin has earned a chance to coach in a Power 5 conference and build his team in his image. Either or will give a Florida State program the facelift it deserves.
