Browns: 3 players from the Dark Ages who could’ve been great (and why they weren’t)
By Chad Porto
Josh Gordon
Easily one of the purest talents at wideouts the team has ever had, Josh Gordon looked like he was going to be phenomenal. He racked up 800+yards as a rookie, and 1600+ yards in his sophomore effort for a whopping total of 2,451 with 14 touchdowns tacked on over his first two years. The best part about Gordon wasn’t just the ability to break defenses with his speed or always be open for a catch, no. It was because he did all that with Brandon Weedon, Colt McCoy, Thaddeus Lewis, Jason Campbell, and Brian Hoyer throwing him the ball. Talk about subpar talent.
While Hoyer has a bit of a cult reputation in Cleveland for the one year the Browns went 7-9 (and nearly flirted with the playoffs until the final few games of the year), the fact is that none of them were any good as regular starters.
Where it went wrong: The problem for Gordon came with his issues with impulse control. While people can make excuses all they want, if something is against the rules, it’s against the rules. It speaks to a bigger issue that Gordon couldn’t stay clean during his playing career, despite knowing he would get caught and punished for it. That’s the sign of some deeper issues. Until Gordon can get that addressed, there’s no point in him attempting a comeback.