TAYLOR AMONG KEY FACTORS FOR BROWNS IMPROVEMENT

Does adding CLEVELAND —

Tyrod Taylor alone mean the Browns will win five more games than they did in 2017?

That’s the contention of Profootball Focus (PFF), the analytics site.

Before dismissing it, consider John Dorsey gave several of the same arguments for drafting Baker Mayfield as PFF did when rating Mayfield the top quarterback in the draft.

And the Browns’ new general manager traded a third-round pick for Taylor because of many of the attributes favored by PFF — the former Buffalo quarterback doesn’t mess up games.

My favorite stat is that Taylor threw fewer overall interceptions (four) than the Browns threw in the red zone (six).

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on a stat called WAR (Wins Above Replacement) because it becomes very complicated.

But the bottom line is PFF believes Taylor (4.9 WAR) adds five wins to the Browns. Former quarterback DeShone Kizer (minus 2.9 WAR) was solely responsible for three losses because of his excess turnovers.

Not only did Kizer throw an NFL-high 22 interceptions, he also lost seven fumbles. So that’s 29 turnovers in 15 games.

In 15 games, Taylor threw four interceptions and lost four fumbles -- a total of eight turnovers.

I was watching a PFF video with Mike Renner and Sam Monson. They were very excited about the Browns, at one point suggesting they could finish 8-8 after they had finished praising the switch from Kizer to Taylor.

They also loved the pick of Denzel Ward. Opposing quarterbacks completed only 35 percent of passes thrown to receivers covered by Ward when he was at Ohio State.

Like Dorsey, they think Ward can become an outstanding cornerback — quickly.

When the PFF analysts finished, I was waiting for them to paint their faces brown and orange and start barking.

I think 8-8 is way too optimistic. I’m not ready to make a prediction yet, but it won’t be that high.

What about coaching?

I did a Browns video where I held up a mirror and suggested Browns coach Hue Jackson needs to look into it.

At some point in our lives, all of us must do that.

I still find it hard to believe the expansion Browns of coach Chris Palmer were 5-27 in their first two seasons (1999-2000), but the Browns were 1-31 the last two seasons.

The majority of the blame was on the roster being stripped down and going extremely young.

But not all of it. That’s where Jackson has to take some responsibility beyond his periodic statements of “we have to coach better.”

I’m not going to dwell on all the mistakes. I’ll simply say one win in two years — it’s not all the fault of the players or the Sashi Brown front office.

It can change

The hiring of Todd Haley as offensive coordinator is a major step forward.

Haley had the same job in Pittsburgh for the previous six seasons. He was the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Haley knows the Browns’ AFC-North division. He is a strong personality who can handle debates with Jackson.

The Browns also traded for Jarvis Landry, who caught 400 passes over the last four seasons. He is an excellent fit for Taylor, as Landry catches the type of short and medium range passes that are Taylor’s specialty.