Jarvis Landry spent the first four years of his career with the Miami Dolphins, where he has worked with the likes of Ryan Tannehill, Jay Cutler, and Matt Moore. He has been able to find success catching passes from this group, the proof being that he is the first player in NFL history to have caught 400 passes through his first four seasons.
In his first season with the Cleveland Browns after being traded to them on the franchise tag, and later signing a new long-term deal, Landry thinks that the quarterbacks he is working with now are a big step up from what he was used to down in Florida.
The LSU product, who considers himself the best wide receiver in football, responded to a question about whether or not there is a version of himself that the NFL has not seen yet, volunteered that there is, and so much of it has to do with what the quarterback is able to do.
“The quarterback play is so important, which has got me that much more excited about Tyrod and [Baker Mayfield] and the way that they’re throwing the ball out here, it makes me that much more excited”, he told reporters. “It’s a lot better than what I had in Miami. I’m excited about that”.
The Browns, of course, completely remade their quarterback room this offseason. After trading for Tyrod Taylor from the Buffalo Bills for a third-round draft pick, they traded DeShone Kizer, their second-round pick from a year ago, for the Green Bay Packers in exchange for Damarious Randall, who will be a starting safety.
They also traded Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan and replaced him with Drew Stanton as a veteran backup and, of course, first-overall draft pick Baker Mayfield. The Browns have passed on the opportunity to draft a quarterback first or second overall a few times in recent years. This year, they had their pick of multiple intriguing options and went with Mayfield.
Landry comments are a little unclear, but at a later point in a media group interview, he seemed to imply that he had private workouts with Taylor, and perhaps other Browns quarterbacks, outside of the team structure, and said he didn’t do that in Miami.
“I didn’t do that in Miami with the quarterbacks because they didn’t want to do it”, he said. “I would say that the chemistry and the type of guys that I’m around here makes me that much more excited because I know I’m going to be pushed at all levels at all times”.
Considering the fact that he is averaging 100 catches per season, if he actually thinks playing with this group of quarterbacks will make him an even better wide receiver, statistically, then that will be something to see. Landry is no doubt a legitimate talent, though he’s not even the best wide receiver in his division—through no fault of his own. Antonio Brown is just that good.
