Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

Archive for the category “Cleveland Browns”

24 Apr 2010

Brilliant!

Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert hit a home run in their first draft with the Browns. From filling major holes in the secondary with the picks of Joe Haden and T.J. Ward, to playing the waiting game perfectly and landing Colt McCoy at the exact right time, this has been one of the best draft days since the team returned in 1999.

It’s heartwarming for Browns fans everywhere to finally have credible, knowledgeable, NFL-caliber people in charge of the team. With their years of combined NFL experience working in harmony to rebuild the team, the Browns are finally on the road out of the NFL’s wasteland.

The team formulated a plan and stuck to it, rejecting the urge to over trade or overrate players and take them too high. Holmgren and Heckert also made a point to select players in the first two rounds who can step on the field in September and play – not in a couple of years but now – and who will not be inexplicably placed on the inactive list on a weekly basis.

In fact, Tony Grossi of the Plain Dealer reported that “all the Browns’ draft picks so far are considered by the team to be serious contenders for starting jobs as rookies.”

What a novel approach, not redshirting your draft picks but actually allowing them to play.

Finally, Holmgren and Heckert saw the late-season win streak of last year as the smoke-and-mirror show it was, so they wisely determined that the team can’t have any long-term success with the QB play it was receiving. So they waited patiently for McCoy – accepting the possibility that they would miss out on him – again showing that not only do they have a plan, but that they understand the reality of quarterback play in the today’s NFL.

“I wasn’t going to force-feed it that much,” Holmgren said of the waiting game for McCoy. “Sometimes it just kind of falls to you. If it was going to happen, that’s kind of the way I wanted it to happen.”

And they know that if you can give a rookie QB a few years to mature the odds increase dramatically that he will succeed. So there will be ridiculous quarterback competition this summer in Berea and no chance that McCoy will be named the starting QB this fall. Jake Delhomme and/or Seneca Wallace will handle the position this year and possibly even next. McCoy will be given the time to mature and the opportunity to succeed that is vital in the NFL today.

And Brett Ratcliff can start working on his resume.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Colt McCoy, Joe Haden, NFL draft | Leave a comment
23 Apr 2010

A healthy appetite for debate

“I love argument, I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that’s not their job.” – Margaret Thatcher

There has been some speculation – primarily from Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King and Yahoo Sports‘ Charles Robinson – that there was some debate within the Browns draft room over who to pick in the first round – Joe Haden or Kyle Wilson.

Browns fans everywhere should be thrilled that the team finally has a functional, knowledgeable front office in place that can rationally talk about the value of two players and reach a consensus.

We’ve been down the dictator road before with Butch Davis, who wanted his voice to be the only one in the room, which is how the Browns ended up with Gerrard Warren.

That doesn’t work.

Having Mike Holmgren working as, in his words “the tiebreaker,” is what this team needs. There is absolutely no downside if Eric Mangini wants one player, lays out his reasons why, and then Tom Heckert, who may want another player, does the same and then Holmgren makes the final decision.

Why would anyone not want the team to function this way?

As for the second-round pick, I have to admit I don’t really know anything about T.J. Ward. But the Browns need help at safety and he plays safety.

However, I also found that “Ward’s junior year, 2008, was his only full season as a starter. He was a backup as a freshman and sophomore, and his senior season was cut short by injury. In fact, Ward has a long history of knee and ankle injuries, which is why it’s a bit of a surprise that he went as high as he did.”

But according to Oregon Live: “Former Oregon safety T.J. Ward hits like a freight train and has enough speed and range to play either safety position in the NFL.

“The knock on him is his durability. Given how fearless he is, injuries are certain to come and they did during his career at Oregon.

“Ward’s stock has fluctuated during the draft process. One NFL scout said he saw Ward as a late-round pick. But Scout Inc. has Ward going in the third round to Dallas. NFLDraftScout.com has him rated as the No. 2 strong safety in the draft.”

Hmm, hits like a freight train sounds good – can we test that out on Hines Ward? Injuries are certain to come sounds bad. Let’s overlook that for now.

The only concern I have with the Browns passing on Colt McCoy or Jimmy Clausen in this spot is the overwhelming evidence that quarterbacks have a higher success rate if they can sit their first year or two in the league. With Delhomme set to start this season, getting a QB this year rather than next year and starting the learning process may have been a good idea.

We’ll see. There’s still the possibility the Browns can move up out of the third round to grab a QB.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, debate, functional, knowledgeable, NFL draft | Leave a comment
23 Apr 2010

The plan is coming together

It’s all starting to come together for the Browns during this weekend’s draft.

When was the last time we could say that?

Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert resisted the voices and did not trade up for Sam Bradford, despite the insanity of a rumor floated out by ESPN’s Michael Smith that the Browns were offering to give up most of their picks in this year’s draft and picks next year to St. Louis to move up.

It’s so comforting to finally have credible, clear-thinking people in charge of the Browns.

And when Eric Berry went off the board the Browns stuck to their plan to fix the defensive secondary and selected Joe Haden.

Things only got better from there as not only did no one bite on drafting Colt McCoy (not a total surprise), but Jimmy Clausen also fell into the second round. And unless a team trades up in front of the Browns, this sets the Browns up perfectly to grab the QB of the future in the second round if they want to. Or they can fill one of multiple holes elsewhere on the team because, let’s be real here, when you rank 31st on defense and 32nd on offense you have a lot of holes to fill.

The last time the Browns drafted someone named Joe in the first round, it worked out pretty well. Optimism remains high that this Joe will be just as solid of a pick.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Joe Haden, NFL draft, optimism | Leave a comment
21 Apr 2010

The draft secret they don’t want you to know

Mel Kiper. Big Board. Fluid hips. Todd McShay. Short arms. Combine. Trade up. Trade down. Pro Day. 40-time. Character issues. Upside. Game changer. Mock drafts. Mike Mayock. War room. Boomer. Sleepers. Busts.

Millions of words have been written and spoken over the past few months about the NFL Draft. Coaches and general managers have spent hours watching video, attending the NFL Combine and college campuses for Pro Days. Self-proclaimed “experts” – like Kiper, McShay and Mayock – have published multiple, often contradictory, mock drafts because they “know” what teams should do on draft day.

But here’s the secret that the NFL and the experts don’t want us to know:

They don’t know any better than we do.

OK, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Coaches, scouts and GMs know more than the average hardcore fan, but that extra knowledge gives them only the slightest edge on draft day.

Think about it, if you pick a fan who really follows both the NFL and college football to represent each of the 32 teams in this year’s draft, would they really be at such a disadvantage? Maybe over the course of several drafts the experts would hit on a handful of players that the fan missed, but is that really such a big advantage? Plus that slight advantage would be offset by the GM or coach who tries to outsmart everyone and drafts a player too high (see the Browns second round from last year for an example).

Just look at some of the draft picks over the years; was it really that hard to believe Jamarcus Russell would be a bust? Or that Gerard Warren, who was a dog at Florida, would still be a dog once he cashed a paycheck? Or Ryan Leaf? Todd Marinovich?

The New York Times had a great anecdote in a story this week about the growth of the draft. In 1953, Giants owner Wellington Mara had run out of players on his draft list when his turn came up in the 27th round. He happened to find a copy of The Pittsburgh Courier’s list of the nation’s best African-American players and selected someone from the list: Roosevelt Brown.

Do you honestly think Mara knew Brown would end up in the Hall of Fame?

The NFL Draft is probably 40 percent preparation and 60 percent luck. You really don’t know if a player will get injured (Courtney Brown), just never improve (Kamerion Wimbley) or just not be good enough (Mike Junkin). Or if they will turn into a three-time Super Bowl champion (Tom Brady). Or that Kent State would have more Pro Bowl players last year than Ohio State.

So remember that when you turn on the draft this weekend and someone with a giant helmet of hair is screaming about something.

Now, for what I’m hoping for out of the Browns in the first two rounds:

Best-case scenario: Eric Berry in Round 1 and Colt McCoy, either early in Round 2 or move up to pick him late in Round 1.

Solid scenario: Eric Berry in Round 1 and whoever the Browns believe is the best offensive or defensive lineman in Round 2.

Worst-care scenario: Gutting the draft to trade up for Sam Bradford.

Nightmare scenario: Trading their first-round pick and additional picks for Ben Roethlisberger.

Stay thirsty my friends.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Mel Kiper, NFL draft, Todd McShay | Leave a comment
20 Apr 2010

Save the Date

With the NFL releasing the 2010 schedule last night, there are several dates Browns fans should circle on the calendar.

For the first time since they returned in 1999, the Browns will open on the road, taking on Tampa Bay. That’s probably a good thing as the Browns are 1-10 in season openers since 1999.

Also the Browns are not scheduled for Monday night, Sunday night or Thursday night. Not sure how that happened since I’m pretty sure the NFL bylaws require them to play Pittsburgh at home on Thursday night.

Speaking of Pittsburgh, the Browns travel there in Week 6 and host the Steelers in the season finale. In fact, the last three games are all division games, with the Browns traveling to Cincinnati in Week 15 before closing the season at home vs. Baltimore and then Pittsburgh.

The other big dates are the Jets at home on Nov. 14, which should be the most intense regular-season game since Marty returned with KC – still the most physical game I’ve seen the Browns take part in.

Carolina visits Nov. 28 in the Jake Delhomme revenge game.

The Browns’ strength of schedule is 10th. And for some reason they face a brutal stretch in late November with four road games over a five-week span.

I’m ready for some football.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, football, NFL schedule | Leave a comment
15 Apr 2010

Due Diligence (Updated)

Associated Press is reporting the following:

Cleveland Browns general manager Tom Heckert says the team has had talks with the St. Louis Rams about moving up in the NFL draft to take quarterback Sam Bradford with the No. 1 overall pick.

Heckert on Thursday said the Browns, who have the No. 7 pick, have been “‘playing a little phone tag” but said they have talked with the Rams, who are expected to select the Oklahoma quarterback.

Browns president Mike Holmgren warned that dealing for Bradford could be difficult, saying “you’d have to mortgage the ranch. In the real world, we’re probably going to go in a different direction.”

Currently owning 10 picks, Cleveland could put together an attractive package of picks to move up.

Bradford did not visit the Browns, but the team attended his pro day workout.

The Browns are just covering their bases, getting the lay of the land, doing their due diligence.

Please let it be that.

In Friday’s Beacon Journal, Holmgren had this to say:

”So the fans don’t get . . . I don’t want everyone to . . . then pull the rug out from everybody in our first draft,” Holmgren said Thursday. ”Look it, he’s a coveted young man. To be able to go up and change somebody’s mind ahead of us, you’d have to mortgage the ranch. You remember when coach Ditka did that with his picks and then he went and played golf.

”Absolutely, we love the player, as do a lot of people. But in the real world, we’re probably going to go in a different direction there.”

So that clears that up.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, due diligence, NFL draft, Sam Bradford | Leave a comment
14 Apr 2010

An Intriquing Possibility

Now that the Denver Broncos have traded Brandon Marshall to Miami for draft picks, does that open the door for the Browns to trade down in next week’s draft?

The Broncos would appear to need a receiver and Dez Bryant could very well be sitting there when the Browns go on the clock with the seventh pick. If the Broncos are interested in Bryant, they may be open to switching first round picks with the Browns – Denver is at No. 11 – and throwing in one of their two second-round picks – No. 11 or No. 13 – into the deal.

Of course Seattle, which picks right before Cleveland, also needs a wide receiver and they could take Bryant or work a trade themselves.

Sliding down four picks would probably cost the Browns a shot at Tennessee safety Eric Berry, but adding another second-round pick would help the team either improve on its depth or give them the means necessary to move back up into the late first round and grab their QB of the future.

If I’m Mike Holmgren, I would certainly be open to making a call to Denver if the right time presents itself.

Posted in Brandon Marshall, Cleveland Browns, Dez Bryant, intrique, NFL draft | Leave a comment
13 Apr 2010

Sweet, sweet Schadenfreude

Ever since the Browns returned in 1999, fans have had to endure annual on-field beatings from the Pittsburgh Steelers along with the ridiculous notion from their fans and members of the national media that the Steelers are better than everyone else because they do things “the right way,” the “Steeler way.”

Well, the Steeler way has been taking quite a beating lately. First the on-going problems of wide receiver Santonio Holmes came to light: what a sweet guy he is. The Steelers finally ran out of patience and shipped him off to the Jets and, oh boy, is that going to be a fun training camp this year.

Which brings us to the ongoing escapades of Ben Roethlisberger. While no charges will be filed in his latest bar romp with a co-ed in Georgia, the quarterback may still face league or team sanctions.

And the media is starting to turn against him: Ron Cook in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calls for a suspension; John Harris in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the team may jettison Roethlisberger; Pat McManamon at FanHouse says the Steelers should cut the cord; and even Terry Bradshaw has come out with harsh words.

And in what has to be the cruelest cut of all, a Pittsburgh company has pulled its beef jerky sponsorship with him. However will the yokels know what brand of beef jerky to choose?

It’s enough to put an extra hop in the step of Browns fans everywhere.

Posted in Ben Roethlisberger, Cleveland Browns, NFL draft, Santonio Holmes, schadenfreude | Leave a comment
13 Apr 2010

The Curious Case of Dez Bryant

With the NFL draft only 10 days away and the Browns holding the seventh selection in the first round with numerous holes to fill on defense, the brain trust is poised to select a defensive player – such as Eric Berry, Joe Haden or Earl Thomas.

Or are they?

The speculation wheel has now landed on the Browns taking Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant in the first round. Of course, this being Cleveland and the Browns, it’s never that simple. Bryant’s suspension last season for lying to the NCAA about a meeting he had with Deion Sanders has raised concerns among some about the dreaded “character issues.”

After the purging last year of Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow and, eventually, Jamal Lewis, it would seem unlikely that the Browns would be interested in taking a chance on Bryant.

Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King had this to say in his Monday Morning Quarterback column: “I think, for those Browns fans who yearn for a franchise receiver and ask, ‘Why don’t we trade down a bit in the round and get Dez Bryant?” here’s your answer: Eric Mangini’s spent a lot of energy trying to get his locker room right, and though Bryant appears to be on the right track and could well be a terrific NFL citizen for the next 10 years, they don’t sell insurance for this kind of thing, and the Browns would rather take guys without question marks on their resumes.”

Sounds plausible, although King does come up with this nightmare scenario involving potential Browns moves on draft day: “Unless something strange happens, it’s hard to envision anything standing in the way of Sam Bradford to the Rams with the top pick on April 22. The only strange thing I see is Cleveland paying a ransom to move up to pick Bradford – like the seventh and 38th picks this year, and the Browns’ first-rounder next year, plus something else.”

Maybe it’s best if we just move on.

On the flip side, Mel Kiper has proclaimed Bryant the pick, saying “I’ve talked to people around the league about Dez Bryant, and I can tell you the notion that there are concerns about Bryant’s character is blown out of proportion. Here the Browns get the best WR in the draft, a threat they really need, and a player that, in a football environment, is a workhorse and a producer.”

With Kiper’s track record that makes it seem more likely the Browns won’t take Bryant.

While Bryant’s talent would seem to fill a need for the Browns – the team’s wide receivers are the weakest part of the team thanks to Eric Mangini’s over-rating of Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie in last year’s draft – you have to wonder. Plus, much like quarterbacks from the Big 12, you have to question if the numbers put up by the wide receivers are inflated because defenses are, to be polite, limited in their abilities.

Character matters, just like how a player performs on their Pro Day, at the combine and on the field. It’s another piece of the puzzle and another tool to help guide a team in the right direction on draft day. Even though it appears likely that the punishment did not fit the crime, I don’t see the Browns picking someone with any kind of questions about them, especially at No. 7.

Of course, Bryant will probably fall in the draft and land in Pittsburgh and torment the Browns for the next 10 years. But that’s a discussion for another day.

For a compelling argument on why the Browns should consider Bryant, check out Cleveland Frowns’ Dez Bryant’s Bad Rap.

Posted in character, Cleveland Browns, Dez Bryant, Mel Kiper, NFL draft, Peter King, Sports Illustrated | Leave a comment
08 Apr 2010
1 Comment

Born to Run

The New York Times NFL blog, The Fifth Down, is ranking the 10 best offensive linemen at each position. Good news for Browns fans as three players made the top four at their respective positions.

Joe Thomas was the top-ranked left tackle, with The Times calling him “A natural. Rarely does his side of the pocket quiver in pass protection, and on the ground, he can seal defenders or throw blocks on the move with ease.”

Alex Mack was the third-ranked center who “Looked like a 7-year veteran by the end of his rookie year. Sustains well in pass protection despite questionable strength, and is a portrait of athleticism in the run game.”

Eric Steinbach was fourth-ranted at left guard for his “Fantastic range in pulls and sweeps.”

Not surprisingly, no one from the right side of the line made the list, so John St. Clair can stop hitting the refresh button on his computer.

The development of the offensive line, which should continue with the addition of Tony Pashos and possible help on draft day, will go a long way to improving a rushing attack that has only ranked higher than 20th in the league twice since 1999.

Add in running backs Jerome Harris, Peyton Hillis and James Davis, mix in Josh Cribbs and Seneca Wallace in the Wildcat, and the Browns have the makings of a team that can commit to the run, which is vital for those cold-weather games in November and December.

Maybe we’ve seen the last four interception performance during a windy, late-season game?

A Browns fan can dream, yes?

Posted in Cleveland Browns, dream, New York Times, NFL draft, rushing, Wildcat

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