Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

06 Sep 2010

This Isn’t the Big Ten

With Saturday’s cut down of NFL rosters to 53 players came the news that the Ravens finally cut ties with former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith.

That news was predictably followed by the cries of the hoople heads who want the Browns to sign Smith.

The big question in that scenario is why would the Browns do something like that?

Smith was exposed in the 2007 National Championship game against Florida as not being an NFL-caliber quarterback. The Gators defense, loaded with NFL talent and speed, overwhelmed Smith and the Buckeyes that night.

Since then he’s done nothing in Baltimore to change that fact. He played in 14 games for the Ravens, starting two of them. In three years he completed only 53 percent of his passes in a league where the top quarterbacks best 60 percent, for three TDs and one interception.

The NFL is a quarterback starved league, with half of the teams barely able to find one decent quarterback. Derek Anderson has a starting job in Arizona. Todd Collins – who played at Michigan so long ago they may have been wearing leather helmets – earned a roster spot in Chicago. Dennis Dixon is going to be starting Week 1 for Pittsburgh.

The jobs are there if you can play; it seems obvious that is not the case with Smith. He’s really no different than Pat White, who was cut by the Dolphins.

The Browns need players who can compete on the NFL level. It doesn’t matter where they went to school, they just need players who can be the dogs bollocks on game days. Thankfully, Mike Holmgren, Tom Heckert and Eric Mangini realize this. They aren’t going to sign someone who can’t help the team on the field.

And for those who think that Smith just “needs a chance” to prove himself, ask yourself this question: If Smith had played at any other college than Ohio State, would you still think he’d be a good fit for the Browns?

If you’re being honest, then the answer is clearly no.

Posted in bad quarterback play, Cleveland Browns, dogs bollocks, hoople heads | Leave a comment
05 Sep 2010
2 Comments

The Browns (mostly) final roster

The Browns made their final cuts on Saturday to get their roster down to 53 players with no major surprises.

The biggest name cut was Brandon McDonald; a minor surprise as that leaves the team with just three cornerbacks on the roster – for now. The consensus is the Browns will make some additional moves this week after they have a chance to see what players are available from other teams.

For now we know who is on the roster. Looking at this year’s roster vs. last year’s opening day roster, it’s pretty clear where the team has improved – primarily on offense – and where it still needs help:

Quarterback: Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace and Colt McCoy – even if he never plays a single down – are better than last year’s trio of Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn and Brett Ratliff. Clearly better than last year.

Running back: Essentially trading Peyton Hillis for an on-his-last legs Jamal Lewis makes this a better unit. Better than last year.

Offensive line: With Alex Mack entering his second year, Eric Steinbach and Joe Thomas anchoring the left side, and the quick growth of rookie Shawn Lauvao, plus no more Rex Hadnot, takes what was already a team strength and makes it that much better. Now if they could only do something about John St. Clair. Better than last year.

Wide receiver: Still a weak spot, but we’ll go along with Braylon Edwards no longer being around as addition by subtraction. The team is just relying too much on second-year players Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie for this to be a strength. Not better than last year, but not worse.

Tight end: Ben Watson has to be an improvement over Martin Rucker, but the stone-handed Robert Royal is still on the team. Certainly not a glamor position on the squad. Not better than last year, but not worse.

Defensive line: Another unremarkable group, at least until we find out if Shaun Rogers is actually ready to play. Ahytba Rubin looked solid last year filling in for Rogers; let’s see how he does over a full season. Not better than last year, but not worse.

Linebackers: The team appears to be going for quantity over quality with 12 linebackers on the squad. Relatively young – only three of the group are over 30 – but lacking any legitimate playmakers, this looks to be a group project. But you have to love that the team kept Titus Brown, just for his name alone. Not better than last year, but not worse.

Defensive backs: After quarterback, the most improved group on the team, although very thin at cornerback. Sheldon Brown, T.J. Ward and Joe Haden are all huge upgrades over Brodney Pool, Hank Poteat and Coye Francies. Clearly better than last year.

Special teams: Reggie Hodges isn’t as good as Dave Zastudil, but he’s not bad. As long as the Browns have Josh Cribbs returning kicks, Phil Dawson and Ryan Pontbriand, they don’t have anything to worry about with this unit. Just as good as last year.

As for what the Browns will do this week, it seems likely they will make some additional rosters moves. It would make sense for them to talk with Justin Hartwig, who was cut by the Steelers, to see if they could add an experienced player to the offensive line.

Other than that, I don’t really see them going after any of the name players who were cut, for example T.J. Houshmandzadeh. For one, his production has gone down three years in a row (from 112 catches in 2007 to 79 last year) and I’m not sure adding a 32-year-old receiver is really going to make a difference in the won-loss record this year. Plus, if having him around takes time away from one of the younger receivers, is that helpful?

And whatever the Browns do, I truly believe they are smart enough to stay far, far away from Troy Smith.

So the offense improved in one vital area, while not getting weaker anywhere else. The defensive secondary should be better; hopefully that will make the linebackers and defensive line at least somewhat better.

We’ll know for sure in less than a week when the team takes the field against Tampa Bay.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL, roster cuts
03 Sep 2010

Thoughts on the Browns exhibition season

When you arrive at the last preseason game of the year, as a fan and as a team you are just hoping to make it out of the game in one piece.

Unfortunately for the Browns and running back Montario Hardesty, that wasn’t the case Thursday night against the Bears.

After missing all of training camp and the first three preseason games with an injury, Hardesty finally got back on the field against the Bears only to see his season end with a torn ACL in his left knee (he tore his right ACL while playing in college at Tennessee).

“We are all very disappointed for Montario,” coach Eric Mangini said in published reports. “He’s worked extremely hard since he was drafted, he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do, and I’m sure he will be just as diligent with his rehab. It’s unfortunate but it opens the door for other guys to step up and contribute.”

You have to feel sorry for Hardesty, who worked hard to rehabilitate to try and get on the field for the Browns this year. I was watching the game when he got hurt and immediately thought “he’s done for the year” because that’s how it works here in Cleveland. You can’t just have a twisted knee, when a player goes down it has to be a season-ending injury.

The only bright spot is that, if the Browns had to lose someone to an injury, running back was the one position they could afford to have it happen. With Lawrence Vickers and a top-notch offensive line leading the way, the trio of Jerome Harrison, Peyton Hillis and James Davis, the expected trio to man the tailback position, should be very productive.

And in the long run, maybe sitting out a year and letting his body completely heal will be the best thing for Hardesty.

As for the rest of the game, there’s not much to say about backups playing against backups. Colt McCoy held his own, going 13-for-13, which is certainly better than going 0-for-13. And while there has been some criticism that he “only” passed for 131 yards, that’s 10 yards per completion and, the last time I checked, you needed 10 yards for a first down. So that’s not too bad.

I’m trying not to be worried that the Browns could not create any kind of pressure on the quarterback during the four preseason games. We’re willing to chalk that up to the Browns playing a simpler defense since the games don’t count. But still …

***

No surprise that Commissioner Roger Goodell cut Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension to four games. That means Roethlisberger will make his debut in Week 6 at home against the Browns, turning up the heat on what was already sure to be an intense game.

***

Ndamukong Suh fined $7,500 for trying to decapitate Jake Delhomme. That’s it? Be interesting to see how much the fine is when he does that to Brett Favre.

***

No they don’t. And no they didn’t.

***

Caught some of John Gruden’s over/under predictions on ESPN this week. In both the AFC North and the NFC North he believes every team will surpass the projected over in wins. I haven’t seen him talk about any other divisions, but from his tone I’m guessing that he will peg every team for the over in wins this year. He may be a good coach (debatable) and a decent announcer on Monday Night Football (debatable), but one thing he clearly is not is a math wiz.

***

Excellent start for the Three Lions with Jermain Defoe nailing a hat trick as England begins its quest to qualify for Euro 2012.

***

What everyone else is saying:

Posted in bad math, Ben Roethlisberger, Cleveland Browns, Jermain Defoe, Montario Hardesty, Ndamukong Suh | Leave a comment
02 Sep 2010

More Pondering on Preseason Predictions

As we near the start of the 2010 NFL season, the national media is starting to roll out predictions, with two of the biggest, Sports Illustrated and ESPN, predictably picking the Browns to finish last again in the AFC North.

It’s probably not an unreasonable prediction, and it’s certainly a safe one as the Browns have pretty much owned the division’s basement since returning in 1999. Plus, Las Vegas has put the over/under on Browns wins at 5.5 this season, which is just enticing enough that you could talk yourself into going either way on that one.

Sports Illustrated takes a pretty straight-forward approach with the Browns, highlighting the offensive line as the team’s strength:

It probably takes all of one finger to count the positions on the Cleveland depth chart that inspire true envy around the league: That would be offensive line. After years of floundering around in free agency and in the draft, wasting dollars and picks, the Browns have built a pretty good wall up front on offense, which is led by All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas. Entering his fourth NFL season, Thomas is close to becoming the standard by which offensive left tackles are measured these days.

But the Browns also have a talented young center in Alex Mack and a valuable veteran left guard in Eric Steinbach, putting them light years ahead of some of the lines Cleveland has run out there since returning to the league in 1999. While the Browns quarterbacking was truly horrendous last season, the team’s rushing game really kicked into high gear in the season’s final month, running for 900 yards during the course of Cleveland’s season-ending four-game winning streak. Running back Jerome Harrison’s heroics notwithstanding, the Browns offensive line paved the way for that eye-popping production.

It’s nice that SI at least acknowledges the improvement in the passing game:

(Jake) Delhomme has looked sharp this preseason, but it’s hard to forget he did throw 18 interceptions in his 11 games in Carolina last season, and that’s one more than (Brady) Quinn and (Derek) Anderson combined for all year. Mere competency will go a long way in Cleveland, and if Delhomme can afford to rely upon the Browns strong running game and not put his defense into a hole, progress will inevitably be made through the air.

SI takes the bait and predicts a 6-10 finish for the Browns.

ESPN has pretty much the same conclusion, but they brought up one important point:

Cleveland was the only AFC North team all three entities agreed on. From everything I’ve seen, the Browns are too short on talent to be a contender. I think the Browns are scrappy and have potential to play smart football, especially if Jake Delhomme has a bounce-back season at quarterback. But I’d be surprised if Cleveland wins more than a game or two in the AFC North this season. If you can’t win in the division, you probably won’t have a successful season.

The Bengals proved last year that you can be a mediocre team (4-6 outside the division) and still make the playoffs if you can play well inside your division (6-0 last year).

Playing within the division has absolutely killed the Browns over the years. Since 2002, the team is 13-35 vs. Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cincinnati, and has never been better than 3-3 in the division.

Until the Browns can reverse that trend, it’s going to be hard to see them accomplishing much on the field, no matter how much they seem to be improved.

Posted in AFC North, Cleveland Browns, ESPN, predictions, Sports Illustrated | Leave a comment
02 Sep 2010

Buying into Delhomme

Since the Browns returned in 1999, the team’s passing leaders have been:

1999: Tim Couch, 2,447 yards, 15 TDs, 73.2 QB rating
2000: Couch, 1,483 yards, 7 TDs, 77.3 QB rating
2001: Couch, 3,040 yards, 17 TDs, 73.1 QB rating
2002: Couch, 2,842 yards, 18 TDs, 76.8 QB rating
2003: Kelly Holcomb 1,797 yards, 10 TDs, 74.6 QB rating
2004: Jeff Garcia, 1,731 yards, 10 TDs, 76.7 QB rating
2005: Trent Dilfer, 2,321 yards, 11 TDs, 76.9
2006: Charlie Frye, 2,454 yards, 10 TDs, 72 QB rating
2007: Derek Anderson, 3,787 yards, 29 TDs, 82.5 QB rating
2008: Derek Anderson, 1,615 yards, 9 TDs, 66.4 QB rating
2009: Brady Quinn, 1,339 yards, 8 TDs, 67.2 QB rating

In his seven years as the QB in Carolina, Jake Delhomme’s average 16-game season was good enough for 3,386 passing yards, 21 TDs and a QB rating of 84.9. And that includes his horrific year last season.

This tells us two things:

When you look back at the last 11 years of Browns football, you realize just how bad the quarterback play has been.

The team is going to be in good hands with Delhomme.

Posted in bad quarterback play, Cleveland Browns, Jake Delhomme, reason for hope | Leave a comment
31 Aug 2010
3 Comments

Time To Move On

Now that Jim Brown has had his 15 minutes, it’s time for the Browns to move on with the Ring of Honor and the season.

Brown clearly is upset that team President Mike Holmgren is now between Brown and owner Randy Lerner. Brown wrote his own job description – raise your hand if you got to do that at your job – and now that Holmgren has changed his role, Brown is taking his ball and going home.

According to The Plain Dealer, Brown delivered a letter to Holmgren that explained why he’s upset, saying in part that:

“That job description included two things that I think are important. As Executive Advisor to the owner, my job was to use my intelligence, and my logic to advise Mr. Lerner. The second most important thing to me was a clause in that agreement that stated that I answered to no one except Randy Lerner. These two thing were highly important to me because I truly believed, with my educational background, having been a Cleveland Brown for 9 yrs, and having a pretty good knowledge of football, that I could contribute in a valuable way to the organization.“

Brown failed to mention that the time he used his experience to advise Lerner coincided with one of the worst periods in team history. But why get bogged down in facts?

Brown also made some not so subtle claims that Holmgren dealt with him in a racist manner. I have no doubt that Brown has seen and experienced things in his life that I can’t even imagine because of his skin color. If he wants to view his position change through the prism of racism, I can’t really speak to that.

But if he doesn’t want to show up Sept. 19 when the Browns honor the inaugural Ring of Honor class, that’s on him. The team will still show a video clip of his career, the fans will still cheer and the game will go on.

One of the few positives out of this situation is that Holmgren is on hand to deal with this. If this had occurred last year, head coach Eric Mangini would have been the face of the franchise and he would have been dealing with reporters and questions, taking time away from his real job – coaching the team.

Now, Mangini can point down the hall, say “talk to Mike,” and get back to what is really important – getting the Browns ready for the season-opener against Tampa Bay.

Establishing a Ring of Honor is a smart – and overdue – move by the Browns. It’s too bad the induction of the first class will be overshadowed by Brown’s insistence on making himself the center of attention.

***

Good news on the Shaun Rogers situation. Although it would be even better if we actually saw him on the field.

***

More good news, as Tampa Bay cornerback Aqib Talib will be suspended for the season-opening game against the Browns.

Talib’s suspension is for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. He was also fined one additional game check for an incident in August 2009 where Talib punched a cab driver.

Talib is one of the top defensive players on the Tampa Bay roster after being taken in the first-round of the 2008 draft. Talib led the team last season with five interceptions and he had four in his rookie season.

***

I can’t believe the Cardinals are actually considering making Derek Anderson their starting quarterback. He may be the luckiest guy on the planet.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Derek Anderson, Jim Brown, Mike Holmgren, ring of honor, Shaun Rogers
31 Aug 2010

The Third-Year Wide Receiver

There’s a growing statistical trend in the NFL that wide receivers have their breakout season in Year 3 because that is when they adjust to the speed of the game and fully understand how to read defenses and run routes.

In recent years, Greg Jennings (2008), Braylon Edwards (2007) and Roddy White (2007) all had statistical leaps in their third season. Carolina’s Steve Smith (2003), Chad Ochocinco (2003) and Terrell Owens (1998) are also solid examples.

“You’re buckling down and learning the playbook and just learning how to play the wide receiver position,” White said in an interview at CBS Sports.com. “When you first get in the league you just use your athletic ability, but everybody is athletic. Once you start studying and use your technique and things like that, then the game becomes a whole lot easier and slows down. That’s when you start making plays.”

If that trend holds true this season, it could be very good news for the Cleveland Browns because Josh Cribbs is entering what we can call his third season as a wide receiver.

Cribbs was involved on the fringes of the Browns offense his first few years, so for this argument we’re going to count 2005-08 as his “first” year. During that time he totaled 16 catches; last year he topped that four-year total by pulling in 20 passes as he continued his maturation as a receiver.

Compare those numbers to the Saints’ Robert Meachem, who in his first two years totaled 12 catches for 289 yards. Last year he pulled in 45 passes for 722 yards and nine touchdowns.

It’s not reasonable to expect Cribbs to put up those kind of numbers, especially since the Browns don’t have a high-powered offense like the Saints. But if Cribbs’ understanding of the position catches up with his physical skills, is it that hard to see him pulling in 30-40 receptions this year? Especially with the improvement at the quarterback position?

The coaching staff has noticed, with head coach Eric Mangini saying in published reports that “the thing about Josh that we can’t look past is any time he gets the ball, regardless of what distance he gets it at, he is a vertical threat because it’s Josh with the ball in his hands in space. It just goes from a catch to a kick return.”

Mangini also credited Cribbs with improving his blocking and route running, which supports the trend of third-year receivers having a breakout season.

Cribbs has eight receptions in the past two preseason games, including a major-league catch along the sideline against Detroit. If he can become a reliable option as the team’s No. 3 receiver, that’s just another viable piece of the puzzle for an improving offense.

Opposing teams already have to fear Cribbs in the return game. Just think what it will mean for the offense if they have to start worrying about him in the passing game as well.

Posted in breakout seasons, Cleveland Browns, Josh Cribbs, wide receivers | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2010

Thoughts on Browns-Lions

The Browns final real preseason game (is that an oxymoron?) left the team with as many questions as answers.

Once again, while the offense put together a solid effort, the defense continues to struggle.

The Good:

  • Jake Delhomme continued to show fans what an NFL-caliber QB looks like. He completed 20-of-25 passes against Detroit, with one TD. In three preseason games, Delhomme has completed more than 79 percent of his passes and has a QB rating of 110.5. Most importantly, he has yet to throw an interception.
  • Delhomme completed passes to 10 different receivers.
  • In the first half, when the starters were playing, the Browns scored 17 points, had 17 first downs and controlled the action, running 41 plays to Detroit’s 18.
  • Josh Cribbs had a nice sideline catch on a TD drive in the second quarter. He’s showing that he may finally be ready to be productive as the third wide receiver.

The Bad:

  • Matthew Stafford had a big day for Detroit, completing 13-of-17 passes. In three preseason games, the Browns defense has allowed opposing QBs to complete 30-of-36 passes.
  • The Browns have only one sack in three games.
  • The run defense regressed. After holding opponents to 2.6 yards per carry in the first two games, the Browns allowed the Lions to rush for 4.1 yards per carry.
  • The Browns have turned the ball over eight times in the past two games. That simply has to stop.

Overall, there are certainly reasons to feel, if not good, then better about this team after three games:

  • Delhomme appears to have settled the quarterback position; he’s taking control of the offense, he’s spreading the ball around and he’s not making any mistakes.
  • While the defensive secondary has struggled at times, the group should continue to improve. Rookies Joe Haden and T.J. Ward are getting game experience that will pay off when the season starts, and Sheldon Brown is a solid pro who’s play will rub off on the younger players.
  • Most importantly, the coaching staff – primarily head coach Eric Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll – seem to have cottoned on to what the preseason if there for. Unlike last year’s baggy-pants farce, the coaches are using the preseason to work on different aspects of the game – the no-huddle offense, going for it on fourth down, etc. – to prepare the team for the regular season. You actually see the offense come out with a plan and work to execute it.

The best part of Saturday’s game is it means we are now only two weeks away from the season opener.

***

What everyone else is saying:

Posted in Cleveland Browns, feel good, Jake Delhomme, Josh Cribbs, oxymorons | Leave a comment
28 Aug 2010

Who Should the Browns Honor?

Lost somewhat in all the hoo-haa about who won’t be there, was the announcement that the Browns are finally establishing a Ring of Honor at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The initial class will be made up of the team’s 16 Hall of Famers. Going forward it gets trickier to try and guess who will be eligible or worthy enough to have their names added to the ring.

“I think, going forward, we are going to work on that, team President Mike Holmgren said in published reports. “We haven’t decided yet quite honestly. I know with our Legends program we have a group. My feeling is that if you go into the Ring of Honor for a particular team, there are a lot of great players that have played here first of all. Not every great player gets to be in the Ring of Honor, that should be something very, very, very special. When we do decide criteria or put a group together to decide who should be considered for that, we are not going to rush in to it. We are going to kind of nail that down and as soon as we figure it out, we will let you know.”

The fact that the team is not going to rush into anything is a good sign. One of the problems when they created the Legends Club was trying to include a player from every decade in each year’s class. That’s not the best way to go about something like this, especially with some of the bad teams the Browns have had over the past 40 years. Looking at that list you can see why trying to be all-inclusive isn’t really feasible.

Not having this be an annual event, where you have to honor someone, works to make this truly a way to honor former players.

Having said that, who might the team look to honor in the years ahead?

It’s really a tough call, starting with the non-Hall of Famers in the Legends Club.

Clay Matthews should be a lock. He played in more games (232) than any other player in team history, his 16 seasons in Cleveland are second on the club’s longevity list and he holds the team record for quarterback sacks with 76.5. We’ve even forgiven him for that lateral against Houston.

After Matthews, it’s just gets harder. Fans will certainly want Bernie Kosar, but if you put him in you have to put Brian Sipe in as well. Sipe holds the Browns career passing marks for yards (23,713), touchdowns (154), attempts (3,439) and completions (1,944).

Sipe and Kosar were both good quarterbacks, but are they in Otto Graham’s class? Can the team really include them? Can you honor one and not the other?

Taking a look at the current team, it’s safe to say if his career continues the way it has so far, Joe Thomas will certainly be a ring member. But what about Josh Cribbs? Just like Kosar and Sipe, if Cribbs is found worthy then you’d have to seriously consider Eric Metcalf.

Browns officials have going to have a tough job with this, but that’s probably OK. You want this to be an extremely special, exclusive group.

Probably the only certainty is that, after the initial group is inducted this year, it may be a long time until the team has to host another ceremony.

Posted in Cleveland Browns, ring of honor, tough decisions | Leave a comment
27 Aug 2010

Someone Else’s Problem

You have to hand it to Derek Anderson – he (or his agent) sure know how to pick his teams.

Anderson has gone from competing in Cleveland with a former high-profile college QB (Brady Quinn) who may not have the goods to play in the NFL to competing in Arizona against a former high-profile college QB (Matt Leinart) who may not have the goods to play in the NFL.

And now the Cardinals are making the mistake of thinking Anderson is the answer at QB as they are reportedly going to start him Saturday night against Chicago in their third preseason game – generally the game that teams use as a final tune-up to get their starters ready for the regular season.

At least some Cardinal fans seem to know what they are getting themselves into. Cardinals Gab describes the QB situation by writing:

“you’ve destroyed Leinart’s barely there confidence to get a look at a quarterback that probably isn’t a better option anyway. Anderson’s still learning the Cards’ system and the INTs will mount, most likely at a rate that will outstrip his TDs. I think it’s tough to say that Anderson is per se a better quarterback than Leinart right now. As a result, a single successful performance won’t tell us much about whether Anderson should start over Leinart.

“I’ve always felt that Leinart doesn’t need to be a stud for the Cardinals to win. I would take a safe, albeit vanilla offense under Leinart over a high risk-high reward offense under Anderson. Derek’s style of play will most likely lead to an increased number of turnovers. This will put a tremendous strain on a defense that has new players everywhere on the field. I’ve yet to see a team consistently lose the turnover battle and win games.”

But just like in Cleveland some Cards fans are inexplicably defending Anerson, like Rabel16 who commented on an Arizona Republic article on the switch by saying:

“Have we forgotten that DA HAS proven himself in the league? He was a Pro Bowl QB a couple years back and remember he was playing in Cleveland for crying out loud, which is comparbale (sic) to playing in AZ in the 90’s. There is plenty of upside and it is very obvious that he has much more command of the offense. Leinart is lackadaisical and there is no spunk in his step, which carries over to the rest of the team. DA is a prototype whiz qb. Effectively run the ball and go up top to Fitz. Start DA, cut Leinart, end of story… ”

Sound familiar?

And media personality Mike Lombardi has weighed in, claiming the Cards may just cut ties with Leinart if they decide to go with Anderson. Of course, we all know first hand about Lombardi’s “analysis” in these parts.

I don’t wish Cards fans any ill will, but I’m sure glad Anderson is their problem now.

Posted in Derek Anderson, Matt Leinart, NFL, scatter-armed quarterbacks | Leave a comment

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