Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

02 Apr 2012
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Odds & Ends with the Browns

We all know Cleveland Browns linebacker D’Qwell Jackson can make a tackle – after all he led the AFC last year with 158 of them – which is one of the reason’s the team rewarded him with a five-year deal with $19 million guaranteed.

But how many of those 158 tackles had true value? Well, according to Pro Football Focus, not as many as Browns fans might like for that kind of money.

According to the site, Jackson had 94 tackles – 19 more tackles than any other linebacker – in run defense. Sounds good so far.

But Jackson was on the field for a ridiculous 511 snaps where the opposing team ran the ball, meaning he recorded 18.4 percent of his tackles against the run, dropping to fifth overall in the league. Still not bad.

Jackson led the league with 52 stops (the site takes into consideration down and distance when accounting for a positive tackle) but that was only two more stops than Kansas City’s Derrick Johnson, who had 50 stops on 20 less tackles.

So when you get to the money stat, the Run Stop Percentage which measures how often a defender was responsible for stops in relation to how often they were on the field, Jackson doesn’t even make the Top 20 in the league.

Something the Browns may want to work on if they hope to improve on their 30th-ranked run defense.

***

Sticking with the stat game, Pro Football Focus looked at which wide receivers pick up the most yards per route they run.

And it’s no surprise the Mohamed Massaquoi was at the bottom of the list, gaining a meager 0.93 yards per route run, good for 104th in the NFL.

Interestingly, Jordon Norwood scored out at 1.60 yards per route run, picking up 268 receiving yards on 167 snaps. Not great by any stretch, but a definite improvement over the disappointing Massaquoi.

Looking at those numbers, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if Massaquoi’s time in Cleveland comes to an end soon after the draft.

***

According to Peter King in his Monday Morning Quarterback column, the Dolphins are showing serious interest in Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

King writes that “club officials, including GM Jeff Ireland and coach Joe Philbin, dined with Tannehill in College Station Wednesday night, then spent about 90 minutes with him on the greaseboard Thursday after the workout.”

Sounds like Tannehill could draw some trade interest if the Dolphins decide they must trade up for him. And the Browns should be right in the middle of it, although there’s little reason to think they would be the ones moving up to take Tannehill.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, D'Qwell Jackson, Mohamed Massaquoi, NFL draft, Ryan Tannehill
29 Mar 2012

Happy Birthday to us!

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the launch of our site.

During the past two years we’ve seen a lot. We haven’t seen a championship, but that doesn’t mean things haven’t been interesting.

If you’ve been with us from the start, thank you.

If you’re new to the site, either because of our partnership with The Cleveland Fan or because of some other reason, welcome. Have a look around and we hope you come back.

We’re not sure what the upcoming year has in store, but it’s Cleveland so there’s no doubt it will be interesting.

Posted in Cleveland sports | Leave a comment
27 Mar 2012

Delayed Gratification

The Cleveland Indians cleaned up some roster questions on Tuesday, optioning Lonnie Chisenhall and Matt LaPorta to Columbus.

Neither move should come as any big surprise, although there is the requisite grumbling from some fans about the move to start the season with journeyman Jack Hannahan at third base over Chisenhall.

Chisenhall hit just .205 during spring training, however, with 16 strikeouts and only one walk in 16 games. Chisenhall needed to hit to win the third base job as Hannahan has a major edge when it comes to defense, something the Indians are going to need plenty of if the offense struggles to score runs as expected.

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Colt McCoy, Lonnie Chisenhall, NFL draft | Leave a comment
26 Mar 2012

The Game is Afoot

It’s the NFL off-season, which means rumors, speculation and misdirection are the currency of the land until the draft on April 26.

And the Cleveland Browns are going to be in the thick of things, probably right up until they – or someone – makes a selection with the fourth pick of the first round.

The only thing we (may) know for certain is the Browns will not make an attempt to move up to No. 3, as there are four players after quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III who would fill a major need on the Browns. General manager Tom Heckert told The Plain Dealer that there are five players the Browns would be comfortable selecting with their first pick.

Because of that, the team may be willing to trade down – just not too far.

“We’re most likely going to stay at No. 4 and we know we’ll get a really good player there,” Heckert told the paper. “But there’s about five guys we really like, so we would consider trading down — but probably only to five, six, seven or eight.”

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, NFL draft, Ryan Tannehill | Leave a comment
25 Mar 2012
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Talking Chief Wahoo with Uni Watch

We read several sites on a daily basis and one that we find entertaining and informative is Uni Watch.

For those of you not familiar with the site, Uni Watch “Uni Watch “is a media project that deconstructs the finer points of sports uniforms in obsessive and excruciating detail. It has nothing to do with fashion — it’s about documenting and maintaining the visual history of sports design, and about minutiae fetishism as its own reward. If that concept doesn’t make sense to you, no problem — Uni Watch definitely isn’t for everyone, and there have always been people who Don’t Get It. But for those who understand the pleasures of detail obsession, programmatic classification systems, information overload, and sports history, you’ve come to the right place.”

The site was founded by Paul Lukas, a columnist for ESPN.com and a writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, GQ, Fortune, Gourmet, Saveur, The Wall Street Journal, ESPN The Magazine, Spin and The Financial Times, among many other publications.

So we were particularly interested when weekend editor Phil Hecken recently wrote an article announcing a contest to rebrand the Cleveland Indians, asking readers to come up with ideas for a new team name and logo to replace Chief Wahoo.

Paul also made his feelings known in an article on Friday, What Do You Mean We, Paleface?

We reached out to Paul and Phil and they were gracious enough to sit down for a virtual question and answer session about the contest and Cleveland uniforms in general.

Read more…

Posted in Chief Wahoo, Cleveland Indians, uniforms
23 Mar 2012

Are the Browns hunting Cougars?

We all know the Cleveland Browns have several holes to fill on the roster in the upcoming NFL Draft: right tackle, wide receiver, linebacker, running back.

And, of course, quarterback.

While all the quarterback talk has revolved around Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden, there is one name that is rarely mentioned as a possibility to fill the void under center.

We’re talking, of course, about record-setting quarterback Case Keenum, who threw for 19,217 yards, 155 touchdowns and completed 69 percent of his passes in his career as Houston’s quarterback.

Now that we have your attention, and you’ve picked yourself up off the floor, we are in no way advocating that the Browns draft Keenum. System guys like Keenum don’t fit in the NFL, just look at Colt Brennan’s career if you forgot that fact.

But the thing is, Keenum wasn’t out there on offense all by himself. Someone had to be catching all those passes.

And that’s where the Browns come in as they need all the playmakers they can find on offense.

The Cougars have a trio of senior wide receivers that put up big numbers in 2011

  • Patrick Edwards, with 89 receptions for 1,752 yards and 20 touchdowns
  • Tyron Carrier, with 96 receptions for 958 yards and five touchdowns
  • Justin Johnson, with 87 receptions for 1,229 yards and 12 touchdowns

We wouldn’t want the Browns to use a first- or second-round pick on one of these guys, not with Justin Blackmon, Michael Floyd and Kendall Wright potentially available, but Edwards, Carrier and Johnson clearly can catch the ball when it’s thrown to them.

The guy that intrigues us the most is Johnson. At 6-foot-1 and 223 pounds, he has NFL size, comparable to current Browns wide receiver Greg Little and Notre Dame’s Floyd, who are both listed as 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds.

“He can block, run, catch,” Carrier told The Houston Chronicle in an article last September. “Whatever you want him to do, he can do it.”

Johnson was a Conference USA First Team selection this past season after earning the starting slot as one of the Cougars’ inside receivers. He is also versatile, as he saw action at wide receiver, tight end and in the backfield during his college career.

“I knew if I kept working hard, I would get my chance,” Johnson told the paper. “We have playmakers. I was fine if I could block for Bryce (Beall) or Tyron or Patrick. As long as we were winning, I was fine.”

He also lit up Penn State in the Ticket City Bowl, catching 12 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown.

Sounds like someone we wouldn’t mind the Browns at least taking a look at. And it turns out that the Browns had scouts at Houston’s Pro Day on Monday.

The scouts also had a chance to see running back Michael Hayes, who rushed for 727 yards and 11 touchdowns on 138 carries and caught 44 passes for 483 yards last season. According to The Daily Cougar, Hayes is projected to be a late-round pick.

While we’ve all been focused on the Browns first three picks, and rightfully so, the team needs to hit on its later picks as well to continue turning this thing around.

Johnson, and possibly Hayes, are two names to keep in mind once the draft hits the later rounds.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Justin Johnson, NFL draft | Leave a comment
21 Mar 2012

Will the Browns pay for the Saints mistakes?

Like comic book hero Thor, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell brought down the heavy hammer of justice on the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday for the team’s role in rewarding players for intentionally injuring the opposition.

In suspending Saints coach Sean Payton for the entire season, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely, general manager Mickey Loomis for eight games, assistant head coach Joe Vitt for six games, fining the team $500,000 and taking away second-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013 (that’s a lot of work for one day), Goodell sends the message that this kind of behavior won’t be acceptable on his watch.

“Beyond the clear and continuing violations of league rules, and lying to investigators, the bounty program is squarely contrary to the league’s most important initiatives – enhancing player health and safety and protecting the integrity of the game,” Goodell said in a statement announcing the discipline. “Let me be clear. There is no place in the NFL for deliberately seeking to injure another player, let alone offering a reward for doing so. Any form of bounty is incompatible with our commitment to create a culture of sportsmanship, fairness, and safety. Programs of this kind have no place in our game and we are determined that bounties will no longer be a part of the NFL.”

Read more…

Posted in bounties, Cleveland Browns, Lionel Messi, NFL, Scott Fujita, Tim Tebow | Leave a comment
20 Mar 2012

Tebowmania is not coming to Cleveland

Before anyone gets any crazy ideas about the Cleveland Browns signing Tim Tebow and recreating the Oklahoma wishbone offense with Montario Hardesty, Josh Cribbs and Tebow, we’re here to tell you that Tebowmania is not coming to Cleveland Browns Stadium.

How do we know this?

Because Monica Culpepper said so.

Who?

Culpepper (pictured above) is a contestant on the current season of Survivor (she was voted out last week) and is married to Brad Culpepper, a former defensive tackle with the Minnesota Vikings and the University of Florida. The Culpeppers are friends with Tebow.

And Monica says Tebow wants to return to the warm climate of Florida.

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Monica Culpepper, NFL, Survivor, Tim Tebow | Leave a comment
20 Mar 2012

Browns dodged a bullet with Flynn

The Cleveland Browns owe the Seattle Seahawks a double thank you for taking the bait on free agent quarterback Matt Flynn and simultaneously showing fans that it pays not to be first in free agency.

When NFL free agency opened a week ago, many speculated that Flynn could get major money in a bidding war; by waiting a week and letting the market settle, the Seahawks were able to sign him to a three-year deal worth up to a reported $26 million.

Seattle’s move helped take away any possibility that the Browns would have lingering doubts about signing a player with two career NFL starts.

And more thing to remember: Flynn may have some success over the next couple of years which will make some Browns fans whine, but he’ll be doing it without having to face the Steelers and Ravens each twice a year.

Read more…

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Matt Flynn, Tim Tebow | Leave a comment
19 Mar 2012

Are Cleveland Fans Losing It?

We have always had a healthy respect for, and appreciation of, our fellow Cleveland sports fans.

Fans of the Browns, Cavs and Indians are passionate, there’s no questioning that. And, by and large, we are an intelligent bunch – even if we don’t always get credit for it. Trust us, we lived outside of New York City for seven years after college and were surrounded by Yankee and Knick fans who are allegedly sophisticated and knowledgeable. We quickly learned, however, that when it comes to New Yorkers, knowledgeable is just a code for loud and obnoxious.

But we’ve lately started to worry if, after a collective 138 years (and counting) without a championship, Cleveland fans are nearing the breaking point.

The rest of the story is at The Cleveland Fan.

(Photo by Life Magazine)

Posted in Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland fans, Cleveland Indians | Leave a comment

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