And then there was one

So much for holdouts. The Browns got Joe Thomas and Eric Wright signed in time for camp. I'm happy, since I hope to see those guys playing early this season.

They can take their good-ol' time signing Brady Quinn. Maybe right around the second preseason game would be a good time for him to come in. That way he'll still be able to get some practice time, but he will definitely be out of the running for the first half of the season.

Although I'll also be happy if Quinn signs early, so that all those Quinn haters can eat their words.

Accurate, but accurately what?

Football Outsiders has had some statistical analysis recently of the best and worst quarterback completion percentages from 2006, controlling for some variables.

What they found was that Charlie Frye was one of the ten most accurate passers in the league. That held when they controlled for dropped passes, and when they adjusted completion percentages based on how many short (and typically more accurate) passes a QB threw.

The end conclusion was that Frye was extremely accurate with his short passes (nearly 90%), so they decided to remove short passes from the analysis all together, at which point Frye dropped out of the top ten.


What does this all mean? Not a lot. We all saw how well Frye was doing at hooking up with Winslow on the 2-4 yard pickups.

What does make me optimistic is that reports are that new Offensive Coordinator Chud is implementing an offense with alot more shorter, timed passes. Combined with Frye's skills on the short passes, this could be a good thing.

Look, waaaay down there. Is there a light down there?

I didn't get my hopes up about any of the previous LeCharles Bentley reports, because prior to today his most recent doctor's visit never said he would be able to play football again.

But today, that doctor has cleared Bentley for practise. This IS a big step forward. While he still needs to go through team doctors, the fact is that Bentley has just gotten a go-ahead from the same doctor who told him to give up because he would never play again.

This Friday marks the one year anniversary of Bentley's injury. That was back when this blog was less than two weeks old. My, how I have grown in my bitterness since then.

I still stick to my statement that I'm not declaring victory until I see Bentley playing for real. But this is a piece of concrete good news that I'm going to take a little solace in.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This past week or so alot of people have been pointing to National columnists ranking the Browns last in pre-season Power Rankings. It means nothing to me. I haven't read a single intelligent quote from those rankings about why the Browns will be bad. I'll admit the Browns sure have a hell of alot of unanswered questions, and the answers could turn out so that this will be a bad season. But I can still make a case that we could be vastly improved this year. Until I see good reasons as to why the Browns will be bad, I'm going to assume that these rankings are nothing but knee-jerk hogwash.

The ball is rolling

We might not have our quarterback or left tackle of the future under contract, but we've got Chase Pittman signed and ready for training camp. This kid is a d-lineman project who seems like he might have some character issues. But with our d-line situation, we can't really be ignoring guys. Maybe he'll be another Simon Fraser. . .

The only guy I'm really antsy about seeing signed is Eric Wright, 2nd round cornerback. From the sound of things, he might be on track to start for opening day, and he will definitely be needed.

I know those words, but the sentence doesn't make any sense to me.

From CBS Sportsline:

The offensive line, one of the worst in the NFL for years, has the potential to be one of the best in the league this season if LeCharles Bentley can accomplish his goal of making a comeback from a severe patellar tendon injury.

Never thought I'd read that about the Browns. Hope it comes to fruition.

Asleep at the switch?

OBR has a useful listing of which draft picks have been signed, and which haven't. You will note that the Browns are one of just five teams that doesn't have anyone signed yet.

T-minus 16 days and counting until training camp opens. Whats the hold-up?

Since every other Browns preview will be realistic. . .

Its time to expose myself as the blindly loyal, kool-aid drinking homer that I am. I decided to come up with a list of reasons of why we could be hopeful for the upcoming season* :

1) The Offensive Line: Explaining away poor play by quarterbacks and running backs because of sub-par offensive lines has become a tradition in Cleveland Browns football. This looks like the year to kill that tradition. The signings of Eric Steinbach and Seth McKinney to play guards, and Ryan Tucker returning to his spot at right tackle should be enough to show noticeable improvement. The drafting of Joe Thomas could improve the dynamics just as much as those signings both because of the skills he brings to the left tackle position, as well as the flexibility and competition he brings to the rest of the line. With Thomas in there, now Eric Steinbach is probably the only lineman who can feel sure of his starting position. To add some icing to the cake, LeCharles Bentley could be back this season.

Its hard to stress how big of a turn around this is compared to last season. Our backups this season may end up being equal to or better than our starters last season. We may get to see the power rushing attack that we always talk about, as well as an upright quarterback. And, even if we suck this year, we can feel comfortable throwing the skill players under the truck next year, because there won't be that eternal fall back, "Well, if the line had blocked for them. . ."

2) The injury bug: I hate to pull out this excuse, but with the Browns' recent history it cannot be avoided. We have been plagued by obscene injuries the past couple years. Even if we get a little relief, it should go a long ways towards fielding a better team this year than last. Just to remind you, here is what we dealt with last season:

>> Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow were coming off knee injuries. While Winslow probably won't be in much better shape this season due to off-season surgery, Edwards should be back to top form (or what passes for top form for him).

>> LeCharles Bentley, the highest ranked free agent during the 2006 offseason, doesn't even survive one practice with the Browns. Our best offensive lineman (behind Bentley), Ryan Tucker, was out for half the season, and even when he did play probably was seeing effects from his undisclosed mental illness

>> Gary Baxter played in 3 games before going down with a horrific injury. Daylon McCutcheon missed the entire season. Leigh Bodden missed 7 games with injuries.

>> Our best Defensive lineman, Orpheus Roye, was out 4 games and was limited for even more.

>> Other guys who missed noticeable chunks of time: Joe Jurevicius, Brian Russell, Joe Andruzzi, Andra Davis, Willie McGinest, Dennis Northcutt, Charlie Frye.

3) Defensive Secondary: What I called a strength going into last season ended up being a huge liability, with the aforementioned injuries keeping us from fielding a consistent, competent secondary core. Those injuries hurt alot, and not only kept us from shutting down passing games but also hurt ability to generate a pass rush. Bodden is a sure thing if he can stay healthy. Eric Wright sounds like he can be starting material. Kenny Wright is even an upgrade over Ralph Brown. This unit should be stronger, and have a little more depth than last year. And if Gary Baxter can return from his injury, and if he can return to his previous caliber of play (two big Ifs) he could turn this unit into a genuine team strength.

On top of that, Brodney Pool replacing Brian Russell could be a noticeable improvement at safety. Pool's spot duty at safety, as well as his starts at corner (covering Keyshawn Johnson, no less) showed that he has alot of potential. If he proves Phil Savage's projections correct, he will be a monster. Pairing him up next to Sean Jones could be dynamite.

4) Maturity: Its easy to forget, but Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel started this rebuilding project just two years ago. We are going into year three of the 3-4 defense. Our roster has been almost totally made-over, including alot of rookies playing big roles. Another year of maturity should show some dividends for Kamerion Wimbley, D'Qwell Jackson, Leon Williams, Sean Jones, Brodney Pool, Charle Frye or Derek Anderson, Lawrence Vickers, Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow, and all our other low draft/undrafted guys who have shown some potential.

5) Offensive Co-ordinator: Given the reports coming out of practices of the offense being totally out of kilter, some may think I am crazy to call Chud's new offense a sign of hope. But compare it to last year: Mo Carthon and his fullback-based offense looked so pathetic through the beginning of the season that he was tossed mid-season and Jeff Davidson was given a chance to use Carthon's playbook, to similarly poor results. Not that Chud has proven himself as a coordinator, but he has the pedigree to succeed. Even if he's only mediocre, he will be a step up from Carthon. If he can successfully bring in the Norv Turner/Cam Cameron offensive success that San Diego has had for the past few years, well thats probably too much to hope for.

6) Jamal Lewis at 80% strength is at least no worse than Reuben Droughns at full strength. Jamal Lewis at full strength could be a sight to behold.


* Hopeful for WHAT is another post

Some answers

Today's PD had an interesting catch-up on LeCharles Bentley. Its good news. No, not that I really believe that he's going to make it back. But at least he should be able to answers some questions this season, instead of stringing this thing out another year or two.

Ideally he'll come back and play even close to the level he did before his freak injury. But if he can't make it, at least we'll know next season whether or not we need a long term solution.

What, Lumberjacks don't count?

My baby-mama put me onto this:

Some New York Times blog is claiming that Philadelphia is the most unlucky city for sports. I guess by their criteria (must have teams in each of MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL) Cleveland isn't in the running. But Cleveland is hands down unluckiest, no questions, end of debate, and any ranking that doesn't end with that conclusion is flawed.

He does follow up with a post trying to justify his pick of Philly over Cleveland, but its pretty weak if you ask me. Maybe if Lebron James brings home the championship (pretty big if) I will reconsider. MAYBE. But until that point, this is ridiculous to even discuss.

Sophmore preview

On a weekend when the Akron Beacon Journal has NO Browns news, and the PD had essentially no Browns news (even if Grossi did manage to fill multiple pages not answering questions), Steve Doerschuk comes through again. In a nutshell: Savage says that he's looking for Isaac Sowells, Travis Wilson, and Jerome Harrison to step it up and win important roles for this season.

While that isn't anything new (although it is iteresting that he picked out those three, more on that below), I did find this blurb interesting:

"Jason Wright really is a backup who can play special teams. He's a great locker room guy, an A-plus in a lot of ways, but probably an average football player, which as a backup is OK.

Nothing too surprising, other than that the GM will be so blunt. I guess that means that Jason Wright's spot on the roster could be lost if Harrison comes on.

So why did Savage pick out those three? I doubt that he's going to cut too many of his 06 draft picks. He gaves his 05 picks two seasons, and the 06 crop in general was better, so they will probably get at least two. But these are proabably the guys closest to competing for a spot (as opposed to Leon Williams, D'Qwell Jackson, and Lawrence Vickers who already have spots), so that a little fire under them might get them putting forth that extra effort.

They're probably both made in sweatshops, but. . .

If you buy a Steelers jersey, your money will go towards supporting child prostitution.

If you buy a Browns jersey, it will go towards giving kids college scholarships.

The choice is yours.

Does a spaghetti sauce stain show on an orange jersey?

Browns draft review, in Italian.

In case you are curious, Joe Thomas is:

La caratteristica migliore di Thomas è sicuramente la pass protection. Dotato di un hand punch micidiale, è capace di terrorizzare i Defensive Linemen sin dallo snap. Velocissimo nel prendere posizione nei giochi di passaggio. Buon bloccatore sui giochi di corsa. Futuro Probowler.

Huh. Go figure. Guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I prefer their take on Brady Quinn:

Muscolato, dotato di un braccio bionico, riesce a mettere la palla in spazi strettissimi con estrema accuratezza, anche sul profondo. Ottimo gioco di piedi, che gli permette di prendere tempo e di eludere i blitz. Estremamente competitivo e capace di attuare rimonte insperate anche in situazioni difficili (vedi quest’anno contro Michigan State, sotto la pioggia...). Ha bisogno di buona protezione della linea per realizzare il suo potenziale, ma ha questo ha già provveduto Phil Savage con gli acquisti di Steinbach e Thomas. Ha tutte le caratteristiche per ripercorrere le gesta di Bernie Kosar o Brian Sipe.

If only we could get Zampano to play on the Offensive line. Then we could have Quinn lining up behind Quinn.

Do you think the ladies would believe that I'm Ted Washington?

Hehe. . . Steelers fans are smrt. I mean, smart.

I a nutshell: This guy has convinced Pittsburgh women that he's Ben Roethlisberger, Brian St. Pierre, and Jermane Tuman, and then got them to buy him things.




http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2860426&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos2



I'm with the Steelers
By Justin Heckert
ESPN The Magazine

She could tell. But she couldn't bring herself to believe it, even though the pictures she examined led to very simple observations: that the man in the photo had a head that wasn't as square, for instance, and a nose that was longer and not bowed slightly to the right. And that his neck was stout but his jaw too strong. And she noticed that the face wasn't framed by an almost horizontal hairline, like the one on the man she knew, the hair thinning and brown instead of a black flattop, thick and gelled back.

This is what she thought, at first, that something was off, until he explained that pictures lie. Until he said the photographs of Steelers tight end Jerame Tuman that she found online were taken several years ago, when he arrived at training camp as a rookie with the features of a young man.

Weathering those seasons had changed him, he said, and he was insulted, even a bit embarrassed, that she doubted him.

Kristin* didn't have much to go on but the pictures. The Jerame Tuman she knew had a rounded stomach that fell below his waist, and arms and legs that weren't trim. But he was tall, so she slowly convinced herself that if he said he was an NFL tight end, then this is what an NFL tight end must look like. He had shown her a cell phone full of numbers, after all -- Jerome Bettis, Hines Ward, Ike Taylor -- and bragged about "his boys."

In the beginning, Kristin actually got a thrill from hanging out with him in the leather passenger seat of his white Denali, looking out the tinted windows as he navigated the nighttime traffic on the south side of the city, feeling the rap thrum from his extravagant speakers as he bounced in the driver's seat while speeding through red lights, saying, "Nobody in Pittsburgh is gonna arrest me, I'm a Steeler" -- because, well, she was with a Steeler.

And when he began to phone her twice a day to wish her good morning or to talk about the upcoming divorce from his wife, Molly, or the custody battle over his son, or to recount the sad story about his mother and his sickly uncle who raised him, she believed. And when he explained that he was changing his cell number every couple of weeks because he was "tired of dating this other girl on the side who only likes me for what I am, not who I am," she believed then, too.

Because she thought he was confiding in her, because he was one of her best friends, and because he was sweet. He once called a seven-year-old family friend to wish him a happy birthday; "How's my little buddy doing?" he asked. He couldn't wait to show her his Super Bowl ring, and promised her season tickets, neither of which he followed through on. And she trusted him because while he was at times vapid, he wasn't above revealing weakness. He once rang her at 4 a.m. to say, "I'm not married anymore. I'm 30. What am I doing with myself?"

Kristin was a good and interested friend; she often bought him lunch and made him dinner, though he always canceled and gave her excuses about being held up by appointments. She overlooked it when he invited her and her girlfriends out on the town, saying he and Hines would take care of the bill, but never showed. She gave him keys to her apartment, though he didn't let her see his.

When he told her he didn't have time to go to the mall to buy a new pair of shoes, she went for him and picked out a pair with a metallic silver swoosh on the side. And when he told her he lost his wallet, she lent him money. In fact, when he needed help paying rent for his "place on the waterfront," she obliged, believing him when he said his bank accounts had been frozen in the divorce.

When he needed quick cash to go on a trip with some teammates, she asked no questions. And when he told her he wanted rims for his SUV but couldn't use his credit card because he was about to start paying alimony, she covered him then, too. Over four months in 2006, she loaned him $3,200. And with each loan, he told her not to ask if he was good for the money, reminding her that he could get anyone else to help him if he wanted.

It is because of her generosity that Kristin has been blamed for being gullible, stupid, an outright imbecile even, in a very public way, in a town where you're not part of the conversation if you don't love the Steelers.

And though it is easy to stare at the same photos and wonder what she was thinking, it's also impossible to blame her -- he was that good. It wasn't until after he had, in Kristin's words, "fallen off the face of the earth" for a month and a half that she got pissed and sent a Hallmark card to the Steelers' training facility, addressed to Tuman, asking for her money back as soon as possible; she'd given him her savings and was living paycheck to paycheck.

Then, one day last August, Kristin, a tall, pretty woman with long, blond hair who majored in communications and anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, was riding the bus home from work when she got a call from Steelers security director Jack Kearney. "I hate to break it to you," Kearney told her flatly. "But you've never met Jerame Tuman in your life."

Consider her surprise. Or humiliation. Consider her anger, if nothing else. If you don't live in Pittsburgh, the city at the confluence of steel-black rivers, a town that embodies its football team, you might empathize with Kristin. If you don't live where flags fly black and gold and the awnings of half the buildings bear the same industrial colors, where gift shops are stocked with candy and soda and Steelers commemorative hats, banners, shirts, baby clothes and not much else, you can probably understand, even as you find it hard to fathom.

But if you're from Pittsburgh, there's a good chance you're aware that Kristin was one of three women over two years who were fooled by a man named Brian Jackson, a 32-year-old former car salesman who moonlighted as Steelers tight end Jerame Tuman, third-string quarterback Brian St. Pierre, and most curiously, Ben Roethlisberger. And you might deride Kristin, and have a good laugh over a cold Iron City at her expense.

Even if you didn't know what Tuman looked like, you'd at least have been able to see that Jackson looked nothing like a football player. Pretty much, you'd have been smarter than she was.

"The Steelers are next to God here, so I don't see how someone impersonating one of them got away with it," says Anne Madarasz, director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.

"Oh god, the women were that gullible?" says a woman browsing Steelers towels at Mike Feinberg Co. store, "The Official Home of Steeler Nation."

"Everyone thinks it's funny," says Mike Katic, a bartender at the Buckhead Saloon at Station Square. "I guess as long as the guy had the build of a football player ..."

It wasn't so funny for Tara*, a 24-year-old part-time model who thought she'd met Ben Roethlisberger at a local pizza shop. Two years ago, a big guy wearing a backward Steelers hat and khaki shorts had strolled up to the table where she and a friend were sitting and announced confidently that he thought she "was hot," before explaining how famous he was and which famous friends he wanted her to meet.

Tara and her friend ogled him over their slices, considering whether he was big or athletic enough to be a quarterback.

Though she didn't know it that day in July 2005, the guy she was staring at was really a middle-class man born and raised in Pittsburgh; a man who, Allegheny County courthouse records reveal, has a litany of traffic incidents, including one involving vehicular homicide, and who now has a July court date to face felony charges of identity theft and theft by deception for impersonating Tuman, and for stealing money from Kristin in the process.

Two days after Tara met him, she spent a few very awkward, if memorable, hours on a date with "Big Ben"; hours she'd like to undo. Their activities included traveling to the Steelers' training facility, where the security guard who never stops anyone waved at the faux quarterback, letting him through to attend to "some business" while Tara sat in the car; signing a Steelers jersey for Tara's giddy neighbor and posing for a photo; telling her about his dog, Zeus, over a dinner she ended up paying for because he left his wallet somewhere; and an uncomfortable encounter in which he tried to touch her hand and lean in for a kiss, which freaked her out, because she wasn't attracted to him anyway.

Brian Jackson's incredible story finally caught up with him.

Whispering recently from her bedroom because she's afraid her fiancé might hear, Tara says Jackson talked so much about himself as Roethlisberger that she barely got a word in. "He said he just got back from Miami, talked about his cars, about other players," she says. "He should be in prison, or in a mental hospital. I was leery, but hell, I didn't know. I didn't think he was telling the truth, but my friend thought I should give him a chance."

The day after the date, Tara's neighbor showed her a newspaper photo of Roethlisberger, and she quickly alerted the police and told Jackson never to call her again. But he persisted, demanding she return his calls and insisting on more dates. He had his friends call her, pretending to be Roethlisberger's friend or sister, to say Tara was breaking his heart. He sent her a signed football, which she has since destroyed.

Soon the story was out and she was the laughingstock of talk radio. "It was one of the worst parts of my life, and it wasn't even a full day," she says.

"Being portrayed as an idiot, it was awful." Her neighbor asked the team for a replacement Roethlisberger jersey. He never got it.

"When I heard about it, I laughed," says the real Big Ben. "It was kind of flattering. Then again, feelings were hurt and that isn't funny. But I hear all the time that 'someone at a bar is trying to be you.' It's because all people talk about in Pittsburgh is the Steelers. Me, I don't really care. But it made Jerame uneasy. He's happily married with a family."

It is fair to say Brian Jackson thrived on the attention; that his escapades were born not only of malicious conjuring, but of his fantasy. He was Jerame Tuman when he wore his black-and-gold hat askew, sometimes pulled down to mask his eyes, and he was Ben Roethlisberger in his T-shirts and thick-legged sweats, and the official pair of football gloves he wore, sometimes while he drove, as though he'd just come from a long and successful practice.

It is not supposition to say he felt comfortable when he dressed and acted the way he did, because his clothes and actions weren't part of a costume. His dreams had become his waking life. He was part of the team. It's what made him so convincing. He believed it was all real.

"He put almost incomprehensible thought into what he was doing," says prosecuting attorney Debra Barnisin-Lange. "He had an answer for any question that may have come up from the women. This type of scam is very embarrassing for the victims; several other women he did this to haven't come forward. It's the way all cons run. He said he was a Steeler, but in another instance someone might say, 'I won the lottery,' but they don't have a bank account to cash their check. Once you're in for a penny, you're in for a pound."

According to courthouse officials, he knew more than enough about the Steelers to work a room with tales of the team. Those familiar with the case say he had an encyclopedic, nearly obsessive knowledge of the men he said he was: he knew where they were born, where they went to school, what they drove, the names of parents and wives and children and pets. And he could recall a player's TV highlights as if living inside the moments of another man's life.

He regarded a woman he was trying to impress the same way an athlete might regard a trophy. According to the women, he was funny, at times charming and caring. He trolled the Strip downtown near the practice facility on weekends in his Denali or black Impala or blue Mustang, and ate lunch at Nakama, the sushi place frequented by Steelers during the season.

Jackson put himself amid the passing drunks in Steelers jerseys and among the women who packed the sidewalks by Primanti Bros. and Cottage Jewelry and Sunny's Fashions, with the clothing racks out front and the black-and-gold Pittsburgh City Paper boxes at their waists.

There were always more than enough fans around eager to celebrate in his presence. In the murk of a rowdy night, his sort-of-familiar face and confident stories -- Yeah, I'm waiting for Hines, he should be here any minute -- were truth enough.

"This city lives, eats, breathes Steelers," says detective Frances LaQuatra, a season ticket-holder. "They are always the news. The radio people get sick of talking about them all day, 12 months of the year. Working this case, I realized that when people hear something about the Steelers, they think, Why would someone lie about them?"

He was Brian St. Pierre. And he wooed Annie* with stories about teammates and autographed footballs for kids in her neighborhood. When he suggested she look for him on the sideline, during a game, on TV, she took him up on the offer. But when the camera showed the real St. Pierre, their relationship took a sudden turn.

After the game, she called him out as a liar and he called her "crazy" and, according to court documents, said she'd "be sorry" if she pressed charges. He even impersonated Roethlisberger in a phone call not long after, in which he vouched for himself as St. Pierre.

Then he followed her home in different cars and materialized wherever she went, which, frankly, scared her to death. That was at the end of 2004, and she still won't speak of him.

"She's moved on. I don't want her to relive it," says Annie's boyfriend. "She doesn't want to either."

Jackson didn't harass Kristin the way he did Annie or bother her the way he did Tara. No, one day he just went away. He stopped calling Kristin to say good morning or to ask for advice. He stopped picking her up at work so she could buy him fish sandwiches. When he changed cell phones, his old number was the last trace of a man who never existed.

She saved that number, and now it reminds her of that night in March 2006 when she was partying like everyone else on the south side and, after a few cocktails, had picked up her girlfriend's cell. She was interested and curious and -- football fan's curse -- attracted even though she'd never seen him.

Like it would be with a lot of people, she says, her desire to talk to him took control. She wanted to find out what he might say, because, "Who doesn't want to talk to a Steeler?" She left him a message that went something like, "So, what's up? My girl tells me you're a Steeler, so ..."

But Kristin isn't stupid. Maybe just a little naive.

Is it him? Well, yes, of course it's him, in a baggy gray hoodie and jeans that fall off his behind. He's been watching out the window of his redbrick house, the one with the unattached trailer in the front yard. He grudgingly opens the glass screen of his front door to greet the unwelcome company, and nearly slips when he steps on the porch.

He doesn't look so threatening as he clings awkwardly to the door frame. He looks like he hasn't slept, though, just as he looked when he turned himself in to Detective LaQuatra last year after Kristin came forward and his gig was up.

He groveled to LaQuatra that day: "I can't help myself, I really can't." And he doesn't sound so cocksure now, as he didn't when he called Kristin right before she pressed charges, to offer this rambling admission: "I just idolize these guys and what they do, and the attention they get from women, and I just want that for myself, and I don't think I can do it on my own and I just want to be them."

On this February morning, Brian Jackson just looks angry or nervous or both, like a man about to face felony charges who doesn't want to be bothered. As the sun hits his face, he stares off to the side, eyes bloodshot-red like kindling.

Are you Brian Jackson?

"No. I'm his brother," he says.

Well, is your brother home, then?

"No."

Do you think he'd want to talk about ...

"No, he wouldn't."

He's tall, all right, his head is square, his body sturdy. His voice is as heavy as lead, and standing in front of him, it is not only conceivable he could pass for a Steeler, but understandable, especially in a town that sanctifies the men who wear that uniform but are often unrecognizable without it.

This morning, the Denali with tinted windows is docked in the drive, without the rims. Taking a step back, Jackson shuts the screen door. He's not wearing his Steelers hat. But he does have on a nice pair of sneakers, with a metallic swoosh on the side.

* The victims names have been changed to protect their identities.

Now where do we put them?

I am a big fan of Ace Davis' blog. A couple times a year he throws together a comprehensive roster listing to project who will be around and who will be cut. I don't mean to rip him off, but I am a little anxious to be able to look at who we could expect to see suiting up come September, so I have gone through the exercise on my own:

QB
Starter: Charlie Frye
Backups: Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson
Practice squad: None
Cut: Ken Dorsey

RB/FB
Starters: Jamal Lewis, Lawrence Vickers
Backups: Jerome Harrison, Jason Wright, Alan Ricard
Practice squad: Tyrone Moss
Cut: Charles Ali, Chris Barclay

TE
Starter: Kellen Winslow
Backups: Steve Heiden, Darnell Dinkens
Cut: Ryan Krause, Buck Ortega

OL
Starters: Joe Thomas, Eric Steinbach, Hank Fraley, Seth McKinney, Kevin Shaffer
Backups: Ryan Tucker, Isaac Sowells, Kelly Butler, Rob Smith
Practice squad: Rick Drushal
Injured Reserve: LeCharles Bentley
Cut: Andrew Hoffman, Pete Lougheed, Fred Matua, Brent Pousson, Scott Stephenson,Nat Dorsey, Lennie Friedman

WR
Starters: Braylon Edwards, Joe Jurevicius
Backups: Travis Wilson, Josh Cribbs, Tim Carter
Practice squad:Syndric Steptoe
Cut: Kendrick Mosley, Steve Sanders, Mike Mason

DL
Starters: Orpheus Roye, Ted Washington, Robaire Smith
Backups: Simon Fraser, Ethan Kelley, Babatunde Oshinowo, Shaun Smith
Practice squad:Melila Purcell
Cut: Orien Harris, J'vonne Parker, Alvin Smith, Chase Pittman

OLB
Starters: Willie McGinest, Kamerion Wimbley
Backups: Matt Stewart, Antwaan Peek
Practice squad: Mike Alston
Cut: Jason Short, David McMillan

ILB
Starters: Andra Davis, D'Qwell Jackson
Backups: Chaun Thompson, Leon Williams, Mason Unck
Cut: Clifton Smith, Funtaine Hunter

CB
Starters: Daven Holly, Leigh Bodden
Backups: Eric Wright, DeMario Minter, Kenny Wright, Jereme Perry
IR: Gary Baxter
Practice squad: Brandon McDonald
Cut: Antonio Perkins, Therrian Fontenot

S
Starters: Brodney Pool, Sean Jones
Backups: Mike Adams
Practice squad: Justin Hamilton
Cut: Ben Emanuel, Jeremy Lesueur, Justin Sandy

Specialists
K Phil Dawson
P Dave Zastudil
LSE Ryan Pontbriand
Cut: Kyle Basler, Jesse Ainsworth

The game is: Tell me where I'm wrong. But remember, we can only have 53 guys on the roster, plus 7 on the practice squad, plus whoever ends up on injured reserve/physically unable to perform.

I know that this list has holes. For instance, punt returner is one of the outstanding open spots. If Eric Wright or Sean Jones can handle that, then the roster can stand as is. But if instead it is won by Brandon McDonald or Syndric Steptoe, then who gets bumped for their spot? DeMario Minter, or Jereme Perry? Could also be Tim Carter, but I'd be worried about our 4th and 5th receivers both being guys who won spots because of their special teams skills

The Draft

I have had a chance to think over what happened last weekend. Here are my thoughts

Trades
I don't like trading up. You give up multiple picks to get a guy who the brain trust expects to be worth it. But we Clevelanders are only too aware that no GM or scout is omniscient. Guys who we expect to be good often end up as dogs. Since the GM or scout can't pick a guaranteed winner, the only way to improve your chances of getting lucky with a pick is by having alot of picks, so that even if half of them turn out to be duds, you are still left with some good players.

Savage's trades have the chance of paying off very well. If both Quinn and Wright end up as good as expected, the trades will prove to be worth it. Trading up for them was a risk, though, and if either do end up as failures, it will hurt alot because they both represent multiple picks. I am pretty risk-averse so I don't love the trades. But hopefully the "fortune favors the bold" mantra will hold up in this case.

The Picks
The first three picks were great examples of picking guys who are best available players who ALSO match a particular area of need (although our 2nd rounder Wright needs an asterisk*).

There isn't much more to say about Quinn and Thomas as picks. They are great picks that fill holes without reaching for talent.

The same can be said about cornerback Eric Wright, but not without going into more details. This is the kid who was listed by many as the top cornerback in the draft, which fits well with our huge need at CB. However, he fell through the second round because of character issues. I've searched through news stories, and I can't find anything to suggest that Wright was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But alot of people are vouching for his character, saying he's a choir boy who made one very bad choice that was out of character. I hope they are right, for the sake of the Browns and for the sake of Wright's future.

The last 4 picks were definite need picks, unless Savage got UNBELIEVABLY lucky the entire way down the draft board with best available player also being at our areas of need (cornerback, defensive line, and punt returner). Drafting based on need is particularly risky in the later rounds, since the talent is pretty marginal anyways. In 2006 Savage had gotten away from the lower round need picks, taking a running back, a full back, a safety, a linebacker, and a cornerback as the best available guys on his board, and not necessarily the most important position.

If we are lucky, Melila Purcell and Chase Pittman might end up being solid defensive linemen. But odds are, they are going to be warm bodies filling obvious holes until those holes can be addressed more convincingly with future draft picks and free agent signings. Similarly, Syndric Steptoe and Brandon McDonald might replace Northcutt at punt returner, and McDonald could be a cornerback project who would be nice to see on the field if the secondary is ravaged by injuries again. But it seems like all four were drafted just to add names to a hurting roster, and not because they were the best available players.

As many have pointed out, this draft COULD be a franchise defining moment. But it could also be a serious drain on our ability fill future holes, since we have put all our eggs in the Quinn and Wright baskets.

Signing
We are still a few months off from any of these guys getting signed, but I am starting to hope that the Brady Quinn contract does lead to a bit of a hold out. I want Quinn to sit for a while behind Frye. If he holds out, it would provide a great excuse for Crennel to avoid calls to throw him in before he is ready. And it can also help us save a few bucks since we won't be paying more than we should just to avoid the PR issue.

Linemen on the loose

I still haven't gotten to finish my draft post, and already the aftershocks are coming out:

>> Kevin Shaffer asks for a trade

>> Joe Andruzzi to be released

I'm not too surprised by the Andruzzi move. His play has been pretty unspectacular. Browns management (OK, Crennel) has been championing him as one of the cornerstones of the franchise, I assume for personal reasons and because they like his work ethic and professional attitude (which are nothing to sneer at, but also don't outweigh bad play). In theory we would keep him around a while longer into preseason since it costs us nothing, but I guess Crennel wants to do a favor for his buddy and speed up the inevitable. So it goes. We still have some depth at guard, although this loss kind of eliminates our margin for error.

But whats this about Shaffer wanting out? Whats with these big linemen like Shaffer and Ross Verba turning into whiny primadonnas the moment they don't feel fully appreciated?

Shaffer was payed VERY well to come in and play an important role. Alot of others have called him a failure after his first year, but I wouldn't be upset to see him get another year with a better guard lining up next to him. But in any case, we found a better option than him going forward, and now he may need to adapt to a new role. He should shut up and do his job. If he wanted the freedom to play where and when he desired, he should've worked that into his contract instead of signing a binding contract and collecting a huge signing bonus.

=======================================================
Anybody see the PFT article discussing the Kevin Shaffer "mistake"?

They assume that Savage didn't realize that Shaffer was playing in a different blocking system in Atlanta, and that is why Shaffer didn't perform to expectations. Apparently they think Phil Savage's entire experience with football is as an occasional viewer of ESPN.

This is ridiculous. Of COURSE Savage knew that Shaffer was being pulled into a new position in a new scheme, and that his experience would not directly translate. Not realizing that it would be pretty incompetent for a football writer, let alone for a GM. But part of being GM is projecting how guys will fit in different schemes.

I would also like to make sure we remember the context surrounding the Shaffer signing:
1) Summer of 2005, Ross Verba turns into a headcase and buys out of his contract.

2) New GM and headcoach Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel, already in the midst of dramatic lineup changes on offense and defense, sign LJ Shelton to a one year contract as a stop-gap, since Verba did his crazy-routine well after free agency and the draft had come and gone.

3) Come spring 2006 Shelton is gone, and we need a new LT with no expected chance of drafting one.

4) Shaffer was probably the best available option short of doing another one-year stop-gap measure. He wasn't a franchise left tackle, but those guys are never available in free agency, and he was expensive, but he filled a need. In hindsight a one year stop-gap could have been a better option, but with 20-20 hindsight we could have taken Marcus McNeill in the second round. Might as well have grabbed Marquis Colston in the 6th round, if you're going to start the second guessing.

Shaffer might not be our long-term left tackle, but I would hardly call his signing a mistake.

Ummmm. . . .

I'm speechless.

This morning the talk was that we were chosing between Quinn and Thomas. Now we have BOTH?!

Not only do we get Quinn, but we also prevent Baltimore from getting him (rumors were it was Cleveland, Baltimore, and KC trying to get him).

It pains me a bit that we gave up next year's first round pick plus our second. I think I read that draft value chart says that we should have only needed to give up this year's 2nd and 3rd to get to that spot. I guess the real question is: Would we have used next year's first round pick on somebody better than Brady Quinn? Probably not.

So does this mean that all the mock drafts who predicted the Browns would take Brady Quinn can claim they were right?

Let the line reshuffling begin

Needless to say, I'm happy with the pick of Joe Thomas. Its not a sexy pick, but its a good move to improve things incrementally.

The question is where is he going to fit in on the line? While we drafted him to be a left tackle, it seems like more often than not the elite left tackles take a year or two before they slide over to the pivotal blind side spot.

I'm guessing that Schaeffer holds down LT for this upcoming season. Steinbach at left guard, Fraley at center, Joe Thomas at right guard, and Ryan Tucker at right tackle. And when Tucker goes down hurt, Thomas slides over to right tackle with Seth McKinney, Joe Andruzzi, and Isaac Sowells fighting out for right guard. I also wouldn't be surprised to see one of those three fighting for Fraley's spot at center.

Longer term, Thomas at LT, Schaeffer at RT, Steinbach at LG, Tucker, McKinney, or Sowells at RG, and, dare we hope, LeCharles Bentley at Center? Its a long shot, but DAMN, that would be a line. The beautiful thing about this line: Other than Tucker, Andruzzi, and Fraley, we have alot of years ahead of us for these guys. So not only will they be an immediate upgrade, but they have the potential to be together for a while, and get better each year as a unit, even as each guy individually gets better.

I don't think there are going to be any excuses for the offensive skill positions this year.

High Character Players

I'm really surprised that none of the Cleveland area papers have this story. I had to get it from a link at profootballtalk.com:

Justin Hamilton, Browns 7th round pick in 2006 and Virginia Tech alum, is working with other players to set up memorial scholarships in the names of each of the shooting victims from last week, and has pledged $50,000 of his own money to get it started.

Now THAT is impressive. The kid was a 7th rounder, and earned $275,000 last year. He probably only saw $185,000 of that after taxes. And although it sounds like he's being counted on as a backup safety and special teamer for next season, he is by no means assured of staying around in the league for long. He is making a very real sacrifice of financial security, if not necessarily the money needed to maintain his lifestyle.

Phil Savage has made the point that he looks for high character players. I just figured that meant we wouldn't see their names in pft's Turd Watch. I never guessed that it would mean he'd be bringing in some real humanitarians. I hope that Hamilton sticks around for a while. The cap space that he takes up will probably continue going to good causes.

Maybe his largesse will convince Michael Vick to pony up more than the $10,000 that he got a press release for.

Peterson injured before Browns even draft him

In an interesting twist, its being reported that Adrian Peterson reinjured his collarbone in January, and that the lingering injury COULD require another surgery. Sounds like best case is that he misses offseason workouts and makes it back in time for preseason, and in a less rosy scenario he misses some of preseason too.

In my eyes, this should take him off the table. Beyond the fact that this is one more blow against his health report, the fact that he would miss so much of training camp would automatically mean that he's missing out. I don't understand why rookies missing one or two weeks of training camp is a big deal, but Crennel insists that it puts a damper on their entire rookie season.

Russian Roulette

In my draft board, and in Dawghouse Blog's draft board, we advocated drafting Calvin Johnson (if he's still there) and then trading him.

While it sounds nice and easy, it has some pratfalls. Which would explain why its not a standard practice.

Every year, teams "threaten" to take players who are not their number one choices so that they can induce a trade with a lower team, and it rarely works. Which makes sense: If the team one spot ahead of you is threatening to take your player, you can call their bluff. If they really do take that player, there is no reason that you can't work out the trade while you are on the clock (ala Chargers/Giants swap of Eli Manning for Phillip Rivers).*

So the next logical step for the team that wants to trade down is to draft that player to force the lower team to do the trade. But there are a couple things that can now happen:
>> The lower team DOESN'T really want that player, at any price. You would only get into this situation if the lower team was doing an incredible bluffing job. I don't believe that Tampa or Washington would really pass on Calvin Johnson no matter what.
>> The lower team DOES want the player, but is only willing to pay below-market price. This is a likely scenario. But it still doesn't seem to be that much of an issue. So we take Johnson and can only get a 5th rounder out of Tampa. I could live with that.
>> The lower team DOES want the player, and will pay through the nose for him. That is the ideal scenario.

So, it is a bit of Russian Roulette, but the downside risks seem to be pretty minimal. Worst comes to worst, you still end up with a great player, just the wrong great player.

*Unfortunately, no one ever explained this manuever to Butch Davis, who gave Detroit a 2nd round pick so that we could take Kellen Winslow Jr.
=============================================

Clark Judge on CBS Sportsline has an article saying why the Browns "have" to take Peterson. But he fails to rebut one of the most important knocks against Peterson: his explosiveness and dynamicism means nothing when he's on the bench:
>> His injury history is troubling. Both the number of injuries and the types of injuries. Sure, they may all be "fluke" injuries, but so were most of Courtney Brown's injuries. It doesn't mean anything in the end. Some guys are just injury prone.
>> Even if he stays healthy, he's still only going to be helping us on first and second downs.
>> Time after time teams have proven that you can win with a less than stellar back, or with a tandem of backs. Quarterback by committee, NO! Running Back by committe, SI!
Peterson sounds exciting, and I wouldn't mind being proven wrong if we take him and he stays healthy and productive. But I'm not going to hold back from saying "I told you so" when he gets hurt.

=============================================
Dawg Pound South has a great post making the argument for drafting an offensive tackle.

Since he layed out alot of the numbers, I would like to add to that my own qualitative opinion:
The roles of quarterback, running back, and wide receiver can change drastically from scheme to scheme within the NFL, and espescially from college to the NFL:
>> Running backs need to follow more defined blocking patterns, since they can no longer rely on outrunning and overpowering NFL caliber linebackers and safeties. They also need to be able to pick up more complicated blizting schemes.
>> Quarterbacks have to contend with more frequent blitzing, and also have guys checking their reads to pick off passes to their primary targets
>> Wide Receivers have bigger, more physical CBs who keep them from running their routes and showing off their speed

Obviously tackles have new schemes to contend with and bigger, faster blitzers to worry about. But their job doesn't change neary as much: Keep your quarterback safe, and knock opposing defenders away from the run.

I think thats why its easier for personel guys to project college linemen than other positions. It makes the tackle a much safer pick. You may be losing the "upside" of getting a game-changing skill player, but you eliminate alot of the downside too.

Gone fishin

My estimation of Joe Thomas (Tackle, Wisconsin, potential Browns draft pick) went up after reading this on Profootball Talk:

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that the NFL can't persuade tackle Joe Thomas, a presumed top-five draft pick, to travel to New York for the NFL Draft.

Instead, Thomas will be salmon fishing on Lake Michigan with his father.

The draft seems to be full of fanfare, fancy parties, and "bling". Instead of going for that, this guy will be fishing with his dad. Kind of like the anti-Bralyon Edwards. That sounds like the kind of guy who belongs in Cleveland.

My Draft Board

The official Dwayne Rudd's Helmet Draft Board

We are down to two weeks until the draft. We are still waiting to see which way Oakland will go, but I think I've seen/read enough to have a picture of how I think Phil Savage's draft board should read:

1) Trade Down: I feel that trading down should be a given, in almost any circumstance, since no matter how good a player appears it will almost never make up for the fact that multiple picks gives you a better chance of getting one right.

2) Joe Thomas: I personally do not know ANYTHING about the players in the draft, all I know is what the talking heads tell me, since I by and large ignore college football. But they are saying that Joe Thomas is a "sure thing" left tackle. Given our historical problems on the o-line, as well as the decent track record of tackles taken high in the draft, and this one seems like a no-brainer to me.

Taking Joe Thomas out of the mix, our remaining options (per Phil Savage) are:
>> Jemarcus Russell
>> Adrian Peterson
>> Calvin Johnson
>> Brady Quinn

3) Calvin Johnson: Let me 'splain. I do not want to add another wide receiver to this team, with all our other pressing needs. BUT, our other options are not exactly "pressing needs" either, in my opinion. I would rather we take the best player available. But:

3a) After drafting Calvin Johnson, we should continue trying to trade him for a first round pick plus later picks in the draft. We might not be able to get many trade offers while on the clock if other teams don't believe that we will take Johnson. But if we do take Johnson, and then Tampa is confronted with the choice of a drafting a QB or RB, or giving us their 1st and 3rd (or even 4th) round picks for Johnson, I think they may pull the trigger and make the trade. And if Tampa doesn't make the trade, there is a good chance another team will.

4) Jemarcus Russell or Brady Quinn. I am pretty ambivalent amongst these guys. Both guys have alot of superlatives in their biographies. A QB is not my top choice, but if either of these guys could be another Phillip Rivers or Carson Palmer, it may be worth the risk (at least compared to our other options).

5) Adrian Peterson. I have made my case against him in previous posts. Suffice it to say, he is too injury prone, and decent-to-good running backs are just too easy to find beyond first round picks.

I guess my best case scenario would be us trading down to get two picks later in the first round, at which point we would have more wiggle room to draft need guys, at defensive line, offensive line, or cornerback. But what are the chances?

Peter King comes around?

My last post was complaining about Peter King and his seemingly oblivious view on the draft. Then he comes out with an article that not only validates alot of the things I've been saying about the draft, but he also seems to be blatantly contradicting his earlier article.

Here's the new article:

KANSAS CITY -- Myth of the Month: If a team near the top of the first round of the NFL Draft wants to trade down, it can get a ransom for the pick.

Reality of the Month: In the last two NFL Drafts, no team with a top-10 pick in the first round has traded down for said ransom. In fact, the last two drafts have yielded only one trade with a team in the top 10, but it wasn't a trade-down. It was the Raiders trading the seventh overall pick plus linebacker Napoleon Harris for Randy Moss in 2005; Minnesota chose wideout Troy Williamson with that pick. (Talk about a trade that hurt both teams.)

Is it just me, or does everyone at this time of year have the same knee-jerk thought: If you're Detroit sitting on the No. 2 pick, no matter what happens, you're going to be able to either pick a great prospect, or trade it for a bunch of high picks. But if form holds, we're not going to see many, or any, deals made in the first couple hours of the April 28 draft.

"It's too difficult,'' Chiefs president Carl Peterson said in his office the other day. "You've got a lot of teams that want to get rich by trading down, but nobody wants to trade up.''

Here's why teams are reluctant to make a trade at the top of the draft this year:

1. Making an error by trading up can hurt a team's salary-cap situation and future drafts more than ever. Say a team trades up to the third pick in the draft this year, nabs Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn and guarantees him $20 million -- which is about the amount of guaranteed money the No. 3 overall pick will get. And imagine if Quinn is awful. Contracts can be written with different cap impacts, but suffice it to say, the big guarantee is going to be a Ryan Leaf-type weight on your franchise if Quinn has to be cut after three years at the cost of a $10 million cap hit. Never mind losing the picks it took to get Quinn in the first place. It used to be, when the guarantees were one-third of what they are now, that teams wouldn't fear the cap hit so much. "The cash mistake is bad enough when you blow a high pick,'' Peterson said. "But the cap mistake is worse. And then missing out on the future picks just compounds it.'' Which brings us to ...

2. The fear of the mega-mistake. The last one -- unless Eli ManningPhilip Rivers was chosen fourth by the Giants, and then New York traded Rivers for Manning and threw in future first-, third- and fifth-round picks. The first- and third-rounders became Pro Bowlers Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding, while the fifth-rounder was dealt to Tampa Bay for temporary starting left tackle Roman Oben. shows significantly more than he's shown in three shaky seasons, and fast -- came in 2004. Manning was picked by San Diego at No. 1 overall and

The trade looks bad now, and all it does is scare off teams thinking of trading future high picks to move up a few spots. You don't think Cleveland GM Phil Savage (I think the odds are tall that he'd trade up anyway, from what he tells me) will be very hesitant to trade a second-rounder, or next year's first to move up for JaMarcus Russell? All that's at stake is his job.

3. Too many teams are slaves to the Draft Trade Chart. You may have heard of this chart. It was invented as a way to equalize the value for both sides of a trade in the NFL. I'll use the Giants' silliness as an example of the silliness of the chart. (And I'm not even saying the draft chart was used by Ernie Accorsi when he made this deal; he did not live his life by the chart.) The draft chart assigns a value to each pick in the seven-round draft. Some teams have different values for picks, but the value board does not vary widely.

On the chart I have, the first overall pick is worth 3,000 points; the fourth is worth 1,800. So by the chart, the Giants would have to make up 1,200 points to make the trade. They dealt the 65th pick in the 2004 draft (worth 265 points) and first- and fifth-rounders in 2005. How do you assign value to these picks? For most teams, it's simple. You assume they'll come smack dab in the middle of the round. In this case, the first-round pick in 2005 was worth 1,000, while the fifth-rounder was worth just 34 points. Add those points together, and the Giants actually traded 3,099 points of value for the 3,000 points the top pick was worth.

The only time a team should follow the chart, I think, is when there's such a no-doubt player that you think your team has but one choice, and that's to select Player X. Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson, for instance, in this draft.

On the other side, a team trading down shouldn't think it has to get perfect value in a trade to justify the deal. Case in point: In 1995, when Bill Polian was the Carolina GM, the Panthers had the first pick in the draft. Polian knew he wanted Penn State quarterback Kerry Collins, but he also knew Collins wasn't worth the No. 1 pick. By trading down, even if he didn't get fair "Draft Trade Chart'' value for the pick, he'd be making a smart decision. So he dealt the first pick to Cincinnati for the fifth and 36th overall picks and selected Collins at No. 5. First-pick value: 3,000 points. Combined value of numbers five and 36: 2,240 points.

But Polian knew he couldn't do better, and he also knew if he could get the same player with the fifth pick -- and get a high second-rounder in return, and pay them less, combined, then he would have had to pay the first overall pick -- why not do the deal? Turned out to be just OK for Carolina. Collins did lead the Panthers to the playoffs in his second year, but he and defensive end Shawn King, the second-rounder picked with the other pick from Cincinnati, didn't become the franchise players Polian had hoped for. The Bengals took running back Ki-Jana Carter with the No. 1 overall pick. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but you have to judge value based on what you see in front of you at the time -- not as a fixed system of unbending value based on the Draft Trade Chart.

"What's so interesting about the draft,'' said Peterson, "is that the risk-reward ratio is so much different between the top 10 and the picks you make as you go lower in the draft. You find out how hard it is to say good-bye to players in the top 10 of a draft. That's why you don't see the trades you used to see.''

I hate to say it, but I don't have anything to add. King pretty much says it all.

------------------------------------------------------------------

So the schedule is out:

Date	Opponent	Time/Result
Sep 9	Pittsburgh	1:00pm
Sep 16	Cincinnati	1:00pm
Sep 23	@Oakland	4:05pm
Sep 30	Baltimore	1:00pm
Oct 7	@New England	1:00pm
Oct 14	Miami	1:00pm
Week 7	BYE
Oct 28	@St. Louis	1:00pm
Nov 4	Seattle	4:05pm
Nov 11	@Pittsburgh	1:00pm
Nov 18	@Baltimore	1:00pm
Nov 25	Houston	1:00pm
Dec 2	@Arizona	4:05pm
Dec 9	@N.Y. Jets	4:15pm
Dec 16	Buffalo	1:00pm
Dec 23	@Cincinnati	1:00pm
Dec 30	San Francisco	1:00pm

Some observations:
>> Thats a bear of a beginning, Pittsburgh, Cincinnatti, and Baltimore at home only broken up by a trip to Oakland. Our standing in the AFC North should shape up VERY quickly. Crennel better be sure he gets the team up to speed quickly, because this season could be over before it begins if we go to 0-4 or 1-3.
>> Week 7 bye. Sounds good. It gives you time to look at what needs fixing from games 1-6, and still leaves 10 games in which to fix things.
>> We've had some pretty tough schedules the last few years, but at this point our 07 schedule looks like it might provide a little relief. Oakland, St. Louis, Miami, Houston, Arizona, NY Jets, Buffalo, and San Francisco can't become good in one year.
>> No primetime games on the schedule, although with flexible scheduling, that could change. I can't blame the league for not scheduling Browns games in primetime. Their games are exciting about half the time, and the rest of the time they are just pathetic. Even games we win can end up being bad games to watch (like at Oakland last year).

Thank God Tevye is Poor

From Peter King last week:

If I Were the (Draft) King

Here's what I'd do if I were picking for the teams with the first five choices this year:

1. Raiders
Trade down to No. 6 for the Redskins' first- and second-round picks in 2008 plus WR Antwaan Randle El, and choose QB Brady Quinn. (Washington takes WR Calvin Johnson.)

2. Lions
Trade down a spot for Cleveland's pick and the Browns' 2008 first-rounder and select LT Joe Thomas.

3. Browns
Move up to No. 2, choose QB JaMarcus Russell.

Mr. King may be an idiot, and Phil Savage certainly would be an idiot if he were to do this. Give up a first round pick to move up one spot?!

I don't think Mr. King is really as dumb as this article suggests. I assume his logic was something like this:
> What should Detroit do?
> They should trade down.
> Who will they trade with?
> They should trade with Cleveland, so Detroit can get Joe Thomas at 3.
> What would Cleveland have to give up to trade up to 2?
> Next year's 1st rounder
So I don't think King ever gave any thought to whether or not it would be "worth it" for Cleveland to move up.
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I think this is how these guys put together their mock drafts: First they put together list of the best players (from a generic, non-team specific point of view). Then they go down the draft order, and match their best players against the teams drafting. If the team drafting in a position is unlikely to take that player, then they will either rearrange the their board of players (and complain that the team will be "reaching") or they rearrange the team order by proposing a "trade".

Hidden Messages

PFT says that the Browns may be trading for Trent Green.

I don't give this much creedence:
A) The "report" comes from the Chiefs, who are trying to get more out of Miami for Green (last I heard, Miami was only offering a 7th round pick, and KC wants something alot higher). Miami can play the waiting game, since it is assumed the Cheifs will cut Green this summer, so obviously the Chiefs would love to drum up a bidding war by claiming another team is interested.
B) Phil Savage said the other day that they wouldn't be signing a veteran QB. While this could be pre-draft posturing, obviously any posturing would be totally destroyed by going and getting a QB before the draft.

I have said all along that I don't buy the whole "veteran QB" thing. Sure, it works occassionally, but more often it seems to lead to failure:
- Drew Bledsoe to Buffalo (and Dallas)
- Jeff Garcia to Cleveland and Detroit
- Daunte Culpepper to Miami
- Trent Dilfer to Cleveland
- Kurt Warner to New York and Arizona

Do we really want to add Trent Green to that list at the cost of $7M per year? If anything, sign some more linemen and see how Frye and Anderson do with a little pass protection.

Even a rotten apple has a core

Pat McManamon had a discussion with Randy Lerner. Again Pat is harping on the spending issue. Are there really fans who care how much we spend? Please leave a comment (if blogger lets you) and let me know if you are concerned with how much of Randy's money is becoming Eric Steinbach's money.

Randy is trying to make the (valid) point that we're still trying to build the personel on the team. He had this list of "core" players who are on the team now:

``I have (Joe) Jurevicius, (Orpheus) Roye, Kellen Winslow, Braylon Edwards, Kamerion Wimbley, Sean Jones, Brodney Pool, Eric Jamal Lewis, Andra Davis, Charlie Frye, D'Qwell Jackson, Leigh Bodden, Josh Cribbs for special teams certainly if not other, Steve Heiden, and emerging players like Leon Williams, Lawrence Vickers, Jerome Harrison, Travis Wilson,'' he said. ``So... that's 18. Now are they the 18 of the 35? No. Do we still have holes to fill?''

He then answered his question with another question.

``Do we want to make sure that we have the right wideout, quarterback, running back, pass rusher, cover corner and defensive lineman to really fill out the critical positions?'' he said. ``We got holes to fill, there's no doubt.

``Hopefully we get one or two of those filled this year in the draft. (But) the picture that I'm working off of is not so much to be alarmed by the turnover.''

Charlie Frye? Jerome Harrison? Travis Wilson? Leon Williams? Even if they are "emerging" players (which is certainly debatable), they are not "core", at least as I understand the word.

Meanwhile, there is a conspicuous absence of Offensive Linemen, and I don't know that this is entirely justified. Before 2006, Ryan Tucker would certainly be a core player, and there is hope that he may return to that status. I would call Hank Fraley core. Kevin Schaffer is good to have, although I would prefer to be able to upgrade left tackle and move him to a less demanding position.

Reversals of fortune

Rumors swirling last week were that:
> Winslow could miss '07 because of longer-than-expected recovery from knee surgery
> Bentley could make it back by October

Leave it to Steve Doerschuk (via WTAM) and ONLY Steve Doerschuk to share Phil Savage's rebuttal of these rumors:
> Winslow is on pace to be back for '07
> Bentley is expected to have another knee surgery in May, making an '07 comeback impossible
> Baxter is making progress, but no word on what that means. The fact that he is even WALKING is progress, but it doesn't necessarily help the Browns

I guess the PD and ABJ don't report this stuff because WTAM got the scoop, and they are "above" reporting other organizations' exclusives. I guess that is their business, but I prefer Doerschuk who is more about reporting Browns news, not getting the exclusive.

Avoiding minced words

Any draft analysis I've thrown out there so far should have the following disclaimer attached: Any daydreams involving us drafting a QB, WR, or RB are based purely on whether or not we CAN get the player, not whether we SHOULD get the player.

I still maintain that we need to invest a majority of draft picks in our offensive and defensive lines.

Bitterfans had a good post that reminded me that, despite my musing about whether or not Quinn or Russell will fall to us, the #1 priority should be: if Joe Thomas falls to us and we can't finegle a trade down, we MUST take him, end of story. By all reports, he's too good of a player, and tackle is too big of a need.

I'm still not ready to put together my list of who we should go after, but I can guarantee that the number one option is "trade down" and the number two option is "Joe Thomas".

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I had missed the word, as posted at http://www.dawg-pound.net/, that the Broncos signed Alvin McKinley. So now he's reunited with Gerard Warren, Kenard Lang, Ebenezer Ekuban, et al. Although Courtney Brown won't be able to round out the club, since he was cut. Guess the Broncos got just as frustrated as the Browns waiting for him to heal.

Money to burn

We got a fourth round pick for Rueben Droughns? I didn't know that, but thats what this Patrick McManamon piece says. Or, maybe he's mistaking the 7th rounder that we got for Dilfer for a 4th rounder.

I don't know that I get much from the rest of the article. So we're throwing alot of money at free agents. Its not like we are short of cash to pay the superstars on our roster. Fact is, the NFL limits the number of guys you can keep on the roster, so quantity over quality isn't an option (although I agree that having as many draft picks as possible is the way to go). Also, there is a salary floor as well as a salary cap, so the Browns HAVE to burn money on players. Yeah, it'd be great if we had some pro-bowlers on the roster whose deals we could extend, instead of picking up guys who may or may not be new pieces. But we don't, so what is management supposed to do, sign Simon Fraser through 2050? Once quality guys start leaving because they can get more money somewhere else, I'll complain, but for now I'm content with the mere hope that the signings might make us a little better.

CBS noted that the Browns only have nine players left from the Butch Davis era. I believe those nine are:

- Leigh Bodden
- Sean Jones
- Andra Davis
- Mason Unck
- Orpheus Roye
- Phil Dawson
- Kellen Winslow
- Ryan Tucker
- Steve Heiden
- Ryan Pontbriand, LSE

Maybe my counting skills are rusty, but I count 10. Of course, there was plenty of Butch Davis trash to get rid of. But those guys make up a majority of our decent players.

Money for nothing

This article, as linked by PFT, has a blurb saying the Packers and three other teams were trying to trade for FB Terrelle Smith before the Browns cut him.

My first thought: Why the heck would we cut him, if we could have gotten something for him?

We'll probably never know why, considering this franchise won't even admit the extent of player injuries. But I assume that the other teams were planning on playing the waiting game until after Smith got the roster bonus the Browns owed him in the upcoming weeks. So, we either had to put our money where our mouth is, by paying the roster bonus in the HOPES of getting a trade, or we had to cut him to avoid using cap space on a guy who won't be around next year.

I guess it makes sense if the trade value was pretty small (like a 7th round pick). Hopefully that was the case. I'd hate to think Randy Lerner was just trying to save cash at the expense of possibly improving the team through extra draft picks.

In any case, at least the potential trade explains why we held onto a veteran to his detriment rather than cutting him at the beginning of free agency, which I believe is SOP if you don't want to be known as a team that screws their players.

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Speaking of Lerner and trading for draft picks, this NFL.com story, if true, gives some very interesting details. It claims that Lerner is directing Savage to draft a QB, and that Detroit is pushing a hard sell to force us to give them the farm so we can swap picks.

Now, before getting too worked up, lets keep in mind that the "NFL sources" that gave the writer this info are probably just Lions management that want to drum up a trade market for their draft pick. Its just like politicians anonymously leaking skewed classified information that supports their agenda (if that ever happened, which I'm sure it hasn't). So the Lions hope is that, even if Cleveland doesn't go for broke to trade up for a QB, another team like Houston or Minnesota will believe that we will, so they will go for broke to win the derby.

Lets consider the facts:
> Its still not a forgone conclusion that Oakland is going to take a QB. Rumors are running rampant that Oakland might trade Randy Moss for Packers backup QB Aaron Rodgers. If this comes about, this would have a huge impact on the draft, because Oakland would have MUCH less need to draft a QB (which they have proven to be loath to do by passing on Matt Leinart last year) and much more in need of a WR, like top-rated prospect Calvin Johnson. And if Oakland takes Johnson, both Russell and Quinn will be there at two, meaning the Browns would be assured of getting one of the two no matter what.
> A big deciding factor in whether or not someone will trade up to 2 is whether or not they believe Detroit will take a QB. After all, if Detroit isn't going to take a QB, then no one will want to trade up to 2 when they can trade up to 3 for alot less and still get the guy they want (unless they're convinced that the Browns WILL take a QB, no matter what is offered in a trade, but I can't believe that Phil Savage would mortgage our future like that). Now, Detroit also passed on Matt Leinart last year, and with the Joey Harrington debacle still hanging over Matt Millen's head, and also taking into account their rumored man-crush on Joe Thomas, they are going to have to do ALOT of selling to convince other teams that they really will pull the trigger on a QB.
> Even if Detroit makes a convincing sell that they will take a QB, lets not count out Phil Savage's self-restraint. As Exhibit A, I point you to the days and seconds leading up to the 2005 draft: In '05, Miami put out an enormously hard sell trying to get us to trade up for Braylon Edwards, to the point that Braylon was expecting to have a Lions hat on his head at any moment. And Savage really wanted Edwards, not only because he was the best player (by what was known then, not now), but because we didn't have too many better options if we didn't get Edwards. After all, the next guys off the board were Cedric Benson, Cadillac Williams, Adam "Pacman" "Multiple Felon" Jones, and Troy "Blind & Butterfingers" Williamson, all of whom would probably have been worse picks than Edwards. But even under those pressing circumstances, Phil kept a calm head and didn't bite, saving valuable draft picks and STILL getting the guy he wanted. And this year, he'll have some pretty good fall-back options in Joe Thomas (if no QBs are left) or Adrian Peterson.
> If Phil has to take a QB this year, he could still wait until round two or three and get Troy Smith (although that might be going overboard on the Smiths). Not that Troy Smith is being thrown around as a sure-fire franchise QB, but bringing him to Cleveland would drum up more fan-base excitement than either of the other top two QBs.

So don't get worked up about any rumors that come out over the next month and a half. There's still alot of hands to play. For now, keep your eye on the Moss for Rodgers deal. If that goes down, we're pretty much guaranteed to have a QB fall to us at 3, whether we decide to draft him or trade down.

Extra help

Sounds like good news to me. The Browns signed Robaire Smith, DT, and Seth McKinney, OL. McKinney sounds like an injury risk who could pay off as a solid backup, but Smith sounds like a pretty decent veteran hole plugger. Probably a step up from Alvin McKinley.

In another move, Terrelle Smith, FB, was cut. I assume that this was just a cost saving measure, as now they can just give Terrelle's old jersey's to Robaire. I assume that this is more a vote of confidence in Lawrence Vickers than a dig at Smith.

Robaire seems to be coming at a decent price: $12M over 4 years. I'm glad that we've finally started to address one of the most glaring holes. At the risk of sounding like Tony Grossi, I just worry that these signings means that Savage is covering his lines with free agents so that he can go and draft non-linemen. Plugging the holes is good and all, but its no substitute for drafting guys. I still say that we should get at least 3 or 4 o- or d- linemen out of this draft.

Pro Bowlers and Kingpins

I've read a number of news items that have tried to disparage the Browns' signing of Eric Steinbach by pointing out that he hasn't been to any Pro Bowls. This comes from the same guys who (correctly) complain that Pro Bowl rosters are popularity contests that ignore the young quality players who deserve to be honor and focus on over-hyped has-beens.

Its even more inconsistent, since pretty much everyone agreed that Eric Steinbach was the best Offensive Linemen available, and that he was one of the best free agents overall.

So which is it? Is the Pro Bowl a joke? Or is Steinbach a bum because he hasn't been to a Pro Bowl?

Secondary Concern

According to Profootballtalk, Brian Russell has signed with the Seahawks, making it official that he won't be coming back to the Browns.

Russell has been decent. Not great, but he was one of those "veterans" that everyone is always talking about. Seemed like a good teammate, and he had some memorable hits. He wouldn't have been expensive to bring back, even as a backup, so the fact that we didn't resign him must mean that Savage and Crennel think that Brodney Pool is ready for the other safety spot. He did a good job as a spot CB last season, so I look forward to seeing what he does full time.

Pool and Sean Jones give us a set of quality, quick, young safeties. If our CBs can prove reliable in single coverage and don't need the safeties to back them up, we should expect to see some exciting defensive play, like we saw at the beginning of last season.

But will the CBs be able to hold their own? Leigh Bodden is plenty good when healthy, but he hasn't proven to be an iron man. Right now it looks like Daven Holly will start accross from Bodden. Holly has looked pretty decent at times, but he doesn't shut down opposing receivers, and he can get beat on big plays, too. But he is still maturing, so we could see an even better player next year.

But who's behind Bodden and Holly? Gary Baxter, even if he does manage to walk again this season, most likely won't be able to run fast enough to fill in as nicklel or dime. New free agent Kenny Wright sounds like he might be a Ray Mickens. Better than Ralph Brown, hopefully, but still a career backup. We also might see 06 draft pick Demario Minter, or an 07 draftee.

So we are nowhere near set at CB. If we had one more solid starter (like Gary Baxter, if healthy) we would be looking pretty set. But now, we might have enough to survive, but if we see any injury problems like last year, it could term ugly quickly enough.

I guess management was partying too much in 1999

Rueben Droughns to Giants for a backup receiver. Nothing unexpected there. Rueben might motivate himself now that he realizes he can't rest on a couple decent years, but even at his best he's merely decent.

Our new receiver, Tim Carter, was a second round pick, but over a few years he has pretty unimpressive numbers. Will he make the roster? Chances are probably 50/50.
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But the bigger news is the cutting of Daylon McCutcheon. There had been inklings that it would happen, but no word that I've seen as to why. This is only excusable if Cutch's career is over, or if he has some undisclosed personal issues. If he proves to still have a few years left, even as a nickleback, then that just ain't right.

Its not the McCutcheon is (or was) great or anything, although he was servicable and given our issues at CB, a serviceable CB is a couple steps up from Ralph Brown. But he's the only remaining player from the 1999 draft class.

With Northcutt leaving a couple weeks back the 2000 draft class was cleared out. 2001's last player was Gerrard Warren. Our oldest draft pick still on roster is Andra Davis, from the 2002 draft. With McCutcheon going, its just a poignaint reminder of how many possibilities this organization has flushed down the toilet.

Without releasing any sort of statement as to why he was cut, it shows a real lack of understanding of the emotions of the fans. We've had so much crap, we've had to glom on to any pieces of decent that we could find. So we've had to form emotional attachments to these merely OK players because there have been no other options. But now those guys are cut, and that comes just days after Savage signed Jamal Lewis and flirted with signing Joey Porter.

Its interesting reading takes on the Lewis signing. Alot of the mainstream news sites call it an OK, if unspectacular upgrade. Most fanblogs, however, seem to see it kind of like I did: even if he's a marginally better player than Droughns, its not worth the cost of making a deal with the devil. Jamal Lewis represents too many dark moments for Browns fans. I don't think I'll ever be able to take true pleasure in any achievements he may have in a Browns uniform.

Phil, I want you to build us a winner. But please try to understand what we've been through. Make sure you've got a good reason for signing a nemesis, or for cutting a friend. And if you've got to do it, at least let us know whats going on. And for the love of God, don't try to replace Phil Dawson.

A deal with the devil

So Savage decided to bring in Jamal Lewis. Well, hopefully Droughns gets cut, so that our net thug level is only increased slightly by his addition.

I don't expect this will change much. It doesn't do anything to address our big holes at CB and D-Line.

Holes in the Defense

Through nearly a week of free agency we have added a couple pieces. But conspicuously absent from our list of signings is any defensive linemen. Here is the current state of our defensive line:

On Roster
> Simon Fraser
> Babatunde Oshinowo (!)
> J'vonne Parker
> Orpheus Roye
> Ted Washington

Practice Squaders/ NFL Europe players
> Ulrich Winkley
> Orien Harris
> Alvin Smith

Free Agents (not signed, not likely to be signed)
> Alvin McKinley
> Nick Eason
> Ethan Kelley

Now, last year's line had issues. The decent players (Roye and Washington) are aging very quickly. And of the marginal to bad players that we have, we're not making any attempt to retain three of them.

This is shaping up to be a very ugly situation. Want to see a good run defense? Don't watch the Browns in '07.
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Maybe the Browns think that they can make the run defense better by bringing in the guy who has had the most success exposing the holes. Plain Dealer reports that Jamal Lewis is coming for a visit.

For all that is holy, don't sign this guy. I mean, he spent part of last offseason in prison. And its not like he's a great, irreplaceable player. Better than what we have? Perhaps. But we could do better with a number of free agents.

Cleveland Clinic gets a new patient

In a repeat of last year, the Browns throw big money at the top rated offensive line free agent and get him to sign. This year is Eric Steinbach, formerly known for keeping Carson Palmer upright. I think its a good sign that they were able to convince him to sign without visiting other places first. He may have gotten more money from Tampa Bay who was talking about putting him at tackle.

Glad to see some more help brought into the line. With him and Fraley in place, we're already better than last year. Of course, thats assuming he survives. And with the Browns, I really am expecting SOMETHING cataclysmic to happen.

He has his blemish as part of the Bengals' convict crew. But his citation (boating under the influence) is pretty minor compared to alot of things that have gone on down in Porkopolis.

My only complaint is that we're in the position where we have to pay the huge money for the safest guy. There are other guards out there who would have been CONSIDERABLY cheaper who could have been as good or better as Steinbach. But they'd be riskier propositions. And with Phil Savage's and Romeo Crennel's backs against the wall by "Win today or fire the coach" fans, they have no choice but to overspend now, because they don't have the luxury of paying attention to silly things like "the salary cap".

So, even if its not the most prudent signing ever, it should serve to help. Until the curse rears its ugly head.

Hey Porter

Steelers cut Joey Porter

Too bad, I was looking forward to seeing Kellen Winslow knock him around a little more.

$10 says he goes to the Ravens are Bengals. He would fit in perfectly with either teams' thug mentality.

Whats in a name, after all

I was clicking around Tuesday Morning Quarterback's mock draft for 2010, and I was glad to see us listed as the number 2 AFC team:

29. CLEVELAND PINKS: Steve Weedon, LB, West Virginia
Traditionalists continue to be outraged that the Browns' name was altered as part of the league's attempt to broaden its appeal to women.

I'll take a name change, even a bad one, if it means we get to draft 29th.

I also got a good chuckle out of this one:

26. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS: DeMarco Murray, RB, Oklahoma
People laughed when Britney Spears bulked up to 345 pounds and joined the Jags as a nose tackle. They're not laughing now.

"Not so Free" Agency

Free agency starts tomorrow. I'm sure we'll see a spending spree by the Browns. I expect we'll pick up:
> At least two Offensive Linemen (or three if we can't resign Hank Fraley).
> Also expect a cornerback, although not necessarily a top-tier one. We've seen too much success lately with no names like Daven Holly and Leigh Bodden to justify overpaying for a guy who is one or two seasons from being over the hill.
> Defensive Linemen. Multiple. Probably no bank-breakers.

Its now four years out from the 2003 draft. Normally the Browns would be making contract offers to the 2003 draftees to keep them from restricted free agency. But that was the year John Collins made his brilliant move of forcing all rookies to sign 5 year deals. So we get to hang onto the following guys without worrying about redoing deals this year or next year:
> Jeff Faine
> Chaun Thompson
> Chris Crocker
> Lee Suggs
> Ryan Pontbriand (LSE!)
> Micheal Lehan
> Antonio Garay
Looking at lists like that, can you really put all the blame on Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel?