Patrick Peterson or Cam Newton in Cleveland?

It's time for smoke screens, deceptions, and misdirections. Cam Newton, the mercurial quarterback from Auburn, has been discussed by Mike Holmgren. Patrick Peterson, some say the best player in the draft, is working out in Cleveland today. Holmgren wants a home run hitter, and either of these guys would fit that bill. Newton's upside would create as much buzz in Cleveland as any player in the draft, and his strong arm and athleticism can create those home runs that our chief wants. Patrick Peterson is a very good, very athletic defender, but he also has the ability to return kicks or turnovers for a touchdown. That would be quite the home run.

Will either of these players land in Cleveland? I doubt it. It's easy to get caught up in the latest rumors and get excited about them, but every team is allowed to bring in 30 prospects for private workouts and it would be silly for the Browns to not get a workout with a potential high pick. I personally doubt that either Cam Newton or Patrick Peterson will be available for the Browns' first pick, but this is the time to gather information. The draft is inching closer and who knows what can happen, every year there is a surprise or two or fifty. All I know is that it's going to be fun.

Surviving the Lockout in Cleveland

And boom went the dynamite. The lockout has begun, the Players' Union is no more, and we must now prepare for the potentially long winter ahead of us without football activities. How will the Browns handle the changes in their offseason schedule? New starting quarterback Colt McCoy cannot study the playbook to get a leg up on his new offense. Linebacker D'Qwell Jackson cannot study the playbook for the new defense he will be leading next fall. Veteran kicker Phil Dawson can still kick as many footballs as he wants in his backyard. So it's not all doom and gloom, even though the Browns will probably be one of the hardest hit teams by the lockout.

I'm not the first to say this, and I'm sure I won't be the last, but this lockout is really bad timing for the Cleveland Browns. Three new coordinators in Cleveland, a new offense, a new defense, a new head coach, and who-knows-how-many new players to add to the mix all mean that the Browns will have a lot of catching up to do before they can realistically compete with the top teams in the AFC North. Fortunately for us fans, the Browns are at the beginning of our latest rebuilding effort so it's not like we were going to contend for the division title anyways. How's that for some optimism? Unlike how Bengals fans must have felt last season, we can begin preparing ourselves for another 4-12 season right now instead of realizing it halfway through the 2011 season! Isn't that something to be proud of?

On the upside, young Colt McCoy was able to gain some valuable experience last season so at least he has something to work off of heading into next season. Fan favorite Peyton Hillis, who wore down at the end of last year, should be very happy about having more time to rest his legs in preparation for another physical season. Running back is a position that doesn't require as much time to catch up as other positions, and Hillis is already well suited to a pass-first offense. Recent second-round picks Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi should spend their free time working on improving their hands, but they will be a little behind in trying to grasp the West Coast offense concepts because of the lockout. Tight ends Ben Watson and Evan Moore should actually benefit a little from having more time off. Watson is a veteran player from New England, so he should be familiar with pass-heavy offenses and Moore can probably use as much time as possible to make sure he is healthy for next season. The offensive line is made up of veterans and smart young players like Alex Mack. Second-year guard Shawn Lauvao is the only inexperienced lineman on the roster that could see significant playing time next year.

The defensive line and linebacking corps will also have a lot of catching up to do to become acquainted with new coordinator Dick Jauron's scheme. These front seven players have the most transitioning to do as they must now learn how to play the 4-3. Veterans Scott Fujita and Matt Roth have experience playing in this scheme, so hopefully they can help the younger guys learn their new positions quickly. The defensive backfield will be the spot least affected by the scheme change, as Jerome Henderson, the defensive backs coach, was one of the few members of Eric Mangini's staff that was retained. There will be some schematic differences that affect them because of the scheme change, but not as much as other positions on the field.

As far as overall strategies are concerned, the Browns are in a pretty good place regarding the lockout. While there will be no free agency until more progress is made on the CBA, the draft will still go ahead as planned. As teams like the Ravens, Steelers, and Green Bay Packers have demonstrated, it is wise to build through the draft and that is exactly what czar Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert will be doing this offseason. So far there have been rumors of many private workouts being held for the Browns, including one for high-profile prospect Cam Newton. As we all know, Holmgren loves working with quarterbacks and any insider info he can glean from a workout can only help us in the future, even if we don't draft a quarterback high in the draft. Overall, I think the concerns about the Browns are a little overblown. Yes, the lockout will hurt, but we are rebuilding anyways so going from a potential 6-10 team to a 4-12 team is not that much of a difference, even for long-suffering Browns fans.

As always, stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed for a new CBA.

Keeping up with the Browns

Image courtesy of SI.com.

With a lockout looming ahead of us, the Browns have not been standing still. The recent extensions to the existing CBA have not allowed free agency to kick off, but there has still been much to do. And for once I'm not even talking about the draft!





Backup quarterback Seneca Wallace was signed to a three year deal worth $9 million. I'm hoping this means that Seneca is fine with being the backup to starting quarterback Colt McCoy, but we shall see. His familiarity with Mike Holmgren and the West Coast offense surely contributed to this deal, and he could prove to be a good mentor to Colt McCoy.





D'Qwell Jackson was signed to a one year, incentive-laden contract that could be worth up to $4.5 million if he reaches his incentives. I'm all for incentive-driven contracts, it's a win-win situation for the team and it inspires the players to play their best. If Jackson is ineffective, he earns very little money. If he is a difference-maker, he gets every penny of that $4.5 million. What's not to like?





Cornerback Eric Wright was given a second-round tender by the Browns. To me, that means that despite his terrible season in 2010, the Browns are confident that Wright can get right and return to his previous form. GM Tom Heckert has expressed confidence in Wright and a desire to retain him. Wright himself has stated a desire to finish his career in Cleveland. I hope he is still here next year, and can return to form as one of the league's better cover corners. With Sheldon Brown's age starting to creep upwards, a tandem of Wright and young Joe Haden might be seen in Cleveland for a long time. If nothing else, we can at least be very sure that we have the most confident secondary around.





TE Evan Moore also received a second-round tender by the Browns. The two tender offers given by the Browns likely mean that Moore and Wright will be back, because I doubt too many NFL teams will want to give up a second-round pick to sign either of these players. Moore, when healthy, has shown that he has excellent receiving abilities and could be a great target for Colt McCoy in his development.





If you're interested in the ongoing CBA discussions, here is an article at WFNY that might suit your fancy. It's a two-parter, with the first part being linked to in at the top of that page.





While this is a football blog, I can't ignore the Buckeyes. They capped off their impressive regular season with a flurry of 3-pointers and buried Wisconsin (and everybody's favorite coach Bo Ryan). Jon Deibler (also known as 3-bler) has hit 17 of 20 three-pointers in the last two games, and has also led the team in fired-up snarls after a big make. He reminds me of a miniature Wally Szczerbiak with his pin-point shooting and exuberance, and I love watching it. This team will be fun to watch in the Big Ten tournament and the Big Dance. Go Bucks!

Browns Roundup

Photo courtesy of Cleveland.com.

For the first time in a while, it feels like it's actually been a busy week in the football world. Labor negotiations are ongoing, and some progress has reportedly been made. The NFL Combine started yesterday, franchise tags have been thrown around all over the place, and some free agents have already changed teams. It's a fun time.

The Browns have not been standing still while all of this is going on. Longtime Cleveland kicker Phil Dawson received the franchise tag, which will keep him in brown and orange for at least one more year.



Josh Cribbs was involved in a PR uproar involving less-than-beloved Lebron James.



Mike Holmgren has been in the news for his comments about quarterbacks and the team's draft needs. Holmgren still has his support fully behind young Colt McCoy, but he will also be meeting with other quarterbacks in the draft. This will help him gauge their value in potential trade-downs. He is also well-known for selecting a quarterback at some point in nearly every draft he's been a part of. Holmgren also wants "a home-run hitter." To me, that means A.J. Green and I would be ecstatic if that came to pass. However, Green is hardly the only "home-run hitter" in this year's draft.


It's getting to be a busy time in the NFL, so check back soon for more updates and news.

Browns Draft Strategy?

Photo courtesy of cleveland.com.

If you hadn't noticed already, I love to talk about the draft. The strategies, the rankings, the projections, the massive overload of numbers, statistics, measurements, and Wonderlic Tests is fascinating. So today we're going to take a look at potential draft strategies for the Browns.

Best Player Available (BPA)
This strategy is probably most often used by teams that are winning organizations and are drafting lower in the first round. They often don't have any glaring holes in their roster, which gives them the luxury of stockpiling talent and figuring out how to best utilize that talent later. The Patriots seem to be masters of this strategy. This is also a good strategy for teams that are extremely bad and have many gaping holes to fill, so they might as well grab the best player that will make the most impact. For example, see Lions (2009 draft) and Rams (2010 draft). Both teams had (and have) many holes to fill, but they each took the best player on their draft boards. If you're in a hole, you've got to start digging somewhere, right?

Drafting for Need
This strategy is most useful when a team has just one or two weak spots to fill, and they take the player that best fills that weak spot no matter where they are in the draft. This strategy can often lead to "reaching" for a pick that a team may have been able to acquire later, or it can lead to endless trading down to stockpile picks and still get the player that fills the one weakness. Former Browns coach Eric Mangini appeared to use this strategy in the 2009 draft. The coaching staff had decided that center was an area of need, and instead of taking the best player available (which wouldn't have filled that particular need) or reaching for center Alex Mack, the Browns traded down in the first round, acquired more assets, and still were able to draft Mack as the 21st overall pick.

In addition to these two main strategies, there are endless combinations and permutations of these plans that a team will use depending on their needs, the current draft class, and the preferences of their coach and general manager.

Now that we all understand what could happen, what do we all think will happen? With Eric Mangini calling the shots, it appeared that he preferred to draft for need. We don't have a long history to look at, but that seemed to be his strategy with his selections of Mack in the first round, Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi in the second round, and rush linebackers later in the draft. Based on the production of most of the players from that draft, I think it's safe to say that many of them were reaches that Mangini took based on need.

With GM Tom Heckert, coach Pat Shurmur, and president Mike Holmgren at the helm, I think the Browns will be taking a BPA-oriented strategy. In the 2010 draft, with Mangini, Heckert, and Holmgren, BPA happened to line up pretty well with team need as the Browns took Joe Haden, Montario Hardesty, T.J. Ward, and Colt McCoy in the first three rounds. I believe the selection of Colt McCoy in the third round is very important, because the Browns selected the best player left in the draft at that point despite having just brought in Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace. I believe this shows just who was calling the shots in 2010, and how they are likely to decide in 2011 and beyond. The 2010 draft also shows a lot of balance between offense and defense, and Tom Heckert's past drafts in Philadelphia also seem to be very balanced in that regard.

I'm usually a supporter of departed coach Eric Mangini, but I will admit that Tom Heckert is a better draft decision-maker for the Browns. For this year's draft, taking the best player available is our best option at pick #6. The draft is still too far away to have a really good idea of what's going to happen in picks one through five, but those picks will have a huge impact on who the Browns choose. In my opinion (as well as ESPN's Scouts Inc.), the top four prospects in this draft are Patrick Peterson, A.J. Green, Da'Quan Bowers, and Nick Fairley, in no particular order. After that I believe there is a clear drop-off to the second-tier . If any of those top four players fall to the Browns' pick at #6, it would be wise to snatch him up immediately. If more than one of them are still available (a distinct possibility), then there will be decisions to make. Personally, I would rank them on my draft board with A.J. Green first, Da'Quan Bowers second, Nick Fairley third, and Patrick Peterson fourth. Their talent levels are all extremely high and difficult to differentiate, but this order gives more priority to positions of need for the Browns.

If the worst-case scenario comes to pass and the top four are off the board by the time the Browns' pick rolls around, then I would suggest trading down a few picks while aiming to take somebody like Julio Jones or J.J. Watt. This strategy would basically mirror Mangini's 2009 draft strategy. To extend the comparison even further, we could dangle Blaine Gabbert and/or Cam Newton (if either or both are available) in front of teams like San Francisco, Tennessee, Washington, Minnesota, or Miami. Much like Mangini dangled Mark Sanchez in front of the Jets, Heckert and Holmgren could potentially entice a QB-needy team (and there are plenty) to take the 6th pick off of our hands in exchange for their first rounder and a late-round pick or two. If there are no takers, then I would advise taking the best player remaining from the second-tier choices. Marcel Dareus and Robert Quinn would be likely picks at this point. However, I don't expect it to reach this point. If the top four prospects are gone, then at least one of the highly-rated quarterbacks will still be around to use as a pawn in Holmgren's chess match.

Another factor to consider, as discussed here by Mike Mayock of NFL Network, is the extraordinary depth of quality defensive linemen in this year's draft. The Browns could probably find a capable starter in the second round or perhaps later, while wide reciever talent in this draft doesn't seem to offer the same options. However, with the NFL Combine in a week and a long time until the draft, much could change. That's one of my favorite parts of the draft experience. Stocks can rise and fall repeatedly, because of the combine and pro days and character reports and injuries and so many other factors, anything can happen.

As always, stay tuned for more Browns coverage. Also, I reserve the right to change my mind about any of this stuff for any reason. I'm a fickle sports fan and I always remember the last highlight film I saw the best. Youtube has already managed to make me change my mind three times today, so it promises to be a fun couple of months until all of this gets sorted out once and for all (for a year, that is.)

Browns Mock Draft Roundup

The Super Bowl is over and I'm just about sick of hearing about the Packers' glorious vanquishing of the hated Steelers, as pleasant as it may be. So let's switch gears a little bit. We all know that organizations that draft well are generally successful, as the Packers and Steelers have just demonstrated and many writers have covered in detail. With that in mind, let's take a look at a few predictions for the coming draft.

Mocking the Draft is one of my favorite sites for draft info. Member Jon Dove has the Browns selecting Robert Quinn, DE from North Carolina, at #6 overall. Unfortunately, Dove sees the Bengals snagging A.J. Green a couple spots ahead of the Browns. He also has DT Marcel Dareus from Alabama sliding until the eleventh pick. If the first five picks pan out as he projects, I think Dareus will definitely be an option along with Quinn.

Matt Maiocco, of CSNBayArea.com, has coveted receiver A.J. Green sliding to the Browns. Also notable is his prediction of Auburn QB Cam Newton going to the Panthers at #1 overall. He doesn't go in-depth, but I think it's readily apparent that A.J. Green in Cleveland would be great for Browns fans. It also seems likely that Maiocco is not high on Panthers QB Jimmy Claussen, a second-rounder from last year's draft.

A player to keep on eye on in Round 2 is Pitt receiver Jonathon Baldwin. His size, sure hands, and ability to run after the catch could fit well in the Browns' new West Coast offense, especially if Holmgren and company do not take Green or Julio Jones in the first round. Baldwin does not appear to have world class athleticism and does not have a great ability to gain separation from defenders, but he is capable of making tough catches and easy catches alike despite good coverage.

Here is a look at two guys that are not often discussed for the Browns' pick at #6. Dawgs By Nature member realmccoy believes that Von Miller, LB from Texas A&M, and Prince Amukamura, CB from Nebraska, are likely candidates to be selected by the Browns. Von Miller, a great pass-rushing linebacker, would improve the meager pass rush of the Browns, but he may fit better in a 3-4 scheme. I don't believe the secondary is a big concern with our two rookies playing so well, but Sheldon Brown is not getting any younger. The thought of Haden and Amukamura roughing up and shutting down opposing wideouts reminds me of what it must have been like to see Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield barking at the Dawg Pound. There are certainly bigger needs for the Browns, but there is something to be said for taking the best player available and strengthening a strength. For what it's worth, ESPN.com lists Miller and Amukamura as the 5th- and 8th-best prospects in this draft.

By my count there are only 78 days left until the draft begins, so until then it's all just speculation. But it sure is fun. Be sure to check back for more Browns news, notes, predictions, and who-knows-what-else.