TallySaint

Cleveland Browns
Team Report: Strategy and Personnel


The competition between Ken Dorsey and Derek Anderson to be the backup to starting quarterback Charlie Frye ended in a dead heat. Coach Romeo Crennel said one of them could be listed as No. 2 one week and the other at No. 2 the next week.

Whether that is a good or bad thing for the Browns is answered in the following response from Crennel: "Nobody has played well enough to rule out the option of bringing somebody else in," Crennel said. "We can bring somebody in at anytime, and I tell them that."



PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Jerome Harrison -- It looks like the Browns hit the jackpot in the fifth round when they drafted the 5-foot-9, 199-pound running back from Washington State. The kid can scoot. He isn't as bulky in the arms and chest as many running backs and that makes it easier for him to catch swing passes. He gains most of his yardage outside the tackles but he is not afraid to dodge inside.



DRAFT PICKS TO STICK:

Rd. 1/13, LB Kamerion Wimbley, Florida State -- Wimbley is behind Willie McGinest at LOLB, but on opening day he could start at right outside linebacker because of his pass rush and because his pass coverage is adequate and improving.

Rd. 2/34, ILB D'Qwell Jackson, Maryland -- Jackson is holding off a challenge from Chaun Thompson to be one of the starters on the inside. His pass coverage needs work but he is strong against the run.

Rd. 3/78, WR Travis Wilson, Oklahoma -- Wilson is behind Braylon Edwards, Joe Jurevicius and Dennis Northcutt on the depth chart. He is smart and fights for the ball. His coming-out party will be in 2007.

Rd. 4/110, ILB Leon Williams, Miami -- Williams will see most of his playing time on special teams this season.

Rd. 4/112, G Isaac Sowells, Indiana -- Sowells sprained his ankle early in training camp. It set back his development to be a starter next season.

Rd. 5/145, RB Jerome Harrison, Washington State -- Harrison could be the best value pick of the draft for the Browns. He won't start but he'll get plenty of playing time on third down.

Rd. 6/180, FB Lawrence Vickers, Colorado -- Vickers is a fullback who can catch and run, but as a lead blocker he is behind Terrelle Smith.

Rd. 6/181, NT Babatunde Oshinowo, Stanford -- This is a developmental season for Oshinowo. He is light for a nose tackle. In his words his 'technique has to be perfect' and it isn't yet.

Rd. 7/222, S Justin Hamilton, Virginia Tech -- Hamilton will play predominantly on special teams but he could be the starting free safety in 2007.




UNIT-BY-UNIT ANALYSIS

QUARTERBACK: Starter Charlie Frye. Backups - Ken Dorsey and Derek Anderson.

Frye is unflappable. He is mobile enough to slip away from the pass rush and clever enough to rescue a play when it breaks down. His passes don't wobble as they did sometimes last year. Depth is a problem. Dorsey doesn't have enough velocity on his passes and Anderson has never played in a regular season game. For now, though, Coach Romeo Crennel is sticking with the pair.

RUNNING BACKS: Starter Reuben Droughns. Backups William Green and Jerome Harrison. Starting FB Terrelle Smith. Backup Lawrence Vickers.

Droughns describes himself as a straight ahead runner. What he actually does is cut once and then accelerate. He is gunning for his third straight 1,000-yard season. Green won't play much if Droughns stays healthy. Harrison is versatile. If Droughns does not reach 1,000 yards it will be because Harrison chews into his playing time. Smith is a power blocker. Vickers lined up as a tailback in training camp goal line drills.

TIGHT ENDS: Starter -- Kellen Winslow Jr. Backups -- Steve Heiden and Darnell Dinkins.

Winslow missed the last 30 games with injuries but through sheer determination and stubbornness is back to where he was as a rookie physically. He is mature and a team leader. He can split the middle of the defense with his speed. Heiden will keep the chains moving on third down. Dinkins is a blocker and a special teams player, but he is also good for 15 to 20 catches.

WIDE RECEIVERS: Starters -- Braylon Edwards and Joe Jurevicius. Backups Dennis Northcutt, Joshua Cribbs, Frisman Jackson and Travis Wilson.

Edwards and Jurevicius give Frye tall targets. Both have soft hands and both are excellent route runners. Northcutt is best in the slot. He needs open space to make tacklers miss. Cribbs and Wilson are scrappy and will catch the ball in traffic. Jackson could be the odd man out if the roster has to be retooled.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Starters -- LT Kevin Shaffer, LG Joe Andruzzi, C Ross Tucker, RG Cosey Coleman, RT Ryan Tucker. Backups - T Kirk Chambers, T Nat Dorsey, G Dave Yovanovits, G Isaac Sowells, C Lennie Friedman.

The Browns cannot afford any injuries on the offensive line. Ryan Tucker is a mauler. When he missed three games in preseason recovering from knee surgery Chambers and Dorsey were inadequate as replacements. Shaffer was a left tackle in Atlanta protecting left-handed Michael Vick. He has Frye's blind side. Ross Tucker is the fourth starting center since training camp began. At the outset LeCharles Bentley (patellar tendon injury) was supposed to cover for Coleman and Andruzzi, but now the guards will be helping Ross Tucker. Friedman is valuable because he can play guard and center.




DEFENSIVE LINE: Starters -- LDE Orpheus Roye, RDE Alvin McKinley, NT Ted Washington. Backups -- LDE Simon Fraser, RDE Nick Eason, NT Ethan Kelly, NT Babatunde Oshinowo.

Washington should have the biggest impact of all the defensive additions. He is 38, but he has not missed a game in two years. The Browns count on him to be the run stopper. Roye keeps plugging away on the left side. Teams will run at McKinley, but the linebackers should be solid enough to back him up. Fraser has improved over last year. There is a severe drop-off at nose tackle after Washington.

LINEBACKERS: Starters -- WLB Matt Stewart, SLB Willie McGinest, MLB Andra Davis, ILB D'Qwell Jackson. Backups -- OLB Kamerion Wimbley, OLB David McMillan, ILB Chaun Thompson, ILB Leon Williams.

The biggest change on defense from 2005 to 2006 was at linebacker. McGinest and Wimbley are supposed to add punch to a pass rush that was last in the NFL with 23 sacks last season. Jackson makes rookie mistakes but he corrects them as he goes along. Davis could make 200 tackles with Washington clearing traffic in front of him. Stewart is solid though not spectacular. He is better against the run than Wimbley for now. Thompson and Williams provide depth inside.

DEFENSIVE BACKS:Starters: LCB Leigh Bodden, RCB Gary Baxter, SS Sean Jones, FS Brian Russell. Backups -- CB Daylon McCutcheon, CB Ralph Brown, CB Pete Hunter, CB Antonio Perkins, FS Justin Hamilton, SS Brodney Pool.

Baxter (pectoral strain) and McCutcheon (knee) missed the preseason with injuries. Both vow to be ready for the opener. McCutcheon would be the nickel back. The Browns are in deep trouble if they are not ready because the cornerbacks behind them were burned constantly in training camp and preseason games. Safety has improved dramatically from a year ago. Jones and Pool are dead even and Russell is confident as the 'quarterback' of the secondary.

SPECIAL TEAMS: PK Phil Dawson, P Dave Zastudil, LS Brian Pontbriand, KOR Joshua Cribbs, PR Dennis Northcutt.

Dawson is working with his fourth holder (Zastudil) in four years. He has converted 83.8 percent of his field goal tries, second best in NFL history. Zastudil gives the Browns consistency at a position that was unstable the last two years. Pontbriand is automatic. Cribbs is a fearless kick returner and Northcutt is difficult to catch when he gets past the first wave of tacklers.


www.foxsports.com

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

papz

They're going to run all over us and Andra Davis will control our running game.

TallySaint

Should be an interesting game. Ever think about changing your avatar when you make those kind of comments?



8)

papz

I would but I still don't know how... and I'm very lazy.

TallySaint

An article posted on a Browns board...




Cleveland has edge over Saints in Week 1

By Stephen Nover
Sun, Aug 27, 2006


When in doubt, play the AFC team. That kind of thinking comes up when a bad AFC team meets a bad NFC team.

Kind of like the matchup which occurs in the NFL’s opening week when the New Orleans Saints travel to Cleveland to face the Browns Sept. 10.

In this instance, taking the Browns is totally justified. Both of these teams are perceived to be terrible. In the Saints’ case, the perception is accurate.

The Browns, however, aren’t as bad as many might believe.

People think the Browns are finished because Cleveland has already been through about two dozen centers, leaving their offensive line is in shambles. Curse stories have even made the rounds, claiming the Browns have been jinxed ever since they resurfaced in 1999.

The only curse the Browns had is the curse of Butch Davis.

Fortunately for Cleveland, Davis has been gone for two years now, replaced by a professional head coach named Romeo Crennel. He has Cleveland moving in the right direction. Saints first-year head man Sean Payton is another story.

The line for this game currently is Cleveland -3. In other words, the linesmakers are suggesting these teams are even. The Browns lay a field goal because they’re home.

Right now, though, these teams aren’t close to even. The Browns are far superior.

Yes, the Browns have a cluster injury problem at center. Losing LeCharles Bentley, maybe the best of all the free-agent signings, as soon as camp began was a cruel blow. That, however, has been Cleveland’s only real injury.

Kellen Winslow Jr. and Braylon Edwards have passed their early health tests. They both looked recovered from serious knee injuries. The Browns couldn’t open their offense last year without them. Now Charlie Frye suddenly has two playmakers. It also makes the Browns’ ground game better because defenses have to respect these two pass-catchers.

The Browns look improved defensively, too. One of the keys was signing mammoth nose tackle Ted Washington, one of the best run-stuffers in the NFL. The Browns’ No. 1 defense has looked solid against the run in each of their three preseason games. Expect a big year from middle linebacker Andra Davis.

Some say Brian Urlacher had his best season in 2001 when Washington was plugging the middle of the Bears defense. Davis could be in for a similar type of year.

As for the Saints, Reggie Bush may indeed be the real thing. Perhaps Deuce McAllister returns close to 100 percent, too. That’s a f[b]ormidable backfield duo. Unfortunately for New Orleans, its offensive line remains a work in progress. There’s no guarantees they get any decent kind of pass-blocking out of their left tackle and Drew Brees has looked slow to recover from a serious shoulder injury.

Or maybe Brees isn’t that good. He was just made to look good in San Diego by superstar tight end Antonio Gates and defenses stacking the line to stop LaDainian Tomlinson. In their first three preseason games, the Saints’ starters have been outscored, 37-6.

If the Saints can’t put up points, they’re dead because their defense is slow, can’t stop the run and may contain the worst set of linebackers in the NFL. How bad are their linebackers?

Put it to you this way: The Saints traded for Dallas linebacker Scott Shanle on Wednesday. He started for New Orleans Saturday against Indianapolis. This is Scott Shanle who made a total of three tackles for the Cowboys last year.

Reuben Droughns isn’t Reggie Bush. He doesn’t have to be. The Browns tailback gets to run against the Saints. If Bush got to run against his own team, he really would be a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year honors.

Come Sept. 10, the Saints defense is going to make the Browns offense look very good, legitimate center or not.

http://www.covers.com/articles/artic...163&tid=27&t=1

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

MJS2k7

I'll believe it when I see it..the browns have some great players-but they're quarterback is young and their line is as bad as ours.

TallySaint

What some of the Browns fans are sayin'.....



" Good read. I wish we played New Orleans every week.... Unfortunately, the AFC North plays the toughest schedule in the NFL this year...."


"Wow, someone said something positive about the Browns. I don't know what to say!! Hey, Bush is good. But if our ends keep him in the middle of the field and away from the edge. He will go know where. Everything I have seen in preseaon shows he is fast to the outside. But if he does not get to the outside, he is not a between the tackles runner. "


"Bush will be playing against a pro defense, not a bunch of college kids. He will just be a man among men instead of some kind of Big Man on Campus. We're good against the run so have no fear."


"He hasn't done squat since that game against Tennessee. We'll see if he's just saving up but I don't expect him to be a gamebreaker against us. Actually I am more worried about McAllister than Bush. He's proven to be a good NFL player. "


" We seriously need to win this one guys, get us started off on the right foot. If we can take care of Brees, Horn, Bush, and McAlister we should be good. "


"The only thing Bush will accomplish Sept. 10th; that the Texans were right on passing on him! "


"Nice assessment! Man I hope this guy is right about it. Sure has my mouth watering. "







8)

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

Euphoria

I will disagree there is going to be no line worse than ours this year.

TallySaint

....

FatiusJeebs

I hope I get the chance to smack that man in the mouth.