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Photo: Peggy Turbett/Cleveland.com
With the Brown and White Scrimmage taking place yesterday at Cleveland Browns Stadium, I feel it's long overdue for CofC to get into Browns mode. Keeping that in mind, here are my initial thoughts on issues surrounding the team right now.
-I really question why DE Shaun Smith was cut now as opposed to at the end of last season when the Brady Quinn incident was fresh in everyone's minds. Perhaps the new regime wanted to give him a chance in the new system? Smith apparently squandered that, dogging it in drills and continuing to flap his jaws. Maybe they really do want to keep DT Ahtybaa Rubin, their sixth-rounder from last season. I feel that with Kenyon Coleman, Shaun Rogers, Robaire Smith, C.J. Mosley, Corey Williams, and either Rubin, Santonio Thomas, or Louis Leonard, the team will be just fine on the D-line.
-Ha! You thought I was going to start with the quarterbacks, didn't you? Well, for the sake of being different I didn't. But, the two-man battle between Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson is certainly action-packed. Read into it how you want, but Anderson was with the Brown team in the scrimmage yesterday which looked awfully like the first-team offense, including Jamal Lewis, Robert Royal, Braylon Edwards, and five of the top linemen. I'm rooting for Quinn, but it doesn't mean that his drawbacks don't scare me. If he can't throw the deep ball, people are right in assuming that they are just going to stack the box and/or bring safety pressure. But, Anderson's decision-making and pick-prone style terrify me. Anyone forget that Bengals game and DA's 5 boo-boos that kept Cleveland out of the playoffs two years ago? Because I sure didn't. I think Brady gets first crack, but let's face it, injuries happen and both of these guys will probably get a chance to start this season.
-I loved the Browns' sixth-round selection of RB James Davis out of Clemson, and I'm loving it even more now that he is winning the praise of Eric Mangini. Mangini has boasted that Davis is performing well in special teams drills, and Tony Grossi has said that he might call Davis a better pass-blocker right now than James Harrison. Here's a case of fallen stock where Davis could have easily been a 2nd or 3rd round pick if he came out after his junior year. I really do hope Jamal Lewis can hold up and rack up yet another 1,000 yard season, but I have a feeling that it may not happen and Harrison and James Davis are going to get a fair share of the carries.
-The Browns' toughest roster decisions may come at wide receiver. Sure, they are certainly thin there, but which guys do you keep? They'll probably keep six of them, and assuming that Braylon Edwards, Josh Cribbs, Brian Robiskie, and Mohammed Massaquoi are locks, who else joins them? Do you go the veteran route with David Patten and Mike Furrey or do you keep some of the younger guys like Lance Leggett, Paul Hubbard, or Jordan Norwood? My guess is with rookies Robiskie and Massaquoi already on the squad, the better bet is to go with Furrey and Patten. Although, part of me remembers David Patten playing quite mediocre for the Cleveland Browns once before.. in 2000! Put me down for Furrey or Cribbs winning the #2 receiver job initially, but Robiskie or Massaquoi taking over that spot by no later than Week 4.
-It appears that the defense is ahead of the offense in many of the head-to-head drills during camp. I suppose that should be expected to an extent, but it makes me think this team is going to have to be a clock-management, run-the-football, defensive-minded team to be successful. Will they accomplish that this year? Not likely in this writer's take, but I need to see signs of it coming down the road. I think D'Qwell Jackson and Shaun Rogers are special players. I feel Kamerion Wimbley still has the potential to break out. Furthermore, I feel that we'll see how much having the ex-Jets on the field (Abe Elam, David Bowens, Eric Barton, Kenyon Coleman, C.J. Mosley) will help each unit.
-If nothing else, this team will be less frustrating to watch in one regard: discipline. No doubt that all of Mangini's preseason tactics, including running laps for miscues, will help decrease penalties from Grimace's, I mean Romeo Crennel's, McDonaldland recesses. The team already has a good special team group with underrated Phil Dawson, solid Dave Zastudil, and stellar returner Josh Cribbs; let's hope they can keep the penalties down, especially on special teams where they always seem to affect the game's outcome. Also, the team got rid of a few of the more headstrong players in Kellen Winslow and Shaun Smith. They kept Braylon though. And, while I did really like KW2, there's no doubt his antics sometimes negatively affected the Browns.
-My Browns offensive line: LT Joe Thomas, LG Eric Steinbach, C Alex Mack, RG Floyd Womack, RT John St. Clair. Reserves: Ryan Tucker, Hank Fraley, George Foster. If Rex Hadnot did indeed just tear his MCL, perhaps Hadnot takes Fraley's spot. It would be quite a fall for Fraley, a team captain last season. I think all of the pressure on Eric Steinbach is a bit uncalled for. Yes, he needed to bulk up, but this guy was a Pro Bowl alternate for us in '07.
-I think it's going to be hard to keep Rod Hood out of the starting lineup. That message is intended for you, Brandon McDonald.
That's all for now, I'll be sure to give another installment after the preseason game vs. Green Bay Saturday night.
HERE WE GO BROWNIES!
Kirk
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