Personnel
Matters
It is now the off-season
and time to talk personnel decisions for the 2013 Browns. For what it is worth
here are my comments on a few things related to our favorite team and a few other
teams around the NFL.
I still disagree
with the media’s love affair with Robert Griffin III. Yes, he is a talented
athlete and does have a big upside, but he still as some big hurdles to clear.
His rookie year he missed games because of his first concussion and his first
knee injury, both came on plays were he was running downfield. He must change
his game are he is going to join that long list, and the list is getting
longer, of college spread quarterbacks who could not make the transformation to
NFL quarterbacks. If RGIII keeps
running eight or nine times a game soon will come his second concussion, then
his third, and then another knee injury. And don’t forget about what has
happened to Cam Newton, Tim Tebow, Vince Young, and Michael Vick.
Speaking of quarterbacks,
I can’t believe I hear people in the media who keep saying Vick will be a
starter next year for someone, as long as that team let’s Michael Vick be Michael
Vick. And that would be a mistake.
You let Michael Vick be Michael Vick and he will get yet another injury,
probably a concussion, and he will be on the sidelines just like he spent most
of this season.
Brandon Weedon’s
rookie year had its ups and downs. At times he looked very good, at times very
poor. But he started 15 games (this article was written before the last
Pittsburgh game), and his rookie stats compare favorable to many other rookie
seasons of some pretty good NFL quarterbacks. For example, Bernie Kosar threw
only 8 touchdowns his first year as a starter, while Peyton Manning threw 28
interceptions his rookie year. (Weedon stats after 15 games: 14 touchdowns, 17
interceptions). Don’t forget he has had 7 games without a pick, and four of his
interceptions came in the first game. Even when playing poorly against the
Redskins the numbers didn’t look that bad: 21/35 for 244 yards, one TD and 2
picks.
Last year’s draft
was a fluke with the large amount of rookie quarterbacks that started and
contributed to their NFL teams. There is only one, maybe two, first round QB
picks this year, and after that it does not get any better. As I have written
before, not enough college teams run a pro style offense, and the NFL is not
developing its own quarterbacks without NFL Europe. All the more reason for the
Browns to keep both Weedon and McCoy. Who else is there? The NFL is soon to be
filled with spread option quarterbacks trying to learn the pro passing game. No
matter what you think of both Browns quarterbacks, they will be miles ahead of
most NFL quarterbacks next season.
Maybe I am too
much of an old school coach, but I still feel you build championship teams from
the trenches first, and you got to be happy with the young units the Browns
have on both sides of the ball. On offense perennial all pro Joe Thomas is the old
man, and he is only 27. He along with fellow first round picks Alex Mack and
Mitchell Schwarz are playing like first round draft picks. All three, along
with guard Shawn Lauvao started all 16 games. And on defense they are building
a solid unit, built around defensive ends Jabaal Sheard and Frostee Rucker, and
defensive tackles Ahtyba Rubin, Phil Taylor, John Hughes, and Billy Winn. All
of these players still have promising careers ahead of them.
Pittsburgh and
Baltimore ended the regular season still thinking they had a chance to win it
all this season, which kept both teams with sticking with their aging lineups.
Although both teams do have some good young players, especially Pittsburgh, the
fact both teams kept too long with the Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, and
others, will catch up to them in the near future. Plus, as I have said before,
it is hard to replace some of the best players in the history of their
franchises.
Something is going
to happen next season that has never happened to the Browns since they returned
in 1999. They will have a talented, young, homegrown player returning at almost
every position on both sides of the ball. We still have to see how the dust
settles on the sidelines and in the front office under new owner Jimmy Haslem,
but the personnel situation has never been better.
Speaking of the
front office, by the time you read this a decision will be made about Tom
Heckert. I would hate to see him go after he just gave us the best draft of the
new Browns era, one of the best drafts ever. The 2012 draft gave us a starting
right tackle in Mitchell Schwartz, Trent Richardson at running back, and Weedon
at quarterback. On offense also
throw in starting receiver Josh Gordon (from the supplemental draft), and back
ups speedster Travis Benjamin at receiver and offensive lineman Ryan Miller. On
defense, at one time or another, rookies James-Michael Johnson, Billy Winn,
John Hughes, and L.J. Fort also have started. And all seem to be quality
players with solid careers in front of them.
I think to be a
Browns fan you have to have a touch of the sentimental fool inside of you, and
for that reason, as well as some pretty logical ones, I would definitely resign
Phil Dawson and Josh Cribbs. The Browns special teams are greatly improved over
last year, much to Dawson and Cribbs, and they don’t need changes at major
positions going into next year. Dawson even with fifteen years under his belt
is still at the top of his game, which includes not only kicking in our stadium
and all the weather change it brings, but also open air stadiums in Pittsburgh,
Cincinnati, and Baltimore. Cribbs might be ready to turn the punt return chores
over to Travis Benjamin, but he is still solid on kickoffs, never afraid to get
the last few tough yards, and still ranks at the top of the league as a cover
man in the kicking game. Plus both players have been the face of the franchise
during some very trying times, they both deserve to finish their careers in Browns
uniforms.
There are still
spots that need improvement. Including the defensive backfield, another
defensive end, and depth on both sides of the ball. However, when the Browns do
take the field for their first regular season game next season they will field
a team we have been waiting for since sometime in the early 1990’s, a talented
team with an experienced player lining up at almost every position. And they
will be playing in a division where the two teams that have dominated it for
over a decade will be showing their age and be at the beginnings of their own
rebuilding projects.
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