While We’re Waiting… Jordan Cameron Breaks Out, Michigan Loses and Kyrie’s Potential

Cleveland sports fans are waiting. Thus, while we’re all waiting, the WFNY editors thought you might enjoy reading. Because you never know how long we might be waiting. So here are assorted reading goodies for you to enjoy. Send more good links for tomorrow’s edition to tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

Jordan Cameron has been fun. “Obviously, it’s only a third of the way through the season, but if Cameron keeps putting up the numbers he has been, he will break the Browns franchise record for receptions in a season. Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome had 89 receptions in 1983 and 1984, while Kellen Winslow did so in 2006 when Chudzinski was the offensive coordinator. If Cameron’s numbers are prorated over a 16-game schedule, he would end up with over 100 receptions.

Cameron leads the Browns with 33 receptions for 396 yards and five touchdowns. He is tied for sixth in the NFL in receptions, second among tight ends to Pro Bowler Jimmy Graham, who has 37 receptions. If Cameron catches one pass against the Lions, he will pass Winslow (2006) and Newsome (1982) for the second-most receptions by a Browns player through the first six games of the season. He needs just two catches to pass Earnest Byner, who had the most (34) in 1986.

In the NFL today, many tight ends were former basketball players, including Graham, Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates. However, Cameron wants to put his basketball career in the rear view mirror.

“I’m not a basketball player,” Cameron said. “I’m a football player now. These tight ends nowadays have basketball backgrounds, but I don’t want to be known as a basketball player.”” [Fred Greetham/Orange & Brown Report].

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I know Michigan losing hurts Ohio State via strength of schedule and whatnot, but I’ll *always* enjoy a UM loss. Always always always. “Penn State could have put the game away after leaving halftime with a 21-10 lead, but Frank Clark came up with a strip sack touchdown to cut the deficit to four. Devin Gardner’s 16 yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Gallon in the third quarter gave the Wolverines the lead, then his 37 yard touchdown pass to Devin Funchess should have sealed it. That’s when Brady Hoke made the dumbest decision of his Michigan career.

Up 34-27 with 0:57 to go, at Penn State’s 35, the Wolverines punted rather than attempt a game-icing field goal or fourth down conversion. The punt gained them 17 yards of field position. Five plays, three spectacular catches, and one quarterback sneak later, Penn State tied the game to send it to overtime.

In overtime, a Michigan defender deflected Sam Ficken’s kick, but the Wolverines played conservative and Brendan Gibbons had his own kick blocked. After trading field goals in double overtime, Michigan recovered a PSU fumble in triple overtime to set up an easy score, only for Gibbons to miss a 33 yarder. In quadruple overtime, Gibbons finally hit one, but Penn State made a fourth down conversion and Bill Belton ended Michigan’s agony with a touchdown run.” [Nicholas Jervey/Eleven Warriors].

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A look back at the Browns vs Lions, um, rivalry. “Before the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns met on the gridiron 12 times, and since then, they’ve only played 10 games. Of those first 12 meetings, one-third were showdowns in the NFL Championship Game. In this light, it’s unfortunate that the recent failures of both franchises obscure their past successes. Both teams own pre-Super Bowl titles, but there’s no argument over which team performed better pre-merger: that team would be the Browns.

From their inception in 1946 to 1969, Cleveland racked up a host of accomplishments: four straight All-American Football Conference (AAFC) championships from ’46 to ’49, 12 conference championships after joining the NFL from ’50 to ’69, as well as four NFL championships in that span. On top of that, they lost in the title match five times, meaning that the Browns went to the NFL Championship Game nine times in 15 years, or 60 percent of the time. And before I move on, I should add that after the creation of the Super Bowl, the Browns went to three straight conference championship games — losing in ’67 and winning in ’68 and ’69 — and lost in two more NFL Championship Games from 1968-69 (the winner played the AFL champ in the Super Bowl). Even though the Browns lost in more title games than they won, their pre-merger accomplishments are impressive.” [Nick Catoni/Pride of Detroit].

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Can Josh Tomlin return to the Tribe’s rotation? “Tomlin may eventually make it back to a starting role in future seasons – but to thrust him back into a rotation right away could be detrimental to his progress. It would be discouraging to see him attempt to go deep into games, only to reinjure himself or throw behind his current capacities.

However, much of Tomlin’s future success can relate to the other potential starters on the Tribe’s roster. If the entire Tribe starting rotation were to return in 2014, there would likely be little room for Tomlin as a starter. However, there’s also a strong chance that not every player will be returning in their current capacity. Money will play in issue in who the Tribe will retain, or if they will trade or sign other potential starters. Should the Tribe lose any of their current starters, as may very well happen with the free agency of Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir, roster spots will be open for starters. Despite his drive, it seems unlikely that Tomlin could immediately deliver at the same level that either Jimenez or Kazmir did this season.

If Tomlin were to move back up to his role as a starter, it would need to be with care and caution. After his first appearance with the Captains, Tomlin said he felt that he could have pitched with the same results at the Major League level.

“You don’t know how your stuff’s going to play out up there,” Tomlin said in August. “It’s a different ball game up there, no doubt, but I feel confident enough, and I feel healthy enough.”” [Laurel Wilder/Did the Tribe win last night?].

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I’m expecting Big Things from Kyrie this year. Big Things, I say! “Sure, the Cavs don’t have an offensive genius on par with Popovich. And yeah, they don’t have a generational talent like Tim Duncan to help bring Irving along slowly. But that doesn’t matter. The Cavs have to find a way to properly utilize Irving’s unique skill set, or else all of his vast “potential” to be one of the top five players in the NBA becomes unrealized talent that floats away into space like Bruce Willis in “Armageddon.” Irving taking the next leap as a player is one of the most important questions of this season. He doesn’t have to be a top-5 player — or even necessarily a top-10 one this season — but making sure he doesn’t stagnate as simply a top 20-25 player is essential.

The influx of talent into the Cavs’ roster during the offseason will help him continue to improve as a passer and creator for others simply because he’ll have more capable teammates. And then maybe increased health will help the team reach it’s potential. But that’s not all that has to happen. The Cavaliers need an offensive scheme that allows an elite talent like Irving to take that next step. There are many examples in the past where we’ve seen point guards take the next step in part due to either schematic enhancements or comfort with the offense.

Parker is only one example of a player improving along with getting more comfortable/a better scheme. Jerry Sloan’s pick-and-roll-heavy flex offense led to Deron Williams’ strongest seasons as a player (we’ll look further at this one later). Looking back, Chris Paul’s best seasons clearly happened under the stewardship of Byron Scott’s Princeton offense, where Scott adjusted it to take advantage of Paul’s unique gifts (I can assure you, the Paul-Tyson Chandler pick-and-roll-to-alley-oop play that was a hallmark of Paul’s time in New Orleans is decidedly not something that normally occurs in that system).” [Sam Vecenie/Fear the Sword].