Video: Remember that time Ricky Davis shot on the wrong basket trying to get a triple double?
April 21, 2014Tribe Weekend Recap: Poor fundamentals, RISP problems, Carrasco watch, and an Easter gift
April 21, 2014Mock City, USA. With the NFL Draft just a few weeks away, the frequency of the ever-popular mock draft is going to pick up—immensely. One of my favorites thus far, if only from a Cleveland Browns standpoint, comes from Rotoworld’s Evan Silva. Silva hedges his bets throughout, saying that he “doesn’t pretend to know what will happen at the draft,” but then has the Browns landing Johnny Manziel…at No. 26. This, after they select Jake Matthews (hey, if we couldn’t land Clay, we may as well get his cousin, right?) at No. 4. Then in the second round, he has the Browns landing Marquise Lee from USC, a player who many had in the top 10 of the 2014 Draft as recent as a season ago.
Don’t get me wrong, this would be an absolute haul. I also give it about Bluto Blutarsky’s shot at happening1. For starters, I still see Manziel going in the top eight. Secondly, if he doesn’t, he’ll get scooped up in the late teens or early 20s by a team willing to take a gamble—the Browns would get jumped. This said, as big of a Manziel fans as I am, I’m totally fine with Matthews. As WFNY commenter Jim Kanicki said best in his latest podcast, you can’t go wrong with the bloodlines.
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The NBA Playoffs will only serve to be frustrating for Cavalier fans. So many quality games, so many quality players—many of whom were selected after various Cavaliers and are doing really, really good things for their team. Watching guys like Kemba Walker (20 points, five boards, six assists) and Damian Lillard (31 points, nine rebounds and five assists) do big things for their respective teams is great for them, but just so maddening for anyone who is a fan of Cleveland. Charlotte is in the playoffs largely because of the gamble they made on Al Jefferson and Portland is stacked, so the apples we’re comparing aren’t exactly the same. But it’s very difficult to watch a team like the Bobcats—who is where they are despite a complete failure in drafting Bismack Biyombo before Walker—knowing that the Cavs could’ve been playing postseason basketball if not for such a horrid, horrid start to the season.
Some bonus Cavs coverage comes in the way of Jason Lloyd, who pegs Andrew Bynum as the common denominator of failure for 2013-14. Check it out.
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On a good note regarding the Cavaliers, WFNY’s Ben Cox (Writer of the Year), Jacob Rosen (Best Written Cavaliers Article of the Year, “Everything we know about the Cavaliers and Analytics“), and Joe Mastrantoni (Up and Coming Writer of the Year) for cleaning up at Stepien Rules’ 2013-14 STEPY Awards. I’m proud to know that WFNY houses some of the best Cavalier writers on the planet. Do I wish they had the chance to utilize their skills on a competitive franchise? You bet your sweet ass. That said, covering a losing team for an entire season is even tougher, and these guys deserve all the credit they receive.
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While the Tribe is struggling a bit out of the gate, Let’s Go Tribe takes a look at the players the Indians chose not to re-sign. Raise your hand if you’re a Tribe fan and knew that Ubaldo Jiménez’ ERA is north of seven.
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It didn’t take long for Clint Frazier to get the call. The Tribe’s red rocket is officially a member of the Lake County Captains. Frazier made his 2014 debut going 1-for-5, scoring a run and had a RBI as well as the team ended its losing streak, winning 6-3 and are now 5-9 on the year. Last year Frazier played 44 games in the Arizona Rookie League hitting .297, with 32 runs scored, 11 doubles, five triples, five homeruns and 28 runs batted in.
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Spoiler-free Mad Men thoughts: Sally Draper episodes have become exponentially better than non-Sally Draper episodes.
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Cochella thoughts: Welcome back, OutKast.
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And just because: Paul Pierce, falling down.
15 Comments
I’ve heard a lot of people (Bill Simmons, for one) say that they don’t think the actress who plays Sally Draper is any good. I think I agree with you though.
I think she wasn’t great when the show started, but she has gotten better as she’s gotten older. She was absolutely terrific in last night’s episode.
Her character development (along with Joan and Peggy—a theme, perhaps) has been among the best on the entire show over the last few seasons. She has the ability to turn a scene without saying a word.
As much as I would like to believe some of the mock drafts, I just hafta believe that the Browns (if drafting on the “safe side”) go QB at 4, WR/OL at 26 and Best Player available at 35 (possibly the whatever position not picked at 26). But this (for me) is counter-intuitive, why draft a player so high and not play him!
QB at #4 is the opposite of safe. I came around to Matthews at #4 it’s not a sexy pick that high but it makes a lot of sense. With him and Thomas you lock down the tackle spots and you can move Schwartz to OG which I think would benefit him. The OL would be significantly improved and you can then turn your eyes towards other areas including QB with #26 and the plethora of additional draft picks.
Don’t get me wrong- I don’t agree with safe mindset. But what I mean by “safe” is the idea that they are able to pick the QB they want and not leave to chance the QB they select at 26 (if there are even any available). It’s the same idea that keeps getting phrased: “Well, if the Browns want [insert QB here], you gotta take him at 4. He won’t be there at 26.”
I understand I’m just of the belief that picking the right QB at #4 doesn’t mean that you will pick “the right guy.” I was never sold on this QB class yes there are a lot of them but none of them has stepped up to show himself as being the best alternative. I know they need a QB I just think they could get someone at say #26 considering whoever they do choose is most likely going to be behind Hoyer anyways.
I would extend that logic to #26 as well. Just because we think we can get a QB at #26, doesn’t mean he’s the “right guy” especially if he’s fallen from Top 10. In today’s NFL, the QB is so important that if we don’t think a guy is worth taking at #4, he’s probably not worth taking at #26 either.
Probably but I can live more with a miss at #26 then I can at #4. Then again the Browns have missed at both regardless of the position so this draft should be very interesting.
i am on board with your train of thought, but i still see a small trade-down as the best scenario for the Browns. It would allow them to probably still get Matthews, and then use the extra pick to get back into the 1st round, in the teens.
I think this is going to be a real big draft for Cleveland (I don’t mean that metaphorically, I mean they are going to draft well). Almost every year they are slotted just outside of where the elite guys are projected, thus have no leverage. This is the year where they have the leverage, there is a lot of talent available, and they can put some picks together to move up.
I think they’ll have a big draft.
Can i just put another vote down for the NFL being stupid for having the draft so late? It’s nauseating.
Also, will this late draft date have an effect on contracts getting done? Will there be more holdouts since there is less time between the draft and camps?
i think that’s going a little far. if he isn’t good enough at #4, he is, at the very least, a lot more likely to be good enough at #26.
Here is the list of quarterbacks taken in the first two rounds of the last 10 drafts. But they were taken after the #4 pick:
EJ Manuel (1)
Gino Smith (2)
Ryan Tannehill (1)
Brandon Weeden (1)
Brock Osweiler (2)
Jake Locker (1)
Blaine Gabbert (1)
Christian Ponder (1)
Andy Dalton (2)
Colin Kaepernick (2)
Tim Tebow (1)
Jimmy Clausen (2)
Mark Sanchez (1)
Josh Freeman (1)
Pat White (2)
Joe Flacco (1)
Brian Brohm (2)
Chad Henne (2)
Brady Quinn (1)
Kevin Kolb (2)
John Beck (2)
Drew Stanton (2)
Matt Leinart (1)
Jay Cutler (1)
Kellen Clemens (2)
Tarvaris Jackson (2)
Aaron Rodgers (1)
Jason Campbell (1)
Ben Roethlisberger (1)
JP Losman (1)
A few good ones, more not.
i hope you had your secretary do that for you…
I don’t know who Sally Draper is, but I know who the Mad Men are and they’re all in Cleveland these days.