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Just getting the chance to put together a few thoughts on the Browns’ 53 man roster…

The Browns were forced to make some decisions based on injuries. Thankfully, a number of starters will be back for the opener against Dallas. Braylon Edwards, Derek Anderson, Syndric Steptoe and Jamal Lewis will be back on offense. Rex Hadnot and Ryan Tucker will not be ready to go, announced Phil Savage. On defense, the Browns are expecting Willie McGinest, Antwan Peek and Sean Jones to play, while Brodney Pool remains a question mark.

Thin at WR

Thin is actually being generous.

The Cleveland Browns trimmed their roster to 53 players per NFL rules. Here are those cuts-

Waived
TE’s Brad Cieslak, Kolomona Kapanui
DB’s A.J. Davis, Travis Key, Brandon Mitchell, Jereme Perry
WR’s Efrem Hill, Lance Leggett, Steve Sanders, Travis Wilson
OL James Lee, Jonathan Palmer
LB’s David McMillan, Chase Ortiz
DL Melila Purcell
K Jason Reda

Terminated-Vested Veteran
LB Shantee Orr

Waived-Injured
OL Derrick Morse, Marvin Philip
DL Chase Pittman
RB Travis Thomas

In addition, OL Lennie Friedman was placed on IR

You’ve never heard 105,000 gasp at the same time? It sounds interesting…

On the Buckeyes’ first drive of the second half, Heisman candidate Chris Wells was about to take a hand off at the three yard line, when he collapsed to the ground clutching his foot. The ball bounced away, and all over the state OSU fans thought the same thing- not again.

Wells has had injury problems since arriving on campus. Now to his credit, he has played through them, and excelled while doing it. This was supposed to be the year of the Beanie. This was the year that he flirts with 2000 yards and the famous bronze statue. All of that flashed before the eyes of the scarlet and gray clad onlookers. Nobody even seemed to care that we didn’t recover the ball. Watching the replays, it appeared to those of us watching at Danny’s house we could be staring at a potential tendon injury, or even plantar fasciitis. Wells was helped from the field and carted to the locker room.

It appears that the injury wasn’t as serious as we all feared. Chris emerged from the locker room walking in a protective boot, and seemed to be in good spirits. After the game Tressel would say that while the staff was worried at first about the knee or ankle it appears to be a minor foot injury. Obviously no official word has been given yet. The Buckeyes went on to win the game 43-0. Full recap to come later.

Picks Of The Week – August 29, 2008

Football season is here once again, and that means the GAMBLOG weekly feature is back as well. Unfortunately, Vegas doesn’t set lines when Division 1 teams take on Division 1AA teams, so we couldn’t focus on Ohio State. With the Browns still a week away from kicking off their season, Matt decided to kick off the GAMBLOG season with the biggest Big Ten game this week. This is the part where I remind you that this is merely for entertainment purposes only and WFNY does not condone gambling of any kind….   

About four days from now, and then every week from then on, you’ll all find a brief post on my week’s selections for a pick’em contest that will be hosted by photoshopper extraordinaire, Cuzoogle.  Winners get a variety of things, ranging from straight cash to bragging rights.  I’ll post my selections, that will have been already submitted, and then it will be open grounds to praise or critique as needed. 

The rest of the bloggers that will be coughing up their entry fees competition:

Yep Yep | The Sports Dungeon | The Sports Lounge | Tailgating Ideas | NESW Sports | The Blue Workhorse | My Sports Rumors | Inside Plays | Juiced Sports Blog | Buzz Pirates | GrandmasterB | Busted Coverage | The Chocolate Dog Blog | NE Patriots Draft | The Sports Dollar | Brahsome | Women Like Sports | Don Chavez | Banned in Hollywood | Mac Gs World | Macho Chip | Zoner Sports | CoverTwo | Sports Opinion

Looking forward to an upset-filled season…

If you are looking for a great preview, the Dispatch has really stepped up the internet coverage. It is well worth the look. The only thing I’m disappointed in is the attention that Pryor is getting from OSU sites. I almost expect it from outside Columbus, but around here we should know that Pryor will be brought along somewhat slowly. Not to mention that these seniors deserve to be talked about. Pryor has his whole career ahead of him. These guys have given us their best for 3 years already, and many could have made the jump to Sundays. Give them the cover story.

Check out the game preview from Jason at Eleven Warriors, who predicts a 42-3 Buckeye win. Yes, that Jason.

The Browns ended the preseason 0-4, but the starting unit left 2 of those games with a lead. You have to take your victories where you can get them I guess… 

So did you see what I saw? Many of you gave your grades already in the comments of the What to Watch For post. First, I remind you that once again we were without several key starters, especially on offense. I did see improvement in the unit from last game, which is a good sign. Second, and if there are any Chicago fans regularly reading you have my apologies; that was not a good football team we played. Easily the worst team we saw this preseason. Even when it was starters on semi-starters. No wonder Urlacher and Briggs want out of there. That offense is pathetic. Who scares you there? Absolutely nobody, well unless you are a Bears fan. Let’s get to it…

Thanks to a huge second half that saw Beau Mills hit .327 with an OPS just shy of 1.000, the 13th overall selection in 2007 definitely lived up to expectations this season and is taking home the Carolina League MVP award. Check out some of these numbers:

Mills leads the Carolina League with 21 home runs and 90 RBI. Cleveland’s first round draft pick in 2007, Mills is eighth in the Carolina League with a .293 batting average. Mills is also second in the CL in extra base hits (58), third in hits (141), fifth in slugging percentage (.506) and runs scored (78).

Not too bad, eh? Mills will join a few other former Kinston Indians that have won MVP honors, and you may remember a few of them: Richie Sexson (1995), Victor Martinez (2001) and Jordan Brown (2006). Like those in front of him, it appears that an assent up the farm system ladder is not in the too distant future.

Beau Mills is the Carolina League MVP [OSC]

As a whole, I think we can all agree that Travis Wilson had a strong game against the Chicago Bears.  Sure, it was against pre-season defense and sure he may have had a few more targets than normal just to test the waters.  But he lead the team in receptions with six, as well as yardage with 57.  This would constitute a decent fantasy line in most PPR leagues, for what it’s worth.

But on the other side, his line should have been seven catches for about 80 yards and a touchdown if not for his unbeliveable drop down the right sideline – ultimately resulting in a punt.  Wilson had his cornerback burnt by a good three yards and the ball was right to his hands.  But it was dropped.  This has been the story of Wilson’s three-year life here in Cleveland, as unfortunate as it may be.

What does Travis have going for him?  Well, as mentioned, he did arguably have the best line of his fellow colleagues.  Couple this with the shoulder injury suffered by Syndric Steptoe, and he may have another leg up.  Paul Hubbard completely ruined a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, one that wasn’t even intended for him.  Steve Sanders was solid, but unspectacular.  So does he make the team by default?  Or would it actually be because of his emergence in camp coupled with two solid games against the Jets and Bears respecitvely?  Or, does that drop mark the final memory of our former third round selection?

What say you?

Upon the agreement of the whole Time Warner/BTN fiasco, it still didn’t really help me very much. But there will be no further concerns thanks to this!

The Browns end their preseason (mercifully) tonight in Cleveland against the Chicago Bears. Here is what I’ll be looking to see in the final tune-up.

Browns vs Bears Preseason Game #4, 7:30pm, Cleveland Browns Stadium

Only once in Cleveland’s history have they finished a preseason schedule without winning a game. Romeo Crennel talks like he wants to avoid being the second team to accomplish that feat. He will not however, subject his starting players to injury for more than is required. Crennel told the PD’s Mary Kay Cabot this-

“I’d like to win the game for one. The other thing is, I’d like for us to look decent. It seems that the consensus is that we were decent in the Jets game, even though we lost that one. I’d like to look decent against the Bears and go from there.”

Well coach, we’d like the team to do a little more than just look decent, but that would be an improvement. Here’s what I’m watching-

(Editor’s Note: Please be sure to check out Cavalier Attitude’s complimentary portion of this two-part series)

By now, we are sure that most of you were able to catch a recent piece by Patrick McManamon of the Akron Beacon-Journal in which he laid out some pretty solid details regarding the future of the Cavaliers; specifically regarding LeBron James and 2010. In fact, it was relevant enough that even someof the biggest LeBron-staying-in-Cleveland doubters took a step back and said, “Hey, these guys may actually have a point!”

And a point it is. As the argument that surrounds a possible exodus to another city of choice is the fact that LeBron’s supporting cast in Cleveland may not exactly be the best. But with the cap space that we have been harping about for months, coupled with the fact that we can offer James more than any other team, McManamon drops the bomb.

Victor Martinez is one of the prize pieces of the Indians puzzle.  Most teams would love to have a switch-hitting, multi-time All-Star catcher that can bat in the heart of the order and produce numbers that have garnered MVP consideration several time during his career.  Sure, he may not have the best arm in the league, but Victor calls a great game.  His teammates love his intensity and leadership, and the fans love what he brings to the field every day. 

I could go on and on about what Victor means to this team, and what other teams would give for a catcher that can hit like he can.  But while Martinez has been out for months with an injured elbow, a few other catchers have vaulted ahead in terms of numbers.  Atlanta’s Brian McCann has 21 home runs on the season, while hitting near .300.  Chicago’s Geovanny Soto has arrived on the scene by clubbing 20 long balls of his own. 

And then third in line is a guy who has 17 home runs on the year with an OPS of .855, in roughly 60 percent of the at-bats of the abovementioned national leaguers.  His name is Kelly Shoppach.

In this week’s podcast, hosts Scott and Rick bring you an outstanding roundtable discussion of the upcoming Ohio State season with Jason from Eleven Warriors. They talk about key players on both sides of the ball and take a look at the OSU schedule, potential trap games (hello, whoever we play the week after Wisconsin….in this case, Purdue), and the state of the Big Ten in general.

As always, a thanks to Bob at Cavs Board for producing the podcast, and please remember you can send us any questions you’d like answered, topics you’d like us to discuss, etc to podcast@waitingfornextyear.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Oh boy.  First this.  Now this.

Before the 1996 NFL draft, a small-school receiver met with a young, up-and-comer from the Baltimore Ravens by the name of Phil Savage, who was the first scout willing to spend time and visit with [Joe] Horn coming out of Itawamba Junior College. [...]

A dozen years later, Savage is the general manager of the Cleveland Browns — a team in need for a veteran third receiver to complement Pro Bowler Braylon Edwards and Donte’ Stallworth.