June 19, 2013

Chris Perez, Scarlett Johansson, Mad Men, Josh Gordon and more – WFNY Podcast – 2013-06-12

June 13, 2013 by 5 Comments

WFNY Podcast LogoA WaitingForNextYear.com Joncast! It’s been too long since I caught up with Jon and we talked about a whole host of topics from sports to television to Captain America filming in Cleveland.

  • ScarJo kissing Chris Evans
  • The cost/benefit of the movie filming in Cleveland
  • Traffic and the luck of Clevelanders with their rush hour
  • Do you have a “list” with your wife? If so, is it real?
  • Amanda Seyfried and how my wife would approve
  • Jon’s theory that the Indians should have traded Chris Perez and Asdrubal Cabrera this off-season
  • Personally judging an athlete and having it skew your analysis
  • Jose Valverde and his ability to ruin a good team
  • The money assigned to Brett Meyers never made sense
  • The weakest link of the Indians is the starting rotation
  • The Indians losing streaks didn’t seem to be possible for this kind of streaking
  • Do strikeout prone teams make themselves more susceptible to a losing streak?
  • Codeine and the facts of the situation
  • Collectively bargained rules and what’s going on in the NFL
  • Drug testing and privacy grounds
  • Cycling and the dirtiness of it [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: , , , ,

The current negative streak in Cleveland Sports is truly remarkable

June 12, 2013 by 57 Comments
Jimmy Haslam didn't like the penalty that overturned the Browns TD

Jimmy Haslam didn’t like the penalty that overturned the Browns TD

I feel like we’ve said this every year for a while now, but I can’t think of a worse time in Cleveland sports. 1 I’m really not going out of my way to dwell in the negative here. I think there are some good things going on in all three Cleveland sports teams right now. I think the Browns have a decent young roster that might surprise us all if coached up properly this season. I think Byron Scott lost the Cavaliers, but I think with their positioning this off-season and all Chris Grant’s “assets” there’s a really good chance for a positive makeover year-over-year. Lastly, the Indians are mired right now in a nearly whole-team slump, but they’ve turned over a lot of those veterans that have been dogging Indians fans for much of the past five summers. All that being said, and without any of that “Look at us and respect us for our suffering!” clamor, it truly couldn’t get much worse, right?

Let’s look at the negative streaks fans have endured in all the sports recently. [Read more...]

___________________________________

  1. Excluding the real outlier of when we didn’t have a football team at all of course. [back]

Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Browns’ Gordon one failed test away from one-year suspension from NFL

June 10, 2013 by 16 Comments

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon is reportedly in Stage 3 of the NFL’s drug program and is one failed test away from a one-year suspension.

Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Gordon’s most recent failed test was at least the second of the young receiver’s career. While it is unclear as to how, exactly, Gordon landed in Stage 3 1 , Cabot believes that the wide receiver’s track record—he failed three marijuana tests in college and was dismissed from both Baylor and Utah—may have been the impetus.

Upon being selected by the Browns in the 2012 Supplemental Draft, Gordon said it was a “dream come true.”

“For me just having an opportunity to be out here is definitely all the motivation I need,” Gordon would later say following a pre-season practice. His rookie campaign provided the Browns with 50 receptions for 805 yards and a team-high five touchdown catches.

Late Friday afternoon, the league announced that the second-year pass-catcher would miss time after allegedly taking prescribed medication with codeine which violates league policy. Gordon’s two-game/four-game-check suspension will reportedly cost him roughly $150,000. Cabot states that the Browns may consider going after a portion of the player’s $2.3 million signing bonus.

The difference between Stage 2 and 3 amounts to 10 games, as the former results in a six-game suspension. In the latter, players are suspended for one calendar year under the substance policy can apply for reinstatement after the year is up.

[Related: Scott Raab on LeBron James, “The Block,” Josh Gordon, Chris Perez and more]

___________________________________

  1. There are three direct ways which are laid out in the report [back]

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: , ,

Scott Raab on LeBron James, “The Block,” Josh Gordon, Chris Perez and more – WFNY Podcast – 2013-06-10

June 10, 2013 by 7 Comments

WFNY Podcast LogoScott started off the day making fun of my Keurig machine. After that we talked a lot about sports and a bit about neckties and contrived fashion.

  • Keurig machines and how communist they are

  • Neckties and bow ties

  • The idea that the necktie is a marker at all is strange

  • The band concert uniform

  • Suspenders vs. belts

  • Gallagher and an impromptu balloon animal show for porn stars

  • Dwyane Wade and his short pants

  • LeBron James and “The Block”

  • The Beatles were New Kids on the Block before they were

  • Brody Baum and the Chris Perez debacle

  • It’s hard to lose this many baseball games in a row

  • Bullpens are the most volatile things in baseball

  • Rafael Perez and Betancourt fell off year over year

  • People feeling alienated from baseball

  • The Gus Johnson effect and whether it could hit baseball

  • Bruce Buffer and his brother Michael Buffer

  • Owen Wilson’s alleged suicide attempt

  • Josh Gordon and his problems

  • The two game suspension and what it means

  • Codeine and whether or not you could know about it

  • The cultural awareness of codeine and how it’s tough to claim ignorance

  • The marijuana culture and how we’ll look back on it

  • Dehumanizing the opposition

  • National service and if we could really implement it

  • The ESPN-ification of sports

  • Esquire.com for sports commentary with Scott Raab

  • The Raab Factor [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The hypocrisy of drugs in sports

June 8, 2013 by 13 Comments


In the last 24 hours Chris Perez has been arrested for possession of pot, and Josh Gordon has been suspended for testing positive for having codeine in his system that was from cough syrup prescribed by his doctor. Go back to last fall and we can add Joe Haden to the list of high profile Cleveland athletes that have had drug related off the field issues after he served a four game suspension for testing positive for Adderall in his system.

As a fan, all of these events upset me because I want my favorite teams to have their best players on the field at all times. By getting suspended these guys let their teammates down, themselves down, and whether they know it or not they let their fans down. [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Josh Gordon on Browns offense: “Defenses will be shocked”

May 27, 2013 by 6 Comments

Over the past few days, there’s been some media hubbub about second-year Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon. In his latest interview with Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal, Gordon talked about general manager Mike Lombardi, the team’s new offense and the ongoing organized team activities in Berea.

“Defenses will be shocked to say the least with how much we’re running down field,” Gordon said in the article. “I’ve never ran this much as a wide receiver ever in my life, and that’s a good thing. And not just me, everyone from the slot guys to running backs, everyone’s got passing plays in the system.”

With this being his first-ever OTAs after being a supplemental draft pick last July, Gordon stated that “it’s definitely slowed down a lot.” The new offensive system designed by head coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner seems to fit directly in line with the playmaking abilities of Gordon and quarterback Brandon Weeden. Gordon’s comments appeared to be upbeat and exciting, building off his 805-yard rookie season.

[Related: Cleveland Browns hit reset button on media relations]

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: , , , ,

Browns receiving corps ranked fourth in their division by Jamison Hensley

May 8, 2013 by 25 Comments

Jamison Hensley of ESPN is ranking all the position groups in the AFC North and he has decided where they all fall when it comes to receivers. The Cleveland Browns, despite a recent trade for Devone Bess and despite the exit of Anquan Boldin from Baltimore, are last in Hensley’s mind. The Steelers take the top spot and the Bengals with the league’s very best receiver, A.J. Green, finish second.

The Browns feel more comfortable with their receivers after watching what Josh Gordon and Greg Little did last season. But you don’t know if Cleveland’s top two receivers are going to reach their potential this season because they have a combined three seasons of NFL experience. Gordon flashed big-play ability and Little showed signs of developing into a complementary No. 2 target. The Browns have more established depth than the Ravens after trading for Davone Bess and signing David Nelson. Bess will prove valuable on third down. Travis Benjamin provides speed on the outside. This group will be even better next season.

There’s no doubting that the Browns receivers have a lot to prove, but it still seems a little bit odd that the Ravens could be ranked ahead of them without Anquan Boldin. Torrey Smith is a dynamic, young receiver who I definitely think is on an upward career arc, but he’s only entering his third season in the NFL. He’s caught nearly 50 balls in two straight years. He’s covered 841 yards and 855 yards while catching seven and eight TDs. All that being said, he accomplished that playing with Joe Flacco and alongside Anquan Boldin.

We’ll obviously see how it all plays out on the field this year, but Gordon didn’t start the entire season for the Browns and had 50 catches for 805 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie with no established veteran anywhere to be found on the Browns roster. Greg Little added 53 catches for 647 yards and four TDs as he seemed to get over his butter fingers in the second half of the season. The Browns also add Davone Bess who caught 61 balls a year ago for 778 yards from rookie QB Ryan Tannehill.

[Related: Browns thoughts on Armonty Bryant, Jimmy Haslam’s apology and Garrett Gilkey]

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Brendan Leister talks Browns pickups – WFNY Podcast – 2013-03-13

March 13, 2013 by 2 Comments

WFNY Podcast LogoI’ve known about Brendan Leister and his work analyzing the Browns for a long time. He’s been active in various capacities for years, in fact. 70,000+ tweets if you need him. Anyway, he doesn’t approach the Browns like a fan, preferring to stick to the technical scouting approach. With that in mind, I wanted to talk to him about the Browns’ signings so far, what it means right now and what it means down the road into the draft.

You can find Brendan and his crew doing their excellent work over at DraftBrowns.com and you can find him on Twitter @BrendanLeister. I implore you to check out their site. Ryan is a good writer and Mikey is another Excel nerd 1 who actually understands roster construction and salary cap issues.

Here’s what we talked about.

  • Paul Kruger and the level of excitement for him
  • Did the Browns overpay for Kruger?
  • Desmond Bryant should excite Browns fans more than Kruger
  • Five technique player?
  • Ray Horton’s nickel as the 2-4-5
  • Desmond Bryant’s ability against the run
  • Will Ahtyba Rubin get moved or cut next offseason?
  • Quentin Groves and is it a depth signing?
  • The Browns linebacking corps and fitting them all together
  • Craig Robertson as a cover linebacker
  • Draft plans should include another pass rusher?
  • Should the Browns take a chance on Geno Smith?
  • Do the Browns already know their opinion on Geno Smith?
  • Mike Wallace and $$$ vs. Travis Benjamin
  • Cornerback and who the Browns are going to get
  • Sheldon Brown and how well he played this season
  • Keenan Lewis and his ability to play opposite Joe Haden
  • Josh Gordon and his ceiling as the third youngest player in the NFL

 

[Read more...]

___________________________________

  1. Compliment [back]

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Banner Report: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

March 12, 2013 by 10 Comments

You may remember back in 2010 (you know the last time there was a complete overhaul in Berea) we wanted to give incoming President Mike Holmgren a hand evaluating the roster. We are nothing if not equal opportunity. The Browns have a completely new group in charge this year. Joe Banner, Mike Lombardi, Rob Chudzinski, Norv Turner and Ray Horton take over a 5-11 team. They have plenty of important decisions to make about the roster between now and the 2013 NFL Draft. WFNY wants to offer our assistance with The Banner Position Reports. Previous reports:LB, QB, RB, DBs, DL

Not since the “The Season of Dreams” back in 2007 have the Browns had real playmakers catching the football. That year Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards each topped 1000 yards and 80 receptions before seeing their numbers drop off significantly in 2008. Then, the next three years the Browns’ pass catchers were led by Mo Massaquoi (34 rec, 624 yards), Ben Watson (68 rec, 763 yards), and Greg Little (61 rec, 709 yards). It became something to celebrate when a receiver caught a pass instead of the usual dump off to backs and tight ends. The Browns’ inability to get the ball out wide has been as much on the receiving corps as it has been on the revolving door of quarterbacks coming through Berea. It’s the old chicken or the egg conundrum. Have the struggles passing been the result of poor quarterback play, or lack of weapons catching the football? The short answer is yes. But in 2012 with Weeden throwing to Little and Gordon the Brownies started to show signs of a real passing attack. While far from a proficient one, there was now a passing attack to speak of.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Mike Wallace should give the Browns pause

March 11, 2013 by 24 Comments

Josh GordonMike Wallace would walk into Berea today and be the very best wide receiver Cleveland has had since 1999. There’s just no two ways about it. Josh Gordon has potential and with all due respect to Kevin Johnson who spent most of his career running routes for quarterbacks lying flat on their backs, Mike Wallace would be the best. That being the case and knowing how much money the Browns have available on the salary cap, shouldn’t they just outbid the market for Mike Wallace? You would think that would be an obvious answer for me, but there’s just something about the whole wide receiver situation and Mike Wallace in free agency that gives me serious pause.

For starters, I don’t think Mike Wallace is in the same class as the very best wide receivers in the NFL. He ranked 34th in yards in 2012 and even though that’s clearly a facile way to judge receivers, that’s not it. Wallace is an explosive guy who scores touchdowns. His long play for the year was 82 yards. To think of having anyone on the Browns would could go 82 yards in one play as opposed to doing it over the course of 10 plays and many minutes is pretty crazy. Still, I don’t think Mike Wallace is in the same class as Calvin Johnson, A.J. Green, or Julio Jones. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , , ,

Browns “impressed” with Greg Little’s maturation

March 4, 2013 by 8 Comments

The Cleveland Browns appear to be pretty pleased with one of last season’s big question marks in wide receiver Greg Little.

In his latest Sunday column, Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer describes Little and teammate Josh Gordon as integral parts of the team’s future, but it is only little who appears to have calmed nerves regarding his maturity and work ethic.

“Reviewing the tapes from last season, the coaches were very impressed with the improvement of Greg Little,” writes Pluto. ”In the first five games, he had 11 catches and six drops. In the last 11 games, it was 42 catches and three drops. Little receives high grades for blocking and toughness. He seems to be a significant part of the plan for 2013.”

Meanwhile, with regard to Gordon, despite a head-turning middle of the 2012 season, the team appears more concerned about the bookends that yielded very little.

“Former coach Pat Shurmur and his staff were not thrilled with Gordon’s approach during the 2012 training camp,” writes Pluto. “The coaches taught him how to prepare for practice and film work. He seemed to believe his immense natural talent was enough. By mid season, they thought Gordon had made enormous progress, with former offensive coordinator Brad Childress praising Gordon for “always carrying his notebook” and taking notes.”

During his rookie season after having not played football for a year, Gordon hauled in 50 catches while being among the league’s best in yards after catch — 80 percent of his receptions were for first downs. Essentially serving as this year’s second-round pick, the Browns insists that Gordon must make the leap to a high-impact player in his second or third season. Pluto added, at least in the print version, that the team is monitoring Gordon’s use of social media.

[Related: The Browns’ dive into analytics will be a subtle revolution]

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: , , ,

Michael Lombardi has a lot to prove to Cleveland Browns fans

January 18, 2013 by 144 Comments

Michael_LombardiI’ve come a long way with the Cleveland Browns since I started writing about them in the Romeo Crennel era. The hope of being a fan seeped strongly into everything I did and I always looked for ways to think about things working out. I wouldn’t say all that hope and patience is gone, but it is decidedly muted from where it was. It has been replaced by what I think is a healthy dose of skepticism. It isn’t negativity, but when the risks of a situation reveal themselves to me, I now find it most important to point them out. When I wrote about Joe Banner earlier, I had concerns about him not because I don’t believe he’s qualified to be the CEO of the Cleveland Browns, but because he was overseeing another period of massive change. Today, he made another big move when he replaced the recently departed Tom Heckert with Mike Lombardi.

Tom Heckert was a General Manager and Michael Lombardi has been named VP of Player Personnel, which obviously means the position could be slightly different, but Jimmy Haslam used the two job titles pretty interchangeably in press conferences this off-season. It stands to reason that there won’t be any other significant changes to the personnel department and that Michael Lombardi will fill the void between the scouts, coach and CEO that Tom Heckert once did between the scouts, coach and Mike Holmgren. We obviously don’t know exactly how decisions were made with Heckert and company manning the draft and free agency. We also probably won’t know exactly how decisions will be made with Lombardi, Banner and Chudzinski. Point being that there’s really no reason to hit the panic button or call this thing a colossal failure. At least not yet.

Still, I think it’s fair to at least say that Michael Lombardi has a ton to prove. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Cleveland Browns lead AFC North in dropped passes for 2012

January 15, 2013 by 10 Comments

For the second year in a row, the Cleveland Browns led the AFC North in dropped passes, allowing 27 catchable passes to hit the ground.

The silver lining: According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Browns were the only team in the division whose drops decreased from the previous season with the team dropping 33 balls in 2011.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green led all players in the division with nine dropped passes on 158 targets.  Greg Little led the Browns with seven drops on just 85 targeted passes, the majority of which came within the first six weeks of the season, drawing the ire of many including former Browns coach Sam Rutigliano. Little, who led the AFC North with 11 dropped passes in 2011, was second in the division this year behind Green.

The other players in the Browns with at least four drops were wide receiver Josh Gordon (five) and fullback Owen Marecic (four). Marecic was made inactive for the majority of the second half of the 2012 season as the team opted to use tight end Alex Smith and H-back Brad Smelley in his place.

[Related: Pat Shurmur puts Greg Little on notice]

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: , , , ,

ESPN: Browns’ Gordon and Hughes primed for “breakouts”

January 8, 2013 by 24 Comments

Though his focus will likely be turning to who the Cleveland Browns will be drafting come this spring, two members of the current team make ESPN draftnik Mel Kiper’s list of potential breakout players for 2013 — wide receiver Josh Gordon and defensive tackle John Hughes.

On Gordon:

Technically, he shouldn’t be here, as he was one of the top rookie WRs overall. But it wasn’t until Nov. 18 that he caught four passes in a game. He had rust to work off, and after a 50-catch rookie season, he could be a 1,000-yard guy for years to come with plenty of big plays as part of his repertoire.

And on Hughes:

Billy Winn was the story early on for the Cleveland D-line, filling in for the injured Phil Taylor. But it was Hughes who played really well in the second half. If he has a great camp, he could start next to Taylor on the D-line in Week 1 next season.

While the likelihood of Hughes usurping Athyba Rubin as the starting tackle remains low, it’s refreshing that the two players listed were two of the biggest question marks heading into 2012. Gordon will technically be this year’s second-round selection, so the added benefit of having an NFL season under his belt cannot be overstated. Hughes was universally panned by those with the desire to instantly grade a draft, but if he can prove to build off of his second half, Tom Heckert will be able to add yet another rough-rooted diamond to his résumé.

[Related: WFNY Podcast – Brian Spaeth challenges Craig on Browns and media]

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: , , , ,

WFNY Top 10 Cleveland Sports Stories of 2012: #3 Trent Richardson Headlines Browns’ Youth Movement

December 31, 2012 by 2 Comments

2012 was one crazy year in the wild wacky world of Cleveland Sports. Some would tell you 2012 was as bad as it has ever been here. As the year comes to a close, like we have done the last four years, WFNY will take a look at what we view to be the 10 biggest sports stories affecting our local sports scene. Each day through the rest of the year, we will be counting down from ten to one. We started the Buckeyes Final Four trip. Number nine is something that happened just a short two weeks ago. The Ohio State perfect 12-0 season was number eight while Chris Perez’ harsh and honest words clocked in at number seven. Our sixth-biggest story saw our first of two straight from the Cavaliers, the drafting of Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller. Up next was Kyrie Irving receiving the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Coming in at number four was Manny Acta’s fall from managerial grace.

#3 Trent Richardson Headlines Browns’ Youth Movement

This season the Browns were led by rookies in passing, rushing and receiving. (Still mad I didn’t get so much as a cap tip from the Browns stat department. You’re welcome.)

Trent Richardson’s 950 yards didn’t just lead the team this year, they were the most by a Browns rookie RB ever. Yes, he played in more games and had more attempts than Jim Brown in his rookie season. Stop for a moment though and think about the comparison. You want to split hairs about Richardson’s season compared to Jim Brown? Ok. I fully submit Richardson’s rookie year was only the second best in franchise history. And that’s good enough. He also set a club rookie marks for rushing touchdowns. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Browns, Top 10 Cleveland Sports Moments of 2012 Tagged With: , , , , ,

Browns place Mohamed Massaquoi on IR

December 25, 2012 by 4 Comments

Add Mohamed Massaquoi to the list of Cleveland Browns players that might have seen his last action as a member of the team. Mohamed Massaquoi is on injured reserve and the Browns signed Thaddeus Lewis from the practice squad Monday night.

According to the Browns’ news release, Massaquoi started five of nine games in which he appeared this season and caught 17 passes for 245 yards. For comparison’s sake, Josh Gordon has 46 and Greg Little has 50. With those kinds of numbers and difficulty remaining healthy it remains questionable as to how much interest Joe Banner and whichever general manager is working for the Browns, will have in the soon-to-be free agent.

If MoMass is truly done with the Browns it closes the chapter on one of the most disastrous second rounds quite possibly in NFL history. The Browns traded down a few times and ended up with three picks in the round. They selected Mohamed Massaquoi, Brian Robiskie, and David Veikune.

[Related: NFL Rumors: Banner to “clean house” as soon as season ends]

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: , , , , ,

On Brandon Weeden’s rookie season, and other Browns rookie records

December 21, 2012 by 7 Comments

Over the past two weeks (part 1 and part 2), my good friend and colleague Rick has posted updates on some historic NFL records being accomplished by the current trio of rookies on the Browns offense: QB Brandon Weeden, RB Trent Richardson and WR Josh Gordon.

In his initial post, I helped to provide some of the backbone research. Yes, I never gave enough credit to Rick for his research and his writing as well, but I did help a little bit. This week, since we haven’t provided an update yet, I thought I’d swing back into the picture to provide the latest update and give some more historical context to Weeden’s rookie season.

Of course, this hasn’t been a perfect season for the much-maligned 29-year-old rookie from Oklahoma State (by way of the New York Yankees). He’s been highly criticized in many ways and certainly didn’t have a good performance against the Redskins in the home finale on Sunday. But, based on my research, he’s still OK compared to other QBs that have started every game of their first NFL season. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Browns’ Rookie Records Report

December 10, 2012 by 7 Comments

You may recall last week I discussed the possibility of a historic first for the Browns’ trio of rookie skill position players. It is possible that the Browns could end up with a rookie QB who throws for 3,000 yards, a rookie RB that rushes for 1,000 yards and a rookie WR with 1,000 yards receiving.

But before we get into the accomplishments of the trio, it should be pointed out that several rookies are starting and contributing for the Browns at a high level. The Browns are first in the NFL in rookie starts at 72. The next closest team is Tampa Bay with 44.

Brandon Weeden eclipsed the 3,000 yard mark on Sunday. He now has 3,037 yards. This is the most ever by a Browns rookie QB. Since the Browns returned in 1999, they have only had two quarterbacks throw for 3,000 yards. Tim Couch (3,040 in 2001) and Derek Anderson (3,787 in 2007) are the two marks Weeden will try to pass next. He has 3 games to do it. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , ,

Gordon has serious shot at 1,000-yard year

December 9, 2012 by 1 Comment

Rookie Browns receiver Josh Gordon, a.k.a. Gordo, is having one of the best rookie seasons in Browns history with 34 catches, 646 yards, and five touchdowns.With four games remaining, Gordo needs to average 89 receiving yards per game to hit the millennium mark.

Time after time this year, Gordon has blazed 1  by the defense to haul in a Weeden bomb for a long gain. His big play ability has made the Browns offense even fun to watch at times this year. And that’s saying a lot for an offense that in recent memory has looked as if they were playing a different sport than Green Bay, New England, and New Orleans.

If Gordo is able to reach 1,000 yards, it will mark only the 11th time in Browns history a player has done so, and will be the first since both Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow did so during The Season of Dreams in 2007. [Read more...]

___________________________________

  1. No pun intended… [back]

Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Browns’ rookie trio on verge of very rare feat

December 4, 2012 by 22 Comments

After what seemed like years of spending high draft picks on the defensive side of the ball, the Browns focused on the offense this past April. RB Trent Richardson came off the board first, a pick higher than the Browns even had going into the draft. At number twenty-two in the first round the Browns grabbed QB Brandon Weeden. RT Mitchell Schwartz was the pick in round number two, and speedy WR Travis Benjamin went to the Browns in the fourth round.

Then in mid-July, the Browns surprised many by giving up a second round selection in 2013 to take WR Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft. Reviews on that selection were mixed at best, with most figuring Gordon wouldn’t contribute much if anything in 2012.

By the time training camp was a week old, it became obvious that Brandon Weeden was going to get the nod at QB to start the season, and Trent Richardson would certainly be the feature back so long as he was able to recover his knee injury in time. With a little bit of luck, the Browns would have found their leading QB and RB for the season and beyond in the draft.

Now twelve games into the season, the Browns have a trio of rookie skill position players on the verge of doing something historic. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Browns Tagged With: , , , , ,
«Older Posts