May 24, 2013

NFL Rumor: Ray Horton expected to be named Browns defensive coordinator

January 18, 2013 by 33 Comments

The off-season drum continues to beat on for the Browns. Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that the Cleveland Browns might have gotten Ray Horton as their new defensive coordinator.

And so ends the saga of Dick Jauron and if he would be retained in Cleveland. But another saga that many Browns fans had been fearing starts again. According to Jeff Schudel Ray Horton coaches the 3-4.

So who knows what that means for the Cleveland Browns and their abundance of defensive linemen. The biggest question of all is for someone like Jabaal Sheard who might soon have us bemoaning the miscasting of Kamerion Wimbley in the 3-4 as a linebacker as opposed to a 4-3 defensive end.

[Related: A new coaching staff could mean a change to a 3-4 defense. Are the Browns ready for that?]

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NFL Free Agency: Wimbley signs with Titans for five years up to $35 million

March 20, 2012 by 3 Comments

Kamerion Wimbley is headed to Tennessee to do what he should have been doing all along. Presumably, that means he will finally be an all-time defensive end. Adam Caplan reports by way of PFT…

Adam Caplan reports that the Titans and Wimbley have agreed to terms on a five-year, $35 million deal with $13.5 million guaranteed and $11.5 million in the first season.

I know Browns fans dreamed of bringing Wimbley back to play opposite Sheard now that the Browns are playing a 4-3. It was my instinct all along that Wimbley was going to get paid. It isn’t a superstar deal, but it is a decent deal. In the end, not unmanageably high though.

Assuming Wimbley got a decent signing bonus, call it at least $8 million, that means his cap number for the first year of the deal is somewhere in the ballpark of $3 – $5 million or roughly what the Browns ponied up to bring in Frostee Rucker and Juqua Parker combined.

Maybe Wimbley had no interest in coming back to the team that mishandled the earlier part of his career even if none of those same coaches are here anymore. With the Browns having $20-some million under the cap, it is hard to believe that Wimbley’s cap number was a big problem.

[Time Machine: Wimbley was "shocked" by his trade to Oakland]

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Report: Former Brown Kamerion Wimbley could be cut

March 1, 2012 by 16 Comments

According to a report by NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora, the Raiders will cut LB Kamerion Wimbley if he doesn’t agree to restructure his contract. A contract he signed before last season.

Wimbley is due to make $11 million this season, with $6.5 million guaranteed, and Oakland is trying to restructure its budget and get under the salary cap. Wimbley also has triggers in his deal that execute $19 million in future guarantees if he’s not released before the start of the league year.

The Raiders still value Wimbley, but are in desperate need of clearing some cap space. Wimbley had 7 sacks last season, and 9 in his first year as a Raider. He has started all 32 games since being traded to Oakland.

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The Best Browns Since 1999 – Linebackers

February 22, 2012 by 8 Comments

Inside linebacker hasn’t been a position of strength overall for the Browns since 1999.  They’ve had some solid players and some very good players, but they’ve lacked a superstar.  Still, in Browns fans minds the choices were pretty clear.  D’Qwell Jackson scored over 2700 first place votes while Andra Davis came in a distant second with 661.  Davis crushed the competition with 1568 second place votes with Jackson taking 720 and Chris Gocong scoring 485 votes. [Read more...]

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POLL: Who Are the Best Browns Since 1999? Defense

February 1, 2012 by 18 Comments

Things get interesting today.  Certainly a bit more interesting than they were with some of the special teams categories.  Just FYI there were some difficulties creating these categories because of the various switches between the 4-3 and 3-4.  For example, for the purposes of this poll Kenard Lang is a defensive end, while Kamerion Wimbley is an outside linebacker.  David Bowens and Matt Roth are also listed at outside linebacker too because that’s what they played when they were here.  Marcus Benard was a tough one because he is a DE now, but he certainly made his noise (so far) as an outside linebacker.  I’ve already probably said more than you care to know.

Even though I’ve already beaten this into the ground, I’d also like to point out that I made Chaun Thompson an outside linebacker because that’s what I remember most, despite the fact that I believe someone tried to put him inside at one point.  Regardless, if you are voting for Chaun Thompson… Nevermind. I don’t want to sway the vote. [Read more...]

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Kamerion Wimbley Was “Shocked” by Trade to Oakland, is Happy to Restart Career

October 13, 2011 by 8 Comments

With the Cleveland Browns boarding a plane this Friday with Oakland, California as the destination, former Browns linebacker Kamerion Wimbley will get to suit up against his teammates for the first time since being traded in the 2010 offseason.

With Tom Heckert under control of the 53-man roster and a lot of improvements to be made, his impact was made immediately with the trades of Wimbley to Oakland, and quarterback Brady Quinn to Denver.  The Quinn trade netted the Browns their current running back Peyton Hillis, the Wimbley deal would provide the draft selection that the team would later use on their current starting quarterback Colt McCoy.  But how the deal would go down, late on a Sunday afternoon, admittedly came as a bit of a shock to the pass-rushing Wimbley. [Read more...]

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Browns Trade News: The Writing Is On The Wall

March 15, 2010 by 77 Comments

Yesterday was crazy, wasn’t it? I was not shocked to learn that Brady Quinn had been traded. I was, however, a little bit shocked to hear about Kamerion Wimbley being traded. At first, honestly, I was a bit angry. It felt like Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert were cutting the team’s legs out from under it before it could even get started. But, upon further review…

It’s no secret if you read my posts and comments that you know I’m a bit of an enigma when it comes to building the team: I will advocate daily, hourly, minute-ly (?) that this team needs to be built for the long-term entirely through the draft. I still believe that, and I always will. The teams that always seem to be successful are the ones who draft well, and whenever they lose a solid player to free-agency never seem to miss a beat because they’ve—wait for it—drafted well and have a good player waiting in the wings to step in and take over. [Read more...]

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Browns Sunday Trades: Instant Analysis

March 14, 2010 by 47 Comments

So, one day we get the signing of an older gentleman quarterback, and the timing leads a few people (The OBR and Cleveland Frowns) to guess that the move was made at 6:00 PM on Saturday as a way of potentially avoiding the news cycle.  Now, at the same time a day later, the Browns unleash some more moves on the sports news scrolls all over the nation.  If you haven’t heard, the Browns traded both Brady Quinn and Kamerion Wimbley today.  Let’s try to make some sense of this.  At this point, I am not going to try and convince anyone that these moves are good or bad.  Instead, I want to try and get inside the heads of the Browns’ front office and coaching staff.

First, let’s talk about Kamerion Wimbley because it might be a bit easier.  After a year of coaching Kamerion Wimbley and after checking tape on Wimbley’s improved play this season, the Browns still felt like it wasn’t worth keeping Wimbley around.  Maybe it has something to do with the depth of the draft.  Maybe it has to do with the acquisition of Matt Roth a year ago.  Maybe it is the fact that Wimbley has failed to prove himself to be more than just a physical freak with only one pass rushing move and a general inability to play in coverage and that he was in the midst of a 6 year $24 million contract.  Probably a combination of all of these factors.  So, the Browns get the 6th pick in the third round of this year’s draft.  Wimbley was a first round pick, but it is easy to see that he hasn’t lived up to his draft slot. Some of that is Wimbley’s fault and some of that is probably the Browns’ coaches over the years. [Read more...]

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Holmgren Report: Linebackers

January 26, 2010 by 26 Comments

Browns Roster Upgrade HighNow that The Big Show Mike Holmgren has shored up his front office roster, it’s time for him–and for us–to look at the team’s roster. We’ve borrowed from the Department of Homeland Security and will be looking at each position group day by day, finishing with a roster upgrade ranking based on need. Check back each day this week for a new position group. Previous Reports: RB, OL, WR/TE, QB, ST, DB

When Eric Mangini was hired, many wondered if he would keep the 3-4 defense, or adapt a defense to the seeming strengths and weaknesses of the Browns’ personnel and move to a 4-3. We all now know that he chose the former, and so it warrants mentioning that the lynch pin of a successful 3-4 defense is the linebacking corps.

Mangini went to work on trying to bolster the group of LBs by going out and bringing in some of his former Jets players (Eric Barton, David Bowens) as well as using a couple of draft picks at the position (David Veikune, 2nd round; Kaluka Maiava, 4th round). Injuries coupled with some 2009 draft picks apparently being deemed not-quite-ready-for-prime-time left an already-thin group of linebackers even more exposed as the season wore on.

[Read more...]

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Browns News: Is Swine Flu the New Staph?

October 21, 2009 by 10 Comments

Swine Flu BrownieAs if a handful of injuries and a vast amount of sub-par performances were not enough, the Associated Press reports that there are several cases of influenza amongst the Cleveland Browns.

Twelve players, including Pro Bowl tackle Shaun Rogers, have reportedly been diagnosed with either flu or flu-like symptoms, and have not participated in team activities this week.  Today’s practice has been altered to account for these issues as Eric Mangini wants to ensure rest as well as to contain any possible spreading of the hampering disease.

[Read more...]

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NFL Trade Rumors: Is Kamerion Wimbley Next?

October 19, 2009 by 20 Comments

kamerion wimbleyWhile the rumors surrounding Brady Quinn and Joshua Cribbs appear to be subsiding, we can now add another name to the mill in regard to a potential trade scenario: Kamerion Wimbley.

Recapping this past weekend of football, Mike Lombardi of the National Football Post comes through with the following: [Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting…Paging Wimbley, Tressel’s Book, Frank Herrmann and Tiger Woods

July 18, 2009 by 3 Comments

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your pleasurable viewing. Have something you think we should see and read about tomorrow? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.

wimbley

More Browns LB fodder for your pre-pre season chatter box: “Over the past two years, time after time, we have watched Wimbley try to race around an offensive tackle. It’s too predictable, and therefore has become easy to defend. Wimbley has a total of nine sacks over the past two years, and from memory most of those came on plays where it was the quarterbacks fault for holding onto the ball too long, almost like a coverage sack.” [ChrisPokorny/Dawgs By Nature]

[Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting…Braylon Not Offended, DeRosa and Waving the White Flag, Shaq to Portland Vetoed

June 28, 2009 by 5 Comments

While We’re Waiting aims to be the round-up of the recent WFNY-esque information for your morning viewing. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.

Edwards Yappin'

Is Braylon the anti-Cutler: “’I never said I wanted to go,’ Edwards said. ‘The Browns tried to put a trade out there. It’s always about progress in any level of sport. It will always be business. Trades happen, releases happen, I never took it personal. They thought highly enough of me to ask for a lot and in doing so, the Giants couldn’t give the Browns what they wanted. It’s a business.’ ” [NFL Fanhouse]

[Read more...]

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Rob Ryan: “We Definitely Run Some 46 Defense”

June 18, 2009 by 19 Comments

rob-ryanA lot of the scrutiny for the upcoming football season will be placed on the offense that has question marks across the board – save for Joe Thomas.  This is understandable given the lack of scoring that the team endured over the second half of the season and the fact that the team still claims to have made no decision on the starting quarterback. 

But to be fair, there is still a lot of work that has to be done on the defensive side of things.  At least the offense was good two years ago; the D has been brutal more often than not.  Given this, newly crowned defensive coordinator Rob Ryan sat down with the media yesterday to discuss a few things.  One of which was the 46 defense.

“You’ll see that on Sundays.  Really, the 46 was designed as a nickel defense. It wasn’t really the base of my father either. It just started stopping everything so it became a base. We definitely run some 46 defense. Eric is a huge fan of the 46. That’s something he has always said, ‘Hey, let’s get this in, let’s go’ In fact, in New England, we worked together a lot and he was so smart.  You would be tired after working two-a-days and you are ready to go to bed, and he would be like, ‘No, put those tapes on for an hour and let’s watch it.’  He is the one who eventually got it into New England and we had so much success with it there. It’s something that is definitely going to be a part of this package.”  

[Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting… NBA Power Rankings, Brian Orakpo’s Pro Day, and a Pavano Sighting

March 26, 2009 by 8 Comments

While We’re Waiting aims to be the round-up of the recent WFNY-esque information for your morning viewing. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.

lebron-james-cavs-nets

Second day in a row that we lead with Power Rankings: “1. Cavaliers (57-13) The Cavs shouldn’t be considered just title contenders anymore. They should be considered the favorites. Nine straight wins heading into tonight’s game against New Jersey, on pace to win 65-plus games and only one loss at home this season. What more do they have to do?” [Matt Steinmetz/NBA FanHouse]

[Read more...]

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Browns Add Vets Barton and Womack

March 14, 2009 by 16 Comments

floyd-womackI know that there is nothing sexy about the Browns’ free agent pickups so far.  I also know that everyone is pretty much tired of looking at Jets stats to see how these guys have played in the past.  Well, there is another Jet coming to town, but coming with him is a dude named Pork Chop.  Eric Barton is the Jet linebacker that has been talked about since free agency started, and now the Browns appear to have added some help on the offensive line.  Floyd “Pork Chop” Womack is your newest Cleveland Browns offensive lineman.  I would think that Browns fans, of all people, would be able to rally around a dude named after a food.  Now, if we could only find a right tackle with the nickname Apple Sauce it would be the most delicious right side of an offensive line EVER.

While it isn’t a homecoming of any kind for Womack, he was born in a town named Cleveland.  It just happened to be in Mississippi.  He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 4th round in 2001 and he played his college ball at Mississippi State.  The skinny on Womack (Ha.  Get it?) is that he is a giant dude with the ability to play both tackle and guard.  He is listed at 6’4″ and 328 pounds.  He played a lot for the Seahawks last year at the two guard spots, but stats for offensive linemen aren’t really available.  The Seahawks were 4-12, but that certainly doesn’t tell you anything either.  I don’t know if this guy even projects to be a starter, but to me this again points to the Browns looking to improve their running game.  In order to win in the AFC North, you need to have physical line play.  I look at this and our newest blocking tight end as signs that the Browns will look to improve that phase of the game.

As for Eric Barton, [Read more...]

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The Browns Will Win If…

October 17, 2008 by 9 Comments

Wow, so here we are. Last week’s post was centered on “what it’s going to take for the Browns to avoid getting embarrassed” by the Giants. One 35-14 Eli-drubbing later, the Browns might just have a new season on their hands.

The Browns sit at 2-3, and travel to Washington where the Redskins are most likely angry after losing a trap game against the previously-winless Rams. The Browns have had a short week to prepare. So, have the Browns turned a corner? Was Monday night a fluke? Will they, much like last year, think they are now better than they really are? Without further ado…

The Browns Will Win If… [Read more...]

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Is Alex the New Kamerion?

October 17, 2008 by 12 Comments

Alex HallWhen looking at the sack totals for the season so far, Atlanta’s John Abraham tops the list with seven quarterback takedowns through six games.  Of course, facing the Detroit Lions on opening day and racking up three sacks in one game will give one a solid foundation for the year.  Now the Browns as a team have seven sacks – good for 29th in the league.  It is no secret that we have had a rough go at it.  At least at first.

Since Alex Hall was inserted into the starting line-up for the then injured Willie McGinest, he has managed to record one sack in each of the three games.  In fact, he also recorded seven tackles against the Ravens; quite a start if you ask me.  Hall’s three sacks place him right along side big money players like Jared Allen of Minnesota and Julius Peppers of Carolina.  Would I expect the two players named to eventually pass up Hall on the list?  Sure.  But did I expect a seventh-round draft pick to lead the team in quarterback takedowns?  Not a chance.

That was supposed to be Kamerion Wimbley.

[Read more...]

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What else ya got up your sleeve?

October 6, 2008 by 8 Comments

During their bye week, the news has been slow (some would say, thankfully so). But, with the World Champs coming to town next Monday night, and the Browns languishing at 1-3, one can’t help but wonder (perhaps “pray” is a better word) if perhaps the Browns’ coaches have been cooking up some new things during the bye week.

On Saturday, leading Tony Grossi’s “Hey Tony” column was an interesting question brought up about Josh Cribbs by a reader:

Hey, Tony: Why don’t the Browns use Josh Cribbs like Pittsburgh used Antwaan Randle El? — Ron Stratton, Leavittsburg, Ohio
Hey, Ron: Actually, the better comparison is Kordell Stewart. The Steelers named their special package of plays for Stewart “Slash.” The Browns have named their special package for Cribbs “Flash,” in honor of his days at Kent State. We haven’t seen a lot of that package, but it’s coming. [Read more...]

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The Firing Line…

September 23, 2008 by 11 Comments

All camp long the D-line had their way with our Offensive line (with the exception of Kamerion Wimbley getting handled by Joe Thomas). I even asked the Browns top pick last year if he was surprised of concerned about that, and he assured me that defensive lines are always ahead of offensive lines in camp. Hmmm….care to rethink that one Joe?

The Browns are losing games at the line of scrimmage. Yes, there have been really bad coaching decisions. Yes, Derek Anderson has been a big disappointment. So has Edwards. And the ghost of Donte Stallworth. But the strength of the team last year, namely the offensive line has been terrible this season. In 15 games last year, Derek Anderson was sacked 14 times. This year? Try 8 times in 3 games. The Browns rushed for 118 yards a game in ’07. This season? Would you believe 72? (Personally I was surprised it was that high.) Yes, the Browns have played tough teams so far. But they played the Steelers and Ravens twice last year, [Read more...]

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