It's Over........Browns @#$%!!!!!!

As Roy Orbison once sang, it's over.
Sorry Browns fans, but an 0-3 start against this schedule with little of any kind of performance to encourage me, this is a lost season.

The Browns traveled to Baltimore to scrimmage the Ratbirds and after a disastrous third quarter caused them to drop a 28-10 decision.

Shawn's Thoughts

1: I know Derek Anderson played poorly and many fans are shouting for Brady Quinn, but I would say give Anderson one more shot at turning things around- this week in Cincinnati.
If things do not work out, then Quinn has the bye week to get up to speed for a tough Monday night game against the Giants...

2: You can blame Anderson for many things in the loss (the gift TD to Ed Reed) for one, but you cannot blame him for the Chris McAllister pick that turned the game around.
Ray Lewis (for a change) laid a huge hit on Kellen Winslow to force the ball into the air, but the pass was on the money.

3: I am continued to be confused by the lack of use of Jerome Harrison.
Harrison grabbed a pass for the Browns only touchdown and then saw the field sparingly thereafter.
The same thing happened against the Steelers and I am having a hard time figuring out why the only guy that is making plays isn't playing.

4: Mr. Softee continues with his poor play with 3 catches for 27 yards and just as many drops.

5: I have heard Browns fans calling for the head of Romeo Crennel, but firing Crennel now makes no sense and as bad as he has performed, I hear very little asking about the status of Phil Savage.
Savage, after all, is the "genius" putting the "talent" together.
To me, let's play it out and see how it goes and either both stay or both get the axe.
It strikes me as very unfair to keep either of the architects of this mess and move the other out the door.

6: In a 28-10 loss, a few players on the defensive side played well.
D'qwell Jackson was all over the field and intercepted a pass and I liked the play of Alex Hall.
Eric Wright made some nice hits as well, although I would like to see him bat more balls down in coverage.

7: But on the flip side, Corey Williams was pushed around on the line of scrimmage and except for a fumble recovery, never heard his name called and Kamerion Wimbley continues to be going down the road to Bust City.

8: The Browns simply have no playmakers on defense.None.
The Ravens (even though I don't see them as a great team) have 4 of them.
See the difference?

9: As good as Joe Thomas usually is, he struggled yesterday against Terrell Suggs and Trevor Pryce in pass blocking.
Chalk this one up to missing his linemate on the left side for the day (Eric Steinbach) and maybe a bad day.....

10: Jamal Lewis didn't rush for a lot of yards, but averaged over four yards a carry, why didn't the Browns pound the ball at Baltimore, especially at 14-10 when Anderson seemed mentally fragile??
Just wondering...

The Seattle Seahawks did their job by avoiding a 0-3 start by pounding the St.Louis Rams 37-13.
Look for my thoughts on the win in a few days after I review the tape.
Both teams played at 4, so I missed the Seattle game live.....

The Texas Rangers are the new team in town for the Hickory Crawdads as the only two teams that needed a Low A team decided on their teams.
The other, the Seattle Mariners will be in the Midwest League in Clinton Iowa.

Roy Oswalt shut the Pirates down again in a 6-2 loss in the Pirates home finale'.
Jack Wilson pinch-hit again and singled after a huge ovation.

The Pirates resolved this Pedro Alvarez mess and avoided an ugly situation.
Alvarez apparently is eligible to play in either Arizona or Hawaii.
Look for more on this tomorrow...

Photo Credits
Harrison: Ap Photo
Jackson: John Kuntz-Cleveland Plain Dealer

Cleveland Browns Draft Wrapup

The Cleveland Browns and Phil Savage continued their win-now strategy by continuing to trade future picks in order to attempt 2008 success in the NFL Draft.

The Browns moved quickly in the fourth round to move up to the 5th pick of the round to work a trade with Dallas and used the pick to select UNLV linebacker Beau Bell.
The Browns traded both their 4th and 5th-round picks to move up and I liked this move.
Bell was a projected second-rounder before suffering a knee injury at Senior Bowl workouts and the injury caused him to drop, but should not cause Bell to miss playing time in training camp.
The addition addressed the Browns' largest need and Bell could even break the starting lineup with a good camp.
Bell can play the inside or the outside backer and gives the Browns just what they need and I fully support the move.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the next Phil Savage move.
Again, Cleveland traded with Dallas (Gasp!) and moved back to their original spot in Round 4 to take tight end Martin Rucker of Missouri.
Rucker is more of a pass-catching tight end than a blocker and does not seem to play a position of need, but was a productive player at Missouri.
Rucker was a Mackey finalist for the top tight end in the nation and was a first-team all-American for the Tigers.

The knock here is not the player, but the position and the cost for Rucker as Savage shipped the Browns 3rd rounder in 2008 to the Cowboys.
Rucker could turn out to be a steal if an injury happens, but I think the cost was too high for a player who may not play very much in 2008.

The Browns had no picks in Round 5 and did not have their own 6th-rounder having moved it to Philadelphia in a previous trade.
But the Browns did have a sixth-rounder, the Seattle Seahawks pick that they obtained for Charlie Frye and Savage could not decide which of two players to select with the pick.
The solution?

Get them both and Savage did just that by again reacquiring a pick that was theirs originally by working a trade with the Eagles for the pick that followed the Seattle pick.

First, the Browns added Ahtyba Rubin, a defensive tackle from Iowa State.
The 300+ plus Rubin is more of a run stuffer than a pass rusher and should help with depth issues at defensive tackle.
The trade with the Eagles brought Wisconsin wideout Paul Hubbard to Cleveland.
The cost of this pick? The Browns 2009 5th rounder.
So Phil Savage, who believes in building the team through the draft has already peddled 2 picks for next year.
I don't have a good feeling about this.

Back to Hubbard, a rangy wideout with great leaping skills and was the Big Ten long jump champion in track, but had problems staying on the field.
So I asked about him to the most knowledgeable Wisconsin follower that I know- Ryan.
"Hubbard can jump, but struggles to catch the ball"(Isn't catching the ball a must for a pass catcher?)
"Plus he is not very physical and he gets hurt all the time".
"Twice during his career, he looked to be turning the corner and then got hurt and went back to the same mediocre player he was before".
"But he might be OK as a red zone guy, where you just throw the ball up and hope he comes down with it".
Not a sterling endorsement from someone who generally is very scout-friendly to Badger players.

The Browns used their final pick in Round 7 on a guy that even I had never heard in Alex Hall.,
a Division II player from St.Augustine College.
Hall is 6'3, but just 235, and is listed as a DE/LB combo player.
Looks to me to be a depth guy, but I don't know enough to be sure...

Overall, Bell makes this an acceptable draft considering the lack of picks and Rucker is a talented player as well, but trading two 2009 picks already and failing to address the secondary at all is very questionable in my opinion.

Photo Credit
Bell-Las Vegas Journal Review