Cleaning out the inbox

My intent was for tonight was to do the latest road trip stop with the Carolina Mudcats,but I forgot to transfer the pictures to the computer from that stop,so look for that soon,maybe Tuesday after game five of Cavaliers-Warriors...
SO,since I dropped the ball on that,I can get the lysol out and start cleaning the inbox a bit instead.

Let's get started with a SABR baseball cards blog entry on a long time favorite of mine and maybe the most polarizing figure in baseball broadcasting-Ken "The Hawk" Harrelson.
Hawk,who whether you like him or not, is definitely the
biggest homer in the booth anywhere and certainly is a memorable person from the first time that you hear a game that he does.
The SABR article though looks at Hawk's playing career through his various Topps cards and it's neat to see the evolution through a career and hear some stories about why and how some cards look the way they do.
The 1970 Topps set isn't my favorite set,but it is my favorite Hawk card-it is one of two cards of him as an Indian,he wears a hat that I own (one of my two favorite non-Wahoo Indians hats) and I love the stadium (Yankee Stadium in this case) shots in the background!

More Hawk as the White Sox saluted Harrelson with a stadium giveaway that I want in the Hawk talking alarm clock!
The clock can wake you with one of various Hawk sayings and stuff like that are home runs to me!
Kudos to the White Sox for the clock,which was based on the Milwaukee Brewers doing a Bob Uecker clock of the same style last year...

The Hardball Times writes of a seven day offensive run by Frank Howard of the Washington Senators in 1968.
The article discusses Howard's career as a Dodger,but mainly looks at his time in Washington with the Senators,in which with the exception a surprising 1969,Howard was about the only thing to get excited about for a bad franchise that was nearing the end of its time in Washington.
It also writes of the powerful long balls that Howard hit and the three white seats that remain in RFK stadium to this day that were commemorated for Howard's blasts into the upper deck.

I've written before about my fondness for mid-major basketball and with Xavier moving up to the Big East a few years and arguably passing metro rival Cincinnati on the food chain,my main mid-major school was gone.
Wichita State under Gregg Marshall was their replacement,but with the Shockers move to the American Athletic Conference,which in basketball is not quite top notch,but above the mid-major level and leaving the Missouri Valley conference,the MVC needed a replacement and found it in Valparaiso.
Valpo had been the best program in the Horizon League (especially since Butler had left) for years and like Wichita State climbing the conference ladder up a notch with the AAC,Valpo is doing the same with its move to the MVC.
It's part of the business of college sports today-understandable.but sometimes at the cost of some of what makes college sports so great.
Mid-Major Madness writes about the Crusaders move here and the Wichita Eagle discusses it here in what will likely be one of the final articles for that paper on the MVC with the Wichita State departure of the league effective in the fall.

Meanwhile,the AAC is beginning to tout itself as the conference attempting to push its way into prominence and turn the "Power 5"conferences into the "Power 6" and this ESPN article talks about the AAC churning out coaches for the higher level in football.
The point is made when you look at Tom Herman (leaving Houston for Texas),Justin Fuente (Memphis for Virginia Tech) and Willie Taggart (South Florida for Oregon) that the AAC truly is a
a league that prepares coaches for the power five jobs and even if I'm not sure that the AAC should make the five a six,the league has some really good programs and makes for many fun fall evenings watching their teams go at it...

Steve Kim at UCNLive writes about the lack of buzz over Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev II and the frustrations by Main Events (promoter of Kovalev) with the promotion of Roc Nation (promoter of Ward) and their questionable promoting of the rematch.
Ward's questionable decision win in November meant the contracted rematch would be promoted by Roc Nation-a "promotion" that has been a disaster in their time in the boxing business.
Roc Nation hasn't pushing the fight,there is next to no excitement for a fight that should have it amid rumors that this will be the final event before Roc Nation boxing folds its tent and goes away as the latest "money mark" to think that promoting boxing is easy and leaves after losing lots of money to come to the realization that boxing isn't like any other business venture.

We wrap with the Cleveland Plain Dealer looking at two players with plenty in common-Robert Griffin and Johnny Manziel.
Two stars at Texas colleges,Heisman winners,first round draft picks,spread offense runners and disappointments with the Cleveland Browns,both players say they want to play in the NFL again,but no one has come calling as of this writing.
Should either of the two decide to try Canada and the CFL-their home would be in Hamilton as a Tiger-Cat as Hamilton holds the rights to both Griffin and Manziel.
I'd be interested to see how they would play in the CFL,which does require some mobility from their QB's,but needs a bigger arm than most American fans would think as the throws to the sideline are longer with the wider field.
When you look at Vince Young,who has much in common with the above two ( minus the Heisman,but adding a national title) and his attempt to come back to football with the CFL (Young is with the Saskatchewan Roughriders),it's not so far fetched to some day see either or even both of those players giving Canadian Football a shot...

Browns cut Johnny Manziel

Please bear with any typos today.I'm feeling pretty bad over the last day or so and in order to continue to function and go to work-I'm pretty run down.

The Cleveland Browns stepped forward yesterday with the beginning of their rebuild with a few moves including their first two free agent signings,but most importantly moved away from troubled quarterback Johnny Manziel with his release.
Cleveland,who reportedly are among a team or two that has interest in trading for Colin Kaepernick from the 49ers,had to get away from the toxic Manziel and took a temporary cap hit in order to move the Texas A&M product along.
Manziel finishes his Cleveland career with seven touchdown passes with seven interceptions and won two starts and sends the Browns back to the drawing board.

Cleveland lost another player before the signing below as special teams star Johnson Bademosi left the Browns to sign a two year deal with the Detroit Lions.
Bademosi led the Browns in special teams tackles in each of his four years in Cleveland,but the new regime thought that Bademosi wasn't worth the cost of a special teamer,especially when Bademosi was exposed at defensive back as a less than stellar performer.
I'm fine with allowing Bademosi to leave

The Browns were given three extra compensation picks in the draft with one coming at the end of round four and the other two at the end of round five.
These picks are given for lost free agents at the 2015 free agency period and cannot be traded.

Rumors have the Browns (among the Broncos and Jets) as the interested suitors in Colin Kaepernick from San Francisco,with one report has the 49ers wanting a second round choice for him and the Browns offering a third instead.
I wouldn't offer either for Kaepernick and would offer a 4th at best with hesitancy only because the Browns suddenly have an extra 4th rounder.
I just cannot see the interest in a quarterback that plays in a style that the league has caught up to,is coming off shoulder surgery,often injured of late and sat on the bench for a bad team so they could play Blaine Gabbert.
Anything other than a day three pick is far too excessive for Kaepernick.

The Browns also signed their first two free agents,who could see lots of playing time,but neither were players to get overly excited about.
Offensive lineman Alvin Bailey was signed from the Seahawks,where he made eight starts in three years for Seattle at guard and tackle.
Bailey doesn't appear to be of starting timber,but does look to be a versatile backup that can play two spots in the line rotation.
Bailey could challenge Austin Pasztor or any future additions to start at the hole opened at right tackle by the loss of Mitchell Schwartz to the Chiefs,although at 6'3 320 Bailey might be best suited for guard.
The one thing that Bailey's signing was a similar signing a few years of a backup lineman that could play a few positions and he turned out to be a pretty decent player in John Greco.

The other signing was linebacker Justin Tuggle from the Texans.
The son of former Falcon pro bowler Jessie Tuggle,Justin started two games last year in Houston at linebacker,but was more noted as a special teamer.
Tuggle could compete for a starting linebacker spot on the inside,which could be weakened if Craig Robertson leaves via free agency,which currently appears likely.

If I feel up to it,I plan on trying to be back later with a few words on the Pirates signing David Freese...

Josh McCown done for the season-Now What?

The Cleveland Browns announced that Josh McCown suffered a broken collarbone in their loss to Baltimore Monday night and will miss the remainder of the regular season.
McCown completes a competent regular season with 12 touchdown passes against just four interceptions,but the Browns would win just one game that McCown started (over the Ravens) during the season.

Now that McCown has exited stage left (even),the Browns have some decisions to make.
The first of which is bringing back former Buckeye and was released as the teams final cut before the season Terrelle Pryor.
Pryor will be the third quarterback as he is familiar with the system of John DeFlippo from his days in Oakland and training camp and may get some receiver reps as well.

The bigger of the questions is this-which quarterback will be the starter on Sunday against the Bengals-Johnny Manziel or Austin Davis?

Editor's Note-Davis was announced as the starter after this article was written.

Manziel makes sense as the "what can Johnny do" questions are still as valid as from the first pass that he threw,but Mike Pettine would have to let his personal bias go in order to do that.
Davis makes sense as the Browns signed him to a contract over the next few years and the Browns could argue (in-house of course) that it's Davis that needs to play to show his abilities-not Manziel.

I think the Browns should be considering quarterback anyway in the draft,but if I had to make this difficult decision,I'd go Manziel very reluctantly.
Simply because we have one thing on Austin Davis that we don't on Johnny Manziel-a sustained run of playing time of Davis taking snaps with the Rams.
Davis played with ten games with the Rams,starting eight,going 3-5 with 12 touchdowns against nine interceptions,while Manziel would have to start these final five games to match that level of playing time.

I don't think that there is a wrong way to go as legitimate reasons can be given to start either and I'd wouldn't have any problem with either player getting the start.
I think the Browns are going to go 1-4 at best down the stretch and I don't think either player is going to have a better chance than the other to better that possible record.
What it has become is a typical Browns season-Looking towards next season and that season's reason to hope....

Benjamin bombs Titans in 28-14 Browns win!

Travis Benjamin accounted for three touchdowns (then why isn't the picture of him then?) two via the arm of Johnny Manziel and a punt return to lead the Cleveland Browns to a 28-14 win over the Tennessee Titans in the Browns home opener.
Manziel finished the day completing 8 of 15 passes for 172 yards, with Benjamin grabbing 115 of those.
The 1-1 Browns will host 1-1 Oakland next week before the schedule begins to significantly stiffen...

Brownie Bits

1) Getting some work done on the home office, so didn't do a podcast on the win.
Just a little too much surrounding noise.
I have a tentative plan that may see blog posts on the Buckeyes and Browns that will be supplemented by a weekly podcast entitled "Football Weekend in Ohio".
If you watch both games and want to appear on the show, drop me a line.

2) Johnny Manziel avoided the big mistake and that's as much as you can ask for.
Manziel is going to be what he was at Texas A&M at his best-Let him improvise and try to supplement with a strong running game.
Reigning him in and trying to fit a round peg into a square hole is a waste of time.
Manziel may not turn out to be a successful player in the league, but turning him into a mold that is against his skill set will almost certainly fail.

3) The kill shot to Travis Benjamin showed what Manziel could do at his best, scramble out of the pocket, get into open space and make things happen.
Now those things will be harder to make happen against teams better than the Titans, but allowing Manziel the freedom to roam (and the mistakes that will come) is the best decision.

4) Travis Benjamin certainly has been the breakout star through the first two weeks.
Benjamin has shown the possibility of being a playmaker in the past and I still question Benjamin being more than an occasional big-play guy on offense/kick returner, but you do have to account for him when he hits the game and it also seems that Johnny Manziel has gotten comfortable with him as well.
If that continues, Benjamin's value to the Browns and fantasy owners will continue to climb.

5) The running game improved with Isaiah Crowell grinding out 72 yards with a score and Duke Johnson ripped off a 20-yard run to go with it.
Again, consider the opponent, but the ground game was more effective-especially in the first half.

6) The offensive line still wasn't as good as I expected and Alex Mack in particular was bullied around by Al Woods, who had a tremendous day spent most lined up versus Mack.

7) Lots of credit to the Browns pass rush as Cleveland racked up seven sacks of Marcus Mariota.
Two and a half from Armonty Bryant, who was very impressive in 2013 before losing much of 2014 due to injury,
Bryant might wind up being the only thing memorable from the only Mike Lombardi draft of 2013.

8) The interior defense was pretty tight, but the Browns had trouble around the end as Dexter McCluster ran for 98 yards on 10 carries that were all basically the play to the same area.
That to me is on the outside backers and corners and will need to be fixed..

9) Special teams look to be a real strength after the off-season.
Travis Coons drilled all four extra points and kicked the ball out of the end zone every time.
Andy Lee punted two inside the twenty and averaged over fifty yds.
Take that with the dynamic play of Travis Benjamin and special teams was a dominant part of this win...

10) Dwayne Bowe played.
Amid rumors that the coaching staff wants the reported malcontent gone, Bowe has done little to change minds in order to stick around.
Other than Ray Farmer's dubious decision to make nine million dollars of his contract guaranteed that is.

11) Uniforms.
White looked crisper than the brown of last week, but I'm still not a fan of the white with white look and I felt that way with the preferred previous uniforms for the record...

12) Finally,I thought this was a must-win.
I've said all along that the first three games were the most winnable and there should have been no excuses for a loss at home to Tennessee.
I watched Oakland's win over Baltimore yesterday, the Raiders have improved and I think the Browns should be favored in a pickem-level game only because of the home field.
Buckle up,Browns fans after next week, Cleveland will not be favored in a game for a long time...

Run over by Bengals,Browns lose 30-0...

In the biggest game of their season,the Cleveland Browns went out and played their worst offensive game of the season in a 30-0 loss to the revenge-minded Cincinnati Bengals in Cleveland.
There were no offensive numbers worth mentioning that weren't,well,offensive in a different way,but Johnny Manziel tossed two interceptions in the defeat that saw him fail to reach even the pedestrian number of 100 yards passing for the day.
The now 7-7 Browns will finish their season on the road in Carolina and Baltimore.

Brownie Bits

1) I was fine with the decision to start Johnny Manziel over Brian Hoyer.
Hoyer had been so bad that I felt it was worth a try.
Manziel was disappointing and there is blame to spread to around .
Manziel seemed overwhelmed and borderline unprepared.
If Manziel is going to play in this league-he has a long way to go.

2) The big question-Do the Browns win this game if Mike Pettine had started Brian Hoyer?
No.I just don't see it all things considered,but if you would have preferred a 30-14 loss,Ok.
Hoyer might have engineered more offense,but I think this was a rearend kicking in the making and the starter didn't matter other than maybe some garbage points...

3) The play calling didn't help Manziel much either.
In a game that you were down quickly and early,the Browns didn't throw the ball enough (18 passes) and when they did,it looked like a return to the three yard pass day of old.
Manziel threw just one pass of over 15 yards for a completion (32 yards to Josh Gordon) and allowed the Bengals to play press coverage....

4) More than Manziel was bad in this game as the run defense allowed the most rushing yards to a team this season as the Bengals blew the Browns off the line of scrimmage to the tune of 244 yards,with 148 of them to noted wordsmith Jeremy Hill.
Hill had spouted off after the Browns win in Cincinnati about not being impressed with the Browns.
If he wasn't then,wonder what he thinks now???

5) By the Browns not being able to stop the run,the Bengals were then able to spot Andy Dalton and not force him to win the game.
Dalton's numbers look light (117 yds and a INT) and they are,but they were able to not have to throw the ball to win,keeping those numbers down...

6) Five first downs and 1 of 10 on third down.
Ugh,Kyle Shanahan didn't help Manziel with makeable third downs with run up the middle calls on 1st and 2nd down,especially once the Browns got down 20,but this is still a bad number.

7) Jeremy Hill was able to add something the Bengals needed-a power runner between the tackles.
Hill gained most of his yardage that way and I'll address this more in the off season,but the Browns miss Phil Taylor immensely and if Taylor doesn't appear ready to start next season,Cleveland will need a defensive tackle in the worst way.

8) The Browns lost Joe Haden and Justin Gilbert to injury and no word if they will play against Carolina yet.
The Bengals didn't need to throw much,but considering the big picture,the pass defense could have been far worse..

9) The Browns waived Billy Cundiff and added former Saint Garrett Hartley,who never touched the field as Spencer Lanning did the kickoff and only once did the Browns threaten to score.
Johnny Manziel threw up a floater off his back foot that was snared in the end zone by a Bengal ending the Browns only serious scoring threat...

10) The offensive line was not the answer either to any prayers as they were beaten often off the line by Bengal rushers that left Johnny Manziel throwing off his back foot with little time to throw.
Center has been an issue since the loss of Alex Mack and Mitchell Schwartz is a player degressing not progressing at right tackle.
Right tackle has been a Browns achilles heel for years and it needs to be fixed...

11) Finally,some are ready to give up on Johnny Manziel.
I'm not,but others are saying the Browns are saddled with Manziel for next season too.
I disagree,sometimes one needs to cut loose a mistake and if after three games,the Browns are convinced this is a disaster-I wouldn't be against a QB.
I think it would be premature,but if the last two games are disasters similar to this,you have to at least consider the possibility....

Browns try Hoyer one more time

Mike Pettine and the Cleveland Browns had a decision to be made
entering this week's game against the Indianapolis Colts and it was one that had the potential to influence the 7-5 Browns season.

With a clump of teams in contention for wild card spots,every game is of importance and with the arm of Andrew Luck and his high scoring Colts coming to Cleveland,the Browns found themselves in a quandary.
Do they stick with the erratic arm and play of the veteran Brian Hoyer and gamble that he can recover from his month long funk?
Or is it time for first round pick Johnny Manziel,who led the Browns to their only touchdown in a losing effort last week against the Buffalo Bills?

The Pro-Hoyer argument-
The player that led the Browns to their surprising 7-5 record.
Veteran leadership.
Player that is more prepared to start and knows the offense best.
Need to know whether the Browns are sure about re-signing him at season's end.

The Pro-Manziel argument
Led the Browns to their only TD in Buffalo.
Much more zip on his passes and opens up the deep ball more.
Adds some excitement to the offense and the creativity out of the pocket..
Time to see what the Browns have in their first round pick and do they need to look yet again for a young QB.

As much as the pros are influencing,the cons are as well.
For Brian Hoyer,they are pretty straight forward.
Has played poorly over the last month and his passes are often far too inaccurate for a starting quarterback.

For Johnny Manziel
Questions on preparation on and off the field.
Does the team follow the rookie?

Mike Pettine chose Brian Hoyer and I agree with the decision-to a degree.
Once you make the decision that Johnny Manziel is the guy,you cannot go back to Brian Hoyer.
Therefore,you want to make sure that the "guy" isn't Brian Hoyer before you make that move.
On the field considerations only would make me go Manziel and I don't believe that Hoyer is going to magically turn his game around this week against Indianapolis.
However,he deserves one final chance to try before the team shunts him aside for good.....

The Browns placed Miles Austin on injured reserve after Austin injured a kidney against the Bills.
That's a loss,but look for Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel's targets to go up against the Colts.
The Browns also signed running back Shaun Droughn formerly of the Chiefs to a contract to add some back depth.
That is a need with Isaiah Crowell being questionable with an injury issue for this week,Terrence West being less than reliable with the football and Glenn Winston being untested along with the release of Ben Tate.
Running back has went from a strength to a position with plenty of questions in just a few weeks....

In other news,the Cavaliers released Will Cherry and added veteran A.J. Price.
Price isn't quite what I was looking for in a backup point guard,but he is a veteran,which is what I would like to see the Cavaliers have behind the often brittle Kyrie Irving.....

Browns bounced in Buffalo 26-10,Manziel Debuts

The Cleveland Browns laid another huge egg when they needed to win in Buffalo as the Bills bullied them in the second half for a 26-10 Buffalo win.
In a game not exactly filled with offensive highlights,Johnny Manziel rushed for the only Cleveland touchdown off the bench in the fourth quarter.
The now 7-5 Browns will be home for the next two weeks against division leaders Indianapolis and then Cincinnati.

Brownie Bits

1) Brian Hoyer was deservedly benched for Johnny Manziel.
Hoyer threw two interceptions,but it could have been even more had Bill defenders held onto the ball.
The move was a long time in coming and Manziel certainly added a little bit of excitement to a team that badly needed it..

2) That said,I'm not sure that starting Manziel is the answer next week against the Colts.
Once you make the move to start Johnny Manziel,he is the guy.
You cannot flip back and forth with a young quarterback and if that is the plan,I'd rather see Hoyer next week.
You want to give Brian Hoyer one last chance? Fine,as long as when Johnny Manziel goes in-he stays in.

3) Terrence West is disappointing.
West rushed for more yards yesterday than Isaiah Crowell,but 18 of his 32 yards came on the last play of the game when the Bills just played out the string.,
West's fumble that Jerry Hughes scored a touchdown on swung the game to Buffalo and even though Mike Pettine claimed the fumble was "inexcusable" West still would play later in the game.

4) Josh Gordon caught seven balls for 75 yards,but there was still some miscommunications with the quarterbacks (especially Brian Hoyer) and the team still seems reluctant to send him deep.
I'd think that the deep ball would open things up a bit,but perhaps the coaching staff's mistrust of Brian Hoyer throwing deep comes into play there.

5) Buffalo's Aaron Williams head first spear of Gary Barnidge in the first quarter sent Barnidge to the bench with a rib injury and surprisingly no penalty called.
Count on the league hitting Williams with a fine after the game is reviewed.

6) Johnny Manziel may not be the answer to the Browns problems,but one thing is certain-the rap on his arm strength is unfair.
Manziel was throwing darts and the throws he made on the scoring drive were the type that Brian Hoyer doesn't make.
Manziel might not make it big,but it won't be because of his arm...

7) Manziel's other drive ended with the "same old Browns" roll of the eyes as on 4th and 6,Miles Austin ran a five yard route and was tackled shy of the first down.
Does anyone have stats on how many times that has happened in the last 15 years?
Answer-No and too many to count.

8) The one bright spot on the day was Joe Haden,
Haden had an interception,a block of a Buffalo field goal try,some batted down passes and held talented Sammy Watkins to three catches and just 13 yards on the day.
Haden is in the zone right now and looks to have plenty of challenges ahead of him with T.Y.Hilton and A.J. Green to cover in the next two games.

9) Wish I could say the same for the Browns anchor on offense as Joe Thomas struggled with Mario Williams as he was beaten several times and called for holding three times (some declined by Buffalo).
Could be just a bad matchup,but Williams certainly had his way with Thomas...

10) The defense did not play badly and held Buffalo to just one touchdown.
Yes,Buffalo added three field goals and Jim Leonhard made a great interception in the end zone to foil another threat,but all and all,this was a very solid defensive effort-I was pleased with them...

11) I winced when the Bills thrust the dagger into the heart of the Browns on a third down that Cleveland had to have a stop on with a catch and run for 40 plus yards to tight end and former Browns Marquis Gray.
Gray can do so many things that I was in favor of keeping him around,but he was an early cut by the Browns in camp.

12) This was a huge loss.I figure 10-6 will get you into the playoffs,9-7 could go either way.
A win over the Bills would have allowed the Browns to go 2-2 to get to 10-6.
Now they have to go 3-1.
My guess? It's unlikely....

QB Quandary in Ohio-Part II-Browns choose Hoyer over Manziel

The Cleveland Browns and new head coach Mike Pettine have made their decision,for now at least and selected Brian Hoyer as the starter for the team entering their season opener at Pittsburgh two weeks from Sunday.

Hoyer was given the starting job over first round draftee Johnny Manziel after a pre-season that saw neither candidate exactly distinguish themselves in their first two games of the exhibition season.

Watching the two games makes me wonder what the hurry was to make the selection when you consider the less than championship level that both guys played at,but usually teams play their starters for the majority of the third game of the pre-season slate,so that was likely the reason for making the call now.
There are legitimate cases to make for both Hoyer and Manziel getting the starting job.
Hoyer,because of his veteran status and play in his appearances last season/
Manziel because of his first round selection and ability to make plays on a team that could have zero playmakers at wide receivers if Josh Gordon is suspended.

Adding everything,I agree with Pettine's decision to go with Brian Hoyer for now and emphasis on the words for now.
My reasoning is this- If you start Hoyer and he plays poorly,you then have a slow start most likely and have nothing to lose by playing Manziel.
Starting Manziel first and he stumbles and you have to bench the player that has been drafted to be the star of the team in his first action.
It's better for the Browns to let Hoyer start and see what happens.
That allows Manziel to learn and in the event that he sees the field,he should be better prepared to handle the speed of the game.
The experience of Hoyer (as limited as that is) gives the Browns the best chance to win right now in a season that starts with the Steelers,Saints and Ravens before the bye and then if say the Browns are 0-3 entering the bye week,the Browns have that week to get Manziel up to speed and then 13 games to see just what "Johnny Football" has to offer.
If you start Manziel and he goes 0-3.,the fans will be groaning as you go back to Hoyer.

The selection of Hoyer may not be the flashy pick,but at this time,it's the right one....

It's Johnny Cleveland!

The Cleveland Browns moved up from 26 to 22 at the cost of a third-round pick to deal with the Philadelphia Eagles and take the most polarizing player in the draft in Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel.

The Browns sent the third-rounder that they obtained from Pittsburgh during last year's draft to flip flop from 26 to 22, so they still have picks in the second and third rounds on Friday night.

I like the pick and the cost, but I have no qualms about making this statement-this could be the pick that returns the Cleveland Browns to prominence.
It could also be the pick that could be looked at in the rearview mirror as one that set the Browns back years in their attempt to return to the top.

Johnny Manziel has a huge upside and he also could be a huge bust.
I know you could say anything about any of these players picked in the draft, but looking at the entire package, Johnny Manziel comes to Cleveland with a tag of boom or bust that has not been seen in the NFL in many years.
Honestly, I cannot think offhand (Long day and I'm tired) of a player that exceeds Manziel in carrying that tag and I'm trying hard to come up with one!

I'll be reviewing the draft more as it moves on and time permitting, I might be doing another post on Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel later today, but for now. I'm pretty happy...