Browns Draft Addressed Needs

With all of the discussion that takes place before the NFL draft, what comes after the selection meeting, which is what the NFL calls it, the so-called grading period, can be even more ridiculous.

Usually these grades are given based on where the person assigning the mark had them rated. Which means if you like player A, and your team takes player A, then that team gets a good grade. Really meaningless if you think about it.

The Browns went into the draft needing to improve their offense, and their first three selections produced three likely starters, which for those with limited math skills, is 27% of the starting lineup.

While we can all debate on the wisdom of taking QB Brandon Weeden with the 22nd overall pick, if GM Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur felt that Colt McCoy was part of the problem with the offense, then Cleveland moved quickly to improve that position.

And the supposed failure to draft a wide receiver in the first three rounds is also predicated on that opinion. Obviously, the front office and coaching staff felt McCoy was the reason the receivers were not as productive as they could be and will be with Weeden under center.

Really, what comes first: The “#1” receiver or the franchise quarterback?

Green Bay has a tremendous passing game, right? Well, their two leading receivers (Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings) were both 2nd round picks out of Kansas State and Western Michigan respectively.

Drew Brees’ favorite targets in New Orleans were TE Jimmy Graham, a 3rd round pick and former basketball player, and WR Marques Colston, picked in round seven.

The other top three passing team in the NFL was New England, and Tom Brady’s favorite guys to throw to are Wes Welker, an undrafted free agent, and TE Rob Gronkowski, another 2nd round pick.

All of these receivers are talented, without a doubt, but they weren’t regarded as future All-Pro’s at the time they were drafted. The guys who throw the ball made them that.

Both Shurmur and Heckert seem to feel the production of players like Greg Little, Josh Cribbs, Ben Watson, and others will increase with a stronger armed passer throwing them the football.

The Browns also addressed the weakness on the offensive line by draft T Mitchell Schwartz from California to replace Tony Pashos as the starter on the right side. If he’s as good as advertised, Weeden and new feature back Trent Richardson will operate behind a young group, with Joe Thomas being the oldest.

Nevada LB James-Michael Johnson is another selection who figures to be on the field quite a bit as a rookie. Johnson played inside in college, but several reports have him possibly beating out veteran Scott Fujita on the outside.

Cleveland needed some depth at linebacker, so Johnson and 6th round pick Emmanuel Acho from Texas should provide that.

The other picks made by Heckert also addressed depth. G Ryan Miller, DE Billy Winn, and CB Trevin Wade should be able to help out positions where you can’t have enough good players.

In addition, Winn and Wade were both graded as 2nd or 3rd round talents by CBS Sports, so they were good value picks in the 6th and 7th rounds.

Most of the critics of the draft cite the picks of DT John Hughes in the third round and not picking a wide receiver until the 4th when speedster Travis Benjamin was picked. If those critics are to be fair, they have to give Heckert kudos for Winn and Wade.

No matter what people want to say, the Browns identified their weaknesses, the same ones the fans could see, and they picked players who can improve the team in those areas.

What else did anyone want them to do?

Browns Offense Gets A Makeover

The Cleveland Browns acted boldly in the first round of the NFL draft trading up at the beginning of the draft, and making a quarterback change later in the first round.

Moving up one spot to pick Alabama RB Trent Richardson was done to make sure the Browns got the best running back in the draft. Richardson is arguably the best runner Cleveland has had since the days of Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner.

There are critics who say GM Tom Heckert didn’t have to move up, but obviously he was weary of Tampa Bay dealing with the Vikings to get the pick with the idea of getting Richardson.

It says something about it being a good pick that other teams were trying to move up to get him.

Besides, even though the NF L is a passing league, you still can’t win unless you can run the ball and you can stop the run. The Browns have ranked in the lower third in the league in rushing for sometime now.

The bigger surprise was the selection of Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden with the 22nd pick.

There were reports that the Browns were enamored of Weeden, but it was thought Heckert would take him with his second round selection.

That choice tells you all you want to know about how the team felt about Colt McCoy. It is obvious coach Pat Shurmur felt McCoy was responsible for the poor performance of the offense last year.

Now, Cleveland has a passer with a big time arm, so there can be no more excuses as to why the attack doesn’t throw the ball downfield more often.

As for the biggest question mark about Weeden, his age, if he’s going to start next season, it’s not really a factor. The Browns can still get 8-10 years out of him if he avoids injury.

And that’s up to Holmgren and Heckert to make sure he has the proper protection.

It would be surprising if McCoy is still on the roster come Monday morning. The bet here is he will be dealt for a late round draft pick before the end of the draft.

Just remember this, however, St. Louis’ offense had similar yards per attempt numbers when Shurmur was the Rams’ coordinator, and he had Sam Bradford as his quarterback in the second year there.

So, fans will see once and for all if it was McCoy or the Pat Shurmur version of the west coast offense that is the problem.

Shurmur will have a lot of explaining to do if after the first half of the season, the passing offense is still filled with a variety of short throws. West coast offense or not, the passing attack has to be opened up if Cleveland is to win.

Back to Richardson, if he’s as good as advertised, we will provide someone opposing defenses will have to game plan for. When was the last time the Browns could say that?

He also takes pressure off of Weeden, who should have a strong running game to keep the heat off of him.

And you can expect Heckert to draft a wide receiver today, perhaps as early as the 37th overall pick. That would give Weeden a pair of solid wide outs, as we suspect Greg Little will be a much better player than he was as a rookie.

Perhaps it’s the Browns version of “the triplets”.

Hopefully, yesterday started the next era of Browns football. There is no doubt it will continue today with rounds two and three.

All Kinds of Reasons Not to Draft People

The year of NFL draft analysis is almost over, so the Mel Kipers and Todd McShays of the world will go back to irrelevance as of Sunday.

Of course, both of those guys and others like them will start their analysis of the 2013 draft almost immediately.

It is funny how the “draftniks” decide who should be picked and where.

Everyone seems to have a reason as to why a particular player should not be picked instead of the current analysis, which would be picking the best player on a given team’s draft board.

And they bring up odd data to support their reasoning. That’s the beauty of all this misinformation.

For example, the Browns should not take Alabama RB Trent Richardson because the 4th overall pick is too high to take a running back.

Look at the NFL’s leading rushers. Maurice Jones-Drew led the league in yards gained on the ground, and he was a 2nd round pick. So, was Ray Rice of the Ravens, who finished second in the NFL in rushing.

Therefore, no team should draft a running back in the first round, right?

Heck, Houston’s Arian Foster (5th in 2011) wasn’t even drafted.

However, there are many productive backs in the league today who were picked in the first round, such as Marshawn Lynch, Steven Jackson, Ryan Mathews, and Willis McGahee.

If the Browns have Richardson as the best player available at #4, they should pick him.

Then, you have Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon, regarded as the best receiver in the draft this year.

The draft pundits will say that Blackmon is not as good as last year’s fourth overall pick, Cincinnati’s A.J. Green, so he shouldn’t be picked there.

Once again, if the GM Tom Heckert thinks he’s the best player when Cleveland in on the clock, they should take him.

The critics will say the Browns can’t take Texas A & M QB Ryan Tannehill because he’s the third best passer available in the draft. Forget that Ben Roethlisberger was rated the third quarterback in the 2006 draft behind Eli Manning and Philip Rivers.

That’s worked out pretty well for Pittsburgh, hasn’t it?

And certainly Heckert shouldn’t take LSU CB Morris Claiborne because they need help so badly on offense. Why shouldn’t the Browns take him and team him with Joe Haden to have possibly the best pair of cornerbacks in the NFL.

The last time Cleveland has a pair of shut down CB’s was in the late 1980’s when they had Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield. It is a coincidence that was the last time the Browns were a power in the league?

The way the so-called experts talk about why players shouldn’t be taken by the Browns, it’s no wonder that the talk of trading down for more picks is out there.

The purpose of the draft is so the teams who didn’t have a good record in the previous year can get better, and the way to do that is to take the most talented players.

It’s really very simple.

With the fourth pick in the draft, Heckert needs to take the best player on his board, and position shouldn’t really matter. The only caveat would be T Matt Kalil, who plays the same position as Joe Thomas, the Browns’ best player.

If Cleveland thinks Trent Richardson is that guy, and a few scouts have said he’s the best running back prospect to enter the league since Adrian Peterson, then the Browns should take him.

Of course, the “draft gurus” will tell you that’s a mistake. Then again, they aren’t picking anyone.

A Notable Week in Cleveland Sports

According to the calendar and weather forecast, this should be another cold week at the end of April.

It’s kind of cruel because of the 1o days of summer that hit northern Ohio in the middle of March. That makes this seasonal weather in April harder to take.

However, it should be an eventful week for Cleveland sports. The Indians are coming home from a tremendous 7-2 trip, which puts them back over .500 after their tough start to the season.

The Browns will be the center of the sports universe because of the NFL Draft which starts on Thursday and runs through Saturday.

And the Cavaliers are finishing up the NBA season with three games, starting tonight in Memphis. At stake for them is where they will wind up in the draft in late June.

Here’s a look at the week that will be:

Indians. The Tribe offense is striking out less and walking more and so far this has led to an attack that is scoring more runs than expected. To be fair, a boatload of those tallies came against the Royals, who are here tomorrow night for a three game series.

One Indian that is red-hot is DH Travis Hafner, currently hitting .359 with an on base percentage of .509. Pronk has even hit two tape measure home runs this young season.

There is no question that when Hafner is healthy, he’s a great offensive player. He has a lifetime OPS of close to 900, an outstanding figure.

However, we have to caution those fans proclaiming that Pronk is back. Remember, when he hit the grand slam to win the game against Toronto on July 7th, he was hitting .347 with an OPS of 994.

He wound up the season at .280 and 811.

If Hafner can stay healthy and productive, he gives Manny Acta an all-star type hitter. The biggest word in that sentence is the first one.

Browns. Enough has been written about what Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert will do with the 13 picks the team has at the end of the week.

There is no question the brown and orange need an influx of talent, particularly playmakers on offense. Look for Heckert to take at least two players who will be able to make a difference when Cleveland has the football, and take them early.

The front office needs to understand this week is the start of the turnaround of the Cleveland Browns. A disgusted fan base may turn into an apathetic one with another 4-12 record in 2012.

Cavaliers. Right now, the Cavs sit with the 5th worst record in the NBA, meaning they would have the fifth best shot at the first overall pick.

However, with three games left, they could wind up with the third worst record or the finish with the 8th worst mark. This wild fluctuation is obviously very important to their future.

We never advocate losing, but with two of the three games being on the road, the lone home game left is with Washington, a winnable contest, it is likely Byron Scott’s team will finish at 22-44.

The wild card is New Orleans, who has won six of their last ten, but whose two remaining games are on the road.

The Cavs-Wizard’s game makes no difference for Cleveland because the wine and gold cannot finish with a worse record than Washington.

Still, we will have a good idea of where GM Chris Grant will be able to pick at the end of this week.

It may not be a huge week on the field or court, but make no mistake. By next Sunday, Cleveland fans will know a little more about the future of their football and basketball squads.

The Good and Bad of Tribe’s First Week

First off, making any inferences about a baseball team after just 12 games isn’t a wise thing to do.

You have to look at the schedule because there is no way you could have played all of the good teams in your league after that amount of time. And as we’ve said before, a better time to check is after the first 27 games of the regular season, when one sixth of the slate has been played.

After a dismal opening homestand in which they went 1-4, the Cleveland Indians have picked up the pace on their first trip of 2012, so far going 6-1 against Kansas City, Seattle, and Oakland.

This is where the schedule comes into play. The teams regarded as the best in the American League coming into the season were the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Tigers, Rangers, and Angels. The Tribe has played zero games against those squads.

Still, the hitting has been better statistically to start the year with Cleveland ranking 3rd in the AL in runs scored. However, a closer look shows that almost half of those tallies (32 out of 68) came in the three game series against the Royals. currently losers of seven straight.

The good news there is that KC doesn’t have the worst pitching in the league statistically. In fact, their staff ERA ranks higher (9th) than the Indians (11th).

At this point though, the Tribe has cut down on strikeouts at this early juncture. They rank 9th in the Junior Circuit, a big drop from the past few years when they ranked in the top three in the AL.

They also lead the league in walks, although outside of last season, they have been in the top half of the AL since 2008 in that category. Shelley Duncan has been a surprise in this statistic, drawing 12 bases on balls in the first dozen games.

The only real bad strikeout to walk ratios on the club right now belong to Jason Kipnis (11 whiffs, 3 BB) and Jason Donald (10 K, 1 BB). That’s outstanding. Drawing walks drives up pitch counts and gets into the opponent’s bullpen, where the less talented pitchers are.

However, the starting pitching so far has been a bit of a disappointment, mostly because they have not been able to soak up their share of innings. Cleveland starters have gone five innings or less in half of their appearances, although one of those was due to Jeanmar Gomez’s ridiculous ejection for protecting Shin-Soo Choo vs. the Royals.

This has put a strain on the bullpen, who for the most part has been up to the task.

Chris Perez rebounded from Opening Day to record five straight saves, and he has fanned five hitters in 6-2/3 innings. Vinnie Pestano has done well, and newcomer Jairo Asencio has contributed.

One area of concern is Tony Sipp, who has allowed seven hits and three walks in 3-2/3 frames. Sipp could go back to Columbus in favor of Nick Hagadone, when Asdrubal Cabrera returns from his grandfather’s funeral.

One thing that is concerning is the lack of swing and miss guys on the Tribe staff. Cleveland ranks 11th in the league in striking out hitters, yet have issued the fifth most walks. That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.

Granted, it’s only three starts, but Manny Acta needs Justin Masterson and Josh Tomlin to give him at least six innings per start. Ubaldo Jimenez had one good start (vs. Toronto), but in his last two, he has been inconsistent in the strike throwing department. Derek Lowe’s had two good starts, and battled through a six walk outing to keep his team in the game.

Any success Cleveland will have in 2012 in based on good starting pitching, which so far hasn’t been there.

Still, at 7-5, it’s been a good start to the season, but it’s too early to get carried away, just like it would be too early to panic if they started 4-8.

Manny Acta would agree though, that it’s better to win early in the year, than to lose.

For Cleveland Teams, No More Losing Talk

Next week, the NFL Draft finally arrives. Undoubtedly, this will creative a tremendous void in the programming of Cleveland sports talk shows, who will no longer be able to discuss the merits and problems involved if the Browns pick Trent Richardson, Morris Claiborne, Justin Blackmon, or Ryan Tannehill.

There will be no more talk about trading down for more picks, or trading up to get yet another marquee talent.

To be sure, after the football draft, the discussion will shift to what the Cavaliers will do in late June in the NBA Draft.

With two picks in the first round, basketball fans in northern Ohio will alternately swoon or be irritated with the possibilities of getting Michael Kidd-Gilchrest, Brandon Beal, Andre Drummond, or Jeremy Lamb.

WKNR’s Greg Brinda once said the draft is like the Super Bowl for Cleveland sports fans.

That’s fine for now. The Browns season doesn’t start for another five months, and the Cavs have just six games remaining before their campaign ends.

After the wine and gold make their pick in June, there should be more talk about draft picks. It’s time for both teams to start winning and start making considerable progress right now!

For the Browns, it is ridiculous to contemplate another top ten draft pick in 2013. After all, in the last several years, Cleveland has had the opportunity to pick in the top ten four consecutive times.

Twice, they’ve traded the choice. Last year, of course, dealing with Atlanta, who drafted WR Julio Jones in the 6th spot, and in 2009, when they made a deal with the Jets, who selected Mark Sanchez.

It has been four seasons since the last time the Browns were over the .500, which was when Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage led the team to a 10-6 record.

Mike Holmgren has already gone on record as saying improving to 6-10 in 2012 is not acceptable, so his football organization has to make a large turnaround to get close to being an 8-8 squad, one that is poised to make a playoff run in 2013.

So, no more talk from Browns’ fans about picking USC QB Matt Barkley with the #1 pick in next April’s draft. It’s time to start taking steps, and giant ones at that toward not just respectability, but the NFL post-season.

The same is true for the Cavaliers, although the discussion is not as loud among their fans, it comes more from the media, who hope the wine and gold lose, and take joy in every defeat. Games like last night’s in Detroit, doesn’t do the franchise any benefit, no matter if it improves the draft position.

GM Chris Grant will likely have a top five choice come late June, which will give him three picks in the first five the last two drafts combined. He his a home run with the probable rookie of the year in PG Kyrie Irving, and he picked a solid power forward in Tristan Thompson.

It says here he needs to get a big time scorer in the top of this year’s draft.

The Cavaliers have already surpassed last year’s total of 19 wins in a lockout shortened season, so they have made progress.

However, next year, they better be in the mix for a playoff spot, especially since they play in the Eastern Conference, where a .500 record puts you in contention.

There has to be significant progress made during the next 12-14 months. Since there are only 15 players on an NBA roster, getting a premier player is a huge step for a team, and getting Irving accomplishes that.

The fans of Cleveland sports teams love to discuss the future of the Indians, Browns, and Cavaliers. That’s great. However, a year from now, we better be talking about the present. It’s time to stop pining for what may be and start winning.

On The Caveman Coming to Cleveland

After starting the season 1-4, and the offense struggling mightily to put anything together, the Cleveland Indians made what some observers saw as a panic move, signing free agent OF/DH Johnny Damon to a contract.

It’s seems to be part of the grand experiment the Tribe is conducting, that is, seeing how many left-handed hitters in the lineup is too many.

The Damon deal seemed odd, not only because of the timing, but because GM Chris Antonetti is penciling in the veteran as sharing the LF job with Shelley Duncan, who is off to a good start.

It’s odd because the past few years Damon has done a lot of things on the baseball field, but playing OF wasn’t one of them. He played just 35 games in the outfield with the Tigers in 2010, and a paltry 16 games in the field with Tampa Bay last season.

For a team which claims to emphasize defense, it is curious to put a 38-year-old with a weak arm in the field on a regular basis. As for the DH spot, if Travis Hafner stays healthy (which is a big if based on the past few years), there doesn’t seem to be much time available there.

And if Aaron Cunningham is the player on his way out when Damon arrives, who is the backup CF? Jason Donald?

There is no question Damon can contribute with the bat. He had a 743 OPS last season, although for the first time in a while his on base percentage dropped under .350 (last time was 2003). He did hit 16 HR with the Rays last season and did appear in 150 games, again though, mostly as a DH.

Can he maintain that level of health playing regularly in the outfield?

The only other argument on the signing, his defensive prowess being the first, is he brings yet another left-handed bat to the lineup. Assuming he takes Duncan’s spot in LF, it would give Manny Acta seven left-handed batters and two switch-hitters in what would figure to be his regular lineup.

Can anyone else think of a lineup that dominant from one side of the plate?

Since the Indians play 76 games within the AL Central Division, it is interesting to see the make up of the other teams current starting rotations–

Detroit: Justin Verlander (R), Doug Fister (R), Rick Porcello (R), Max Scherzer (R), Adam Wilk (L), Drew Smyly (L)
Chicago: Jake Peavy (R), John Danks (L), Gavin Floyd (R), Chris Sale (L), Philip Humber (R)
Kansas City: Bruce Chen (L), Luke Hochevar (R), Jonathan Sanchez (L), Luis Mendoza (R), Danny Duffy (L)
Minnesota: Carl Pavano (R), Nick Blackburn (R), Francisco Liriano (L), Anthony Swarzak (R), Liam Hendriks (R)

Out of the 20 regular starters (not sure who will replace Fister in Detroit’s rotation for the time being), just seven are southpaws. That would seem to be in the Indians favor. However, a closer look shows five of those guys are mainstays in the rotation, and most have been historically tough on the Tribe.

The Indians showed research that lefty hitters are more successful at Progressive Field, but that may just be because their best hitters in recent seasons have been left-handed (Sizemore, Hafner, Choo, etc.) and also because outside of C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee, Cleveland hasn’t had real good lefty starting pitchers.

And neither of those guys has thrown a pitch in a Tribe jersey since the middle of the 2009 season.

It does seems like the Tribe is susceptible to tough southpaws, which was in evidence last week when Danks and Sale put the Cleveland bats to sleep.

Acta has no choice but use the left-handed bats against tough left-handed pitchers, but will have to mix in Jason Donald, Jose Lopez, and Cunningham where he can to balance the batting order.

One of the things to keep an eye on this season for the Indians is whether the left-handed experiment works.

The Distrust of Tribe Fans Goes Back to ’09

With the Cleveland Indians off to a slow start after the first home stand of the season, the debate on the North Coast centered on why fans were so quick to turn on the Tribe after just five games.

Attendance was terrible with back-to-back “crowds” of under 10,000 for the two weekday games against the White Sox. Sure, the weather was nasty, one game was snowed out, but in other northern markets (like Detroit) plenty of people showed up for the game.

We can only speak for ourselves, but the real problem is the distrust in the Dolan ownership.

Most of the problem could be alleviated if Larry and Paul Dolan stopped talking, but that will likely never change.

For the people in our season ticket group, the last straw came when the Indians traded Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez near the 2009 trading deadline, a full year and a half before either could become free agents.

We called our account manager shortly thereafter and told them we would not be buying in 2010, despite having season tickets since 1993.

We decided that as long as the Dolan family wasn’t going to try to win, we were not going to spend our cash.

When the family announced the purchase of the Indians, Larry Dolan said something about not being satisfied with one World Series winner, he wanted multiple titles. However, since that time, Cleveland has made just two post-season appearances (2001 and 2007), and has produced losing records in eight of the last ten years.

Still, it was the events of 2009 that have our group and many other fans peeved.

According to many reports, then GM Mark Shapiro was told to cut payroll, so he was forced to trade Lee, the reigning Cy Young Award winner, and Martinez, who cried upon being dealt, even though they could have opened the 2010 season with the Tribe.

For Lee, the Indians received utility man Jason Donald, back up catcher Lou Marson, injured starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco, and the big prospect in the deal was right-hander Jason Knapp, who had shoulder problems at the time, and has been hurt most of the time he has spent in the Cleveland organization.

At least Shapiro received Justin Masterson in the Martinez deal with the Red Sox.

Still, could the Indians have put together a contending team in 2010 with one of the best pitchers in the game at the top of the rotation and a professional switch-hitting catcher/1B in the middle of their lineup? Of course they could have. However, they chose not to.

The reason the Indians gave for making the trade well before they had to was they could get more by guaranteeing a full season for each player for the team they were dealt to, thus being able to get more. And Martinez is the type of player who would have been willing to stay with the Tribe for the long term.

As you can see, outside of Masterson, there wasn’t much of a bounty for the Indians.

Up until that point, the Indians had rebuilt from their power teams of the 1990’s, and produced a team that just missed the playoffs by one game in ’05, and went to the American League Championship Series in 2007, taking Boston to seven games.

Since the deal, Cleveland has wallowed under the .500 mark perpetually, although they had a good run early in the 2011 season before fading.

The perception of many fans changed forever with those two trades, and the recent finding of Forbes Magazine that the Indians made a $30 million profit last year only reinforces that skepticism.

And after contending for most of last year, GM Chris Antonetti basically did nothing during the off-season to fortify the 2012 Indians.

So when people wonder why there is a certain amount of apathy in Cleveland baseball fans, they need to look no further than 2009.

The Case for Trent Richardson

The NFL Draft will take place two weeks from tomorrow.

Thank goodness because the subject of what the Cleveland Browns will do in the first few rounds is just about exhausted.

Heck, even on the Indians’ home opener, sports talk shows in Cleveland had discussion as to who GM Tom Heckert should take in the selection meeting at the end of the month.

Should they take a running back, or is the #4 pick too early for one? How about a wide receiver, can Justin Blackmon be the Browns answer to Cincinnati’s A. J. Green? Is it too much of a reach to take Texas A & M quarterback Ryan Tannehill with the fourth pick?

Should the Browns trade down from #4? Should they trade up from #22?

Soon, it will all be over.

We’ve been tempted by Tannehill, but in the end, what the Browns should do is pick Alabama RB Trent Richardson with the fourth pick in a couple of weeks. Why?

Because as a running back, he can get more touches on offense than anyone else on the field, save for the guy playing quarterback. And offense is where Cleveland needs the most help, by far.

OT Matt Kalil would be an intriguing pick if some team trades up to #3 to get Tannehill, probably Miami, but the Browns need playmakers. A guy who the defense has to account for.

Kalil would strengthen the offensive line and give the team a pair of bookend tackles, but no matter how good a pairing of Joe Thomas and Kalil may be, they can’t put the ball in the end zone by themselves.

Richardson can touch the football 20 times per games on handoffs and another three to five time via short throws. A productive running back will take a lot of pressure off QB Colt McCoy.

Lest you don’t think it matters, check out these statistics. Keep in mind, McCoy’s overall passer rating was 74.6 last year, and his average yards per attempt was 5.9 for the season.

Here are the games where the Browns had their best success running the football in 2011:

Jacksonville –148 yards. McCoy’s passer rating was 92.2 and his average yards per attempt was 8.3
Seattle–141 yards. McCoy’s rating was 59.0 with 5.1 yards per throw
Cincinnati (2nd game)–134 yards on the ground. McCoy: 67.2 passer rating, 4.4 yards/attempt
St. Louis–126 yards. McCoy had 97.5 rating, averaging 8.1 yards/attempt
Indianapolis–106 yards. Mc Coy: 97.3 rating and 6.6 yards per pass.

The games against the Jaguars, Rams, and Colts were McCoy’s best three games statistically on the year. And while it is true that he had some clunkers with a running attack, he does have a better chance to play well when backed up with a solid ground game.

The Browns did gain more than 100 yards in two other contests, but those were games started by Seneca Wallace.

The NFL is a passing league right now, without a doubt. But if you don’t have an elite quarterback, then you better be able to run the football.

That’s where Trent Richardson comes in.

If Richardson can be a very good back, not even saying he has to be elite, that will give defensive coordinators around the NFL something to game plan against.

For most defenses, taking something away involves giving something up. Perhaps, opponents will have to bring an extra man in the box to take away the run, and that will allow passing lanes for Pat Shurmur’s offense.

Getting Richardson may not make Colt McCoy a top ten passer, in fact, it probably won’t.

However, it will allow him to be better. And if you aren’t getting Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, or another hot-shot college QB, having an improved McCoy is better than the one who played in 2011.

Settle Down, Tribe Has Better Record than Red Sox

Because Cleveland is by and large a football town, the early part of the baseball season gets fans going crazy one way or another.

When the Indians lost the first two games of the 2012 campaign in extra innings, fans were quickly jumping off any bandwagon that may have existed.

People were blasting Manny Acta, Chris Perez, Asdrubal Cabrera, Vinnie Pestano, and virtually anyone else who wore a Cleveland uniform over the weekend.

It’s really silly because there are still 159 games left in the season. Of course, we all know that baseball is a marathon not a sprint, and the Tribe has just barely taken the first few steps of the journey.

Heck, the Indians have a better record that the vaunted Yankees, Red Sox, and Atlanta Braves, who have all started out 0-3.

We predicted a fourth place finish for Cleveland this year, so a good season isn’t expected, but three games shouldn’t make anyone start to panic or be concerned.

We don’t think Michael Brantley will hit .077, nor will Shin-Soo Choo bat .154 for the season. As anemic as the Tribe offense has looked, they will be better than they showed in the three game set against Toronto.

However, it is a bit concerning right now that the offense has been far too dependent on the home run, considering no one considers Cleveland a power based team.

Right now, if there aren’t any long balls, there aren’t any runs being scored.

That’s a big reason the Indians have batted in 36 innings so far this season and scored in only six of them. That doesn’t bode well for things to come.

Right now, you would have to look at the Tribe as a team with little power and little speed. That isn’t a good mix if you want to score runs.

Cleveland baserunners were thrown out on the basepaths all weekend.

On Opening Day, Choo was thrown out at home and at second base. Brantley was caught stealing after drawing a no out walk, and Cabrera was gunned down trying to advance on the pitch in the dirt.

Yes, they did go from first to third on the balls hit to right field, but only Jason Donald, pinch-running for Travis Hafner was able to steal a base.

On the flip side, it is doubtful the starting pitching will be as good as it has been in the first three games.

Justin Masterson was magnificent in the opener, throwing eight innings, allowing just two hits, striking out ten. The big right-hander is good, but he’s not going to do that in every start.

Nor is Ubaldo Jimenez going to pitch six hitless innings on a regular basis. Derek Lowe is a veteran who will soak up innings, but he also was outstanding in his first start in a Cleveland uniform.

The point is you cannot make any judgments on a baseball team after three games. Last year, the Indians lost their first two games, and then won 30 of the next 43 contests.

Baseball executive say you have to wait until 40 games are played before making any decisions. That may be a little too patient, but don’t really look at records until a sixth of the season has been played (27 games).

That gives everyday players about 100 at bats, and starting pitchers will have five starts under their belt.

So relax, and enjoy that baseball is back and being played on a daily basis.

Have fun second guessing too, but realize it’s just a sliver on the entire picture that is the regular season.