Too Soon To Rate Browns’ Rookie Class

Most football experts agree you really can’t evaluate an NFL draft class for three years after the players are picked.

That doesn’t stop fans and some of the media from deciding already that the first year Browns players are busts, although even the harshest critics are softening on Emmanuel Ogbah, who has come on strong as of late.

While in Cleveland, we are certainly aware of Carson Wentz, who was acquired with a pick originally owned by the Browns, and we also know Ohio State products Joey Bosa and Ezekiel Elliott, who have both made great impacts with thus far, not every rookie in the NFL appears to be headed to Canton.

Somehow, that seems to be the expectation when the players are picked by Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta.

Think back to before this season actually started and the opinion most people had of last year’s first round pick, Danny Shelton. He was considered a bust. However, look at how much progress the nose tackle has made in his second year.

You can also see the progress made by third year pro LB Christian Kirksey, who looks to be a building block for the future. Kirksey, along with injured G Joel Bitonio, are the lone remaining players from the ’14 draft.

You can’t be successful if you only have two players left from three years ago. However, don’t pin that mistake on Brown and DePodesta, they weren’t here. It’s not fair to blame them.

While Shelton looks like the best of the ’15 selections, Duke Johnson was also in the draft, and we still like Ibraheim Campbell. Of course, you also have the Cam Erving question. Many think he’s a bust, but others still see him as a serviceable NFL offensive lineman.

And while fans wonder why at least a few of Cleveland’s picks didn’t turn out like Elliott and QB Dak Prescott, with the Cowboys, who have the best record in the NFL, it’s a lot easier for those two to be productive surrounded by solid veterans, a luxury the Browns’ rookie class doesn’t have.

Certainly, Ogbah has stood out on defense and Carl Nassib flashed early, but seems to have plateaued. Corey Coleman got hurt, which seems to have set back his progress.

We haven’t seen much of Shon Coleman, but Joe Schobert, Ricardo Louis, Derrick Kindred, Seth DeValve, and Spencer Drango have all been on the field this season with various degrees of success.

It will be interested and necessary to see the progress of those players when they go through an NFL off-season conditioning program, and can be in that program from the end of the season until training camp.

We feel we tend to underestimate how much these players lose attending scouting combines and personal workouts instead of getting ready for an NFL season.

Any criticism of this draft class is reactionary and premature. It’s simply way too soon to form judgments, and comparing all picks to Elliott, Prescott, and Joey Bosa is not fair.

You have to see the process through. With all the picks Cleveland has in the 2017 draft, they will likely have half of the opening game roster next year be first and second year players.

Making the playoffs would be a miracle next year, but there should be reason for optimism. Just don’t let your impatience get the best of you.

Browns Not As Bad As People Think

Sunday afternoon, the Cleveland Browns open another NFL season on the road against the New York Jets.

The training camp was filled with hamstring pulls, and the media brought up the quarterback situation once again, as if GM Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine don’t realize the position needs an upgrade.

And of course, the media continued to hammer away at the “dysfunction” of the franchise, with every misjudgment in terms of talent, or even how the play in the pre-season is held up as proof of that.

We have a different view. Remember that the Browns were 7-5 heading into a home game against Indianapolis, who advanced to the AFC title game in January.

Cleveland outplayed the Colts that day, except that Brian Hoyer had a terrible game and Andrew Luck and Indy pulled out a 25-24 win, dropping the Browns’ record to 7-6.

We have always said that when the Browns get decent play at quarterback, they win, and it would have been true on that Sunday, because if Hoyer had been merely good that day (he was 13 for 30, 136 yards and two picks), the Browns would have been 8-5, very much in the race for a playoff spot.

Now, we are a firm believer in “you are what your record is”, but that game sticks in our collective craw. The entire season changed on that contest.

Mike Pettine went to an unprepared Johnny Manziel the following week in Cincinnati, and both Manziel and Hoyer were hurt vs. Carolina, forcing undrafted Conner Shaw to start the season finale at Baltimore.

A game the Browns lost 20-10 with their third string passer.

Our point is that this isn’t as bad of a football team as people think.

The biggest weakness the Browns had a year ago was the inability to stop the run, and it appears they addressed that with the drafting of Danny Shelton and the signing of Randy Starks as a free agent. We won’t know for sure until they line up for real on Sunday, but if Cleveland improves in that area, with their strong secondary, the defense will be among the league’s best.

That will keep them in most games.

And that brings us back to our earlier statement that the Browns can win with decent quarterback play, which means not turning the ball over. That will be Josh McCown’s job and challenge this year.

As usual, the key to the season will be how the Browns handle the AFC North. They proved last year that the gap has closed, and they defeated the Steelers and Bengals in dominating fashion, and lost to Pittsburgh and the Ravens on the last play of the game.

If they can split the divisional games, they can win seven games again this season, albeit with a tougher schedule, and may even get to the break even mark.

We don’t see the other teams in the division being substantially better than they were a year ago.

There are three keys to the season in our view: 1). Improved defense vs. the run. 2). Josh McCown’s ability to not turn the ball over. 3). Avoiding catastrophic injuries, which change the season of most NFL teams.

If the first two things happen, the Browns will continue on the path of improvement.

Browns Show Blueprint Of How They Need to Play

If you wanted to know how the Cleveland Browns envision themselves as a team, last night’s 31-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the blueprint.

The Browns’ defense stopped the run early, then confused rookie QB Jameis Winston, sacking him twice in the first quarter and then forcing a turnover (an interception by rookie CB Charles Gaines).

It is amazing how much better the defense looked with Pro Bowl CB Joe Haden on the field. He improves the pass defense immensely, and tonight was the only game in August he will play.

After the first series was a three and out by Tampa, the special teams came up with a big play as Travis Benjamin returned a punt 57 yards for a touchdown, and Mike Pettine’s crew was off and running.

QB Josh McCown didn’t throw the ball downfield much, but he was efficient, completing 17 of 23 throws for 117 yards and two touchdowns. After last week’s game where he made two bad throws that resulted in interceptions, he did not turn it over last night.

The running game worked well too, and it appears that Isaiah Crowell took the lead in the running game derby with 27 yards in eight carries, while Terrance West did more dancing than we are sure the coaches will like.

Crowell also caught two passes for 12 yards.

Duke Johnson ran the ball well once, in between the tackles, gaining four yards before leaving with a concussion later in the first half. We would have liked to seen more of the rookie.

But this is how the Browns want to play, and it is encouraging that in the one pre-season game that both teams game plan for, Pettine and his staff had his team prepared and they executed.

However, let’s remember that the Bucs had the first overall pick in the last spring’s draft and they didn’t trade for it. They are a bad football team. Still, Cleveland took care of business.

Had they lost to Tampa, the negative members of the fan base and media would be citing this game as proof that the Browns will be horrific during the regular season.

Rookie Danny Shelton continues to look like the beast in the middle he was projected to be, and DE Desmond Bryant had two sacks, but we are also impressed with another first year player, S Ibraheim Campbell, who is always making plays, and has done so in all three games.

Gaines is another rookie to be excited about, as he made several nice plays. Besides the interception, he broke up two other Winston passes.

With no one of consequence playing Thursday night at Chicago, this is the last we will see of the best Browns’ players until the opener against the Jets on September 13th.

Thursday will determine who makes up the end of the roster, probably spots 45-53.

And hopefully we will see Terrelle Pryor, who we believe will make the team whether he plays or not. We believe Pettine and GM Ray Farmer have seen enough of his athletic ability to understand someone will pick him up if the Browns cut him loose.

Quite frankly, Cleveland isn’t in the position to cut someone who can be a difference maker on offense. They simply have to keep him.

Until then, Pettine has to be very satisfied with the result last night. It is just as they wanted the script to be written when the regular season starts in two weeks.