Pluto On Browns DBs and More .... - 05/27/12 03:42 PM
Cleveland Browns stacking up talent at cornerback: Terry Pluto's Talkin' | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2012/05/cleveland_browns_stacking_up_t.html
ABOUT THE BROWNS' DEFENSIVE BACKS . . .
1. The Browns remain sold on Sheldon Brown being a cornerback, as coach Pat Shurmur has made clear. Can he beat out Joe Haden? No. Can he beat out Dimitri Patterson? The Browns are paying Patterson like a starter. Patterson has $6 million guaranteed this season between his signing bonus and 2012 salary. It's $4.5 million in 2013 and $5.3 million in 2014. It sure looks as if the 28-year-old Patterson is being primed to start.
2. Brown is 33, and makes $3.7 million. That's a lot of money (and salary-cap room) for a veteran who may be a nickel back. The Browns do love his leadership, and perhaps they believe he will be a positive influence on the younger players -- and supply depth in case of injuries.
3. But the Browns also have Buster Skrine, who impressed them when playing some cornerback at the end of last season. They do believe the second-year pro could develop into a starter at some point, and he certainly can play in passing situations right now. So that gives them four cornerbacks: Haden, Patterson, Brown and Skrine. General Manager Tom Heckert has talked about the need for extra players at this position, so he may be content with keeping Brown for the final year of the veteran's contract.
4. The Browns did take Trevin Wade in the seventh round, a cornerback from Arizona who received very mixed reviews from scouts. But a year ago, Eric Hagg was a seventh-round pick and he has played his way into the team's plans as a backup safety. Skrine was a fifth-rounder and really is liked by the coaches. So we'll see if Wade can surprise.
5. With Michael Adams signing with Denver, the Browns appear content with T.J. Ward and Usama Young as their starting safeties with Hagg in reserve. But the Browns coaches have been so pleased with Hagg in the early camps (and how he played late last season), they believe he could end up starting some games.
6. The Browns' stats show they play three corners in more than 60 percent of the snaps in this pass-happy league, so they believe they are well-stocked at that position -- and want to keep Brown playing the spot where he has the most experience.
ABOUT THE BROWNS . . .
1. In case you missed it, Tampa Bay traded Kellen Winslow Jr. to Seattle for a conditional draft pick -- probably a future seventh-rounder. The price was so low because Winslow has had six different knee operations. He also has three years -- at $3.3 million, $4.5 million and $5.5 million -- left on his contract. If he had been cut, more teams would have been interested because they could have negotiated a new, cheaper deal.
2. In the past three years with the Bucs, Winslow caught 77, 66 and 75 passes, averaging 11.1 yards per catch. He's mostly a possession receiving tight end with good hands. The knee surgeries have robbed Winslow of his speed and blocking ability. Tampa Bay didn't think he was worth the cash, so they put him on the market.
3. The Browns traded Winslow to the Bucs before the 2009 season, then-coach Eric Mangini adding second- and fifth-round draft picks. The second-rounder became Mohamed Massaquoi, the fifth-rounder was part of the deal (along with Alex Hall) that brought Chris Gocong and Sheldon Brown to the Browns. And yes, the Browns did pick Winslow over Ben Roethlisberger, partly because they had signed Jeff Garcia and believed he would be their quarterback in 2004.
4. Shurmur listed Massaquoi as the starting receiver along with Greg Little -- and the Browns are very excited about Little losing some weight, adding flexibility and being very serious about taking a major step forward in his second season. Massaquoi has had three concussions in the past two seasons, and has not done much in his three years with the Browns: catching 31, 36 and 34 passes in those seasons, seven for touchdowns. The door is wide open for him, but don't be surprised if Joshua Cribbs grabs some of his playing time -- as Cribbs did last year.
5. The Browns were happy with third-rounder John Hughes and sixth-rounder Billy Winn in the early camps. The two rookie defensive tackles now are more important with Phil Taylor out for at least the first eight games because of surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle. No one is tackling yet, so it's hard to draw grand conclusions. But the Browns drafted Hughes with the idea that he can immediately become a rotation player in the middle of the line.
6. The Browns had Winn rated higher than the sixth round, and they were extremely pleased to grab him at the bottom of the draft. Heckert's approach to defense is to stack up the linemen and cornerbacks.
7. Interesting comment from linebacker Scott Fujita, "This is the most experienced defensive coaching staff that I've been around." Coordinator Dick Jauron was a head coach (Chicago, Buffalo), linebacker coach Bill Davis has been a defensive coordinator for Arizona and San Francisco. Defensive special assistant Ray Rhodes was a head coach for five years. The experience on defense last season helped the team quickly adjust from the 3-4 to the 4-3 defense.
8. By bringing in former head coach Brad Childress as coordinator and Nolan Cromwell as offensive assistant, Shurmur has added experience on the offensive side. Cromwell has been a wide receivers coach for three different NFL teams and an offensive coordinator at Texas A&M. The coaches will have plenty to do as they break in a rookie quarterback (Brandon Weeden), running back (Trent Richardson) and right tackle (Mitchell Schwartz) to the starting lineup.
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2012/05/cleveland_browns_stacking_up_t.html
ABOUT THE BROWNS' DEFENSIVE BACKS . . .
1. The Browns remain sold on Sheldon Brown being a cornerback, as coach Pat Shurmur has made clear. Can he beat out Joe Haden? No. Can he beat out Dimitri Patterson? The Browns are paying Patterson like a starter. Patterson has $6 million guaranteed this season between his signing bonus and 2012 salary. It's $4.5 million in 2013 and $5.3 million in 2014. It sure looks as if the 28-year-old Patterson is being primed to start.
2. Brown is 33, and makes $3.7 million. That's a lot of money (and salary-cap room) for a veteran who may be a nickel back. The Browns do love his leadership, and perhaps they believe he will be a positive influence on the younger players -- and supply depth in case of injuries.
3. But the Browns also have Buster Skrine, who impressed them when playing some cornerback at the end of last season. They do believe the second-year pro could develop into a starter at some point, and he certainly can play in passing situations right now. So that gives them four cornerbacks: Haden, Patterson, Brown and Skrine. General Manager Tom Heckert has talked about the need for extra players at this position, so he may be content with keeping Brown for the final year of the veteran's contract.
4. The Browns did take Trevin Wade in the seventh round, a cornerback from Arizona who received very mixed reviews from scouts. But a year ago, Eric Hagg was a seventh-round pick and he has played his way into the team's plans as a backup safety. Skrine was a fifth-rounder and really is liked by the coaches. So we'll see if Wade can surprise.
5. With Michael Adams signing with Denver, the Browns appear content with T.J. Ward and Usama Young as their starting safeties with Hagg in reserve. But the Browns coaches have been so pleased with Hagg in the early camps (and how he played late last season), they believe he could end up starting some games.
6. The Browns' stats show they play three corners in more than 60 percent of the snaps in this pass-happy league, so they believe they are well-stocked at that position -- and want to keep Brown playing the spot where he has the most experience.
ABOUT THE BROWNS . . .
1. In case you missed it, Tampa Bay traded Kellen Winslow Jr. to Seattle for a conditional draft pick -- probably a future seventh-rounder. The price was so low because Winslow has had six different knee operations. He also has three years -- at $3.3 million, $4.5 million and $5.5 million -- left on his contract. If he had been cut, more teams would have been interested because they could have negotiated a new, cheaper deal.
2. In the past three years with the Bucs, Winslow caught 77, 66 and 75 passes, averaging 11.1 yards per catch. He's mostly a possession receiving tight end with good hands. The knee surgeries have robbed Winslow of his speed and blocking ability. Tampa Bay didn't think he was worth the cash, so they put him on the market.
3. The Browns traded Winslow to the Bucs before the 2009 season, then-coach Eric Mangini adding second- and fifth-round draft picks. The second-rounder became Mohamed Massaquoi, the fifth-rounder was part of the deal (along with Alex Hall) that brought Chris Gocong and Sheldon Brown to the Browns. And yes, the Browns did pick Winslow over Ben Roethlisberger, partly because they had signed Jeff Garcia and believed he would be their quarterback in 2004.
4. Shurmur listed Massaquoi as the starting receiver along with Greg Little -- and the Browns are very excited about Little losing some weight, adding flexibility and being very serious about taking a major step forward in his second season. Massaquoi has had three concussions in the past two seasons, and has not done much in his three years with the Browns: catching 31, 36 and 34 passes in those seasons, seven for touchdowns. The door is wide open for him, but don't be surprised if Joshua Cribbs grabs some of his playing time -- as Cribbs did last year.
5. The Browns were happy with third-rounder John Hughes and sixth-rounder Billy Winn in the early camps. The two rookie defensive tackles now are more important with Phil Taylor out for at least the first eight games because of surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle. No one is tackling yet, so it's hard to draw grand conclusions. But the Browns drafted Hughes with the idea that he can immediately become a rotation player in the middle of the line.
6. The Browns had Winn rated higher than the sixth round, and they were extremely pleased to grab him at the bottom of the draft. Heckert's approach to defense is to stack up the linemen and cornerbacks.
7. Interesting comment from linebacker Scott Fujita, "This is the most experienced defensive coaching staff that I've been around." Coordinator Dick Jauron was a head coach (Chicago, Buffalo), linebacker coach Bill Davis has been a defensive coordinator for Arizona and San Francisco. Defensive special assistant Ray Rhodes was a head coach for five years. The experience on defense last season helped the team quickly adjust from the 3-4 to the 4-3 defense.
8. By bringing in former head coach Brad Childress as coordinator and Nolan Cromwell as offensive assistant, Shurmur has added experience on the offensive side. Cromwell has been a wide receivers coach for three different NFL teams and an offensive coordinator at Texas A&M. The coaches will have plenty to do as they break in a rookie quarterback (Brandon Weeden), running back (Trent Richardson) and right tackle (Mitchell Schwartz) to the starting lineup.